Vijaya Nagara is in Ballari district, Karnataka. It is the name of the now-ruined capital city that surrounds modern-day Hampi, of the historic Vijayanagara Empire which extended over South India.

Around 1500, Vijaynagara had about 500,000 inhabitants (supporting 0.1% of the global population during 1440-1540), making it the second largest city in the world after Beijing and almost twice the size of Paris. The ruins are now a World Heritage Site.

LOCATION

Most of the city lies on the south bank of the Tungabhadra River. The city was built around the religious center of the Virupaksha temple complex at Hampi. Other holy places lie within its environs, including the site that legend calls as Kishkindha, which includes the historically important Hanuman temple (the cave home of Anjana, Kesari and Shabari) and a holy pond called the Pampasarovar. It is known to house the cave home of Sugriva, the monkey king in the Hindu epic Ramayana.

The city at its greatest extent was considerably larger than the area described here; an account is given at the article on the Vijayanagara metropolitan area. The central areas of the city, which include what are now called the Royal Centre and the Sacred Centre, extend over an area of at least 40 km². It includes the modern village of Hampi. Another village, Kamalapura, lies just outside the old walled city, surrounded by ruins and monuments. The nearest town and railway is in Hospet, about 13 kilometres by road. Hosapete lies within the original extents of the old city, though most of the items of interest are walking distance of Hampi and Kamalapura.

The natural setting for the city is a hilly landscape, dotted with granite boulders. The Tungabhadra river runs through it and provides protection from the north. Beyond the hills, on the south bank on which the city was built, a plain extended further the south. Large walls and fortifications of hewn granite defended the centre of the city.

THE CITY

The name translates as "City of Victory", from vijaya (victory) and nagara (city). As the prosperous capital of the largest and most powerful kingdom of its time in all of India, Vijayanagara attracted people from all around the world.

After Timur's sack of Delhi, North India remained weak and divided up. South India was better off, and the largest and most powerful of the southern kingdoms was Vijayanagar. This state and city attracted many of the Hindu refugees from the north. From contemporary accounts, it appears that the city was rich and very beautiful - The city is such that eye has not seen nor ear heard of any place resembling it upon earth", says Abdur-Razzak from Central Asia. There were arcades and magnificent galleries for the bazaars, and rising above them all was the palace of the king surrounded by "many rivulets and streams flowing through channels of cut stone, polished and even." The whole city was full of gardens, and because of them, as an Italian visitor in 1420, Nicolo Conti writes, the circumference of the city was sixty miles. A later visitor was Paes, a Portuguese who came in 1522 after having visited the Italian cities of the Renaissance. The city of Vijayanagar, he says, is as "large as Rome and very beautiful to the sight"; it is full of charm and wonder with its innumerable lakes and waterways and fruit gardens. It is "the best-provided city in the world" and "everything abounds." The chambers of the palace were a mass of ivory, with roses and lotuses carved in ivory at the top"it is so rich and beautiful that you would hardly find anywhere, another such.

— Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India

The ruined city is a World Heritage Site, known in that context as the Ruins of Hampi. In recent years there have been concerns regarding damage to the site at Hampi from heavy vehicular traffic and the construction of road bridges in the vicinity. Hampi is now listed as a "threatened" World Heritage Site.

HISTORY

The Vijayanagara empire was founded by (Harihara) and Bukka, also called the Sangama brothers. The empire consolidated under Harihara I and began to expand and prosper under Bukka Raya. Some time after its original establishment the capital was established at the more defensible and secure location of Vijayanagara on the south side of the river.

Contemporary descriptions depict a very large and highly developed metropolitan area: recent commentators say,

"The massive walls, which can still be traced, enclosed an area of more than sixty square miles, much of which was occupied by fields and gardens watered by canals from the river. The population cannot be estimated with precision, but it was certainly very large when judged by the standards of the fifteenth century. The great majority of the houses were naturally small and undistinguished, but among them were scattered palaces, temples, public buildings, wide streets of shops shaded by trees, busy markets, and all the equipment of a great and wealthy city. The principal buildings were constructed in the regular Hindu style, covered with ornamental carving, and the fragments which have survived suffice to give point to the enthusiastic admiration of the men who saw the city in the days of its magnificence."

The city flourished between the 14th century and 16th century, during the height of the power of the Vijayanagar empire. During this time, the empire was often in conflict with the neighbouring kingdoms with Muslim rulers, which had become established in the northern Deccan, collectively termed the Deccan sultanates. In 1565, the empire's armies suffered a massive and catastrophic defeat at the hands of an alliance of the sultanates, and the capital was taken. The victorious Deccan armies then proceeded to raze, depopulate, and destroy the city and its temples and icons over a period of several months. Despite the empire continuing to exist thereafter during a slow decline, the original capital was not reoccupied or rebuilt. It has not been occupied since.

The buildings in the city are mostly built in the original native traditions of southern India, associated with the Hindu religion. Some of them show a certain amount of Islamic influence due the interaction with the Islamic kingdoms.

THE SACRED CENTRE

This title has been given by historians to the areas extending from Hampi village to Matanga Hill to its east. It is sometimes extended further northeast to the Vitthala Temple. It consists of a hilly region immediately to the south of the Tungabhadra.

VIRUPAKSHA TEMPLE

This surviving temple and temple complex is the core of the village of Hampi. Also known as the Pampapati temple, it predated the empire, and was extended between the 13th and 17th centuries. It has two courts with entrance gopurams. The main entrance with a 50-meter gopuram faces east into a ceremonial and colonnaded street, that extends for about 1 km to a monolithic statue of Nandi.

The temple is still in use now. It is dedicated to Virupaksha, an aspect of Shiva and his consort Pampa, a local deity.

HEMAKUTA HILL

The hill is situated to the south of Hampi village. It bears several small temples that predate the construction of Vijayanagara as the capital of the empire, some being as early as the 10th century. The hill was fortified when the main city was constructed, and a number of more recent temples, tanks, entrances, and gopurams exist on the hill, some of which were never completed.

KRISHNA TEMPLE

This is a ruined temple, south of Hampi and Hemakuta hill. It was built by the emperor Krishnadevaraya after military campaigns in Odisha. The temple is contained in twin enclosures. Parts of the temple and its compound have collapsed, and while some restoration has been carried out, it is generally in poor condition. There is now no image in the inner sanctuary.

LAKSHMI NARASIMHA

Also to the south of Hampi is this massive rock cut idol of Narasimha, the fierce aspect of Vishnu, 6.7 m high. Originally the idol bore a smaller image of Lakshmi on one knee; this had fallen off, probably due to vandalism. The Lakshmi statue is now in the museum at Kamalapuram.

Narasimha is depicted seated on the coils of Shesha. Shesha is shown here in a form with seven heads, the heads arching over Narasimha to form a canopy. The statue has recently been restored. The granite strap binding between his knees is a recent addition to stabilise it.

The donation of this work is ascribed to either Krishnadeva Raya, or to a wealthy merchant during his reign.

SUGRIVA`S CAVE

This is a natural cave, said to be the original home of the ape king Sugriva, where Rama is said to have met him and Hanuman on his journey . The cave is marked by coloured markings, and the attentions of pilgrims.

KODANDARAMA TEMPLE

This is situated to the east of Hampi, near the end of the colonnaded street that leads out from the Virupaksha temple. It is in the sacred centre of the city, and by a narrow point of the Tungabhadra river. This temple marks the spot where Rama crowned Sugriva. The temple is still in use, and the garbha griha contains statues of Rama, Lakshmana and Sita all carved out a single boulder.

VITTALA TEMPLE

Situated northeast of Hampi, opposite the village of Anegondi, this is one of the principal monuments of the city. It is dedicated to Vittala, an aspect of Vishnu worshipped in the Maratha country. It is believed to date from the 16th century.

In front of the temple is the world famous stone chariot or ratha. This is one of the three famous stone chariots in India, the other two being in Konark and Mahabalipuram. The wheels of the ratha can be rotated but the government cemented them to avoid the damage caused by the visitors.

One of the notable features of the Vittala Temple is the musical pillars. Each of the pillars that support the roof of the main temple is supported by a pillar representing a musical instrument, and is constructed as 7 minor pillars arranged around a main pillar. These 7 pillars, when struck, emanate the 7 notes from the representative instrument, varying in sound quality based on whether it represents a wind, string or percussion instrument.

The British wanted to check the reason behind this wonder and so they had cut two pillars to check anything was there inside the pillars that was producing the sound. They had found nothing but hollow pillars. Even today we can see those pillars cut by the British.

The road leading to the temple was once a market where the horses were traded. Even today we can see the ruins of the market on both the sides of the road. The temple contains the images of foreigners like Persians selling horses.

The temple is the venue of the annual Purandaradasa festival.

THE KING`S BALANCE

This structure, the Tulapurushandana, stands to the southwest of the Vittala temple. consists of two carved granite pillars, spanned by a carved horizontal granite transom. This was used on ceremonial days, when scales were hung from the transom, and the Raya (the emperor) was ceremonially weighed against gold or jewels. The treasure was then distributed, to Brahmins or others in the city.

THE ROYAL CENTRE

This extensive area consists of a small plateau, which starts about 2 km to the southeast of Hampi, and extends southeast, almost to the village of Kamalapuram. It is separated from the Sacred Centre by a small valley, now consisting of agricultural fields, and which carries irrigation canals or streams that join the river opposite Anegondi. A granite platform overlooks the Royal Centre. The Royal Centre contains the ruins of palaces, administrative buildings, and some temples directly associated with royalty. Little remains of the palaces except the foundations, as they were largely timber structures, for comfort. The temples and some of the other stone structures survive however, as do many of the surrounding city walls.

An aqueduct runs through much of the Royal Enclosure and into the Great Tank where water was brought for special events. The west end of the tank is overlooked by a platform shrine. The aqueduct also runs into the large stepped tank, lined in green diorite, with a geometric design that has not required restoration

RAMACHANDRA TEMPLE

The temple stands in a rectangular courtyard, with entrances facing to the east. Reliefs showing daily life and festival scenes occur on the outer walls of the courtyard. Scenes from the Ramayana occur on the inner courtyard walls, and on the temple itself. There is a well-relief of baby Krishna on the walls.

The temple may have been exclusively for royal use. It is believed to be constructed at the site of Vaali's killing in the hands of Rama. It may have been a private shrine for royalty. It is unusual in that it has four black basalt columns in the mantapa (columned hall). The inner sanctuary of the temple is now empty.

This is also known as the Hazara Rama temple (temple of a thousand Ramas), due to the recurrence of images of Rama on the walls. Sometimes it is called the Hajara Rama temple (the Rama temple in the courtyard).

UNDERGROUND SHIVA TEMPLE

The temple has a] with an antarala and Aradhamantapa and a Mahamantapa. The mahamantapa has pillared corridors that fuse with the pillared Mukhamantapa, making a larger pillared frontal Mantapa which also encloses a Dwajasthamba. The pillars of this temple are plain.

An inscription referring to this temple states that Krishnadevaraya donated Nagalapura and other villages for worship and offerings to the Gods for the merit of his parents Narsa Nayaka and Nagaji Devi.

At times the base of the temple is flooded and may be inaccessible. When it is accessible, masses of small bats may be found in the temple.

LOTUS MAHAL

Lotus Mahal, also known as Kamal Mahal or Chitrangini Mahal is situated in the Zenana Enclosure of the monuments. It is a ticketed monument and a single ticket would let you into the Zenana Enclosure covering several monuments including Elephant Stables. The term Zenana refers to the Women and Zenana Enclosure in general would refer to the Queens’ enclosure along with the servants’ quarters around and private temples.

Lotus Mahal is a two storied very symmetric structure exhibiting a fine example of Indo-Islamic architecture. The base of the structure depicts a Hindu foundation of stone just like in the temples, typical of Vijayanagara Architecture while the upper superstructure is Islamic in architecture with pyramidal towers instead of regular dome shapes, giving it a Lotus-like look, originating in the name. Also, this is one of the very few buildings that have the plaster intact though it is defaced at several places due to wear and tear, especially; the dampness on the walls is very visible. The exemplary carvings on the pillar arches including those of birds and delicate art work can be very mesmerizing, especially with the Makara Torana on top of these arches that can still be seen on some of them.

It is also believed that the Mahal or Palace was air-cooled and maintained its temperature during summer. The proof of this can be seen in the pipeline work above and between the arches.

The entire monument is surrounded by a fortifying wall which is rectangular in plan. The four corners of the fortifications have watch towers that would have been used to keep an eye on the intruders into the Womens’ chambers. While it was a very popular practice to have Eunuchs hold guards at Queens’ Palaces in the North India, especially during Moghul rule, the existence of such a practice has not come to light in the Vijayanagara kingdom and era.

How to Reach There: The Lotus Mahal is situated in the Zenana Enclosure of the Royal Center and could be reached from Hazara Rama Temple.

PUSHKARANI

Also called the Stepped Bath, or the Queen's bath, this is a stepped well designed for bathing. Such sunken wells were created to provide relief from daytime heat. It would have been covered when the city was occupied.

ELEPHANT STABLES

A set of large stables, to house the ceremonial elephants of the royal household. The area in front of them was a parade ground for the elephants, and for troops. This is another structure that shows Islamic influence in its domes and arched gateways. The guards' barracks are located right next to the elephant stables.

OTHER AREAS

Other monuments and places of interest can be found outside of the above two major centers.

A number of modern populated towns and villages lie within the extents of the original city. These include;

- Anegundi, probably the earliest settlement in the area, on the north side of the Tungabhadra River.

- Hampi, the village lies in the middle of the ruins.

- Hospet, a town and railhead, to the southwest.

- Kamalapura, a small temple town to the southeast of the Royal Centre, also houses an archaeological museum.

All of these are in Ballari district, except Anegundi, which is in Koppal district.

WIKIPEDIA

Number 113202

date created: circa 1918-1925

Extent: 1 photographic print on board (matted) : gelatin silver ; image 11 x 14 in.

This marked the southern extent of the station yard, in its fullest CK&PR days.

Gone is the CKPR (Cockermouth Keswick and Penrith Railway), firstly absorbed into the LNWR and then the LMS.

Originally a full station yard, 3 platforms, 4 tracks (one passing); quite a set up. Now a deserted platform used as part of the adjoining CKPR built railway hotel.

And now.... - just a lone platform part subsumed into the original CK&PR hotel, surrounded by a car park.

Plus of course this evidence!

(Photo taken 2006_05_24)

{IMG_0025}

Number:

164397

Date created:

1930

Extent:

1 photographic print : gelatin silver ; 7.5 x 9.5 in.

Rights:

Photograph is subject to copyright restrictions. Contact the Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives for reproduction permissions.

Subjects:

Church Home and Hospital (Baltimore, Md.). School of Nursing

Nester, Garnette Anne

Hobson, Harriet M.

Wharton, Catherine

Baker, Ida A.

Dykis, Gladys

Rogers, Mildred E.

Eckenrode, Mary Isabel

Dykis, Mary Louise

Coyner, Isabel

Aspinall, Ruth

Dunnick, D. Leona

Adreon, Sue Joyce

Seim, Lelia

Hardigen, Lola Delelia

Edmonston, Mary Eleanor

Buzzerd, Christina Elizabeth

Hartman, Martha P.

Butcher, Margaret Lucille

Rider, Lola Virginia

Lednum, Ruth A.

Thomson, Margaret Mary

Schoppert, Edna Ruth

Webb, Dorothy

Nash, Jane Evans, 1880-1955

Elliott, Margaret, 1884-1966

Nursing students--Maryland--Baltimore--1930-1940

Nurses--Maryland--Baltimore--1930-1940

Graduation ceremonies--Maryland--Baltimore--1930-1940

Nursing schools--Faculty

Group portraits

Portrait photographs

Notes:

Photographer unknown.

To what extent can media companies employ predictive analytics and other data driven approaches to improve content performance? This event, organized by NYC Media Lab and hosted by Bloomberg on February 25, fused short 5 minute presentations and discussion from startups, media companies and university researchers advancing the state of the art in a variety show intended to provoke discussion and debate on opportunities in this fast-moving field of interest.

Speakers included Brian Eoff, Lead Data Scientist, bitly; Ky Harlin, Director, Data Science, BuzzFeed; Mor Naaman, Associate Professor, Cornell Tech and Co-founder and Chief Scientist, Seen.co; Simon Smith, Senior Vice President, Platforms, News Corp; Joshua Schwartz, Lead Data Scientist, Chartbeat.com; and Lisa Strausfeld, Global Head of Data Visualization, Bloomberg LP.

Photos by Yang Jiang.

Learn more about NYC Media Lab at www.nycmedialab.org.

We managed to get to the Lake District for the Easter weekend. We were open at work on Good Friday so I had to be in at work for a couple of hours and didn’t set off until 9.00am. We had a quick café stop and then jumped on the M62. It took us until 2.00pm to get to Langdale. We crawled up the M61 and M6, reminding me why we used to avoid Bank Holiday traffic. Although staying in Ambleside we drove to Langdale to get a couple of hours walking in. Langdale was packed but we found a place to park at the foot of the pass up to Blea Tarn. We headed up Pike of Blisco – against a steady stream of walkers descending at this time in the afternoon. I didn’t bother taking photos to any great extent, it wasn’t great light, windy and the appalling weekend forecast had depressed me – this was supposed to be the best day and it was nearly over. After a nice settled spell, possibly the first in the north of England this winter (now officially British Summertime) heavy rain and gales were coming our way apparently.

Each morning I studied the maps trying to second guess the light, wind and crowds. On Saturday it was initially dry, much to our surprise, we parked in Coniston and set off up Walna Scar Road. It’s a long steep drag to the top of the pass, the cloud was down and thick, the wind was getting extreme as we got higher – and we didn’t see a soul! We were heading over Brown Pike onto Dow Crag, we weren’t likely to get lost on a ridge. By now it was raining hard and the wind was making staying upright difficult. We slid off the rocky summit of Dow Crag on our backsides, the safest way. We dropped on to Goats Hause, the wind was screaming through and but I guessed there would be some shelter if we headed for the Old Man of Coniston. We met the first person of the day here, arriving at the summit just before him. There was still winter snow on north facing slopes but the wind wasn’t as bad as Dow Crag. It was grim, 30 metre visibility and there was very little point in staying on the tops as originally planned. Jayne was up for heading straight down the tourist track through the quarries. We have only ever ascended it before but we set off down at a trot, passing some fell runners along the way. There was a steady stream of Easter trippers heading up and judging by the questions we were asked on the way down they had little idea of what they were heading in to or how far they were from the summit, and all in appalling conditions. Lower down it was quite calm and many had little idea of the severity of the conditions on the tops. The countryside was rapidly waterlogging again after the belated dry spell.

