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“I was given an opportunity by VisionFund República Dominicana that no one else would give me. They took a leap of faith with my dream and me. I wouldn’t be here without them,” says Francisco Nunez.
Talking with Francisco outside his rural Dominican house, he seemed like a typical Dominican man. Soon after meeting Francisco, hearing his story and catching his dream, there was a quick realisation the he was anything but typical.
Nearly two years ago, Francisco had an idea to start a fish breeding company. This was unheard of in his community, but he was unfazed. He started his business by gathering used water bottles, old buckets and even discarded refrigerators, which he delivered to his house by strapping them to his back while riding his bike. To others, this was all trash. To Francisco, this was the start of his business and perfect materials for fish tanks. After he had filled his containers with local river water he determined which ones would be good for each fish species and began breeding them.
The fish were breeding, but not nearly as fast as they should be. Francisco realised that this was due to the local river water not being clean for the fish. That’s when he decided to go to VisionFund República Dominicana and ask for a loan to drill a well for fresh water. VisionFund wasn’t the first place he went to for a loan, but there were the first to say yes. It was a leap of faith for them because Francisco had no credit, very little income, a family to feed and a crazy business idea. They took a risk for him and gave him a sizeable loan of $1,100 USD to drill a well at his home.
Since Francisco took out his loan he has yet to miss a payment. His water well has also greatly increased the rate of breeding for his fish and the quality of fish bred. Betta fish are his best sellers, many of which are bought by local individuals and children, but he also ships many of his prized fish to large cities in the Dominican Republic.
Francisco has never had this dream so that he can become wealthy though. He has a heart to serve his community, giving away his well water for free to his neighbours and friends. Francisco states, “I want to help others and give them opportunities in life, just like I have been given opportunities.”
As Francisco helped his wife Suleika get their three children Sailin (age 12 pictured), Francelis (age 9) and Frandi (age 5 pictured), ready for school, he stated that his dream is even bigger than what he has accomplished so far. “I plan to pay off my loan, grow my business, and get another loan to make cement fish pools and put water filters in each one” says Francisco. “I also want to improve my house so that my family can be comfortable and so my three children don’t have to share the same bed anymore.”
Francisco’s story isn’t just about starting a business or having big dreams, it’s also about having very little and yet having a big heart to give to others. It’s about empowering communities to dream big and love a lot. That’s who Francisco is and what his dream is all about.), Francelis (age 9) and Frandi (age 5), ready for school, he stated that his dream is even bigger than what he has accomplished so far. “I plan to pay off my loan, grow my business, and get another loan to make cement fish pools and put water filters in each one” says Francisco. “I also want to improve my house so that my family can be comfortable and so my three children don’t have to share the same bed anymore.”
Francisco’s story isn’t just about starting a business or having big dreams, it’s also about having very little and yet having a big heart to give to others. It’s about empowering communities to dream big and love a lot. That’s who Francisco is and what his dream is all about.), Francelis (age 9) and Frandi (age 5), ready for school, he stated that his dream is even bigger than what he has accomplished so far. “I plan to pay off my loan, grow my business, and get another loan to make cement fish pools and put water filters in each one” says Francisco. “I also want to improve my house so that my family can be comfortable and so my three children don’t have to share the same bed anymore.”
Francisco’s story isn’t just about starting a business or having big dreams, it’s also about having very little and yet having a big heart to give to others. It’s about empowering communities to dream big and love a lot. That’s who Francisco is and what his dream is all about.
The name Eindhoven derives from the contraction of the regional words eind (meaning last or end) and hove (or hoeve; a section of some 14 hectares of land). "Eind" is toponymically a common prefix and postfix in local place- and streetnames. A "hove" was a parcel of land that might be given in leasehold to private persons such as farmers by the local lord. Taken in conjunction with the fact that a string of such parcels existed around Woensel, the original location of Eindhoven may be understood to be the "last hove on the land of Woensel".
The written history of Eindhoven started in 1232, when Duke Hendrik I of Brabant granted city rights to Endehoven, then a small town right on the confluence of the Dommel and Gender streams. At the time of granting of its charter, Eindhoven had approximately 170 houses enclosed by a rampart. Just outside of the city walls stood a small castle. The city was also granted the right to organize a weekly market and the farmers in nearby villages were obliged to come to Eindhoven to sell their produce. Another factor in its establishment was its location on the trade route from Holland to Liège.
Around 1388, the city's fortifications were strengthened further. And between 1413 and 1420, a new castle was built within the city walls. In 1486, Eindhoven was plundered and burned by troops from Guelders. The reconstruction was finished in 1502, with a stronger rampart and a new castle. However, in 1543 Eindhoven fell again: its defense works having been neglected due to poverty.
A big fire in 1554 destroyed 75% of the houses but by 1560 these had been rebuilt with the help of William I of Orange. During the Dutch Revolt, Eindhoven changed hands between the Dutch and the Spanish several times during which it was burned down by renegade Spanish soldiers, until finally in 1583 it was captured once more by Spanish troops and its city walls were demolished. Eindhoven did not become part of the Netherlands until 1629. During the French occupation, Eindhoven suffered again with many of its houses destroyed by the invading forces. Eindhoven remained a minor city after that until the start of the industrial revolution.
The industrial revolution of the 19th century provided a major growth impulse. Canals, roads and railroads were constructed. Eindhoven was connected to the major Zuid-Willemsvaart canal through the Eindhovens Kanaal branch in 1843 and was connected by rail to Tilburg, 's-Hertogenbosch, Venlo and Belgium between 1866 and 1870. Industrial activities initially centred around tobacco and textile and boomed with the rise of lighting and electronics giant Philips, which was founded as a light bulb manufacturing company in Eindhoven in 1891.