Sunday brought more very heavy rain and gales on the tops. What looked like snow had accumulated on high ground overnight. It was actually several inches of hail and was horrible underfoot, like small wet marbles but trapping a lot of water on the lower slopes below the freezing line. We parked at Patterdale and walked across slopes that the recent floods had wreaked havoc on, with a lot of remedial work to be done this summer. The plan was to get to Boardale Hause and decide whether to go high – over Place Fell – or head in to Boardale and stay low by doing a circuit of Place Fell. It was raining hard and there was a howling gale but it was behind us, the cloud had lifted a bit so we went high. The summit plateau was a nightmare, covered in slippy, wet, slushy hail with the wind nearly blowing us over. We went north straight over the top and down the other side, the top was in thick cloud but the lower slopes were clear and we legged it off the fell, descending by Scalehow Force waterfall, which was in fine form with the heavy rain. We followed the path above the shores of Ullswater back to Patterdale. Another wet walk.

Monday saw us parked a mile or so south of yesterday’s parking place in Patterdale at Bridgend. With the weather being bad people weren’t out early, even on a bank holiday, so we didn’t have a problem parking. There wasn’t a plan, we were just making it up. Today looked promising, Storm Katie was battering the rest of the country but missed the north for a change. The tops were wintry, again it was hail accumulations not snow, on the high ground it was on very old lying snow and very difficult on steep descents. We decided to take the steady slopes of Hartsop above How to Hart Crag, on to Fairfield and then hopefully over Cofa Pike on to St Sunday Crag, Birks and finally Arnison Crag. This was just less than ten miles and it turned out to be a very tough five hours, exhausting, particularly after the three previous days. A large coastguard helicopter circled us repeatedly and finally landed on the path we were following to Hart Crag, we assumed it was on an exercise. The ground was frozen above 2500 feet and walking was easier as the snow/hail was load bearing and we could yomp on a bit. It was like midwinter with frequent squally whiteouts blasting in. The wind would pick up first lifting the frozen hail in a frozen spindrift that bounced along several feet high blasting our faces, this was followed by, what was more like frozen drizzle than snow, fine, but hard, we could feel it through our clothes it came at us that hard. I decided that we would head straight over Cofa Pike to St Sunday. A mistake with hindsight. The lake of footprints was the first bad sign but we were committed. We lived to tell the tale but Jayne had a bit of a near miss. The crag down to Cofa is steep and it was covered in hail on old snow, the layer of hail was shearing away from the underlying snow and we had to go down on out backsides, keeping a tight grip as we went. At one point Jayne failed to arrest a slide that was above a steep and deep drop. I had hold of her from a position in front of her and to her left and I was fairly well anchored so I felt in control and was sure of the outcome. From her point of view it was frightening and it subdued her for the rest of the walk. She had also ripped the outer lining of her Paramo waterproof trousers as well. Considering that we were going downhill it was hard going, every step a slip or a slide, with the underlying grass saturated and a thin layer of hail it was an unpleasant walk off the fell. At the end of Arnison Crag we took a pathless shortcut – that we swore we would never use again years ago – to save around twenty minutes of walking. This was the only day I had the camera out all day and had to cover it with a dryliner bag whenever a heavy shower came in. I also broke the lens hood. We drove to Keswick for afternoon coffee and toast at Brysons. The new Paramo store across the square was the next stop for new trousers. These Paramos had cost £85 14 years ago and they have just brought a new model out. We had two choices, The old model was reduced to…..£85 – after 14 years we could pay the same price or we could return the old trousers - cleaned – and get a £50 voucher towards the new model, which are £135, or £85 with the voucher. The old ones were ¾ of a mile away in the car – unwashed – so we bought the old model. Needless to say we had a couple of drinks in the Golden Rule in Ambleside every night before our tea.

Dark side of the moon Concert, London

George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English rock musician; singer, bass guitarist, guitarist, songwriter, and composer. He is best known for his 1965–1985 career with the band Pink Floyd; he was credited as their main songwriter (after the departure of Syd Barrett), bass player and one of their lead vocalists (along with David Gilmour and, to a lesser extent, Richard Wright).

Waters was the lyrical and conceptual mastermind behind many of the band's concept albums, especially The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, The Wall, and The Final Cut, as well as being the originator of much of the band's well-known symbolism, such as the Pink Floyd pigs.

Following his split with Pink Floyd in the 1980's, he began a moderately successful solo career, releasing three studio albums and staging one of the largest concerts ever, The Wall Concert in Berlin in 1990. In 2005 he released an opera, Ça Ira, and joined Pink Floyd at the Live 8 concert in London, on 2 July 2005, for their first public performance with Waters in 24 years.

(source: wikipedia)

Thai police cadets embarked on the first-ever training on ending violence against women and girls to increase their knowledge on the nature, extent, and seriousness on crimes perpetrated against women and show commitment as change agent towards ending the global pandemic.

Following the advocacy to end violence against women supported by Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha, UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, the Office of the Attorney General and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) have joined hands with the Police Cadet Academy in organizing the Training Workshop: New Generation to End Violence against Women for the 285 third-year Police Cadet students from today and will call for 80 volunteering students to continue with the training for another two days. The training curriculum includes role of police in justice system, police as change agent, and attitude and behavioral change. The workshop is part of Thailand’s commitment to contribute to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon UNiTE Campaign to End Violence against Women.

Experiences worldwide have shown that recruitment of women police officers and resourcing of gender desks must be part of a broader strategy to train and incentivize all police to adequately respond to women’s needs. Women being present in justice services can help to enhance accountability and create a system that is responsible to women.

In Thailand, a National Survey in 2009 found that 365,230 ever-married women faced physical violence from intimate partners, especially young women aged 15-19 years. But the number of ever-partnered women facing violence against women remains unknown. Under-reporting of crimes against women is a serious problem in all regions.

Photo: UN Women/Panya Janjira

To what extent can media companies employ predictive analytics and other data driven approaches to improve content performance? This event, organized by NYC Media Lab and hosted by Bloomberg on February 25, fused short 5 minute presentations and discussion from startups, media companies and university researchers advancing the state of the art in a variety show intended to provoke discussion and debate on opportunities in this fast-moving field of interest.

Speakers included Brian Eoff, Lead Data Scientist, bitly; Ky Harlin, Director, Data Science, BuzzFeed; Mor Naaman, Associate Professor, Cornell Tech and Co-founder and Chief Scientist, Seen.co; Simon Smith, Senior Vice President, Platforms, News Corp; Joshua Schwartz, Lead Data Scientist, Chartbeat.com; and Lisa Strausfeld, Global Head of Data Visualization, Bloomberg LP.

Photos by Yang Jiang.

Learn more about NYC Media Lab at www.nycmedialab.org.

At his full extent the extending along the Black Sea coast ( Muntenia , Dobrogea in Romania ) to central Bulgaria (here named Kocadermen-Karanovo VI ) , and into Thrace . One of the most flourishing civilizations from the last half of the 5th millenium BC . Neolithic cultures in Romania , preceded with a couple hundred years, all human settlements in Sumer and ancient Egypt. The oldest -Schela Cladovei-Lepenski culture -9000 years (7000 years BC )

clasate.cimec.ro/lista.asp?order=Tip&OT=DESC&det=...

Creator: White, William Charles, 1873-1960

Title: Ploughing

Date: n.d.

Extent: 1 photograph: b&w ; (10.5x15cm)

Notes: From an album of photographs of China taken by Bishop W.C. White. Title transcribed from caption when available.

Format: Photograph

Rights Info: No known restrictions on access

Repository: Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario Canada, M5S 1A5, library.utoronto.ca/fisher

Part of: MS Coll. 32 White, William Charles Papers.

Finding Aid located at: www.library.utoronto.ca/fisher/collections/findaids/white...

To what extent can media companies employ predictive analytics and other data driven approaches to improve content performance? This event, organized by NYC Media Lab and hosted by Bloomberg on February 25, fused short 5 minute presentations and discussion from startups, media companies and university researchers advancing the state of the art in a variety show intended to provoke discussion and debate on opportunities in this fast-moving field of interest.

Speakers included Brian Eoff, Lead Data Scientist, bitly; Ky Harlin, Director, Data Science, BuzzFeed; Mor Naaman, Associate Professor, Cornell Tech and Co-founder and Chief Scientist, Seen.co; Simon Smith, Senior Vice President, Platforms, News Corp; Joshua Schwartz, Lead Data Scientist, Chartbeat.com; and Lisa Strausfeld, Global Head of Data Visualization, Bloomberg LP.

Photos by Yang Jiang.

Learn more about NYC Media Lab at www.nycmedialab.org.

To what extent can we prepare for the global shifts reshaping our world? How should we respond to digitalisation, urbanisation, resource scarcity and economic power shifts? Will futureproofing today make for a better tomorrow? The Megatrends session explored global macroeconomic and geostrategic forces that are shaping the region and our world in significant ways. It was recorded before a live audience who asked questions directly to the panelists, and was later transmitted for the EBRD podcast series. This panel aimed to expose the depth and complexity of these Megatrends which will require innovative and collaborative solutions at the local, national, regional and international levels. With the help of five well-known thought leaders, the session discussed the major trends, their drivers, opportunities and risks, as well as explored what actions might help to manage the waves of disruptive transitions.

Moderator

Jonathan Charles

Managing Director, Communications, EBRD

Speakers

Neil Buckley

Chief Leader Writer, Financial Times Ltd.

Sergei Guriev

Chief Economist, EBRD

Tim Judah

Reporter, The Economist / Fellow at IWM - Institute for Human Sciences

Alexia Latortue

Managing Director, Corporate Strategy, EBRD

Kerrie Law

Associate, Corporate Strategy, EBRD

The baths have been cleared to some extent of the debris that litters the floor. In an upstairs toilet the floor is still littered with debris and this hand dryer clings to the wall by its power cable.

Part I >> Part II >> Part III >> Part IV >> Part V >> Part VI >> Part VII >> Part VIII >> Part IX >> Part X >> Part XI >> Part XII

Abandoned Scotland Online

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Friends of the Garden Open Day 2010

From Victorian Heritage Register

Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) Number H2090

Heritage Overlay Number HO193

Extent of Registration 1. All the buildings marked as follows on Diagram 2090 held by the Executive Director.

B1 Curators Cottage

B2 Rotunda

B3 Stone shed

B4 Well & Shed

B5 Glasshouse

B6 Fernery

B7 Shed

2. All the structures marked as follows on Diagram 2090 held by the Executive Director

S1 Memorial gates

S2 Urn x2

S3 Light pole x2

S4 Fountain

S5 Rockery

S6 Urn

S7 Sundial

S8 Cannon

S9 Bridge & Lake

S10 Timber Gates

S11 Picket Fence

S12 Paths

3. All the trees marked as follows on Diagram 2090 held by the Executive Director

T1 Pinus brutia "Lone Pine"

T2 Pinus torreyana

4. All of the land known as the Warrnambool Botanic Gardens and gazetted as Crown Reserve Rs 00289, Parcel No. P040496 being CA 18A of 30A and permanently reserved as a Public Garden marked L1 on Diagram 2090 held by the Executive Director.

Statement of Significance

What is significant?

The township of Warrnambool was constituted a municipality in December 1855 and in 1858 successfully applied for a grant of £500 towards the formation of a botanical garden. A site of 10 acres near the Hopkins River was selected to the west of the cemetery reserve with an adjoining 10 acres reserved for future extension of the gardens. Charles Scoborio was appointed curator on 16 February 1859 and by this date the site had been fenced and a cottage for the curator erected.

This coastal site however proved difficult with the plants failing to thrive and it was eventually decided to select a new site in 1866. The present site of 20 acres was chosen for "its proximity to town, the undulating and romantic nature of its conformation, and the quality of its soil, or rather soils, suitable for growing almost any kind of vegetation." The site was "heavily timbered, with dense undergrowth of scrub, ferns and tussocky grass." Today remnants of the original flora still remain; Eucalyptus viminalis subsp. cygnetensis, Bursaria spinosa and Acacia melanoxylon.

In 1868 Ferdinand von Mueller, Director of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens and Government Botanist, sent a case containing 200 young pines, 50 Tamariscus and 10 Ailianthus and a parcel of seeds. The following year Charles Hortle was appointed the first gardener at the new site. In 1870 a four room cottage was erected and a well sunk. Scoborio was reappointed curator of the Gardens in July 1872 (retired in 1906) and his 1875 report included the planting of 130 Pinus insignis (now P. radiata), grubbing of blackwood trees and the planting of a Myoporum hedge around the nursery. The following year he commenced the building of a rockery near the entrance.

In 1877 William Guilfoyle who had been Director of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens for just four years and was busy redesigning the Gardens laid out by Mueller supplied the Warrnambool Council with a report and plan for a new garden layout. Guilfoyle's plan was approved on the 30 April and the plan is ".. a natural and picturesque design, having broad winding walks, pleasant lawns, with clumps of trees dotted here and there, . rockeries and a lake, . the design embraces the whole of the ground and will cause a rearrangement of beds and trees, it is not intended to interfere with the beds and rockery near the house, as they form a pleasant feature. The walks were to be 15 feet wide and islands in the lake were to be planted, one with willows and the other with tropical foliage."

A well and windmill were installed in the gardens in 1882. Construction of the lake commenced in 1884, and the rockery - enclosed fountain were all complete by 1886. Reticulated water was connected in 1890. In the 1890s a timber lattice fernery and ornamental fountain were erected and a small zoological collection was housed in the gardens reserve. The site was reserved for the purpose of a Botanic Garden in early 1897.

A cannon was relocated to the gardens in 1910 and in May 1913 a contract was let for the construction of a band rotunda and kiosk. Also during the early twentieth century three urns and a sundial were placed in the gardens, a "Lone Pine" planted in January 1934, and in 1936-39 the George V Memorial Gates were erected at the main entrance. At least three bridges have been built across the lake, the lattice fernery was rebuilt in 1985 and the Pinetum timber gates were re-erected in 1987. The Gardens contain an important collection of trees and shrubs, a pinetum, flowers beds and environments for the cultivation of large variety of plants

How is it significant?

The Warrnambool Botanic Gardens are of historical, scientific, aesthetic and social significance to the State of Victoria.

Why is it significant?

The Warrnambool Botanic Gardens are of historical significance as one of the earliest provincial botanic gardens; commencing in 1858 and in its current location since 1866. Botanic Gardens had already been established at Melbourne 1846, Geelong and Portland 1851, White Hills 1854, Williamstown 1856, Ballarat, Malmsbury and Hamilton 1857. The Gardens are important for the involvement of Charles Scoborio for a period of 34 years, provision of plants by Mueller from the Melbourne Botanic Gardens and the 1877 design by William Guilfoyle. The Gardens are the earliest known commission by Guilfoyle in regional Victoria and one of his most complete designs. Guilfoyle was appointed Director of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens in 1873 and redesigned the Melbourne Gardens over 36 years into one of the finest botanic gardens in the world and is regarded as one of Australia's greatest garden designers. He also prepared designs for other provincial botanic gardens, at Koroit and Horsham in 1880, Hamilton 1881, Camperdown 1889, and Colac 1910, and at Government House, Parliament House and a number of private gardens in western Victoria.

The Warrnambool Botanic Gardens are of aesthetic significance for the layout and planting developed to a design prepared by William Guilfoyle in 1877. Warrnambool, along with Hamilton Botanic Gardens, are the most intact of his provincial botanic gardens designs. The "Guilfoyle" landscape combines both picturesque and gardenesque styles, sweeping lawns and paths, water features, structures, botanical collections specimen trees and shrubberies, and extensive use of subtropical species and bold and strap foliage plants. The layout is an outstanding response to the sloping site, featuring broad lawns dotted with trees and dense shrubberies, internal and external vistas, views to the lake, and carefully located buildings and structures to form a design of outstanding quality. The curator's residence, gates, fountain and rockery, urns, bridge, lake and islands, rotunda and curving asphalt paths are key elements in the garden design. The Gardens are of outstanding beauty with seasonal change and contrasting plant forms and foliage, all combining to form an attractive landscape enclosed within a perimeter planting of pines and cypress.

The Warrnambool Botanic Gardens are of scientific significance for their extensive collection of trees and shrubs, succulents, bulbs, perennials and annuals. The planting retains remnants of the original flora; three old Eucalyptus viminalis subsp. cygnetensis, a Bursaria spinosa and a few Acacia melanoxylon. The planting includes an important Pinetum occurs at the western end, a conifer windbreak around the perimeter; a fernery planted with flora of the Otway Ranges; water plants in the lake; a bamboo collection, and a nursery and orchard. In the Pinetum is Victoria's largest and a rarely cultivated Soledad Pine (Pinus torreyana). The "Lone Pine" (Pinus brutia) planted in 1934 is one of four original Lone Pines in Victoria; the other trees occurring at the Shrine of Remembrance, Wattle Park and The Sisters memorial hall. This tree also has historical and social significance.

The Warrnambool Botanic Gardens are of social significance for their long association with the community, tourists and students. The Gardens are highly valued for their role in landscape, botanical and horticultural education. They continue to be an important venue for major public events, musical performances and official celebrations.

To what extent can media companies employ predictive analytics and other data driven approaches to improve content performance? This event, organized by NYC Media Lab and hosted by Bloomberg on February 25, fused short 5 minute presentations and discussion from startups, media companies and university researchers advancing the state of the art in a variety show intended to provoke discussion and debate on opportunities in this fast-moving field of interest.

Speakers included Brian Eoff, Lead Data Scientist, bitly; Ky Harlin, Director, Data Science, BuzzFeed; Mor Naaman, Associate Professor, Cornell Tech and Co-founder and Chief Scientist, Seen.co; Simon Smith, Senior Vice President, Platforms, News Corp; Joshua Schwartz, Lead Data Scientist, Chartbeat.com; and Lisa Strausfeld, Global Head of Data Visualization, Bloomberg LP.

Photos by Yang Jiang.

Learn more about NYC Media Lab at www.nycmedialab.org.

"Construction was started in 1861 and proceeded in phases, with some sections opening before others had even begun construction. The original extent of the building was completed in 1888. It was designed by civil engineer Captain Francis Fowke of the Royal Engineers, who is also responsible for the Royal Albert Hall. The exterior, designed in a Venetian Renaissance style, contrasts sharply with the light-flooded main hall or Grand Gallery, inspired by The Crystal Palace.

Numerous extensions at the rear of the building, particularly in the 1930s, extended the museum greatly. 1998 saw the opening of the Museum of Scotland, which is linked internally to the Royal Museum building. The major redevelopment completed in 2011 by Gareth Hoskins Architects uses former storage areas to form a vaulted Entrance Hall of 1400 sq M at street level with visitor facilities. This involved lowering the floor level by 1.2 metres. Despite being a Class A listed building, it was possible to add lifts and escalators.

The Old Town (Scots: Auld Toun) is the name popularly given to the oldest part of Scotland's capital city of Edinburgh. The area has preserved much of its medieval street plan and many Reformation-era buildings. Together with the 18th/19th-century New Town, it forms part of a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Edinburgh (/ˈɛdɪnbərə/; Scots: Edinburgh; Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Èideann [ˈt̪uːn ˈeːtʲən̪ˠ]) is the capital of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the Firth of Forth's southern shore.

Recognised as the capital of Scotland since at least the 15th century, Edinburgh is the seat of the Scottish Government, the Scottish Parliament and the supreme courts of Scotland. The city's Palace of Holyroodhouse is the official residence of the monarch in Scotland. The city has long been a centre of education, particularly in the fields of medicine, Scots law, literature, philosophy, the sciences and engineering. It is the second largest financial centre in the United Kingdom (after London) and the city's historical and cultural attractions have made it the United Kingdom's second most visited tourist destination attracting 4.9 million visits including 2.4 million from overseas in 2018.

Edinburgh is Scotland's second most populous city and the seventh most populous in the United Kingdom. The official population estimates are 488,050 (2016) for the Locality of Edinburgh (Edinburgh pre 1975 regionalisation plus Currie and Balerno), 518,500 (2018) for the City of Edinburgh, and 1,339,380 (2014) for the city region. Edinburgh lies at the heart of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland city region comprising East Lothian, Edinburgh, Fife, Midlothian, Scottish Borders and West Lothian.

The city is the annual venue of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. It is home to national institutions such as the National Museum of Scotland, the National Library of Scotland and the Scottish National Gallery. The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1582 and now one of four in the city, is placed 20th in the QS World University Rankings for 2020. The city is also known for the Edinburgh International Festival and the Fringe, the latter being the world's largest annual international arts festival. Historic sites in Edinburgh include Edinburgh Castle, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the churches of St. Giles, Greyfriars and the Canongate, and the extensive Georgian New Town built in the 18th/19th centuries. Edinburgh's Old Town and New Town together are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, which has been managed by Edinburgh World Heritage since 1999." - info from Wikipedia.

Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.

Now on Instagram.

Become a patron to my photography on Patreon.

Map illustrating the extent of coastal eutrophication and hypoxia in Asia and the Middle East. Each point represents an individual system experiencing either primary or secondary eutrophication symptoms, hypoxic (low oxygen) conditions in the water column, or where conditions are considered to be improving.

Extent of development to Highbury Corner roundabout and its effect on the north end of the townhouses of Compton Terrace.

To what extent can media companies employ predictive analytics and other data driven approaches to improve content performance? This event, organized by NYC Media Lab and hosted by Bloomberg on February 25, fused short 5 minute presentations and discussion from startups, media companies and university researchers advancing the state of the art in a variety show intended to provoke discussion and debate on opportunities in this fast-moving field of interest.

Speakers included Brian Eoff, Lead Data Scientist, bitly; Ky Harlin, Director, Data Science, BuzzFeed; Mor Naaman, Associate Professor, Cornell Tech and Co-founder and Chief Scientist, Seen.co; Simon Smith, Senior Vice President, Platforms, News Corp; Joshua Schwartz, Lead Data Scientist, Chartbeat.com; and Lisa Strausfeld, Global Head of Data Visualization, Bloomberg LP.

Photos by Yang Jiang.

Learn more about NYC Media Lab at www.nycmedialab.org.

Urban extents illustrate the shape and area of urbanized places. Urbanized localities are defined as places with with 5,000 or more inhabitants that are delineated by stable night-time lights. For poorly lit areas, alternate sources are used to estimate the extent of cities.

A [ very ] potted history........

In 1902 the first electric tram route opened in Bournemouth and ran between the Lansdowne and Pokesdown.

Owned and operated by Bournemouth Corporation further routes quickly followed and in a few short years Bournemouth trams were also running to Christchurch and Poole.

By 1906 the system had reached its full extent although Sunday trams didn't run until 1913, and that was an afternoon service only, initially.

On 1st May 1908 a tram crashed in Avenue Rd as it made its way down from The Triangle to The Square killing seven people and seriously injuring twenty six.

The trams ran on steel tracks and got their power supply via overhead cables although parts of the system near the town centre used a conduit system where the power cables were buried underground so that there were no unsightly overhead cables. The sections of the conduit system were replaced with overhead cables by 1910.

The main depot was built in Southcote Rd in 1902 and had its own power station to supply electricity to the tram system. The depot closed in 1965 and is now used as a Council depot.

In 1905 a smaller depot was built next to the Bell Inn [ now The Seabournes ] opposite Pokesdown station. It closed in 1969 and became a second hand furniture warehouse before being demolished and replaced by housing in the mid 1990s.

In 1911 another similar depot opened on Wimborne Rd in Moordown, it closed in 1953 and was used by the Post Office amongst others until it was demolished and replaced by a retail unit in the late 1980s.

In the first half of the 1930s the trams were replaced by electric trolleybuses that also got their power from overhead cables but offered slightly more maneuverability as they did not run on tracks.

In 1951 a new depot was opened in Mallard Rd at Strouden Park in the north of the town. The depot was constructed on the site of Strouden Farm where the Council used to keep their work horses.

As part of the new depot a garage with a distinctive humped roof line was constructed. The roof was made from what was at the time the longest span of pre-stressed concrete in the country, which meant that the 300ft x 150 ft structure didn't need any supporting pillars inside. This feature has led to the garage being grade 2 listed which meant that when the depot became the Mallard Rd retail park in 2007 the garage had to be retained and so it became a Homebase DIY superstore.

The trolleybuses were officially retired in April 1969 when a final procession took place through local streets, after which they were superceded by the diesel engined bus.

In the early 1980s the company became officially known as Yellow Buses, a name used by locals for many years.

Bournemouth Council continued to own and operate the company when, in the mid 1980s, a Transport Act was passed that meant that the Council could no longer run the company directly and had to do so as a 'private' company via a board of directors. Making a profit became paramount although this was made more difficult as the Act also opened up the system to competition from rival companies.

In 2005 the company was sold to Transdev, a French company, and in early March 2006 they moved from Mallard Rd to a new depot in Yeomans Way behind the Castlepoint shopping centre.

The Mallard Rd site became a retail park in 2007.

In 2011 Transdev Yellow Buses were sold to the RAPT Group, another giant European public transport company.

RECOMMENDED FURTHER READING......

Glory Days- Bournemouth Transport by Colin Morris [ ISBN 0-7110-2877-X ].

Bournemouth Trolleybuses by Malcolm N Pearce [ ISBN 1 901706 10 9 ].

Yellow Buses website www.bybus.co.uk/about-us/history

Extent of works being undertaken in the Backwater Channel.

Gungaderra Grasslands Nature Reserve is a 297-hectare temperate grassland protected area which includes a 1.9 km stretch of Gungaderra Creek and rises to the wooded Gungahlin Hill at 652 m above sea level. The reserve lies about halfway between Lake Burley Griffin and the northern tip of the ACT.

The grassland contains two dominant Eucalypt species; E. Rossii ["scribbly gum"] and E. mannifera ["brittle gum"].

Although small in areal extent, it also provides an important residual habitat for:

[1] a relatively large remnant of critically endangered Natural Temperate Grassland;

[ii] the largest known population of the vulnerable Striped Legless Lizard (Delma impar);

[iii] a large population of the rare Key's Matchstick Grasshopper (Keyacris scurra);

[iv] one of few known habitats of the vulnerable Perunga Grasshopper (Perunga ochracea);

[v] a small population of the endangered Golden Sun Moth (Synemon plana);

[vi] several rare plant species, including

30 hectares of critically endangered Yellow Box–Blakely's Red Gum Grassy Woodland on Gungahlin Hill,;

[vii] providing important habitat for rare and threatened woodland birds

From Victorian Heritage Register

Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) Number H2090

Heritage Overlay Number HO193

Extent of Registration 1. All the buildings marked as follows on Diagram 2090 held by the Executive Director.

B1 Curators Cottage

B2 Rotunda

B3 Stone shed

B4 Well & Shed

B5 Glasshouse

B6 Fernery

B7 Shed

2. All the structures marked as follows on Diagram 2090 held by the Executive Director

S1 Memorial gates

S2 Urn x2

S3 Light pole x2

S4 Fountain

S5 Rockery

S6 Urn

S7 Sundial

S8 Cannon

S9 Bridge & Lake

S10 Timber Gates

S11 Picket Fence

S12 Paths

3. All the trees marked as follows on Diagram 2090 held by the Executive Director

T1 Pinus brutia "Lone Pine"

T2 Pinus torreyana

4. All of the land known as the Warrnambool Botanic Gardens and gazetted as Crown Reserve Rs 00289, Parcel No. P040496 being CA 18A of 30A and permanently reserved as a Public Garden marked L1 on Diagram 2090 held by the Executive Director.

Statement of Significance

What is significant?

The township of Warrnambool was constituted a municipality in December 1855 and in 1858 successfully applied for a grant of £500 towards the formation of a botanical garden. A site of 10 acres near the Hopkins River was selected to the west of the cemetery reserve with an adjoining 10 acres reserved for future extension of the gardens. Charles Scoborio was appointed curator on 16 February 1859 and by this date the site had been fenced and a cottage for the curator erected.

This coastal site however proved difficult with the plants failing to thrive and it was eventually decided to select a new site in 1866. The present site of 20 acres was chosen for "its proximity to town, the undulating and romantic nature of its conformation, and the quality of its soil, or rather soils, suitable for growing almost any kind of vegetation." The site was "heavily timbered, with dense undergrowth of scrub, ferns and tussocky grass." Today remnants of the original flora still remain; Eucalyptus viminalis subsp. cygnetensis, Bursaria spinosa and Acacia melanoxylon.

In 1868 Ferdinand von Mueller, Director of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens and Government Botanist, sent a case containing 200 young pines, 50 Tamariscus and 10 Ailianthus and a parcel of seeds. The following year Charles Hortle was appointed the first gardener at the new site. In 1870 a four room cottage was erected and a well sunk. Scoborio was reappointed curator of the Gardens in July 1872 (retired in 1906) and his 1875 report included the planting of 130 Pinus insignis (now P. radiata), grubbing of blackwood trees and the planting of a Myoporum hedge around the nursery. The following year he commenced the building of a rockery near the entrance.

In 1877 William Guilfoyle who had been Director of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens for just four years and was busy redesigning the Gardens laid out by Mueller supplied the Warrnambool Council with a report and plan for a new garden layout. Guilfoyle's plan was approved on the 30 April and the plan is ".. a natural and picturesque design, having broad winding walks, pleasant lawns, with clumps of trees dotted here and there, . rockeries and a lake, . the design embraces the whole of the ground and will cause a rearrangement of beds and trees, it is not intended to interfere with the beds and rockery near the house, as they form a pleasant feature. The walks were to be 15 feet wide and islands in the lake were to be planted, one with willows and the other with tropical foliage."

A well and windmill were installed in the gardens in 1882. Construction of the lake commenced in 1884, and the rockery - enclosed fountain were all complete by 1886. Reticulated water was connected in 1890. In the 1890s a timber lattice fernery and ornamental fountain were erected and a small zoological collection was housed in the gardens reserve. The site was reserved for the purpose of a Botanic Garden in early 1897.

A cannon was relocated to the gardens in 1910 and in May 1913 a contract was let for the construction of a band rotunda and kiosk. Also during the early twentieth century three urns and a sundial were placed in the gardens, a "Lone Pine" planted in January 1934, and in 1936-39 the George V Memorial Gates were erected at the main entrance. At least three bridges have been built across the lake, the lattice fernery was rebuilt in 1985 and the Pinetum timber gates were re-erected in 1987. The Gardens contain an important collection of trees and shrubs, a pinetum, flowers beds and environments for the cultivation of large variety of plants

How is it significant?

The Warrnambool Botanic Gardens are of historical, scientific, aesthetic and social significance to the State of Victoria.

Why is it significant?

The Warrnambool Botanic Gardens are of historical significance as one of the earliest provincial botanic gardens; commencing in 1858 and in its current location since 1866. Botanic Gardens had already been established at Melbourne 1846, Geelong and Portland 1851, White Hills 1854, Williamstown 1856, Ballarat, Malmsbury and Hamilton 1857. The Gardens are important for the involvement of Charles Scoborio for a period of 34 years, provision of plants by Mueller from the Melbourne Botanic Gardens and the 1877 design by William Guilfoyle. The Gardens are the earliest known commission by Guilfoyle in regional Victoria and one of his most complete designs. Guilfoyle was appointed Director of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens in 1873 and redesigned the Melbourne Gardens over 36 years into one of the finest botanic gardens in the world and is regarded as one of Australia's greatest garden designers. He also prepared designs for other provincial botanic gardens, at Koroit and Horsham in 1880, Hamilton 1881, Camperdown 1889, and Colac 1910, and at Government House, Parliament House and a number of private gardens in western Victoria.

The Warrnambool Botanic Gardens are of aesthetic significance for the layout and planting developed to a design prepared by William Guilfoyle in 1877. Warrnambool, along with Hamilton Botanic Gardens, are the most intact of his provincial botanic gardens designs. The "Guilfoyle" landscape combines both picturesque and gardenesque styles, sweeping lawns and paths, water features, structures, botanical collections specimen trees and shrubberies, and extensive use of subtropical species and bold and strap foliage plants. The layout is an outstanding response to the sloping site, featuring broad lawns dotted with trees and dense shrubberies, internal and external vistas, views to the lake, and carefully located buildings and structures to form a design of outstanding quality. The curator's residence, gates, fountain and rockery, urns, bridge, lake and islands, rotunda and curving asphalt paths are key elements in the garden design. The Gardens are of outstanding beauty with seasonal change and contrasting plant forms and foliage, all combining to form an attractive landscape enclosed within a perimeter planting of pines and cypress.

The Warrnambool Botanic Gardens are of scientific significance for their extensive collection of trees and shrubs, succulents, bulbs, perennials and annuals. The planting retains remnants of the original flora; three old Eucalyptus viminalis subsp. cygnetensis, a Bursaria spinosa and a few Acacia melanoxylon. The planting includes an important Pinetum occurs at the western end, a conifer windbreak around the perimeter; a fernery planted with flora of the Otway Ranges; water plants in the lake; a bamboo collection, and a nursery and orchard. In the Pinetum is Victoria's largest and a rarely cultivated Soledad Pine (Pinus torreyana). The "Lone Pine" (Pinus brutia) planted in 1934 is one of four original Lone Pines in Victoria; the other trees occurring at the Shrine of Remembrance, Wattle Park and The Sisters memorial hall. This tree also has historical and social significance.

The Warrnambool Botanic Gardens are of social significance for their long association with the community, tourists and students. The Gardens are highly valued for their role in landscape, botanical and horticultural education. They continue to be an important venue for major public events, musical performances and official celebrations.

Unidentified. At peak of Mt. Tamalpais.

CC0 waiver: To the extent possible under law, I waive all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this work.

To what extent can media companies employ predictive analytics and other data driven approaches to improve content performance? This event, organized by NYC Media Lab and hosted by Bloomberg on February 25, fused short 5 minute presentations and discussion from startups, media companies and university researchers advancing the state of the art in a variety show intended to provoke discussion and debate on opportunities in this fast-moving field of interest.

Speakers included Brian Eoff, Lead Data Scientist, bitly; Ky Harlin, Director, Data Science, BuzzFeed; Mor Naaman, Associate Professor, Cornell Tech and Co-founder and Chief Scientist, Seen.co; Simon Smith, Senior Vice President, Platforms, News Corp; Joshua Schwartz, Lead Data Scientist, Chartbeat.com; and Lisa Strausfeld, Global Head of Data Visualization, Bloomberg LP.

Photos by Yang Jiang.

Learn more about NYC Media Lab at www.nycmedialab.org.

Number:

178525

Date created:

1947

Extent:

1 photographic print : gelatin silver ; 7.5 x 9.5 in.

Description:

Front row: 1) Burbank; 2) [unknown]; 3) Greenhood; 4) Childs; 5) Park; 6) Dormont; 7) Palmer; 8) Sheldon; 9) Doyle.

Second row: 1) Cosby; 2) Currie; 3) Seidel; 4) [unknown]; 5) Bowers; 6) Bass; 7) Briscoe; 8) McPherson.

Back row: 1) Powers; 2) Chisolm; 3) Spencer; 4) Young; 5) Crigler; 6) Hampson; 7) Ryan; 8) Martin; 9) Rosenzweig.

Rights:

Photograph is subject to copyright restrictions. Contact the Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives for reproduction permissions.

Subjects:

Johns Hopkins Hospital. Department of Pediatrics--People

Burbank, Sylvia J.

Greenhood, Herbert

Childs, Barton

Peck, John L. Jr.

Dormont, Richard E.

Palmer, George S. Sr.

Sheldon, Albert J.

Doyle, Eugenie F.

Cosby, Lewis F. Jr.

Powers, Hugh W. S. Jr.

Currie, Gordon D.

Chisolm, J. Julian Jr.

Spencer, William A.

Young, Theodore E.

Crigler, John F. Jr.

Bowers, Ruth W. P.

Hampson, John L.

Ryan, John J.

Martin, Geoffrey M.

Briscoe, Philip

Rosenzweig, Leonard F.

McPherson, Thomas C.

Seidel, Henry M.

Bass, Lee W.

Pediatricians

Group portraits

Portrait photographs

Notes: Photographer unknown.

To what extent the original house survives is not clear, but some evidence suggests that the symmetrical five-bay block facing south contains the shell of the Georgian dwelling.

Number:

179810

Date created:

1963

Extent:

1 photographic print : gelatin silver ; 7.5 x 9.5 in.

Description:

Front row, from left to right: 1) Morris; 2) Powell; 3) Cooke; 4) Levin; 5) Evans; 6) Flynn; 7) Forman.

Second row, from left to right: 1) S. Cohen; 2) Sloan; 3) Harsin; 4) Butenandt; 5) Verral; 6) Haslam.

Third row, form left to right: 1) Honig; 2) Rosenstein; 3) Coen; 4) Schneider; 5) Kaufman.

Fourth row, from left to right: 1) Mahoney; 2) Katz; 3) Mize; 4) Lyne.

Fifth row, fromleft to right: 1) Kregenow; 2) Elliott; 3) Siner.

Rights:

Photograph is subject to copyright restrictions. Contact the Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives for reproduction permissions.

Subjects:

Johns Hopkins Hospital. Department of Pediatrics--People

Morris, William H. Jr.

Powell, Gerald M.D.

Cooke, Robert E.

Levin, Sidney

Evans, Hugh E.

Flynn, Thomas G.

Forman, Edwin N.

Cohen, Sanford N.

Sloan, Howard R.

Harwin, S. Martin

Butenandt, Otfrid K. W.

Verral, Virginia A.

Haslam, Robert H.

Honig, George R.