Industrialization brought population growth to Eindhoven. At the establishment of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815, Eindhoven had 2.310 inhabitants. By 1920, it was 47.946; by 1925 it was 63.870 and in 1935 that had ballooned to 103.030. The explosive growth of industry in the region and the subsequent housing needs of workers called for radical changes in administration, as the City of Eindhoven was still confined to its medieval moat city limits. In 1920, the five neighbouring municipalities of Woensel (to the north), Tongelre (northeast and east), Stratum (southeast), Gestel en Blaarthem (southwest) and Strijp (west), which already bore the brunt of the housing needs and related problems, were incorporated into the new Groot-Eindhoven ("Greater Eindhoven") municipality. The prefix "Groot-" was later dropped.
After the incorporation of 1920, the five former municipalities became districts of the Municipality of Eindhoven, with Eindhoven-Centrum (the City proper) forming the sixth. Since then, an additional seventh district has been formed by dividing the largest district, that of Woensel, into Woensel-Zuid and Woensel-Noord.
The early 20th century saw additions in technical industry with the advent of car and truck manufacturing company Van Doorne's Automobiel Fabriek (DAF) and the subsequent shift towards electronics and engineering, with the traditional tobacco and textile industries waning and finally disappearing in the 1970s
A first air raid in World War II was flown by the RAF on 6 December 1942 targeting the Philips factory downtown. 148 civilians died, even though the attack was carried out on a Sunday by low-flying Mosquito bombers.[8][9] Large-scale air raids, including the preliminary bombing during Operation Market Garden to aid the US 101st Airborne Division paratroopers in securing the bridges in and around the town on 18 September 1944, destroyed large parts of the city. The reconstruction that followed left very little historical remains and the post-war reconstruction period saw drastic renovation plans in highrise style, some of which were implemented. At the time, there was little regard for historical heritage; in the 1960s, a new city hall was built and its neo-gothic predecessor (1867) demolished to make way for a planned arterial road that never materialised.
The 1970s, 1980s and 1990s saw large-scale housing developments in the districts of Woensel-Zuid and Woensel-Noord, making Eindhoven the fifth-largest city in the Netherlands. At the start of the 21st century, a whole new housing development called Meerhoven was constructed at the site of the old airport of Welschap, west of Eindhoven. The airport itself, now called Eindhoven Airport, had moved earlier to a new location, paving the way for much needed new houses. Meerhoven is part of the Strijp district and partially lies on lands annexed from the municipality of Veldhoven.
In the 2000s decade, Eindhoven emerged as the capital of Dutch industrial design. The Design Academy Eindhoven has produced major Dutch designers, such as Maarten Baas, Marcel Wanders, Richard Hutten, Jurgen Bey, and Hella Jongerius. The school also has a strong affiliation with droog design. In 2003, Time Magazine called the Academy, "The School of Cool." Due to the fame of the D.A.E, Eindhoven has been able to grow in the design industry with such events as the Dutch Design Week, that takes place every October. While most of Philips' industries have moved out, the Philips Design Bureau is still in Eindhoven.
Aankomst in Rotterdam van het containerschip EVER GIVEN , VB TIGER , ROTTERDAM , SD STINGRAY en RT ROB van Boluda Towage assisteerden naar de ECT in de Amazonehaven.29-7-2021 gezien vanaf de KRVE 71
Given that this is over the Driver's seat in my car, does it mean 'don't face backwards in a child seat while driving'?
Land at Tonbridge was given to Richard Fitzgilbert, Richard of Brionne, following the Battle of Senlac in 1066. At Tonbridge there was an important crossing of the Medway (probably dating back to the Iron Age) where he built a motte and bailey castle. The motte (mound) is huge, about 27,000 cubic metres and the bailey runs partly along the banks of the Medway and was probably served by a water gate.
www.flickr.com/photos/barryslemmings/sets/72157629105437762/ to see the full set.
In addition to Tonbridge he was also given land at Clare, on the Essex/Suffolk borders, where a second castle of his still exists although much altered. He took the name Richard De Clare. As a result of supporting Robert, son of William the Conqueror, in a rising against King William II, the castle and town of Tonbridge were sacked and burned. In the 1090s the De Clares rebuilt the castle and added a stone keep to the top of the motte. Stone keeps on mottes are relatively rare and it is interesting to note that the sister castle at Clare also has the remains of one.
Stone walls were added to the bailey made of dressed local stone front and back with a rubble and morter infill. One section of the surviving wall is 2.6 metres thick. The De Clares later received the titles of Earl of Hertford and Earl of Gloucester and in 1215 Richard the 3rd Earl of Gloucester and his son Gilbert were two of the 25 barons responsible for policing Magna Carta. King John objected and Tonbridge was attacked and seized. It was not returned to the De Clares until the reign of Henry III.
In 1262 Gilbert became Earl (the 'Red Earl' on account of his red hair) and he subsequently backed the barons against Henry III. In 1264 Henry captured Rochester Castle and then swung south against Tonbridge seizing the town, the castle and Gilbert's wife the countess Alice. Gilbert backed De Montfort at Lewes against the King but in 1265 he switched sides because of De Montfort's ambitions and plans to allay with the Welsh.
Gilbert regained Tonbridge but also gained a reputation for inconstancy. It appears the second loss of Tonbridge sparked Gilbert to build the imposing gatehouse which is the principal surviving feature at Tonbridge today.
The gatehouse is dated to the 1262 -1314 period and was probably complete by 1272 when Gilbert played host to the new King Edward I. It consists of a pair of drum towers with substantial foundations jutting out into the moat and once had a barbican (now lost). This barbican probably contained the drawbridge. At the rear are round towers of more slender proportion.
The main structure has gates and portcullises on BOTH sides of the building indicating that the gatehouse could also be held against a breach of the bailey walls or a rebellion by the garrison. Indeed the gatehouse is liberally supplied with at least six separate portcullises. Access to the gatehouse interior is primarily from inside the archway and the small doors on each each side of this passageway have their own portcullis. Additional portcullises also exist at wallwalk level - one of these leading to a covered way which once led up to the keep on the motte. In effect the gatehouse and the keep could be completely isolated from the rest of the site and it was possible to safely walk from one to the other inside the wallwalk.