Rosenstein, Beryl J.

Coen, Stanley J.

Schneider, Jerry A.

Kaufman, Sharon L.

Mahoney, Maurice J.

Katz, Harvey P.

Mize, Charles E.

Lyne, E. Dennis (Everett Dennis)

Kregenow, Floyd M.

Elliott, Donald A.

Siner, Myron

Pediatricians

Group portraits

Portrait photographs

Notes: Photographer unknown.

Sometimes, when you enter a church, it has been so heavily restored, it is almost impossible to tell whether the church is ancient or not, so total has the restoration been.

And that was the case with St Michael's, an impressive building, one with structural issues as the southern wall of the nave is leaning at an alarming angle, but seems stable enough.

Most of the stained glass windows are suffering from rather dramatic sun damage and fading, to the extent they look very poor indeed.

But as ever, the welcome we received was warm, and we were told the history of the church as we walked around.

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

St Michael’s Church is an Anglican place of worship situated on Bailiffgate in the town of Alnwick in Northumberland, England. The current building dates from the 15th century but a 12th century Norman chapel stood on the site prior to this, reports of an earlier 8th century Saxon chapel are unconfirmed. The church is dedicated to St Michael the Archangel, in earlier times it was also dedicated to St Mary as well. It is a Grade I listed building which is included in the book “England‘s Thousand Best Churches”.

The first written mention of a church on the site is found in a charter of 1147 in which Eustace fitz John endowed the newly founded Alnwick Abbey with various gifts including the Chapel of Alnwick. Very few remnants of this Norman chapel are visible in the present day church, some surviving stones with a diaper pattern are built into the chancel. The 1863 restoration revealed some buried basements of pillars in the late Norman style of architecture which existed in the first half of the 12th century. Old foundations were also exposed by the 1863 restoration which confirmed that the Norman chapel had a long, narrow nave and a small apse. The church suffered severe damage from Scottish raids during the first half of the 14th century during the Wars of Scottish Independence. The second half of the century saw repair work undertaken which saw the present nave built and the addition of the north aisle as well as the construction of the north wall all in the Decorated style

The 15th century saw the majority of the present day church built, evidence suggest that the old church was in a ruinous state by this time. Towards the end of the 14th century the Decorated style of architecture was replaced by the Perpendicular style and it is in this design that most of the new church was built. Financial aid for the rebuild came directly from the monarch King Henry VI who issued a charter in 1464 granting the Burgesses of Alnwick a port at Alnmouth with tolls on exports from it, plus a fair and market at Alnwick that besides doing other work they might “make and repair their church”. The substantial money brought in from this Royal grant enabled the Burgesses of Alnwick to turn St Michael’s into one of the finest examples of the Perpendicular style of architecture in the north. The highlight of the 15th century work was the impressive and spacious chancel with its octagonal pillars which are elaborately sculptured.

There were no further changes to the church until the latter years of the 18th century when Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumberland after renovating Alnwick Castle, repaired the chancel using his own architect Vincent Shepherd (1750-1812) assisted by Italian craftsmen. The work included a new window in the middle of the east end, a fan vaulted plaster ceiling and oak stalls for the Duke and his family. A revival in church attendance in the early part of the 19th century led to a statement in 1811 by the church councillors that accommodation was insufficient. As a result of this, a sum of £2,000 was spent in 1818 increasing the capacity to 1,200, this was achieved by removing the small galleries and adding a large one at the west end. Funds for this project came from a large donation from Hugh Percy, 3rd Duke of Northumberland, other money was raised through the church rates and the sale of seats.

When Algernon Percy, 4th Duke of Northumberland was restoring Alnwick Castle between 1854 and 1865 he agreed to finance the restoration of St Michael’s. The restoration started in 1863 and was overseen by Anthony Salvin who was also directing the work on the castle. Salvin swept away many of the mistakes of the two previous restorations, removing the plaster ceilings and the gallery. He strengthened some areas of the church and reinstated four pillars and the pointed arches to the nave which had been removed in the 1818 renewal, he also replaced some of the Decorated windows with ones in the Perpendicular style. The chancel aisle was filled with oak pews donated by the Duke.

One of the most eye catching exterior items is at the south east corner where there is an unusual lookout turret which was used to warn of raiders during the border conflicts. The turret was used in conjunction with Heiferlaw Peel tower, four miles to the north, which had a wide view of the borders and gave an early warning of any attack. The turret was again utilised in the early part of the 19th century when a landing by Napoleon’s army was feared and a series of beacons were set up around the country. The main tower stands at the west end of the church on foundations which go 30 to 40 feet below the surface, it is squat looking with battlements.

The interior features two statues which were dug up from the foundations during the 1818 restoration, they were minus the heads and have modern replacements. One is of Henry VI and the other one is either Saint Sebastian or Maurice, a local saint martyred by the Danes. There are several Medieval grave slabs built into the wall, the oldest of these dates from the 13th century. Below the west window is the modern font made from Kilkenny blue-black limestone by David Edwick of Hexham, it was a gift for the new millennium. A small window to the right of the west window has fragments of medieval glass from the 14th century within it. The rest of the stained glass comes from the 19th century and contains what is described by Nikolaus Pevsner as “an uncommonly complete and enlightening survey of 19th century glass”; it includes work by well-known makers Clayton and Bell, Lavers and Barraud, James Powell and Sons and Ward and Hughes. The east end of the church features St Catherine’s Chapel and the altar. The chapel has an interesting pillar featuring the Percy and de Vesci arms and a carving of St Catherine and the wheel on which she was martyred, it is called the Hotspur Capital and remembers Harry Hotspur, the famous warrior and son of the First Earl.

www.alnwickanglican.com/history/

A picture can, apparently, paint 1000 words, and while that may to some extent depend on the image in question, there is enough of interest in this seemingly utilitarian view of Worcester Foregate Street station to inspire an effort. Not least, of course, the train, in this case one of West Midland Railways’ Class 172 Turbostars.

The British Rail Class 172 was built by Bombardier Transportation's Derby Litchurch Lane Works for use on inner-suburban passenger services. The class is currently operated solely by West Midlands Railway, the non-gangwayed 172/0s and 172/1s having been taken over from London Overground and Chiltern Railways respectively during a fraught period of exchanges that saw Tyseley’s allocation of 150s consigned to Northern, and its 153s spread to the four winds. None of this impacted upon the 172/2s and 172/3s, which have been passing through Birmingham’s Moor Street and Snow Hill since their introduction to service in 2011. West Midlands Trains operate a total of 39 two-car and three-car units, 27 of which had been ordered by predecessor London Midland, who originally planned for them to enter service by the end of 2010 on services to and from Birmingham Snow Hill, replacing Class 150s. From 1st September 2011, the units started operating on the Snow Hill Lines with some weekend work between Birmingham and Hereford. The Class 172 sets are lighter than other Turbostars due to use of the Bombardier FLEXX-ECO bogies - a development of the B5000 bogies used on the Class 220 Voyager, rather than the previous 'Series 3' bogies. Another difference is that they have half-height, as opposed to the more standard full height, airdams. They also differ from earlier Turbostars in having mechanical transmission rather than hydraulic, as a result of which gear changes can be distinctly heard as the trains accelerate and decelerate.

The 172 is working as 1V28, the 13.50 Birmingham New Street to Hereford, and is running into Platform 2. The station layout is unusual in that travelling east the two platforms serve different routes, rather than different directions. Platform 1 can only be accessed by trains via Worcester Shrub Hill (including trains to and from London Paddington and via Cheltenham Spa towards the southwest), while Platform 2 can only be accessed from the east by trains running directly to and from Droitwich Spa, avoiding Shrub Hill. This means that Great Western Railway services can only stop at Platform 1, as all these trains stop at Shrub Hill. The station, although a fraction of the size, actually sees more traffic than Shrub Hill, but is nothing like as photogenic. The curved platforms don’t help the photographer, and as the station is built on a viaduct, space for expansion is restricted. Despite its small size, the remains of two signal boxes can be seen, one spanning the tracks and the second now the station cafe.

The station opened on 17th May 1860. It was originally part of the Hereford and Worcester Railway, which was incorporated into the West Midland Railway, before being absorbed by the Great Western Railway. Foregate Street has rejoiced in its unusual layout since 1973, being essentially two single-track lines side by side rather than the ordinary double-track layout that it appears to be. The two single lines run from Henwick, on the other side of the River Severn, through Foregate Street, to the site of the former Rainbow Hill Junction to the east of the station, which used to provide a crossover between the two tracks. At this point the lines diverge with that on the north side heading towards Tunnel Junction and Droitwich Spa, while the southern track leads to Worcester Shrub Hill. Rainbow Hill Junction was removed when the signalling in the area was remodelled in 1973. The station was upgraded in 2014, which included a refurbished subway, two new entrances with automatic doors, relocation of the lift at the second entrance to be enclosed in the station building, and conversion of one of the railway arches into a bike shelter. The bridge was also strengthened and repainted

The green heights in the background are part of the Rainbow Hill district of Worcester, under which the lines towards Droitwich pass through the appropriately-named Rainbow Hill Tunnel, a modest bore of some 120 meters. Rainbow Hill, an electoral Ward within the constituency of Worcester, boasts an impressive Masonic Centre, but is sadly better known further afield for a particularly grisly triple murder in the 1970s.

Friends of the Garden Open Day 2010

From Victorian Heritage Register

Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) Number H2090

Heritage Overlay Number HO193

Extent of Registration 1. All the buildings marked as follows on Diagram 2090 held by the Executive Director.

B1 Curators Cottage

B2 Rotunda

B3 Stone shed

B4 Well & Shed

B5 Glasshouse

B6 Fernery

B7 Shed

2. All the structures marked as follows on Diagram 2090 held by the Executive Director

S1 Memorial gates

S2 Urn x2

S3 Light pole x2

S4 Fountain

S5 Rockery

S6 Urn

S7 Sundial

S8 Cannon

S9 Bridge & Lake

S10 Timber Gates

S11 Picket Fence

S12 Paths

3. All the trees marked as follows on Diagram 2090 held by the Executive Director

T1 Pinus brutia "Lone Pine"

T2 Pinus torreyana

4. All of the land known as the Warrnambool Botanic Gardens and gazetted as Crown Reserve Rs 00289, Parcel No. P040496 being CA 18A of 30A and permanently reserved as a Public Garden marked L1 on Diagram 2090 held by the Executive Director.

Statement of Significance

What is significant?

The township of Warrnambool was constituted a municipality in December 1855 and in 1858 successfully applied for a grant of £500 towards the formation of a botanical garden. A site of 10 acres near the Hopkins River was selected to the west of the cemetery reserve with an adjoining 10 acres reserved for future extension of the gardens. Charles Scoborio was appointed curator on 16 February 1859 and by this date the site had been fenced and a cottage for the curator erected.

This coastal site however proved difficult with the plants failing to thrive and it was eventually decided to select a new site in 1866. The present site of 20 acres was chosen for "its proximity to town, the undulating and romantic nature of its conformation, and the quality of its soil, or rather soils, suitable for growing almost any kind of vegetation." The site was "heavily timbered, with dense undergrowth of scrub, ferns and tussocky grass." Today remnants of the original flora still remain; Eucalyptus viminalis subsp. cygnetensis, Bursaria spinosa and Acacia melanoxylon.

In 1868 Ferdinand von Mueller, Director of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens and Government Botanist, sent a case containing 200 young pines, 50 Tamariscus and 10 Ailianthus and a parcel of seeds. The following year Charles Hortle was appointed the first gardener at the new site. In 1870 a four room cottage was erected and a well sunk. Scoborio was reappointed curator of the Gardens in July 1872 (retired in 1906) and his 1875 report included the planting of 130 Pinus insignis (now P. radiata), grubbing of blackwood trees and the planting of a Myoporum hedge around the nursery. The following year he commenced the building of a rockery near the entrance.

In 1877 William Guilfoyle who had been Director of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens for just four years and was busy redesigning the Gardens laid out by Mueller supplied the Warrnambool Council with a report and plan for a new garden layout. Guilfoyle's plan was approved on the 30 April and the plan is ".. a natural and picturesque design, having broad winding walks, pleasant lawns, with clumps of trees dotted here and there, . rockeries and a lake, . the design embraces the whole of the ground and will cause a rearrangement of beds and trees, it is not intended to interfere with the beds and rockery near the house, as they form a pleasant feature. The walks were to be 15 feet wide and islands in the lake were to be planted, one with willows and the other with tropical foliage."

A well and windmill were installed in the gardens in 1882. Construction of the lake commenced in 1884, and the rockery - enclosed fountain were all complete by 1886. Reticulated water was connected in 1890. In the 1890s a timber lattice fernery and ornamental fountain were erected and a small zoological collection was housed in the gardens reserve. The site was reserved for the purpose of a Botanic Garden in early 1897.

A cannon was relocated to the gardens in 1910 and in May 1913 a contract was let for the construction of a band rotunda and kiosk. Also during the early twentieth century three urns and a sundial were placed in the gardens, a "Lone Pine" planted in January 1934, and in 1936-39 the George V Memorial Gates were erected at the main entrance. At least three bridges have been built across the lake, the lattice fernery was rebuilt in 1985 and the Pinetum timber gates were re-erected in 1987. The Gardens contain an important collection of trees and shrubs, a pinetum, flowers beds and environments for the cultivation of large variety of plants

How is it significant?

The Warrnambool Botanic Gardens are of historical, scientific, aesthetic and social significance to the State of Victoria.

Why is it significant?

The Warrnambool Botanic Gardens are of historical significance as one of the earliest provincial botanic gardens; commencing in 1858 and in its current location since 1866. Botanic Gardens had already been established at Melbourne 1846, Geelong and Portland 1851, White Hills 1854, Williamstown 1856, Ballarat, Malmsbury and Hamilton 1857. The Gardens are important for the involvement of Charles Scoborio for a period of 34 years, provision of plants by Mueller from the Melbourne Botanic Gardens and the 1877 design by William Guilfoyle. The Gardens are the earliest known commission by Guilfoyle in regional Victoria and one of his most complete designs. Guilfoyle was appointed Director of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens in 1873 and redesigned the Melbourne Gardens over 36 years into one of the finest botanic gardens in the world and is regarded as one of Australia's greatest garden designers. He also prepared designs for other provincial botanic gardens, at Koroit and Horsham in 1880, Hamilton 1881, Camperdown 1889, and Colac 1910, and at Government House, Parliament House and a number of private gardens in western Victoria.

The Warrnambool Botanic Gardens are of aesthetic significance for the layout and planting developed to a design prepared by William Guilfoyle in 1877. Warrnambool, along with Hamilton Botanic Gardens, are the most intact of his provincial botanic gardens designs. The "Guilfoyle" landscape combines both picturesque and gardenesque styles, sweeping lawns and paths, water features, structures, botanical collections specimen trees and shrubberies, and extensive use of subtropical species and bold and strap foliage plants. The layout is an outstanding response to the sloping site, featuring broad lawns dotted with trees and dense shrubberies, internal and external vistas, views to the lake, and carefully located buildings and structures to form a design of outstanding quality. The curator's residence, gates, fountain and rockery, urns, bridge, lake and islands, rotunda and curving asphalt paths are key elements in the garden design. The Gardens are of outstanding beauty with seasonal change and contrasting plant forms and foliage, all combining to form an attractive landscape enclosed within a perimeter planting of pines and cypress.

The Warrnambool Botanic Gardens are of scientific significance for their extensive collection of trees and shrubs, succulents, bulbs, perennials and annuals. The planting retains remnants of the original flora; three old Eucalyptus viminalis subsp. cygnetensis, a Bursaria spinosa and a few Acacia melanoxylon. The planting includes an important Pinetum occurs at the western end, a conifer windbreak around the perimeter; a fernery planted with flora of the Otway Ranges; water plants in the lake; a bamboo collection, and a nursery and orchard. In the Pinetum is Victoria's largest and a rarely cultivated Soledad Pine (Pinus torreyana). The "Lone Pine" (Pinus brutia) planted in 1934 is one of four original Lone Pines in Victoria; the other trees occurring at the Shrine of Remembrance, Wattle Park and The Sisters memorial hall. This tree also has historical and social significance.

The Warrnambool Botanic Gardens are of social significance for their long association with the community, tourists and students. The Gardens are highly valued for their role in landscape, botanical and horticultural education. They continue to be an important venue for major public events, musical performances and official celebrations.

The Karpas Peninsula is a long, finger-like peninsula that is one of the most prominent geographical features of the island of Cyprus. Its farthest extent is Cape Apostolos Andreas, and its major population centre is the town of Rizokarpaso (Greek: Ριζοκάρπασο; Turkish: Dipkarpaz). The peninsula de facto forms the İskele District of Northern Cyprus, while de jure it lies in the Famagusta District of the Republic of Cyprus.

It covers an area of 898 km2, making up 27% of the territory of Northern Cyprus. It is much less densely populated than the average of Northern Cyprus, with a population density of 26 people per km2 in 2010. The town of Trikomo (İskele), the district capital, is considered to be the "gateway" and the geographical starting point of the peninsula, along with the neighboring village of Bogazi (Boğaz). Apart from Trikomo, the most important towns and municipalities in the area are Yialousa, Galateia, Rizokarpaso, Komi Kebir and Akanthou.

The peninsula hosts a number of historical sites such as Kantara Castle and Apostolos Andreas Monastery, as well as the ruins of Agia Trias Basilica and the ancient cities of Karpasia and Aphendrika among numerous others.

There are more than 46 sandy beaches in the peninsula, which are the primary Eastern Mediterranean nesting grounds for the loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas). The Golden Beach is situated around 15 km from the town of Rizokarpaso and is considered one of the finest and most remote beaches of Cyprus. It is one of the least tourist-frequented beaches in the island. The Karpas Peninsula is home to the Karpas donkey, known as a symbol of Cyprus; there are campaigns carried out jointly by Turkish and Greek Cypriots to conserve the rare donkeys of the peninsula.

Most of the activities in the Karpas Peninsula are related to agriculture, fishing, hunting, and some to micro-tourism. Local farmers take advantage of this natural environment to grow different fruits and vegetables mostly as sub-subsistence farming (although for local commerce too). The region is mostly known for its karpuz (Turkish for "watermelon"). Several tourist businesses can be found in the town of Rizokarpaso. These are generally restaurants serving traditional Turkish-Cypriot Cuisine, including meze.

Due to its geographical position, the Karpas Peninsula is somewhat protected from human interference. This makes it a pristine natural environment, home to many inland and marine species. When hunting season starts, the Karpas's forests are a popular location to go hunting for partridges. Meanwhile, the coastal region, with its clear waters, moderate northern currents, and rocky bottom with cave-like structures, is home to two of the most highly valued fish species: the orfoz (dusky grouper) and lahos (Epinepheluses). The price per kilogram of each species ranges from 35-80 Turkish lira, depending on the location and the season. However, fishing rates in the Karpas region and most of North Cyprus dramatically decreased last century because of the use of dynamite. This is why the Zafer Burunu (the tip of the peninsula) is now a protected natural heritage area, where marine species are slowly recovering to healthy population parameters.

Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. It is recognised only by Turkey, and its territory is considered by all other states to be part of the Republic of Cyprus.

Northern Cyprus extends from the tip of the Karpass Peninsula in the northeast to Morphou Bay, Cape Kormakitis and its westernmost point, the Kokkina exclave in the west. Its southernmost point is the village of Louroujina. A buffer zone under the control of the United Nations stretches between Northern Cyprus and the rest of the island and divides Nicosia, the island's largest city and capital of both sides.

A coup d'état in 1974, performed as part of an attempt to annex the island to Greece, prompted the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. This resulted in the eviction of much of the north's Greek Cypriot population, the flight of Turkish Cypriots from the south, and the partitioning of the island, leading to a unilateral declaration of independence by the north in 1983. Due to its lack of recognition, Northern Cyprus is heavily dependent on Turkey for economic, political and military support.

Attempts to reach a solution to the Cyprus dispute have been unsuccessful. The Turkish Army maintains a large force in Northern Cyprus with the support and approval of the TRNC government, while the Republic of Cyprus, the European Union as a whole, and the international community regard it as an occupation force. This military presence has been denounced in several United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Northern Cyprus is a semi-presidential, democratic republic with a cultural heritage incorporating various influences and an economy that is dominated by the services sector. The economy has seen growth through the 2000s and 2010s, with the GNP per capita more than tripling in the 2000s, but is held back by an international embargo due to the official closure of the ports in Northern Cyprus by the Republic of Cyprus. The official language is Turkish, with a distinct local dialect being spoken. The vast majority of the population consists of Sunni Muslims, while religious attitudes are mostly moderate and secular. Northern Cyprus is an observer state of ECO and OIC under the name "Turkish Cypriot State", PACE under the name "Turkish Cypriot Community", and Organization of Turkic States with its own name.

Several distinct periods of Cypriot intercommunal violence involving the two main ethnic communities, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, marked mid-20th century Cyprus. These included the Cyprus Emergency of 1955–59 during British rule, the post-independence Cyprus crisis of 1963–64, and the Cyprus crisis of 1967. Hostilities culminated in the 1974 de facto division of the island along the Green Line following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The region has been relatively peaceful since then, but the Cyprus dispute has continued, with various attempts to solve it diplomatically having been generally unsuccessful.

Cyprus, an island lying in the eastern Mediterranean, hosted a population of Greeks and Turks (four-fifths and one-fifth, respectively), who lived under British rule in the late nineteenth-century and the first half of the twentieth-century. Christian Orthodox Church of Cyprus played a prominent political role among the Greek Cypriot community, a privilege that it acquired during the Ottoman Empire with the employment of the millet system, which gave the archbishop an unofficial ethnarch status.

The repeated rejections by the British of Greek Cypriot demands for enosis, union with Greece, led to armed resistance, organised by the National Organization of Cypriot Struggle, or EOKA. EOKA, led by the Greek-Cypriot commander George Grivas, systematically targeted British colonial authorities. One of the effects of EOKA's campaign was to alter the Turkish position from demanding full reincorporation into Turkey to a demand for taksim (partition). EOKA's mission and activities caused a "Cretan syndrome" (see Turkish Resistance Organisation) within the Turkish Cypriot community, as its members feared that they would be forced to leave the island in such a case as had been the case with Cretan Turks. As such, they preferred the continuation of British colonial rule and then taksim, the division of the island. Due to the Turkish Cypriots' support for the British, EOKA's leader, Georgios Grivas, declared them to be enemies. The fact that the Turks were a minority was, according to Nihat Erim, to be addressed by the transfer of thousands of Turks from mainland Turkey so that Greek Cypriots would cease to be the majority. When Erim visited Cyprus as the Turkish representative, he was advised by Field Marshal Sir John Harding, the then Governor of Cyprus, that Turkey should send educated Turks to settle in Cyprus.

Turkey actively promoted the idea that on the island of Cyprus two distinctive communities existed, and sidestepped its former claim that "the people of Cyprus were all Turkish subjects". In doing so, Turkey's aim to have self-determination of two to-be equal communities in effect led to de jure partition of the island.[citation needed] This could be justified to the international community against the will of the majority Greek population of the island. Dr. Fazil Küçük in 1954 had already proposed Cyprus be divided in two at the 35° parallel.

Lindley Dan, from Notre Dame University, spotted the roots of intercommunal violence to different visions among the two communities of Cyprus (enosis for Greek Cypriots, taksim for Turkish Cypriots). Also, Lindlay wrote that "the merging of church, schools/education, and politics in divisive and nationalistic ways" had played a crucial role in creation of havoc in Cyprus' history. Attalides Michael also pointed to the opposing nationalisms as the cause of the Cyprus problem.

By the mid-1950's, the "Cyprus is Turkish" party, movement, and slogan gained force in both Cyprus and Turkey. In a 1954 editorial, Turkish Cypriot leader Dr. Fazil Kuchuk expressed the sentiment that the Turkish youth had grown up with the idea that "as soon as Great Britain leaves the island, it will be taken over by the Turks", and that "Turkey cannot tolerate otherwise". This perspective contributed to the willingness of Turkish Cypriots to align themselves with the British, who started recruiting Turkish Cypriots into the police force that patrolled Cyprus to fight EOKA, a Greek Cypriot nationalist organisation that sought to rid the island of British rule.

EOKA targeted colonial authorities, including police, but Georgios Grivas, the leader of EOKA, did not initially wish to open up a new front by fighting Turkish Cypriots and reassured them that EOKA would not harm their people. In 1956, some Turkish Cypriot policemen were killed by EOKA members and this provoked some intercommunal violence in the spring and summer, but these attacks on policemen were not motivated by the fact that they were Turkish Cypriots.

However, in January 1957, Grivas changed his policy as his forces in the mountains became increasingly pressured by the British Crown forces. In order to divert the attention of the Crown forces, EOKA members started to target Turkish Cypriot policemen intentionally in the towns, so that Turkish Cypriots would riot against the Greek Cypriots and the security forces would have to be diverted to the towns to restore order. The killing of a Turkish Cypriot policeman on 19 January, when a power station was bombed, and the injury of three others, provoked three days of intercommunal violence in Nicosia. The two communities targeted each other in reprisals, at least one Greek Cypriot was killed and the British Army was deployed in the streets. Greek Cypriot stores were burned and their neighbourhoods attacked. Following the events, the Greek Cypriot leadership spread the propaganda that the riots had merely been an act of Turkish Cypriot aggression. Such events created chaos and drove the communities apart both in Cyprus and in Turkey.

On 22 October 1957 Sir Hugh Mackintosh Foot replaced Sir John Harding as the British Governor of Cyprus. Foot suggested five to seven years of self-government before any final decision. His plan rejected both enosis and taksim. The Turkish Cypriot response to this plan was a series of anti-British demonstrations in Nicosia on 27 and 28 January 1958 rejecting the proposed plan because the plan did not include partition. The British then withdrew the plan.

In 1957, Black Gang, a Turkish Cypriot pro-taksim paramilitary organisation, was formed to patrol a Turkish Cypriot enclave, the Tahtakale district of Nicosia, against activities of EOKA. The organisation later attempted to grow into a national scale, but failed to gain public support.

By 1958, signs of dissatisfaction with the British increased on both sides, with a group of Turkish Cypriots forming Volkan (later renamed to the Turkish Resistance Organisation) paramilitary group to promote partition and the annexation of Cyprus to Turkey as dictated by the Menderes plan. Volkan initially consisted of roughly 100 members, with the stated aim of raising awareness in Turkey of the Cyprus issue and courting military training and support for Turkish Cypriot fighters from the Turkish government.

In June 1958, the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, was expected to propose a plan to resolve the Cyprus issue. In light of the new development, the Turks rioted in Nicosia to promote the idea that Greek and Turkish Cypriots could not live together and therefore any plan that did not include partition would not be viable. This violence was soon followed by bombing, Greek Cypriot deaths and looting of Greek Cypriot-owned shops and houses. Greek and Turkish Cypriots started to flee mixed population villages where they were a minority in search of safety. This was effectively the beginning of the segregation of the two communities. On 7 June 1958, a bomb exploded at the entrance of the Turkish Embassy in Cyprus. Following the bombing, Turkish Cypriots looted Greek Cypriot properties. On 26 June 1984, the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktaş, admitted on British channel ITV that the bomb was placed by the Turks themselves in order to create tension. On 9 January 1995, Rauf Denktaş repeated his claim to the famous Turkish newspaper Milliyet in Turkey.

The crisis reached a climax on 12 June 1958, when eight Greeks, out of an armed group of thirty five arrested by soldiers of the Royal Horse Guards on suspicion of preparing an attack on the Turkish quarter of Skylloura, were killed in a suspected attack by Turkish Cypriot locals, near the village of Geunyeli, having been ordered to walk back to their village of Kondemenos.

After the EOKA campaign had begun, the British government successfully began to turn the Cyprus issue from a British colonial problem into a Greek-Turkish issue. British diplomacy exerted backstage influence on the Adnan Menderes government, with the aim of making Turkey active in Cyprus. For the British, the attempt had a twofold objective. The EOKA campaign would be silenced as quickly as possible, and Turkish Cypriots would not side with Greek Cypriots against the British colonial claims over the island, which would thus remain under the British. The Turkish Cypriot leadership visited Menderes to discuss the Cyprus issue. When asked how the Turkish Cypriots should respond to the Greek Cypriot claim of enosis, Menderes replied: "You should go to the British foreign minister and request the status quo be prolonged, Cyprus to remain as a British colony". When the Turkish Cypriots visited the British Foreign Secretary and requested for Cyprus to remain a colony, he replied: "You should not be asking for colonialism at this day and age, you should be asking for Cyprus be returned to Turkey, its former owner".

As Turkish Cypriots began to look to Turkey for protection, Greek Cypriots soon understood that enosis was extremely unlikely. The Greek Cypriot leader, Archbishop Makarios III, now set independence for the island as his objective.

Britain resolved to solve the dispute by creating an independent Cyprus. In 1959, all involved parties signed the Zurich Agreements: Britain, Turkey, Greece, and the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, Makarios and Dr. Fazil Kucuk, respectively. The new constitution drew heavily on the ethnic composition of the island. The President would be a Greek Cypriot, and the Vice-President a Turkish Cypriot with an equal veto. The contribution to the public service would be set at a ratio of 70:30, and the Supreme Court would consist of an equal number of judges from both communities as well as an independent judge who was not Greek, Turkish or British. The Zurich Agreements were supplemented by a number of treaties. The Treaty of Guarantee stated that secession or union with any state was forbidden, and that Greece, Turkey and Britain would be given guarantor status to intervene if that was violated. The Treaty of Alliance allowed for two small Greek and Turkish military contingents to be stationed on the island, and the Treaty of Establishment gave Britain sovereignty over two bases in Akrotiri and Dhekelia.

On 15 August 1960, the Colony of Cyprus became fully independent as the Republic of Cyprus. The new republic remained within the Commonwealth of Nations.

The new constitution brought dissatisfaction to Greek Cypriots, who felt it to be highly unjust for them for historical, demographic and contributional reasons. Although 80% of the island's population were Greek Cypriots and these indigenous people had lived on the island for thousands of years and paid 94% of taxes, the new constitution was giving the 17% of the population that was Turkish Cypriots, who paid 6% of taxes, around 30% of government jobs and 40% of national security jobs.

Within three years tensions between the two communities in administrative affairs began to show. In particular disputes over separate municipalities and taxation created a deadlock in government. A constitutional court ruled in 1963 Makarios had failed to uphold article 173 of the constitution which called for the establishment of separate municipalities for Turkish Cypriots. Makarios subsequently declared his intention to ignore the judgement, resulting in the West German judge resigning from his position. Makarios proposed thirteen amendments to the constitution, which would have had the effect of resolving most of the issues in the Greek Cypriot favour. Under the proposals, the President and Vice-President would lose their veto, the separate municipalities as sought after by the Turkish Cypriots would be abandoned, the need for separate majorities by both communities in passing legislation would be discarded and the civil service contribution would be set at actual population ratios (82:18) instead of the slightly higher figure for Turkish Cypriots.

The intention behind the amendments has long been called into question. The Akritas plan, written in the height of the constitutional dispute by the Greek Cypriot interior minister Polycarpos Georkadjis, called for the removal of undesirable elements of the constitution so as to allow power-sharing to work. The plan envisaged a swift retaliatory attack on Turkish Cypriot strongholds should Turkish Cypriots resort to violence to resist the measures, stating "In the event of a planned or staged Turkish attack, it is imperative to overcome it by force in the shortest possible time, because if we succeed in gaining command of the situation (in one or two days), no outside, intervention would be either justified or possible." Whether Makarios's proposals were part of the Akritas plan is unclear, however it remains that sentiment towards enosis had not completely disappeared with independence. Makarios described independence as "a step on the road to enosis".[31] Preparations for conflict were not entirely absent from Turkish Cypriots either, with right wing elements still believing taksim (partition) the best safeguard against enosis.

Greek Cypriots however believe the amendments were a necessity stemming from a perceived attempt by Turkish Cypriots to frustrate the working of government. Turkish Cypriots saw it as a means to reduce their status within the state from one of co-founder to that of minority, seeing it as a first step towards enosis. The security situation deteriorated rapidly.

Main articles: Bloody Christmas (1963) and Battle of Tillyria

An armed conflict was triggered after December 21, 1963, a period remembered by Turkish Cypriots as Bloody Christmas, when a Greek Cypriot policemen that had been called to help deal with a taxi driver refusing officers already on the scene access to check the identification documents of his customers, took out his gun upon arrival and shot and killed the taxi driver and his partner. Eric Solsten summarised the events as follows: "a Greek Cypriot police patrol, ostensibly checking identification documents, stopped a Turkish Cypriot couple on the edge of the Turkish quarter. A hostile crowd gathered, shots were fired, and two Turkish Cypriots were killed."

In the morning after the shooting, crowds gathered in protest in Northern Nicosia, likely encouraged by the TMT, without incident. On the evening of the 22nd, gunfire broke out, communication lines to the Turkish neighbourhoods were cut, and the Greek Cypriot police occupied the nearby airport. On the 23rd, a ceasefire was negotiated, but did not hold. Fighting, including automatic weapons fire, between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and militias increased in Nicosia and Larnaca. A force of Greek Cypriot irregulars led by Nikos Sampson entered the Nicosia suburb of Omorphita and engaged in heavy firing on armed, as well as by some accounts unarmed, Turkish Cypriots. The Omorphita clash has been described by Turkish Cypriots as a massacre, while this view has generally not been acknowledged by Greek Cypriots.

Further ceasefires were arranged between the two sides, but also failed. By Christmas Eve, the 24th, Britain, Greece, and Turkey had joined talks, with all sides calling for a truce. On Christmas day, Turkish fighter jets overflew Nicosia in a show of support. Finally it was agreed to allow a force of 2,700 British soldiers to help enforce a ceasefire. In the next days, a "buffer zone" was created in Nicosia, and a British officer marked a line on a map with green ink, separating the two sides of the city, which was the beginning of the "Green Line". Fighting continued across the island for the next several weeks.

In total 364 Turkish Cypriots and 174 Greek Cypriots were killed during the violence. 25,000 Turkish Cypriots from 103-109 villages fled and were displaced into enclaves and thousands of Turkish Cypriot houses were ransacked or completely destroyed.

Contemporary newspapers also reported on the forceful exodus of the Turkish Cypriots from their homes. According to The Times in 1964, threats, shootings and attempts of arson were committed against the Turkish Cypriots to force them out of their homes. The Daily Express wrote that "25,000 Turks have already been forced to leave their homes". The Guardian reported a massacre of Turks at Limassol on 16 February 1964.

Turkey had by now readied its fleet and its fighter jets appeared over Nicosia. Turkey was dissuaded from direct involvement by the creation of a United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) in 1964. Despite the negotiated ceasefire in Nicosia, attacks on the Turkish Cypriot persisted, particularly in Limassol. Concerned about the possibility of a Turkish invasion, Makarios undertook the creation of a Greek Cypriot conscript-based army called the "National Guard". A general from Greece took charge of the army, whilst a further 20,000 well-equipped officers and men were smuggled from Greece into Cyprus. Turkey threatened to intervene once more, but was prevented by a strongly worded letter from the American President Lyndon B. Johnson, anxious to avoid a conflict between NATO allies Greece and Turkey at the height of the Cold War.

Turkish Cypriots had by now established an important bridgehead at Kokkina, provided with arms, volunteers and materials from Turkey and abroad. Seeing this incursion of foreign weapons and troops as a major threat, the Cypriot government invited George Grivas to return from Greece as commander of the Greek troops on the island and launch a major attack on the bridgehead. Turkey retaliated by dispatching its fighter jets to bomb Greek positions, causing Makarios to threaten an attack on every Turkish Cypriot village on the island if the bombings did not cease. The conflict had now drawn in Greece and Turkey, with both countries amassing troops on their Thracian borders. Efforts at mediation by Dean Acheson, a former U.S. Secretary of State, and UN-appointed mediator Galo Plaza had failed, all the while the division of the two communities becoming more apparent. Greek Cypriot forces were estimated at some 30,000, including the National Guard and the large contingent from Greece. Defending the Turkish Cypriot enclaves was a force of approximately 5,000 irregulars, led by a Turkish colonel, but lacking the equipment and organisation of the Greek forces.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1964, U Thant, reported the damage during the conflicts:

UNFICYP carried out a detailed survey of all damage to properties throughout the island during the disturbances; it shows that in 109 villages, most of them Turkish-Cypriot or mixed villages, 527 houses have been destroyed while 2,000 others have suffered damage from looting.

The situation worsened in 1967, when a military junta overthrew the democratically elected government of Greece, and began applying pressure on Makarios to achieve enosis. Makarios, not wishing to become part of a military dictatorship or trigger a Turkish invasion, began to distance himself from the goal of enosis. This caused tensions with the junta in Greece as well as George Grivas in Cyprus. Grivas's control over the National Guard and Greek contingent was seen as a threat to Makarios's position, who now feared a possible coup.[citation needed] The National Guard and Cyprus Police began patrolling the Turkish Cypriot enclaves of Ayios Theodoros and Kophinou, and on November 15 engaged in heavy fighting with the Turkish Cypriots.

By the time of his withdrawal 26 Turkish Cypriots had been killed. Turkey replied with an ultimatum demanding that Grivas be removed from the island, that the troops smuggled from Greece in excess of the limits of the Treaty of Alliance be removed, and that the economic blockades on the Turkish Cypriot enclaves be lifted. Grivas was recalled by the Athens Junta and the 12,000 Greek troops were withdrawn. Makarios now attempted to consolidate his position by reducing the number of National Guard troops, and by creating a paramilitary force loyal to Cypriot independence. In 1968, acknowledging that enosis was now all but impossible, Makarios stated, "A solution by necessity must be sought within the limits of what is feasible which does not always coincide with the limits of what is desirable."

After 1967 tensions between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots subsided. Instead, the main source of tension on the island came from factions within the Greek Cypriot community. Although Makarios had effectively abandoned enosis in favour of an 'attainable solution', many others continued to believe that the only legitimate political aspiration for Greek Cypriots was union with Greece.

On his arrival, Grivas began by establishing a nationalist paramilitary group known as the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston B or EOKA-B), drawing comparisons with the EOKA struggle for enosis under the British colonial administration of the 1950s.

The military junta in Athens saw Makarios as an obstacle. Makarios's failure to disband the National Guard, whose officer class was dominated by mainland Greeks, had meant the junta had practical control over the Cypriot military establishment, leaving Makarios isolated and a vulnerable target.

During the first Turkish invasion, Turkish troops invaded Cyprus territory on 20 July 1974, invoking its rights under the Treaty of Guarantee. This expansion of Turkish-occupied zone violated International Law as well as the Charter of the United Nations. Turkish troops managed to capture 3% of the island which was accompanied by the burning of the Turkish Cypriot quarter, as well as the raping and killing of women and children. A temporary cease-fire followed which was mitigated by the UN Security Council. Subsequently, the Greek military Junta collapsed on July 23, 1974, and peace talks commenced in which a democratic government was installed. The Resolution 353 was broken after Turkey attacked a second time and managed to get a hold of 37% of Cyprus territory. The Island of Cyprus was appointed a Buffer Zone by the United Nations, which divided the island into two zones through the 'Green Line' and put an end to the Turkish invasion. Although Turkey announced that the occupied areas of Cyprus to be called the Federated Turkish State in 1975, it is not legitimised on a worldwide political scale. The United Nations called for the international recognition of independence for the Republic of Cyprus in the Security Council Resolution 367.

In the years after the Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus one can observe a history of failed talks between the two parties. The 1983 declaration of the independent Turkish Republic of Cyprus resulted in a rise of inter-communal tensions and made it increasingly hard to find mutual understanding. With Cyprus' interest of a possible EU membership and a new UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1997 new hopes arose for a fresh start. International involvement from sides of the US and UK, wanting a solution to the Cyprus dispute prior to the EU accession led to political pressures for new talks. The believe that an accession without a solution would threaten Greek-Turkish relations and acknowledge the partition of the island would direct the coming negotiations.

Over the course of two years a concrete plan, the Annan plan was formulated. In 2004 the fifth version agreed upon from both sides and with the endorsement of Turkey, US, UK and EU then was presented to the public and was given a referendum in both Cypriot communities to assure the legitimisation of the resolution. The Turkish Cypriots voted with 65% for the plan, however the Greek Cypriots voted with a 76% majority against. The Annan plan contained multiple important topics. Firstly it established a confederation of two separate states called the United Cyprus Republic. Both communities would have autonomous states combined under one unified government. The members of parliament would be chosen according to the percentage in population numbers to ensure a just involvement from both communities. The paper proposed a demilitarisation of the island over the next years. Furthermore it agreed upon a number of 45000 Turkish settlers that could remain on the island. These settlers became a very important issue concerning peace talks. Originally the Turkish government encouraged Turks to settle in Cyprus providing transfer and property, to establish a counterpart to the Greek Cypriot population due to their 1 to 5 minority. With the economic situation many Turkish-Cypriot decided to leave the island, however their departure is made up by incoming Turkish settlers leaving the population ratio between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots stable. However all these points where criticised and as seen in the vote rejected mainly by the Greek Cypriots. These name the dissolution of the „Republic of Cyprus", economic consequences of a reunion and the remaining Turkish settlers as reason. Many claim that the plan was indeed drawing more from Turkish-Cypriot demands then Greek-Cypriot interests. Taking in consideration that the US wanted to keep Turkey as a strategic partner in future Middle Eastern conflicts.

A week after the failed referendum the Republic of Cyprus joined the EU. In multiple instances the EU tried to promote trade with Northern Cyprus but without internationally recognised ports this spiked a grand debate. Both side endure their intention of negotiations, however without the prospect of any new compromises or agreements the UN is unwilling to start the process again. Since 2004 negotiations took place in numbers but without any results, both sides are strongly holding on to their position without an agreeable solution in sight that would suit both parties.

Helios 44-2 with extention tube

Contamination of drinking water & air presently unknown. Extent of below ground contamination & waterways unknown. Fish, turtles and other wildlife killed by oil & gas waste in area of 884 Sodom Hutchings Road NE, Vienna, Ohio - photo taken April 4, 2015; spill date: March 30. Investigation ongoing, source undetermined.

MEETING TONITE April 6, Monday 6pm: www.facebook.com/events/876258532432993/

SEE album caption for links, UPDATES: www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.870184209695183.1073741...

To what extent can media companies employ predictive analytics and other data driven approaches to improve content performance? This event, organized by NYC Media Lab and hosted by Bloomberg on February 25, fused short 5 minute presentations and discussion from startups, media companies and university researchers advancing the state of the art in a variety show intended to provoke discussion and debate on opportunities in this fast-moving field of interest.

Speakers included Brian Eoff, Lead Data Scientist, bitly; Ky Harlin, Director, Data Science, BuzzFeed; Mor Naaman, Associate Professor, Cornell Tech and Co-founder and Chief Scientist, Seen.co; Simon Smith, Senior Vice President, Platforms, News Corp; Joshua Schwartz, Lead Data Scientist, Chartbeat.com; and Lisa Strausfeld, Global Head of Data Visualization, Bloomberg LP.

Photos by Yang Jiang.

Learn more about NYC Media Lab at www.nycmedialab.org.

1Nikkor 32mm + Vello 16mm extention tube

A [ very ] potted history........

In 1902 the first electric tram route opened in Bournemouth and ran between the Lansdowne and Pokesdown.

Owned and operated by Bournemouth Corporation further routes quickly followed and in a few short years Bournemouth trams were also running to Christchurch and Poole.

By 1906 the system had reached its full extent although Sunday trams didn't run until 1913, and that was an afternoon service only, initially.

On 1st May 1908 a tram crashed in Avenue Rd as it made its way down from The Triangle to The Square killing seven people and seriously injuring twenty six.

The trams ran on steel tracks and got their power supply via overhead cables although parts of the system near the town centre used a conduit system where the power cables were buried underground so that there were no unsightly overhead cables. The sections of the conduit system were replaced with overhead cables by 1910.

The main depot was built in Southcote Rd in 1902 and had its own power station to supply electricity to the tram system. The depot closed in 1965 and is now used as a Council depot.

In 1905 a smaller depot was built next to the Bell Inn [ now The Seabournes ] opposite Pokesdown station. It closed in 1969 and became a second hand furniture warehouse before being demolished and replaced by housing in the mid 1990s.

In 1911 another similar depot opened on Wimborne Rd in Moordown, it closed in 1953 and was used by the Post Office amongst others until it was demolished and replaced by a retail unit in the late 1980s.

In the first half of the 1930s the trams were replaced by electric trolleybuses that also got their power from overhead cables but offered slightly more maneuverability as they did not run on tracks.

In 1951 a new depot was opened in Mallard Rd at Strouden Park in the north of the town. The depot was constructed on the site of Strouden Farm where the Council used to keep their work horses.

As part of the new depot a garage with a distinctive humped roof line was constructed. The roof was made from what was at the time the longest span of pre-stressed concrete in the country, which meant that the 300ft x 150 ft structure didn't need any supporting pillars inside. This feature has led to the garage being grade 2 listed which meant that when the depot became the Mallard Rd retail park in 2007 the garage had to be retained and so it became a Homebase DIY superstore.

The trolleybuses were officially retired in April 1969 when a final procession took place through local streets, after which they were superceded by the diesel engined bus.

In the early 1980s the company became officially known as Yellow Buses, a name used by locals for many years.

Bournemouth Council continued to own and operate the company when, in the mid 1980s, a Transport Act was passed that meant that the Council could no longer run the company directly and had to do so as a 'private' company via a board of directors. Making a profit became paramount although this was made more difficult as the Act also opened up the system to competition from rival companies.

In 2005 the company was sold to Transdev, a French company, and in early March 2006 they moved from Mallard Rd to a new depot in Yeomans Way behind the Castlepoint shopping centre.

The Mallard Rd site became a retail park in 2007.

In 2011 Transdev Yellow Buses were sold to the RATP Group, another giant European public transport company.

RECOMMENDED FURTHER READING......

Glory Days- Bournemouth Transport by Colin Morris [ ISBN 0-7110-2877-X ].

Bournemouth Trolleybuses by Malcolm N Pearce [ ISBN 1 901706 10 9 ].

Yellow Buses website www.bybus.co.uk/about-us/history

A [ very ] potted history........

In 1902 the first electric tram route opened in Bournemouth and ran between the Lansdowne and Pokesdown.

Owned and operated by Bournemouth Corporation further routes quickly followed and in a few short years Bournemouth trams were also running to Christchurch and Poole.

By 1906 the system had reached its full extent although Sunday trams didn't run until 1913, and that was an afternoon service only, initially.

On 1st May 1908 a tram crashed in Avenue Rd as it made its way down from The Triangle to The Square killing seven people and seriously injuring twenty six.

The trams ran on steel tracks and got their power supply via overhead cables although parts of the system near the town centre used a conduit system where the power cables were buried underground so that there were no unsightly overhead cables. The sections of the conduit system were replaced with overhead cables by 1910.

The main depot was built in Southcote Rd in 1902 and had its own power station to supply electricity to the tram system. The depot closed in 1965 and is now used as a Council depot.

In 1905 a smaller depot was built next to the Bell Inn [ now The Seabournes ] opposite Pokesdown station. It closed in 1969 and became a second hand furniture warehouse before being demolished and replaced by housing in the mid 1990s.

In 1911 another similar depot opened on Wimborne Rd in Moordown, it closed in 1953 and was used by the Post Office amongst others until it was demolished and replaced by a retail unit in the late 1980s.

In the first half of the 1930s the trams were replaced by electric trolleybuses that also got their power from overhead cables but offered slightly more maneuverability as they did not run on tracks.

In 1951 a new depot was opened in Mallard Rd at Strouden Park in the north of the town. The depot was constructed on the site of Strouden Farm where the Council used to keep their work horses.

As part of the new depot a garage with a distinctive humped roof line was constructed. The roof was made from what was at the time the longest span of pre-stressed concrete in the country, which meant that the 300ft x 150 ft structure didn't need any supporting pillars inside. This feature has led to the garage being grade 2 listed which meant that when the depot became the Mallard Rd retail park in 2007 the garage had to be retained and so it became a Homebase DIY superstore.

The trolleybuses were officially retired in April 1969 when a final procession took place through local streets, after which they were superceded by the diesel engined bus.

In the early 1980s the company became officially known as Yellow Buses, a name used by locals for many years.

Bournemouth Council continued to own and operate the company when, in the mid 1980s, a Transport Act was passed that meant that the Council could no longer run the company directly and had to do so as a 'private' company via a board of directors. Making a profit became paramount although this was made more difficult as the Act also opened up the system to competition from rival companies.

In 2005 the company was sold to Transdev, a French company, and in early March 2006 they moved from Mallard Rd to a new depot in Yeomans Way behind the Castlepoint shopping centre.

The Mallard Rd site became a retail park in 2007.

In 2011 Transdev Yellow Buses were sold to the RAPT Group, another giant European public transport company.

RECOMMENDED FURTHER READING......

Glory Days- Bournemouth Transport by Colin Morris [ ISBN 0-7110-2877-X ].

Bournemouth Trolleybuses by Malcolm N Pearce [ ISBN 1 901706 10 9 ].

Yellow Buses website www.bybus.co.uk/about-us/history

Tom Richardson (11 August 1870 – 2 July 1912) was an English cricketer. A fast bowler, Richardson relied to a great extent on the break-back (a fast ball moving from off to leg), a relatively long run-up and high arm which allowed him to gain sharp lift on fast pitches even from the full, straight length he always bowled. He played 358 first-class cricket matches and 14 Tests, taking a total of 2,104 wickets. In the four consecutive seasons from 1894 to 1897 he took 1,005 wickets, a figure surpassed over such a period only by the slow bowler A.P. Freeman. He took 290 wickets in 1895, again a figure only exceeded by Freeman (twice).In 1963 Neville Cardus selected him as one of his "Six Giants of the Wisden Century".

Richardson was born in Byfleet, Surrey, and first played for his native county in 1892. He showed promise with some strong performances in minor matches, notably fifteen wickets against Essex. However his first-class record that season was only moderate.

However, with Surrey's bowling mainstay for the previous decade George Lohmann declining rapidly in health, Richardson made a totally unexpected advance to be the second-highest wicket-taker in the country in 1893. Performances of 11 for 95 for Surrey against the touring Australians and 10 for 156 in the third Test, and especially the speed and stamina showed in them, already marked Richardson as one of the game's top bowlers. Although early in the year it was thought by many that his delivery constituted a throw, Richardson worked on straightening his arm and adverse comments were rarely heard again. In 1894, Richardson cemented his reputation with consistent performances: he would have reached 200 wickets but for a thigh strain in June and his average of 10.32 has never been equalled since, whilst his astonishing strike rate of 23 balls per wicket has never been approached subsequently. It was his performances in Australia during the 1894/1895 tour - maintaining speed under hot weather - that attracted attention. In the first Test at the SCG, he bowled 55 overs without losing his speed, and in the last his energetic bowling without help from the pitch directly won England the match.

The following year saw Richardson go from strength to strength both in dry weather and when the pitches became treacherous after mid-July. Despite having to bowl 8,491 balls at a great pace, he never showed any sign of losing his form and set a new record in taking 290 wickets (bettered only by Tich Freeman, a slow bowler, in 1928 and 1933). In 1896, Richardson's bowling at Lord's dismissed Australia for 53 and won England the match. During the following Test at Old Trafford, which England lost by three wickets, while bowling 390 balls in the first innings in perfect batting conditions (taking seven for 168), Richardson, was, when Australia were set 125 to win on a pitch showing no sign of wear, able to bowl 178 balls without a rest, take six for 76 and almost win England a seemingly lost game. It is said that he did not bowl one bad ball during this spell of three hours and J.T. Hearne dropped a catch off his bowling when Australia were at 7 for 99.

Neville Cardus recorded the scene when Australia crept home by three wickets: "His body still shook from the violent motion. He stood there like some fine animal baffled at the uselessness of great strength and effort in this world...A companion led him to the pavilion, and there he fell wearily to a seat." David Frith suggests the truth was somewhat more prosaic. Richardson was the first off the field and had sunk two pints before anyone else had their boots off.

Though he was not required on a wet wicket in the last Test (and nearly withdrew over a pay dispute), Richardson was named a Cricketer of the Year and in 1897 took 273 wickets at the same cost as in 1895. In the four consecutive seasons 1894 to 1897 he took 1,005 wickets, a figure unapproached by any fast bowler before or since.

Richardson was chosen to tour Australia in 1897/1898, but this was where his successful years ended. Richardson was always a heavy drinker and around this time the habit got out of hand and his weight began increasing, thus reducing his speed and stamina. He produced one great performance on the disappointing 1897/1898 tour with eight wickets for 94 in the first innings of the fifth Test, but as soon as he returned to England his decline was plain for all to see. Indeed, in the first two months of the season Richardson accomplished almost no performance of note, and even when he improved from the beginning of July onwards, Surrey could no longer rely on him to bowl over after over after over on the extremely true Oval pitches: his body could no longer carry the workload of previous years. In a few games late in the season at the Oval, against Yorkshire (when Surrey inflicted that county's biggest defeat) and Warwickshire (when he took a career-best 15 for 83 on a pitch offering no help), he appeared as potent as the bowler of 1897. Nevertheless, his haul of wickets in the County Championship fell from 237 to 126 and their cost from about 14 to over 21.

Prevented from playing the first few games by injury and unable to contain his excessive drinking and increasing weight, Richardson declined still more sharply in 1899. Though after returning to the Surrey eleven he produced some impressive performances (notably against Kent at the Oval), Richardson failed to take 100 wickets for the season. As a result, he was out of the running for Test selection, and the benefit Surrey gave him for his service between 1893 and 1897 was much less lucrative than everybody had hoped despite Surrey winning the Championship.

However, Richardson showed some improvement in 1900, increasing his haul of wickets from 98 to 122 and taking 14 wickets for 185 runs at Leyton, whilst in 1901 on the best of wickets almost throughout the year he took 159 wickets including impressive performances against the South Africans (11 for 125) and Yorkshire (7 for 105 in one innings). The following two summers were all against fast bowlers, and Richardson naturally suffered. He remained a strenuous worker, and when helped by the pitch (as at Sheffield in 1903) Richardson could still show glimpses of the great mid-1890s bowler. Nonetheless, it was clear to all who observed him that his weight would catch up with him soon, and in 1904 Richardson bowled so ineffectively that he was dropped at the end of May and not re-engaged by Surrey at the end of the year.

At the time he lived in Bath, and played once for Somerset in 1905, but it was clear from his failure then that he could no longer play serious cricket. His weight gain, combined with a congenital heart abnormality, resulted in a fatal heart attack at the age of 41, whilst on a summer walking holiday in Chambéry, France. According to a number of sources (including Herbert Strudwick), he had been in good health and spirits before leaving England. A widespread rumour that he had committed suicide was disproved by research carried out by Ralph Barker.

In the 1963 edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, Richardson was selected by Neville Cardus as one the Six Giants of the Wisden Century. This was a special commemorative selection requested by Wisden for its 100th edition. The other five players chosen were Sydney Barnes, Don Bradman, W G Grace, Jack Hobbs, and Victor Trumper

Richmond Cemetery

Due to the extent of the work being carried out on the Atlantean I have insisted on getting new high capacity axle stands. Each stand had a rating of 8 tonnes which means nearly the whole bus could be supported by just one stand. Since my father and I will be under the bus battering the hell out of it I need as much confidence I can get nothing is going to come down on top of us.

Inle Lake (Burmese: အင်းလေးကန်, pronounced: [ʔɪ́ɴlé kàɴ]) is a freshwater lake located in the Nyaungshwe Township of Taunggyi District of Shan State, part of Shan Hills in Myanmar (Burma). It is the second largest lake in Myanmar with an estimated surface area of 116 km2, and one of the highest at an elevation of 880 m. During the dry season, the average water depth is 2.1 m, with the deepest point being 3.7 m, but during the rainy season this can increase by 1.5 m.