The gatehouse was also liberally supplied with meutrieres (murder holes) both in the passageway and on the outside but these probably served a fire-fighting function as well as a military purpose. Shooting from the holes in the passageway roof would prevent combustibles being heaped against the side doors which gave access to the gatehouse itself or allow water to be poured on any combustibles which arrived.
There is considerable storage in the basement level either side of the gatehouse with a real-life 'secret passage' linking the two basements below the gate passage itself. The upper level was probably a guard room but a higher level has larger windows, fine carved heads and large fireplaces and this may have been a fine apartment for a constable, visitors or overflow accomodation from the adjacent keep. It was at this level that the main portcullis was operated and, while the gate and mechanism are both missing, Tonbridge Council have installed a light projector to show an image of the missing portcullis upon the wall. A nice touch.
I remember the gatehouse as a gutted shell but Tonbridge Council have reinstated internal access to the gate since 2000 and added a new roof and access all the way to the top of the gatehouse's roof giving an imposing view over the town. Inside there is a substantial museum in one basement containing examples of locally manufactured glass and cricket balls while elsewhere there are figures of 12th/13th century members of the garrison including one chap sitting on the garderobe with a very serious expression on his face - obvious he needs more ruffage in his diet. At another window a man stands ready with a crossbow in his hand.
Elsewhere model guards eat food in the other basement while a clerk checks his paperwork and another guard counts arrows stored in a barrel. It is clear that the council have spent a lot of money on the castle restoration and the interpretation displays and I came away with the impression of money well spent.
Aankomst in Rotterdam van het containerschip EVER GIVEN , VB TIGER , ROTTERDAM , SD STINGRAY en RT ROB van Boluda Towage assisteerden naar de ECT in de Amazonehaven.29-7-2021 gezien vanaf de KRVE 71
“I was given an opportunity by VisionFund República Dominicana that no one else would give me. They took a leap of faith with my dream and me. I wouldn’t be here without them,” says Francisco Nunez.
Talking with Francisco outside his rural Dominican house, he seemed like a typical Dominican man. Soon after meeting Francisco, hearing his story and catching his dream, there was a quick realisation the he was anything but typical.
Nearly two years ago, Francisco had an idea to start a fish breeding company. This was unheard of in his community, but he was unfazed. He started his business by gathering used water bottles, old buckets and even discarded refrigerators, which he delivered to his house by strapping them to his back while riding his bike. To others, this was all trash. To Francisco, this was the start of his business and perfect materials for fish tanks. After he had filled his containers with local river water he determined which ones would be good for each fish species and began breeding them.
The fish were breeding, but not nearly as fast as they should be. Francisco realised that this was due to the local river water not being clean for the fish. That’s when he decided to go to VisionFund República Dominicana and ask for a loan to drill a well for fresh water. VisionFund wasn’t the first place he went to for a loan, but there were the first to say yes. It was a leap of faith for them because Francisco had no credit, very little income, a family to feed and a crazy business idea. They took a risk for him and gave him a sizeable loan of $1,100 USD to drill a well at his home.
Since Francisco took out his loan he has yet to miss a payment. His water well has also greatly increased the rate of breeding for his fish and the quality of fish bred. Betta fish are his best sellers, many of which are bought by local individuals and children, but he also ships many of his prized fish to large cities in the Dominican Republic.
Francisco has never had this dream so that he can become wealthy though. He has a heart to serve his community, giving away his well water for free to his neighbours and friends. Francisco states, “I want to help others and give them opportunities in life, just like I have been given opportunities.”
As Francisco helped his wife Suleika get their three children Sailin (age 12), Francelis (age 9) and Frandi (age 5), ready for school, he stated that his dream is even bigger than what he has accomplished so far. “I plan to pay off my loan, grow my business, and get another loan to make cement fish pools and put water filters in each one” says Francisco. “I also want to improve my house so that my family can be comfortable and so my three children don’t have to share the same bed anymore.”
Francisco’s story isn’t just about starting a business or having big dreams, it’s also about having very little and yet having a big heart to give to others. It’s about empowering communities to dream big and love a lot. That’s who Francisco is and what his dream is all about.
Saturday, 1 November 2014. A section of London's Regent Street given over to a collection of historic racing motorbikes, from the great "Unrideable" 500cc Two-Stroke Grands Prix era of the 1980's, to promote a revival event to take place in Spain, in 2015.
The event will see former racers including Wayne Gardner, Christian Sarron, Freddie Spencer, Kevin Schwantz and Didier de Radiguez make a return to the track, together, and it was fantastic to see some of them in London, as part of this promotion.
Me? Being a Suzuki guy, I'd still have my money on #34, Kevin Schwantz!
New Milton is a market town in south west Hampshire, England. ( In 1303, Thomas de Chaucombe was given permission to hold a weekly market on Tuesdays at Milton, as well as an annual fair on the feast day of Mary Magdalene. ) The town has a high street and holds a market every Wednesday. Situated on the edge of the New Forest, the town is about six miles ( 10 km ) west of Lymington town centre and 12 miles ( 19 km ) east of Bournemouth town centre. New Milton dates back to Anglo-Saxon times, and encompasses Old Milton, Barton on Sea, Ashley, Bashley, and Wootton. It is recorded as having a population of around 23,000 in 2001. The traditional village centre of Milton was just south of the church. Up to the 1960's, moated earthworks were still visible next to the road known as Moat Lane. Excavations of these earthworks in 1956 revealed a series of peasant enclosures and hut remains dating from the 9th to the 12th century, but no evidence of a manorial farmstead was found.
The parish church of Milton is dedicated to Mary Magdalene and consists of a chancel with vestry, a nave and a western tower. The medieval church was pulled down and replaced around 1830, although the tower is of an earlier 17th century date. In 1835 a Church of England National School was founded on an island of land near the village green, where children were taught until just after World War I. In 1881, the population of the entire Milton parish was only 1489 people, and Milton was still a small village. The location of the village on the main Christchurch to Lymington road ( now the A 337 ) meant that there were two coaching inns - The Wheatsheaf and The George.
In March 1888 New Milton railway station was opened, which is still in operation today. A new town developed, which expanded rapidly with the coming of the railway and the name New Milton was used for the first time and can originally be traced back to the Post Office that stood opposite the railway station. In 1895, the owner of the Post Office, Emma Newhook, commissioned a sign, which read - New Milton Sub Post Office to differentiate it from the post office in Old Milton. This was officially accepted in 1896, and so the name New Milton caught on. Much of the local farmland has been developed, first in the 1960's for commuter housing and again in the 1970's for small industrial / trade units. There is a mix of housing from cottages on the outskirts to more modern, urban housing in the central area.
Milton village subsequently became known as Old Milton, and lies between New Milton and Barton on Sea. There are a few notable architectural points of interest in the local area. However, a distinctive row of Coast Guard Cottages are to be found in Barton Lane, Barton on Sea, which were built at the end of the 19th century by the Government of the day to house armed guards to try to stop the smuggling that was rife at the time. The Barton on Sea and Mudeford coastline was renowned for smuggling with many of the offshore seaways and routes to shore being named after well known local smuggling families. It was in this context that Frederick Marryat, author of The Children of the New Forest, was sent on patrol here as a young naval lieutenant in 1821, to watch over the Christchurch Bay area. Britain's first reinforced concrete bridge was built in 1901 just outside New Milton at Chewton. There was an earlier experiment in building with this material in its un reinforced form at Sway ( Sway Tower ).
New Milton water tower. Built in 1900 was the Tudor style water tower, which can be found adjacent to the car park in Osborne Road. It has a staircase and is constructed with a turret, slit windows and battlements. It is a striking orange - red colour, was built from locally manufactured bricks. The German Luftwaffe carried out bombing raids on New Milton on the 23rd August 1940, the 8th August 1942 and on January 22nd 1943. The town's water tower was suggested as the target. During the Second World War, New Milton homed evacuees and was a transit station for soldiers going to the battlefields. It also had an army hospital. It was a favourite for the airmen who were based at the nearby airfields at Lymington and Holmsley. The Memorial Centre in Whitefield Road commemorates those who died in the raids, as well as towns people who have died more recently. Bricks can be purchased for inscription and insertion into the wall of the Memorial Room, which stands to the left of the front door and contains mementos saved from the original building, which was destroyed by fire in the 1970's.
Ballard Lake that borders Fernhill Lane and Lake Grove Road, in New Milton is a picturesque area of New Milton that you could spend a hot summers day feeding the many ducks, mallards, geese that live around this lake. A few walks branch out from this lake to stroll along. Seats have been sited from donations from residents who have passed away and serve as a reminder to long lost friends or family. The stream from this lake meanders for many miles in many cases forming picturesque walks further along New Milton.
Given frequent and sophisticated attacks on financial institutions, how can governments improve cyber-resilience and financial stability while reducing the threat of a cyber-attack contagion? Join us to learn how the IMF brings experts, policymakers and the private sector together to help financial supervisors in developing economies undertake better quality regulation and supervision of cyber risk. International Monetary Fund's IT Department, Kemi Okutubo and Frank Adelmann from the Monetary and Capital Markets Department presented at the Capacity Development sessipn, Building Cyber-Resilience in the Financial Sector at IMF Headquarters during the 2019 IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings April 11, 2019 in Washington, DC. IMF Photograph/Grace Kim
Weston Bike Nights 04 May 2017
A big thank you to all who have bought their images over the last 9 years. Last year a cheque for £2035.93 was given to the organiser of Weston Bike Nights to be part of the total given to the 2016 "Poppy Appeal" collection.
For the time this may be the last collection of images I will publish of Weston Bike Nights as I am no longer part of this event.
Images for 2017 will be found in the following link which are being taken by a new photographer for Weston Bike Nights. Please contact him for any images required in the new link.
www.flickr.com/photos/150289984@N05/collections
This weekly Thursday meet during the summer is based at the sea front in the sea side resort of Weston Super Mare, North Somerset, UK.
It is organised by Members of the British legion, all bike donate £1 to enter and all proceeds go the charity The Poppy Appeal.
Images can be obtained for a donation of £5 per image, the full image will then be e-mailed to you.
Either send donation via paypal stating the images wanted to bikenightphotos@btinternet.com or send a e-mail to bikenightphotos@btinternet.com with your request and a paypal invoice will be e-mailed to you allowing you to make a secure donation via debit/credit card.
All Donations go to the charity supported by the Bike Nights "The Poppy Appeal".
For further assistance about these images e-mail bikenightphotos@btinternet.com
Show your support for the event and donate for any photos you use.
Please note the images put onto this site are reduced in quality/ size.
Weston Bike Night Website
Further Information
(You don't have to be a member or ex-member of the services to be a member of the Royal British Legion)
The Riders Branch of the Royal British Legion
Membership open to all who have a love of motorcycling and are in agreement with the aims of the British Legion
25/05/2021. Ladies European Tour 2021. Ladies Italian Open, Golf Club Margara, Piemont. Italy. May 28 - 30 2021. Ellie Givens of England during a practice round. Credit: Tristan Jones.
I have given this some thought over the years; what distinguishes a neck corset from a collar? For me, a collar has limited adjustment using buckles or locks, etc. A neck corset has infinite adjustment through laces.
Obviously, tight-lacing a neck corset could be deleterious to the wearer, but they can certinaly be utilised to immobilise the wearer's head and to restrict breathing. There are a few photos out there of a girl I knew as Gina, who intentionally wore a neck corset so tight that she could barely breathe, the veins in her forehead stood out, and she couldn't swallow.
Neck corsets could be used to give the appearance of a stretched neck by pushing the collar bones down and the chin up. I have never worn a neck corset, but I am guessing that a neck corset that tall will be highly restrictive.