The watershed area for the lake lies to a large extent to the north and west of the lake. The lake drains through the Nam Pilu or Balu Chaung on its southern end. There is a hot spring on its northwestern shore.

Although the lake is not large, it contains a number of endemic species. Over twenty species of snails and nine species of fish are found nowhere else in the world. Some of these, like the silver-blue scaleless Sawbwa barb, the crossbanded dwarf danio, and the Lake Inle danio, are of minor commercial importance for the aquarium trade. It hosts approximately 20,000 brown and black head migratory seagulls in November, December and January.

In June 2015, it becomes the Myanmar's first designated place of World Network of Biosphere Reserves. It was one of 20 places added at at the Unesco's 27th Man and the Biosphere (MAB) International Coordinating Council (ICC) meeting.

PEOPLE AND CULTURE

The people of Inle Lake (called Intha), some 70,000 of them, live in four cities bordering the lake, in numerous small villages along the lake's shores, and on the lake itself. The entire lake area is in Nyaung Shwe township. The population consists predominantly of Intha, with a mix of other Shan, Taungyo, Pa-O (Taungthu), Danu, Kayah, Danaw and Bamar ethnicities. Most are devout Buddhists, and live in simple houses of wood and woven bamboo on stilts; they are largely self-sufficient farmers.

Most transportation on the lake is traditionally by small boats, or by somewhat larger boats fitted with single cylinder inboard diesel engines. Local fishermen are known for practicing a distinctive rowing style which involves standing at the stern on one leg and wrapping the other leg around the oar. This unique style evolved for the reason that the lake is covered by reeds and floating plants making it difficult to see above them while sitting. Standing provides the rower with a view beyond the reeds. However, the leg rowing style is only practiced by the men. Women row in the customary style, using the oar with their hands, sitting cross legged at the stern.

Fish caught from the lake - the most abundant kind is called nga hpein locally (Inle carp, Cyprinus intha) - are a staple of the local diet. A popular local dish is htamin gyin - 'fermented' rice kneaded with fish and/or potato - served with hnapyan gyaw (literally twice fried - Shan tofu). In addition to fishing, locals grow vegetables and fruit in large gardens that float on the surface of the lake. The floating garden beds are formed by extensive manual labor. The farmers gather up lake-bottom weeds from the deeper parts of the lake, bring them back in boats and make them into floating beds in their garden areas, anchored by bamboo poles. These gardens rise and fall with changes in the water level, and so are resistant to flooding. The constant availability of nutrient-laden water results in these gardens being incredibly fertile. Rice cultivation is also significant.

Hand-made goods for local use and trading are another source of commerce. Typical products include tools, carvings and other ornamental objects, textiles, and cheroots. A local market serves most common shopping needs and is held daily but the location of the event rotates through five different sites around the lake area, thus each of them hosting an itinerant market every fifth day. When held on the lake itself, trading is conducted from small boats. This 'floating-market' event tends to emphasize tourist trade much more than the other four.

The Inle lake area is renowned for its weaving industry. The Shan-bags, used daily by many Burmese as a tote-bag, are produced in large quantities here. Silk-weaving is another very important industry, producing high-quality hand-woven silk fabrics of distinctive design called Inle longyi. A unique fabric from the lotus plant fibers is produced only at Inle lake and is used for weaving special robes for Buddha images called kya thingahn (lotus robe).

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

Inle Lake is suffering from the environmental effects of increased population and rapid growth in both agriculture and tourism. During the 65-year period from 1935 to 2000, the net open water area of Inle Lake decreased from 69.10 km² to 46.69 km², a loss of 32.4%, with development of floating garden agriculture, which occurs largely on the west side of the lake (a practice introduced in the 1960s).

Lumber removal and unsustainable cultivation practices (slash and burn farming techniques) on the hills surrounding the lake are causing ever-increasing amounts of silt and nutrients to run off into the rivers that feed the lake, especially along its western and northern watershed areas. This silt fills up the lake; the nutrients encourage the growth of weeds and algae. More important however is the development of floating garden agriculture, largely along the western side of the lake. This practice encroaches into the diminishing area of the lake, since over time, the floating beds become solid ground. About 93% (nearly 21 km²) of the recent loss in open water area of the lake, largely along its western side, is thought to be due to this agricultural practice. Direct environmental impacts associated with these combined agricultural activities within the wetlands and surrounding hills of the lake include sedimentation, eutrophication, and pollution.

The water hyacinth, a plant not native to the lake, also poses a major problem. It grows rapidly, filling up the smaller streams and large expanses of the lake, robbing native plants and animals of nutrients and sunlight. At one time, all boats coming into Nyaung Shwe were required to bring in a specified amount of water hyacinth. Over the past twenty years, large-scale use of dredges and pumps has been employed with some success in controlling the growth of this plant. On a smaller scale, public awareness education and small-scale control have also been successful.

Another cause for concern is the planned introduction of non-native fish species, such as the Grass Carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella)] intended to improve fishery.

Sanitation in the villages around the lake is an ongoing concern for public health authorities, due to untreated sewage (with 72% of households using open pits, not latrines) and waste water flowing into the lake. To ensure fresh and clean water, some villages now have enclosed wells and public access to the well water. Some studies of the lake's surface

water quality indicates that the water is not safe for consumption. Water from Inle Lake has dissolved oxygen ranges lower than those necessary for fisheries and aquatic life, while nitrite, nitrate and phosphate ranges are unusually high.

Noise pollution is also a noticeable issue. The noise from the cheaper poorly muffled diesel engines driving the stern drive propellers is significant, and can be a distraction to the otherwise tranquil lake.

The summer of 2010 registered very high temperatures causing the water level of the lake to drop so low, the lowest in nearly 50 years, that drinking water had to be fetched from elsewhere and the floating market was in danger of disappearing. One other serious consequence was that the hydroelectric plant at Lawpita, where the former capital Yangon received its power supply from, could not operate at its full capacity.

TOURISM

The best time of the year to visit is during September and October. The ceremonial Hpaung Daw U Festival, which lasts for almost three weeks, is closely followed by the Thadingyut festival of lights. Inthas and Shan turn out in their best clothes in great numbers to celebrate the Buddhist Lent. Traditional boat racing, with dozens of leg-rowers in Shan dress in a team on each boat, is a famous event during the Hpaung Daw U Festival.

Inle Lake is a major tourist attraction, and this has led to some development of tourist infrastructure. Many small and large privately owned hotels and tour operations have arisen during the past few years. Local shops are flooded with consumer items, both local and foreign. The nearest airport is Heho Airport which is 35 km away. There are flights from both Yangon and Mandalay. Yangon is 660 km away by road, Mandalay 330 km.

CUISINE

Inle cuisine is different from Shan cuisine, as it incorporates local natural produce. The most well-known Inle dish would be the Htamin jin - a rice, tomato and potato or fish salad kneaded into round balls dressed and garnished with crisp fried onion in oil, tamarind sauce, coriander and spring onions often with garlic, Chinese chives roots (ju myit), fried whole dried chili, grilled dried fermented beancakes (pè bouk) and fried dried tofu (topu jauk kyaw) on the side.

WIKIPEDIA

Number:

179795

Date created:

1962

Extent:

1 photographic print : gelatin silver ; 7.5 x 9.5 in.

Description:

Front row, from left to right: 1) Esterly; 2) J. Cohen; 3) Plauth; 4) Cooke; 5) Starfield; 6) Lawrence; 7) Ward.

Second row, from left to right: 1) Holtzman; 2) Cantolino; 3) Neims; 4) Frank; 5) Frank; 6) Lurie; 7) Witte; 8) Neff; 9) Araujo.

Third row, form left to right: 1) Friedman; 2) Battaglia; 3) Corry; 4) Forman; 5) S. Cohen; 6) Harwin; 7) Churnick.

Fourth row, from left to right: 1) Bell; 2) Soule; 3) Nichols; 4) Van; 5) Fleteren; 6) Rosenstein; 7) O'Sullivan.

Rights:

Photograph is subject to copyright restrictions. Contact the Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives for reproduction permissions.

Subjects:

Johns Hopkins Hospital. Department of Pediatrics--People

Esterly, Nancy B.

Cohen, Janice E.

Plauth, William H.

Cooke, Robert E.

Starfield, Barbara

Lawrence, Tsun-Yee K.

Ward, Adele C.

Holtzman, Neil A.

Cantolino, Salvatore J. (Salvatore James)

Neims, Allen H. (Allen Howard),

Frank, Michael M.

Lurie, Hugh J.

Witte, John J.

Neff, John M.

Friedman, William Foster

Battaglia, Frederick Camillo

Corry, Robert J.

Forman, Edwin N.

Cohen, Sanford N.,

Harwin, S. Martin

Chernick, Victor

Bell, Thomas R.

Soule, David W.

Nichols, Buford L.

Van Fleteren, Andre H.

Rosenstein, Beryl J.

O'Sullivan, E. Peter

Pediatricians

Group portraits

Portrait photographs

Notes: Photographer unknown.

Vijaya Nagara is in Ballari district, Karnataka. It is the name of the now-ruined capital city that surrounds modern-day Hampi, of the historic Vijayanagara Empire which extended over South India.

Around 1500, Vijaynagara had about 500,000 inhabitants (supporting 0.1% of the global population during 1440-1540), making it the second largest city in the world after Beijing and almost twice the size of Paris. The ruins are now a World Heritage Site.

LOCATION

Most of the city lies on the south bank of the Tungabhadra River. The city was built around the religious center of the Virupaksha temple complex at Hampi. Other holy places lie within its environs, including the site that legend calls as Kishkindha, which includes the historically important Hanuman temple (the cave home of Anjana, Kesari and Shabari) and a holy pond called the Pampasarovar. It is known to house the cave home of Sugriva, the monkey king in the Hindu epic Ramayana.

The city at its greatest extent was considerably larger than the area described here; an account is given at the article on the Vijayanagara metropolitan area. The central areas of the city, which include what are now called the Royal Centre and the Sacred Centre, extend over an area of at least 40 km². It includes the modern village of Hampi. Another village, Kamalapura, lies just outside the old walled city, surrounded by ruins and monuments. The nearest town and railway is in Hospet, about 13 kilometres by road. Hosapete lies within the original extents of the old city, though most of the items of interest are walking distance of Hampi and Kamalapura.

The natural setting for the city is a hilly landscape, dotted with granite boulders. The Tungabhadra river runs through it and provides protection from the north. Beyond the hills, on the south bank on which the city was built, a plain extended further the south. Large walls and fortifications of hewn granite defended the centre of the city.

THE CITY

The name translates as "City of Victory", from vijaya (victory) and nagara (city). As the prosperous capital of the largest and most powerful kingdom of its time in all of India, Vijayanagara attracted people from all around the world.

After Timur's sack of Delhi, North India remained weak and divided up. South India was better off, and the largest and most powerful of the southern kingdoms was Vijayanagar. This state and city attracted many of the Hindu refugees from the north. From contemporary accounts, it appears that the city was rich and very beautiful - The city is such that eye has not seen nor ear heard of any place resembling it upon earth", says Abdur-Razzak from Central Asia. There were arcades and magnificent galleries for the bazaars, and rising above them all was the palace of the king surrounded by "many rivulets and streams flowing through channels of cut stone, polished and even." The whole city was full of gardens, and because of them, as an Italian visitor in 1420, Nicolo Conti writes, the circumference of the city was sixty miles. A later visitor was Paes, a Portuguese who came in 1522 after having visited the Italian cities of the Renaissance. The city of Vijayanagar, he says, is as "large as Rome and very beautiful to the sight"; it is full of charm and wonder with its innumerable lakes and waterways and fruit gardens. It is "the best-provided city in the world" and "everything abounds." The chambers of the palace were a mass of ivory, with roses and lotuses carved in ivory at the top"it is so rich and beautiful that you would hardly find anywhere, another such.

— Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India

The ruined city is a World Heritage Site, known in that context as the Ruins of Hampi. In recent years there have been concerns regarding damage to the site at Hampi from heavy vehicular traffic and the construction of road bridges in the vicinity. Hampi is now listed as a "threatened" World Heritage Site.

HISTORY

The Vijayanagara empire was founded by (Harihara) and Bukka, also called the Sangama brothers. The empire consolidated under Harihara I and began to expand and prosper under Bukka Raya. Some time after its original establishment the capital was established at the more defensible and secure location of Vijayanagara on the south side of the river.

Contemporary descriptions depict a very large and highly developed metropolitan area: recent commentators say,

"The massive walls, which can still be traced, enclosed an area of more than sixty square miles, much of which was occupied by fields and gardens watered by canals from the river. The population cannot be estimated with precision, but it was certainly very large when judged by the standards of the fifteenth century. The great majority of the houses were naturally small and undistinguished, but among them were scattered palaces, temples, public buildings, wide streets of shops shaded by trees, busy markets, and all the equipment of a great and wealthy city. The principal buildings were constructed in the regular Hindu style, covered with ornamental carving, and the fragments which have survived suffice to give point to the enthusiastic admiration of the men who saw the city in the days of its magnificence."

The city flourished between the 14th century and 16th century, during the height of the power of the Vijayanagar empire. During this time, the empire was often in conflict with the neighbouring kingdoms with Muslim rulers, which had become established in the northern Deccan, collectively termed the Deccan sultanates. In 1565, the empire's armies suffered a massive and catastrophic defeat at the hands of an alliance of the sultanates, and the capital was taken. The victorious Deccan armies then proceeded to raze, depopulate, and destroy the city and its temples and icons over a period of several months. Despite the empire continuing to exist thereafter during a slow decline, the original capital was not reoccupied or rebuilt. It has not been occupied since.

The buildings in the city are mostly built in the original native traditions of southern India, associated with the Hindu religion. Some of them show a certain amount of Islamic influence due the interaction with the Islamic kingdoms.

THE SACRED CENTRE

This title has been given by historians to the areas extending from Hampi village to Matanga Hill to its east. It is sometimes extended further northeast to the Vitthala Temple. It consists of a hilly region immediately to the south of the Tungabhadra.

VIRUPAKSHA TEMPLE

This surviving temple and temple complex is the core of the village of Hampi. Also known as the Pampapati temple, it predated the empire, and was extended between the 13th and 17th centuries. It has two courts with entrance gopurams. The main entrance with a 50-meter gopuram faces east into a ceremonial and colonnaded street, that extends for about 1 km to a monolithic statue of Nandi.

The temple is still in use now. It is dedicated to Virupaksha, an aspect of Shiva and his consort Pampa, a local deity.

HEMAKUTA HILL

The hill is situated to the south of Hampi village. It bears several small temples that predate the construction of Vijayanagara as the capital of the empire, some being as early as the 10th century. The hill was fortified when the main city was constructed, and a number of more recent temples, tanks, entrances, and gopurams exist on the hill, some of which were never completed.

KRISHNA TEMPLE

This is a ruined temple, south of Hampi and Hemakuta hill. It was built by the emperor Krishnadevaraya after military campaigns in Odisha. The temple is contained in twin enclosures. Parts of the temple and its compound have collapsed, and while some restoration has been carried out, it is generally in poor condition. There is now no image in the inner sanctuary.

LAKSHMI NARASIMHA

Also to the south of Hampi is this massive rock cut idol of Narasimha, the fierce aspect of Vishnu, 6.7 m high. Originally the idol bore a smaller image of Lakshmi on one knee; this had fallen off, probably due to vandalism. The Lakshmi statue is now in the museum at Kamalapuram.

Narasimha is depicted seated on the coils of Shesha. Shesha is shown here in a form with seven heads, the heads arching over Narasimha to form a canopy. The statue has recently been restored. The granite strap binding between his knees is a recent addition to stabilise it.

The donation of this work is ascribed to either Krishnadeva Raya, or to a wealthy merchant during his reign.

SUGRIVA`S CAVE

This is a natural cave, said to be the original home of the ape king Sugriva, where Rama is said to have met him and Hanuman on his journey . The cave is marked by coloured markings, and the attentions of pilgrims.

KODANDARAMA TEMPLE

This is situated to the east of Hampi, near the end of the colonnaded street that leads out from the Virupaksha temple. It is in the sacred centre of the city, and by a narrow point of the Tungabhadra river. This temple marks the spot where Rama crowned Sugriva. The temple is still in use, and the garbha griha contains statues of Rama, Lakshmana and Sita all carved out a single boulder.

VITTALA TEMPLE

Situated northeast of Hampi, opposite the village of Anegondi, this is one of the principal monuments of the city. It is dedicated to Vittala, an aspect of Vishnu worshipped in the Maratha country. It is believed to date from the 16th century.

In front of the temple is the world famous stone chariot or ratha. This is one of the three famous stone chariots in India, the other two being in Konark and Mahabalipuram. The wheels of the ratha can be rotated but the government cemented them to avoid the damage caused by the visitors.

One of the notable features of the Vittala Temple is the musical pillars. Each of the pillars that support the roof of the main temple is supported by a pillar representing a musical instrument, and is constructed as 7 minor pillars arranged around a main pillar. These 7 pillars, when struck, emanate the 7 notes from the representative instrument, varying in sound quality based on whether it represents a wind, string or percussion instrument.

The British wanted to check the reason behind this wonder and so they had cut two pillars to check anything was there inside the pillars that was producing the sound. They had found nothing but hollow pillars. Even today we can see those pillars cut by the British.

The road leading to the temple was once a market where the horses were traded. Even today we can see the ruins of the market on both the sides of the road. The temple contains the images of foreigners like Persians selling horses.

The temple is the venue of the annual Purandaradasa festival.

THE KING`S BALANCE

This structure, the Tulapurushandana, stands to the southwest of the Vittala temple. consists of two carved granite pillars, spanned by a carved horizontal granite transom. This was used on ceremonial days, when scales were hung from the transom, and the Raya (the emperor) was ceremonially weighed against gold or jewels. The treasure was then distributed, to Brahmins or others in the city.

THE ROYAL CENTRE

This extensive area consists of a small plateau, which starts about 2 km to the southeast of Hampi, and extends southeast, almost to the village of Kamalapuram. It is separated from the Sacred Centre by a small valley, now consisting of agricultural fields, and which carries irrigation canals or streams that join the river opposite Anegondi. A granite platform overlooks the Royal Centre. The Royal Centre contains the ruins of palaces, administrative buildings, and some temples directly associated with royalty. Little remains of the palaces except the foundations, as they were largely timber structures, for comfort. The temples and some of the other stone structures survive however, as do many of the surrounding city walls.

An aqueduct runs through much of the Royal Enclosure and into the Great Tank where water was brought for special events. The west end of the tank is overlooked by a platform shrine. The aqueduct also runs into the large stepped tank, lined in green diorite, with a geometric design that has not required restoration

RAMACHANDRA TEMPLE

The temple stands in a rectangular courtyard, with entrances facing to the east. Reliefs showing daily life and festival scenes occur on the outer walls of the courtyard. Scenes from the Ramayana occur on the inner courtyard walls, and on the temple itself. There is a well-relief of baby Krishna on the walls.