Given the regular use of the South Inch for exercising dogs, I'm presuming this ball-on-a-string was an enthusiastically thrown toy.
The Bottlenose Dolphins living in the waters around Elba island are on the hunt for food, and a series of fishing boats have given them the opportunity they were looking for.
Interactions between dolphins and fishing boats are on the rise, and unfortunately they don't always end well. The intensive and unsustainable practices that are often used in fishing are not helping the situation, so if we want to live in a world where there's enough food for us and all the animals that make this planet habitable, better rules and regulations must be set, especially regarding protected areas and wildlife sanctuaries.
A special thanks to Centro Ricerca Cetacei for the opportunity to witness the research that goes into the conservation of these creatures in the islands of Tuscany.
Henry John Collett, known as Jack by the family, was born on 02.04.1903 at Ampney St Peter, although it was given as Ampney Crucis on his death certificate. His mother Eliza died during the birth. He joined the army on 4th September 1922 when he enlisted at Warley in the West Midlands and became Private 6003325 with the Essex Regiment. His military record states he was born at Ashbrook which was another name for Ampney St Mary, and is no longer used today. The record also states he was a labourer, the son of Ebenezer William Collett of Ashbrook near Cirencester, and was five feet six and a half inches tall, weighed 115 pounds, had a fresh complexion, blue eyes and brown hair.
During his military career, which lasted until he was discharged on 3rd September 1929, he served in East India for three week in December 1923 with the 1st Battalion followed by five years and four months in India with the 2nd Battalion. His military conduct was exemplary and he was only discharged with a disability pension when he ceased to fulfil army medical requirements. This was as a result of wounds he received whilst in action in India which left him with only one lung.
He married Violet Bridges on 03.08.1931 at Ducklington just south of Witney in Oxfordshire and according to the marriage certificate was a clothier living at Ampney St Peter. Violet was born midway between Faringdon and Witney at Langford on 28.03.1905 and at the time of the marriage was living with her shepherd father Albert Bridges and her mother Ada nee Whittock at Home Farm in Cokethorpe south of Witney. Prior to the wedding she was in service at Hatherop Castle and later took up the role of cook at Burford Cottage Hospital.
Henry later became a baker at Scott’s in the High Street at Burford. He died from a heart attack on 31.12.1975 while living at 3 Wydom Way in Burford. The death certificate records he was a retired baker.
His wife Violet passed away on 09.04.1988 at Widford midway between Burford and Asthall.
Given the very windy conditions during the last weekend in the uruguayan coast, some guys decided to ride their kites and learn to fly!
Juan Lacaze, Colonia, Uruguay.
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Dimitri Ouvre Wins Inaugural ASP 1-Star Somo Pro Junior Cantabria Infinita
Dimitri Ouvre (Saint Barthelemy) 19, won the Somo Pro Junior Cantabria Infinita presented by Escuela Cantabra de Surf in a closely fought battle which saw the young goofy-footer pull a huge air-reverse to come out on top over Medi Veminardi (REU) 19, William Aliotti (FRA) 17, and Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) 17, in a come-from-behind victory in clean 3-4ft (1m) peaks at the main event site in La Playa de Somo.
After officials called a halt to proceedings during the low tide mark, the green light was given to run through to the crowning of this year’s Somo Pro Junior Cantabria Infinita which saw all four finalist exchange waves in the pulsing 35-minute final clash.
Ouvre, claiming his maiden Asp Pro Junior victory, trailed at the halfway stage after failing to find a quality set wave to pin back his rivals. With under 15 minutes remaining Ouvre found his wave and punted the manoeuvre of the event followed by a forehand snap to snatch a near perfect 9.00 out of 10 and the win.
“In the beginning Medi (Veminardi) got some really good scores and if I wanted to win I needed to get a big score and not fives or sixes so I waited. I made a couple of mistakes at the beginning because I was too impatient but after I knew I needed to wait for a good one and it came through to me. I was a bit lucky with that because after there were no sets for about 10 minutes so I am so stoked.”
Ouvre jumps to nº1 position on the Asp European Men’s Pro Junior rankings and now has his eyes set on a repeat performance at the upcoming Asp 3-Star Pro Junior in the Canary Islands.
“It is a good result before the Canaries event so I think I am confident for the Canaries and I just have to do the same thing. I have no pressure and I enjoyed this event with my friends and my time here in Spain. I am not really focused but I just want to win so it is great right now.”
Veminardi, who had impressed during his Quarter and Semi-final appearance surfed the long rippable lefts with a series of precise forehand snaps to amass a two-wave combined total of 15.16 out of 20 to take a commanding lead early in the final.
“I think I had a good game plan for the whole contest. I really wanted to improve my surfing in every heat I surfed in and that’s what I did but it was bad luck for me. Dimitri got that one wave that had the good ramp to do an air and he did it and took his chance and I lost by 0.15 of a point but that’s the way it is. I’m just bummed for losing the prize money for first place, $1,100 for less than half a point is tough.” (laughs)
Veminardi now looks ahead to his next Asp Pro Junior appearance starting in five days with a boost in confidence as well as his equipment and approach fine tuned after his performances at the Somo Pro Junior Cantabria Infinita.
“I had bad luck in Reunion with an interference and I was really angry over there but I had to figure everything out with my coaches and this contest has been a good warm up for the next event and I am ready for the Canaries and I hope I can do better next time.”
William Aliotti (FRA) who finished third ahead of Boukhiam, survived an extremely close Quarter-final to proceed through to the Final where he showed his improved surfing on both the lefts and the rights to sit in nº3 position on the Asp European Pro Junior Rankings with Boukhiam sitting in 4º overall.
“It is true that I had a very difficult heat in the quarters,” stated Aliotti. “It was very close but I am pleased to make it through that heat and to get to the final. I am more or less happy with the result but of course I would have liked to come first like everyone else but it is good to keep my points up on the rankings.”
Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 13, the youngest competitor in the Somo Pro Junior Cantabria Infinita, finished equal 7th claiming his best career result to date. The ever smiling natural-footer who turned heads with his clean flowing rail turns and competitive skills displayed in all his encounters.
“I am really happy with this result. It is my first semi-final and I enjoyed surfing here in Somo. On the high tide the waves are incredible and I’ll definitely come back next year for sure.”
The Somo Pro Junior Cantabria Infinita presented by Escuela Cantabra de Surf is the second stop on the Asp Europe Men’s Pro Junior Series 2011 which will determine qualifiers for the elite Asp World Junior Championships which start in Bali October 3 2011.
The Asp European Men’s Pro Junior caravan moves to the idyllic island of Gran Canaria for the 3-Star Islas Canarias Santa Pro Junior running from 11-15 May 2011 at the peaky beach break of La Cicer.
Somo Pro Junior Cantabria Infinita pres. by ECS Final
Dimitri Ouvre (BRB) 15.33
Medi Veminardi (REU) 15.16
William Aliotti (FRA) 13.37
Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) 12.07
Somo Pro Junior Cantabria Infinita pres. by ECS Semi-Final Results
Heat 1: Medi Veminardi (REU) 14.83, Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) 12.40, Angelo Bonomelli (ITA) 10.07, Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 8.67
Heat 2: William Aliotti (FRA) 13.34, Dimitri Ouvre (BRB) 11.36, Txaber Gaminde (EUK) 10.63, Tom Cloarec (FRA) 9.84
Somo Pro Junior Cantabria Infinita pres. by ECS Quarter-Final Results
Heat 1: Medi Veminardi (REU) 12.10, Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 10.13, Natxo Gonzalez (EUK) 6.87, Miguel Blanco (PRT) 6.26
Heat 2: Angelo Bonomelli (ITA) 15.00, Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) 6.57, Marcelino Botin (ESP) 6.24, Tristan Guilbaud (FRA) 4.66
Heat 3: Txaber Gaminde (EUK) 12.43, William Aliotti (FRA) 9.83, Hugo Palmarini (REU) 9.44, Francisco Alves (PRT) 8.67
Heat 4: Tom Cloarec (FRA) 11.90, Dimitri Ouvre (BRB) 11.66, Vasco Ribeiro (PRT) 11.37, Jules Thomet (FRA) 11.07
Somo Pro Junior Cantabria Infinita pres. by ECS Round Three Results
Heat 1: Medi Veminardi (REU) 11.33, Marcelino Botin (ESP) 7.50, Jose Ferreira (PRT) 5.27, Joao Pinheiro (PRT) 3.34
Heat 2: Miguel Blanco (PRT) 12.10, Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) 11.43, Ander Mendiguren (EUK) 7.90, Diodo Appleton (PRT) 7.57
Heat 3: Angelo Bonomelli (ITA) 13.17, Natxo Gonzalez (EUK) 12.50, Pablo Pola (FRA) 6.94, Marcos Carmona (ESP) 4.13
Heat 4: Tristan Guilbaud (FRA) 13.90, Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 8.50, Ethan Egiguren (EUK) 8.46, Charly Termeau (FRA) 6.60
Heat 5: William Aliotti (FRA) 13.54, Jules Thomet (FRA) 11.54, Borja Agote (EUK) 9.74, Hugo Debosc (REU) 5.47
Heat 6: Hugo Palmarini (REU) 14.06, Tom Cloarec (FRA) 13.73, Gaspard Larsonneur (FRA) 12.17, Alex Iriondo (EUK) 10.83
Heat 7: Vasco Ribeiro (PRT) 13.57, Txaber Gaminde (EUK) 10.57, Alex Gironi (EUK) 8.90, Stuart Campbell (GBR) 8.67
Heat 8: Dimitri Ouvre (BRB) 15.10, Francisco Alves (PRT) 12.37, Kosme Fernandes (EUK) 9.70, Luis Eyre (GBR) 7.20
Photo ASP Europe / Masurel/Aquashot
Given how windy it was that day, and the fact that most of the time I watched this female oriole all I saw was the tip of her tail as she busily worked upside down fine tuning her pendulous nest, I felt lucky to get a couple shots like this.
given to me today by a relative of the owner this coach still exists in north wiltshire as a caravan although not been on the road for some time. svw 667r is ex thomas calne and is seen here just after purchase by the new owner and having been repainted. although still complete and a runner the paintwork is now peeling off and she has been stood for many years. its a bedford ymt
28/08/2020. Ladies European Tour 2020. Tipsport Czech Ladies Open. Golf Club Beroun, Czech Republic. August 20-30 2020 Ellie Givens of England during the first round. Credit: Tristan Jones.
Mayor Bill de Blasio and City agencies pick up a donation of 250,000 face masks being given by the United Nations and U.S. Mission to the United Nations. United Nations Headquarters. Saturday, March 28, 2020. Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office.
This photograph is provided by the New York City Mayoral Photography Office (MPO) for the benefit of the general public and for dissemination by members of the media. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial materials, advertisements, emails, products or promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the City of New York, the Mayoral administration, or the de Blasio family without prior consent from the MPO (PhotoOffice@cityhall.nyc.gov). Any use or reprinting of official MPO photographs must use the following credit language and style: “Photographer/Mayoral Photography Office”, as listed at the end of each caption.
given to me on my birthday yesterday (18th Mar).
Made with soft dough. :-)
definitely the most delicious cake i had in my life.
YORK, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 29: during the Friendly match between i2i Albion and i2i Blue at Haxby Road on September 29th 2022 in North Yorkshire, United Kingdom. (Photo by Matthew Appleby)
State Opening of Parliament, 8 May 2013
The Royal Regalia procession.
The Imperial State Crown, the Cap of Maintenance and the Sword of State were conveyed to the House of Lords in a Carriage Procession, escorted by a Regalia Escort of the Household Cavalry, prior to the Queen travelling to Parliament. They were carried in the Queen Alexandra State Coach, built in 1865. The regalia are given a “Royal Salute Present Arms” from the Guards of Honour and troops lining the route.
These are insignias of the Sovereign and represent the authority of the monarchy.
The Imperial State Crown has almost 3,000 precious stones making up the headpiece. It is only used at State Openings of Parliament and Coronations.
The Great Sword of State symbolises the Sovereign’s Royal authority. The Sword of State was first seen at the lavish Coronation of King James II in 1685. Along with the coronation regalia, the Sword was presented to the King and Queen as they entered Westminster Hall. Ever since, the item has been an integral part of the pomp and ceremony of the United Kingdom.
The Lord Privy Seal carries the Cap of Maintenance directly in front of The Queen during the State Opening. The Cap of Maintenance was traditionally gifted to the monarch by the Pope. If the Pope awarded a monarch with a Cap, it was seen as an endorsement and special privilege. A Cap of Maintenance was gifted to both Henry VII and Henry VIII during their respective reigns. The Kings were so pleased to have received this special privilege from The Vatican, they paraded the Cap on a stick around the City of London to solidify the monarch’s authority. At coronations, Kings of the past, including King George VI, have worn the Cap of Maintenance for the journey to Westminster Abbey immediately prior to the service.
Lieutenant Colonel (retired) Sir Andrew Ford, KCVO, late the Welsh Guards, carries the Imperial State Crown from Buckingham Palace to the Houses of Parliament. Ford was Comptroller of the Lord Chamberlain's Office from 2006 to 2018. The Lord Chamberlain's Office is a department within the Royal Household concerned with matters such as protocol, state visits, investitures, garden parties, the State Opening of Parliament, royal weddings and funerals. The Comptroller is the full-time head of department, responsible to the part-time Lord Chamberlain.
Lieutenant Colonel (retired) Alexander Matheson of Matheson, the younger, Equerry in Waiting to the Queen, late the Coldstream Guards, carried the Cap of Maintenance from Buckingham Palace to Parliament. The Equerry attends and assists the Queen in her official duties from day to day.
Ford and Matheson have EIIR Royal Cyphers on their shoulder straps indicating their appointments in the Royal Household.
General (retired) Sir Kevin O’Donoghue KCB, CBE, late the Royal Engineers, carries the Sword of State from Buckingham Palace to Parliament. He has served as Gentleman Usher to the Sword of State since 2013. He is responsible for bearing the Sword of State before the monarch on ceremonial occasions. However, the Gentleman Usher was removed from the procession at the State Opening inside Parliament from 1998.
O'Donoghue was previously Chief of Defence Materiel from 2007 until his retirement from the Army in 2011.
A more senior retired military officer carried the Sword of State in the State Opening procession inside Parliament whilst the Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal carried the Cap of Maintenance.
On arrival at the Sovereign’s Entrance beneath the Victoria Tower the Crown is passed by the Queen's Bargemaster back to the Comptroller of the Lord Chamberlain's Office after he has got out of the carriage, under the watchful eye of the Crown Jeweller. It is then carried, along with the Great Sword of State and the Cap of Maintenance, to be displayed in the Royal Gallery. Shortly before the Queen arrives the Imperial State Crown is taken to the Robing Room where the Queen puts it on.
The Queen arrives at the Palace of Westminster from Buckingham Palace in a state coach (since 2014, the Diamond Jubilee State Coach), entering through the Sovereign's Entrance under the Victoria Tower. The Queen is usually accompanied by her consort and sometimes by other members of the royal family. As the National Anthem is played, the Royal Standard is hoisted to replace the Union Flag on Victoria Tower upon the Sovereign's entrance and remains flying whilst she is present. Then, after he or she puts on the Parliament Robe of State and Imperial State Crown in the Robing Room, the Queen proceeds through the Royal Gallery to the House of Lords, usually accompanied by her consort and immediately preceded by the Earl Marshal, and by one peer (usually the Lord Privy Seal) carrying the Cap of Maintenance on a white rod and another peer (generally a retired senior military officer) carrying the Great Sword of State, all following the Lord Great Chamberlain with his white stick raised aloft.
Two maces are also brought in the Royal Regalia procession from Buckingham Palace, usually in King Edward VII's Town Coach, which are then carried inside Parliament in the royal procession to the House of Lords by the royal Sergeants-at-Arms.
Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by Prince Philip, travelled to Westminster in the Irish State Coach for the State Opening of Parliament.
The Queen wore the George IV State Diadem. The diadem is a crown that was made in 1820 for King George IV. The diadem is worn by queens and queens consort in procession to coronations and State Openings of Parliament. The diadem includes 1,333 diamonds weighing 320carats (64 g) and 169 pearls along its base. Its design features roses, thistles and shamrocks, the symbols of England, Scotland and Ireland respectively.
The original Irish State Coach was built in 1851 in Dublin. After the Second World War the Irish State Coach came to be used habitually by the monarch at the State Opening of Parliament. After 1988 the Australian State Coach was used on some occasions and in 1989 the opportunity was taken for a complete restoration of the Irish State Coach. Since then the Irish State Coach has continued to be used intermittently by the Queen for the State Opening of Parliament.
The State Opening of Parliament marks the commencement of a session of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. During this ceremony the Monarch reads the Queen’s Speech. The speech is not written by the Prime Minister and sets out the legislative agenda for the coming session of Parliament. The members of all three branches of government (legislative, executive and judiciary) are assembled in the House of Lords to hear the Queen reads out the speech.
From the Court Circular:
The Queen, accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh, travelled in State to the Palace of Westminster today to open the Session of Parliament. Her Majesty and His Royal Highness drove in a Carriage Procession, escorted by a Sovereign's Escort of The Household Cavalry, under the command of Major Nicholas Stewart, The Life Guards, and were received at the Sovereign's Entrance by the Earl Marshal and the Lord Great Chamberlain.