The temple may have been exclusively for royal use. It is believed to be constructed at the site of Vaali's killing in the hands of Rama. It may have been a private shrine for royalty. It is unusual in that it has four black basalt columns in the mantapa (columned hall). The inner sanctuary of the temple is now empty.

This is also known as the Hazara Rama temple (temple of a thousand Ramas), due to the recurrence of images of Rama on the walls. Sometimes it is called the Hajara Rama temple (the Rama temple in the courtyard).

UNDERGROUND SHIVA TEMPLE

The temple has a] with an antarala and Aradhamantapa and a Mahamantapa. The mahamantapa has pillared corridors that fuse with the pillared Mukhamantapa, making a larger pillared frontal Mantapa which also encloses a Dwajasthamba. The pillars of this temple are plain.

An inscription referring to this temple states that Krishnadevaraya donated Nagalapura and other villages for worship and offerings to the Gods for the merit of his parents Narsa Nayaka and Nagaji Devi.

At times the base of the temple is flooded and may be inaccessible. When it is accessible, masses of small bats may be found in the temple.

LOTUS MAHAL

Lotus Mahal, also known as Kamal Mahal or Chitrangini Mahal is situated in the Zenana Enclosure of the monuments. It is a ticketed monument and a single ticket would let you into the Zenana Enclosure covering several monuments including Elephant Stables. The term Zenana refers to the Women and Zenana Enclosure in general would refer to the Queens’ enclosure along with the servants’ quarters around and private temples.

Lotus Mahal is a two storied very symmetric structure exhibiting a fine example of Indo-Islamic architecture. The base of the structure depicts a Hindu foundation of stone just like in the temples, typical of Vijayanagara Architecture while the upper superstructure is Islamic in architecture with pyramidal towers instead of regular dome shapes, giving it a Lotus-like look, originating in the name. Also, this is one of the very few buildings that have the plaster intact though it is defaced at several places due to wear and tear, especially; the dampness on the walls is very visible. The exemplary carvings on the pillar arches including those of birds and delicate art work can be very mesmerizing, especially with the Makara Torana on top of these arches that can still be seen on some of them.

It is also believed that the Mahal or Palace was air-cooled and maintained its temperature during summer. The proof of this can be seen in the pipeline work above and between the arches.

The entire monument is surrounded by a fortifying wall which is rectangular in plan. The four corners of the fortifications have watch towers that would have been used to keep an eye on the intruders into the Womens’ chambers. While it was a very popular practice to have Eunuchs hold guards at Queens’ Palaces in the North India, especially during Moghul rule, the existence of such a practice has not come to light in the Vijayanagara kingdom and era.

How to Reach There: The Lotus Mahal is situated in the Zenana Enclosure of the Royal Center and could be reached from Hazara Rama Temple.

PUSHKARANI

Also called the Stepped Bath, or the Queen's bath, this is a stepped well designed for bathing. Such sunken wells were created to provide relief from daytime heat. It would have been covered when the city was occupied.

ELEPHANT STABLES

A set of large stables, to house the ceremonial elephants of the royal household. The area in front of them was a parade ground for the elephants, and for troops. This is another structure that shows Islamic influence in its domes and arched gateways. The guards' barracks are located right next to the elephant stables.

OTHER AREAS

Other monuments and places of interest can be found outside of the above two major centers.

A number of modern populated towns and villages lie within the extents of the original city. These include;

- Anegundi, probably the earliest settlement in the area, on the north side of the Tungabhadra River.

- Hampi, the village lies in the middle of the ruins.

- Hospet, a town and railhead, to the southwest.

- Kamalapura, a small temple town to the southeast of the Royal Centre, also houses an archaeological museum.

All of these are in Ballari district, except Anegundi, which is in Koppal district.

WIKIPEDIA

The tripod is quite strong for its size, but this type of tripod is always top heavy even without the camera on it. I wouldn't walk away from the setup without some weight hanging at the bottom.

We understand others to the extent that we understand ourselves. Meditation heightens awareness, harmony and natural order to our everyday encounters with each other. It awakens the intelligence to make this life happy, peaceful and creative. So long we go without steadiness, concentration of the mind and reflecting on the self only brings more karma. Unconsciously speaking and doing from a place of reaction. Whatever may be the path that you follow, the practice of meditation is indispensable. Get still, Aum Tat Sat

Leica M11 / Leica 50mm Summilux 1.4g

www.Chancenkosigomez.com

www.Instagram.com/nkosiart

Nkosi.artiste@gmail.com

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Chance Nkosi Gomez known initiated by H.H Swami Jyotirmayanda as Sri Govinda walks an integral yogic path in which photography is the primary creative field of expression. The medium was introduced during sophomore year of high school by educator Dr. Devin Marsh of Robert Morgan Educational Center. Coming into alignment with light, its nature and articulating the camera was the focus during that time. Thereafter while completing a Photographic Technology Degree, the realization of what made an image “striking” came to the foreground of the inner dialogue. These college years brought forth major absorption and reflection as an apprentice to photographer and educator Tony A. Chirinos of Miami Dade College. The process of working towards a singular idea of interest and thus building a series became the heading from here on while the camera aided in cultivating an adherence to the present moment. The viewfinder resembles a doorway to the unified field of consciousness in which line, shape, form, color, value, texture all dissolve. It is here that the yogi is reminded of sat-chit-ananda (the supreme reality as all-pervading; pure consciousness). As of May 2024 Govinda has completed his 300hr yoga teacher training program at Sattva Yoga Academy studying from Master Yogi Anand Mehrotra in Rishikesh, India, Himalayas. This has strengthened his personal Sadhana and allows one to carry and share ancient Vedic Technology leading others in ultimately directing their intellect to bloom into intuition. As awareness and self-realization grows so does the imagery that is all at once divine in the mastery of capturing and controlling light. Over the last seven years he has self-published six photographic books, Follow me i’ll be right behind you (2017), Sonata - Minimal Study (2018), Birds Singing Lies (2018), Rwanda (2019), Where does the body begin? (2019) & Swayam Jyotis (2023). Currently, Govinda is employed at the Leica Store Miami as a camera specialist and starting his journey as a practitioner of yoga ॐ

Manuscripts Division

William L. Clements Library

University of Michigan

George Montagu, 4th Duke of Manchester papers

Creator: Manchester, George Montagu, Duke of, 1737-1788

Inclusive dates: 1779-1788

Extent: 2 linear feet

Abstract:

The Manchester papers primarily contain the diplomatic correspondence, memoranda, and treaty drafts of George Montagu, 4th Duke of Manchester, who was appointed British Ambassador to France to oversee the negotiations regarding the Peace of Paris in 1783.

Language: The material is in English, Italian, and French

Repository: William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan

The Manchester papers contain 250 letters, 30 drafts, 13 instructions, 9 notes, 4 letter books, and a map, spanning 1779 to 1788. These items primarily relate to diplomacy and Manchester's role in the negotiation of the Peace of Paris in 1783.

The Documents and Correspondence series contains 331 items pertaining to British politics, the American Revolution, the negotiations of the Peace of Paris, and other topics. These include diplomatic correspondence, memoranda, drafts of treaty clauses, and instructions for the period of 1783 to 1784, when Manchester participated in the negotiations with France, Spain, and the Netherlands as ambassador to France at the end of the American Revolutionary war.

Just nine letters in the collection predate 1783. These include several accounts of the British military situation in North America from Captain F. Taylor, Manchester's agent in London, in which Taylor noted that "things are as bad, as they can be" and criticized British politicians for leaving London for their country homes in a time of crisis (September 30, 1780). He also condemned the naval tactics of Admiral Henry Darby (February 12, 1781) and commented on British ships headed to Jamaica (October 30, 1781). Beginning in the spring of 1783, the primary topic of the letters and documents shifts to diplomacy and negotiations between Great Britain, France, Spain and the Netherlands. This includes the April 23, 1783, instructions given to Manchester by King George III, which discuss the release of prisoners, the rights of the "French naturalized English," and mandate that Manchester maintain frequent contact with other "Ministers employed in Foreign Courts."

The collection also contains numerous drafts of the treaty's articles and clauses, nearly all of which are in French. With these, it is possible to trace the course of negotiations through the various changes proposed and accepted by the principal negotiators. The drafts of articles pertain to the wide array of issues addressed in the treaty, including boundary negotiations and the ceding of territory, the privileges of British citizens in areas newly controlled by other nations, trading privileges in the West Indies, fishing rights in Newfoundland, use of wood cut in Central America, the release of prisoners of war, and other topics.

Also included is Manchester's incoming and outgoing correspondence concerning the treaty and negotiations, including several dozen letters from the French foreign minister, Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes; a roughly equal number from the Spanish Ambassador to France, Pedro Pablo Abarca de Bolea, Comte d'Aranda; and 23 letters from British secretary of state for foreign affairs Charles James Fox. Correspondence concerns such issues as possession of the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon and associated fisheries in the north Atlantic, restitutions to be made in India between the English and the French, and minor changes to the wording of the treaty. Correspondence between Manchester and Fox, in particular, reveals the inner workings of the British side of negotiations, including concerns that plenipotentiary David Hartley would "be taken in by [Benjamin] Franklin" and "disgrace both himself and us" (May 15, 1783), and comments on Fox's strong support for Russia and Austria (August 4, 1783). In several letters, Fox comments on specific articles within the treaties.

The collection also has a substantial amount of correspondence relating to diplomacy and European politics, which Manchester received in his position as ambassador. This includes complaints by British citizens about their alleged mistreatment at the hands of the French, such as the seizure of the merchant ship Hereford after it took shelter from a storm in Nantes, France (May 17, 1783), and the capture of the ship Merlin by privateers ([May 1781]). Several of Manchester's colleagues wrote to him about Russian politics and activities, including Sir Robert Murray Keith, who described growing tensions with the Turks (May 30, 1783), and John Collet, who gave an account of the Russian mode of colonizing Crimea, which was to pay Genoan families to settle there (June 2, 1783).

Just 27 letters postdate 1783. These give news of European politics, including information on the Russo-Turkish War, a commercial treaty between France and Portugal (February 2, 1787), and several updates on the movements and activities of the French Navy.

The following manuscript map is housed in the Map Division:

Plano De Los Tres Rios De Valiz, Nuevo, Y Hondo, Situados Entre Et Golfo Dulce O Provincia De Goatemala Y De La Yucatan En Et Que Se Manifiesta Les Esteros, Lagunas, Y Canales, Y a Que Embarcaciones Son Accessibles ; La Situacion Del Real Presido De Sn. Phelipe De Bacalar, El Camino Que De El Va a La Capital De Merida: La Laguna Peten Ytza, Y Parte De Su Camino, Des Poblado Hasta El Ultimo Pieblo De Yucatan. , 1783.

Related Materials

The following institutions hold collections related to Manchester:

British Library, British Museum, Bodleian Library, Cambridgeshire Archive Service, National Maritime Museum (London), Sheffield Archives, and University of Nottingham Library

Bibliography

The Manchester papers have been listed, but not published, in the Historical Manuscripts Commission Eighth Report , Appendix Part II, Nos. 946-1287, 1881.

Cannon, John, "Montagu, George, fourth duke of Manchester (1737--1788)," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , Oxford University Press, 2004 [www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/19016, accessed 17 Feb 2011]

On Conservation Status and Trade Legality Issues:

The IUCN rates this as an endangered species since 2004. T. Haevermans, the person who evaluated this species for the IUCN, thought it should be rated as endangered due to its small extent of occurrence; he states it is recorded from only 15 localities and comprises of four to five sub-populations. Nonetheless, it is also published as being common throughout its range in a number of articles on the subject by the late Werner Rauh, possibly formerly the greatest expert on this species. Furthermore, I can find a few more localities than 15 on the GBIF, and I know for certain new localities were discovered since 2004. Lastly, looking at the synonymy and history of this species, one must conclude that it is now naturalized in Tanzania, and has thus actually increased its area of distribution due to man. The greatest threat to its continued existence on this planet is habitat degradation, according to Haevermans. Judging from the climate and geography, I think this must be due to cattle-ranching in this area, although possibly also goat-herding. Looking at the FAO's database on international trade in beef (or goat), one would conclude that this ranching is mostly for local consumption. Other threats listed are fire and charcoal production. Fire is probably caused mostly due to people clearing land for ranching and charcoal production is driven by local need for cooking fuel, and can cause habitat destruction for up to 60kms around a large metropolis. The last thing of concern is large specimens being harvested for the horticultural trade, most of which is local.

Okay, that was the IUCN, now CITES.

In 1975 this species along with all other Euphorbia (including E. pulcherrima) were placed under CITES II; excluding only pollen, seeds, tissue culture or flasked plants. The reason for this was the massive collecting of wild Euphorbia species belonging to the E. obesa group. It was feared that if only these species were declared illegal to harvest, then collectors' attentions would shift to other species. Although over the next few decades more exceptions were permitted to allow the international trade in horticultural plants; such as E. milii, E. lactea or since 2007 E. trigona; trade in succulent Euphorbia has remained illegal. The two most pertinent changes to CITES in interest of this post are in 2005 and 2007. In 2005 a report was prepared and submitted to the CITES council in which was recommended to delist a large number of species, including E. hedyotoides, based on the fact that the international trade in this species was not seen as a cause for concern regarding its conservation. Here it is (in French): www.cites.org/fra/com/PC/15/F-PC15-WG2.pdf.

This report was ignored. In 2007, the government of Madagascar sent a response to the CITES secretariat. I haven't been able to get my hands on a copy of that. I'd like to see it. Either way, the council again decided to keep this species classed under CITES II; but with the following exceptions:

a) seeds and pollen (including pollinia);

b) seedling or tissue cultures obtained in vitro, in solid or liquid media, transported in sterile containers.

That means it is now legal to export seedlings internationally; as long as they are grown sterile in a lab in a test-tube or petri-dish.

But...

EU policies regarding endangered species (Regulation (EC) No 338/97) are stricter, but also much much more confusing. This species is rated Annex B, so international trade is legal providing:

1.The E.U. does not implement an import restriction for this species.

2. Scientific Authority has advised the Management Authority of its finding (after considering possible opinion Scientific Review Group) that:

import would not have a harmful effect on the conservation status of the species or decrease the population concerned, although this does not apply to re-imports and specimens acquired before 1 June 1947.

3. Management Authority in consultation with the Scientific Authority are satisfied that there are no other conservation factors against import, although this does not apply to re-imports and specimens acquired before 1 June 1947.

4. Scientific Authority is satisfied that intended accommodation for live animals/plants at the place of destination is adequately equipped to conserve and care for them properly, although it does not apply to re-imports and specimens acquired before 1 June 1947.

5. Applicant to provide documentary evidence that specimens were obtained in accordance with legislation on the protection of the species: for CITES specimens an export permit or re-export certificate, or copy thereof. Where a copy of an export permit or re-export certificate was the basis for the issue of an import permit, the latter shall only be valid if at the time of introduction it is accompanied by the valid original (re-) export document.

What does this all mean?

1. To my knowledge, there is no import restriction set by the EU on this species, so it complies with this provision.

2. This hasn't happened, and in practice happens only very rarely. Notable examples are when it is in a member state's interest to allow trade. As international trade in this species most probably will be only potentially economically beneficial for Africa, it is unlikely the EU will ever adopt such a provision.

3. Same as above (2).

4. Jezus, what a bunch of tree-hugging crap. I suppose an applicant would have to have some publicized or photographic evidence he would have to send to the Scientific Authority to prove he knows how to not kill the plant too quickly? I question what the point is of this; as long as natural populations are unaffected then who cares how many European collectors kill their plants? It seems to me great; the more Europeans kill their plants, the more they need to import new ones, the greater the economical significance of the species the more economic incentive for local populations to conserve the species, but that is ethics and I'll get back to that some other time.

5. Yeah, this seems fair. I'd add a link to the obscure website where you can fill in a form for this later.

Loophole: Yes, I think I see a loophole on how to get around this. One imports seeds to Europe, germinates them here, re-exports the germinated embryos back to Africa, then re-imports the grown caudexes back to Europe.

More Conservation Data:

1. Wild populations are protected in a number of nature parks and reserves.

2. International trade in the EU in this species: From 1999 to 2007 only 76 specimens have been imported to the EU, and none exported from the EU. In 2005 75 plants were imported from Madagascar to Spain, the Czech Republic and Germany. In 2004 1 plant was imported to the Czech Republic from Madagascar for non-trade purposes.

3. Germplasm: This species is well-represented in collections at botanical gardens or university accessions around the globe. Living germplasm is kept in Madagascar, Japan, the USA, France, Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark and the Ukraine. However, may of these collections represent only one or two plants. Considering it is dioecious, it would be pertinent to obtain opposite sexed individuals or to work together to exchange pollen.

Discussion of the above:

IUCN: The rating as endangered is somewhat questionable. Without clear data supporting an actual decline in population, and numerous recent reports of it being common (including in the IUCN report), I would myself conclude that endangered is too much. The threats as given by Haevermans might be very real, however, and someone over there needs to do a study on the impact of these threats on the known localities. The issue of known localities is also a finicky one; it is much more likely that that the full distribution of this species has simply not been fully elucidated due to incomplete sampling, than that it is truly restricted to small local populations. Lastly, I would like to point out that the three main threats to the species are local in nature, and are not caused by international trade in this species.

CITES: I think this is out-dated. On an ethical level, it really bugs me that legal trade in this species has been relegated to people with sterilized labs, or contacts with government CITES awarding agencies, making it impossible for the local people, whose environment we say we are protecting for them, to have any economic benefit from this. Furthermore, as pointed out in the IUCN and my analysis of the import figures for the EU, international trade in this species is not the biggest threat. There is a real possibility that CITES accreditation actually harms the conservation of this species, because it renders this species into a worthless, poisonous weed which ought to be cleared for cattle-ranching. Considering land-clearance and so is going on anyway in this region, wouldn't it be wise to allow ranchers with one of these on their land to sell it, rather than just burn it? And this CITES documentation application is earning the Malagasy government a lot of money. Insofar how much seems a question of great significance regarding trade issues in endangered species.

EU Regulation (EC) No 338/97: Come on guys! First off, how about someone rewrites this so it is understandable. The law is barely coherent, and regarding plants includes some quite nonsensical animal-rights activistesque nonsense. As far as I can tell, the extra restrictions are an intimidation method to discourage trade rather than stop it altogether, and have more to do with building non-tariff trade barriers in order to block 3rd world producers from accessing EU markets.

PS: Let me quickly note that Mr. Haevermans is a recognised authority on Malagasy Euphorbia, and maybe I should shut up.