The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall drove in a Carriage Procession, escorted by a Travelling Escort of the Household Cavalry, under the command of Major Simon Deverell, The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons).
Guards of Honour were mounted at Buckingham Palace by The Queen's Guard found by 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, under the command of Major Piers Ashfield, and at the Palace of Westminster by 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, under the command of Major Henry Llewelyn-Usher.
A staircase party of The Household Cavalry was on duty at Victoria Tower, House of Lords.
Royal Salutes were fired in Green Park by The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery, under the command of Major Mark Edward, and from the Tower of London Saluting Battery by the Honourable Artillery Company, under the command of Major John Chorley.
The Imperial State Crown, the Cap of Maintenance and the Sword of State were conveyed previously to the House of Lords in a Carriage Procession, escorted by a Regalia Escort of The Household Cavalry.
Her Majesty's Body Guard of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms was on duty in the Prince's Chamber and The Queen's Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard was on duty in the Royal Gallery. The Queen's Bargemaster and Watermen were on duty. The Ladies and Gentlemen of the Household and the Pages of Honour to The Queen (Arthur Chatto, the Hon. Charles Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Aithrie and Hugo Bertie) were in attendance at the Palace of Westminster. Her Majesty and His Royal Highness returned to Buckingham Palace and were received by the Lord Chamberlain and the Vice-Chamberlain of the Household.
Information from the Ministry of Defence website:
In total 1,290 Armed Forces personnel took part in the Sate Opening of Parliament ceremony including Cavalry, troops lining the route and forming guards of honour and bands.
Soldiers from the Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards and Welsh Guards together with 4 half-companies of the Royal Air Force Regiment and 4 half-companies of the Royal Navy, lined the route of the procession from Buckingham Palace to the House of Lords while the Queen’s carriage was escorted by members of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment.
Musical accompaniment was provided by the Royal Artillery Band, the Band of the Grenadier Guards, the Band of the Coldstream Guards, the Band of the Scots Guards, the Band of the Irish Guards, the Band of the Welsh Guards and the Band of the Honourable Artillery Company.
The General Officer Commanding London District, Major General George Norton, commanded the parade.
As the Queen reached the House of Lords, a 41-gun salute was fired by members of the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, supported by the Royal Artillery Band, in Green Park.
A further 41-gun salute was be fired at midday at the Tower of London by the Army’s oldest regiment, the Honourable Artillery Company, which is part of the Territorial Army.
After the Queen’s procession returned to Buckingham Palace, the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery marched past Her Majesty, followed by the Sovereign’s Escort and Regalia Escort, formed by the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, and a Guard of Honour provided by members of the Grenadier Guards and the Welsh Guards.
Bessie Surtees House is the name of two merchants' houses on Newcastle's Sandhill, near to the river, that were built in the 16th and 17th centuries. Though commonly referred to solely as Bessie Surtees House, the property actually consists of three distinct properties; Bessie Surtees House, Milbank House, and Maddison House. These names were given to the buildings by their 20th century owner Lord Gort. The buildings are a fine and rare example of Jacobean domestic architecture. An exhibition detailing the history of the buildings can be found on the first floor. The site is also home to the North East regional branch of Historic England. It is a Grade I listed building.
The earliest record for the house on this site dates from 1465, when the house is recorded as being sold by Robert Rhodes, a local lawyer, to John Belt.
Bessie Surtees House
The house is best known as the scene of the elopement of Bessie Surtees (Elizabeth Scott, Countess of Eldon) and John Scott, who later became Lord Chancellor. The house was divided up and sublet in the 18th and 19th centuries, until it was purchased by John Clayton in 1880, who also purchased the next door Milbank House. It was restored in 1930 by SR Vereker, later Lord Gort, who employed an engineer named R.F. Wilkinson to install 17th-century fixtures taken from properties about to be demolished. Newcastle City Council purchased the house in 1978. They leased it to English Heritage in 1989.
In July 2009 it was targeted by graffiti vandals who extensively spray-painted the roof with the tags "LG", "GRIM" and "KAME".
When Historic England was formed in 2015 it assumed the lease of the property, which it maintains to the present day as its North East of England office. The house is a popular attraction during The Late Shows and Heritage Open Days which take place annually, and allow members of the public to see the areas of the house usually not open to public view.
Milbank House
The brick fronted Milbank House dates to the same period as Bessie Surtees House, and was also originally timber framed. In 1741 its owner Robert Carrick completed the process of altering its facade to what was at the time a modern Georgian brick frontage. From 1741 until 1757 the building operated as a coffee house.
Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with protecting the historic environment of England by preserving and listing historic buildings, scheduling ancient monuments, registering historic parks and gardens and by advising central and local government.
The body was officially created by the National Heritage Act 1983, and operated from April 1984 to April 2015 under the name of English Heritage. In 2015, following the changes to English Heritage's structure that moved the protection of the National Heritage Collection into the voluntary sector in the English Heritage Trust; the body that remained was rebranded as Historic England.
The body also inherited the Historic England Archive from the old English Heritage, and projects linked to the archive such as Britain from Above, which saw the archive work with the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland to digitise, catalogue and put online 96,000 of the oldest Aerofilms images. The archive also houses various national collections, including the results of older projects, such as the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England and Images of England (providing online access to images of listed buildings in England as of 2002).
Remit
Historic England inherited English Heritage's position as the UK government's statutory adviser and a statutory consultee on all aspects of the historic environment and its heritage assets. This includes archaeology on land and underwater, historic buildings sites and areas, designated landscapes and the historic elements of the wider landscape. It monitors and reports on the state of England's heritage and publishes the annual Heritage at Risk survey which is one of the UK government's official statistics. It is tasked to secure the preservation and enhancement of the human-made heritage of England for the benefit of future generations.
Its remit involves:
Caring for nationally important archive collections of photographs, drawings and other records which document the historic environment of England and date from the eighteenth century onwards.
Giving grants to national and local organisations for the conservation of historic buildings, monuments and landscapes. In 2013/14 over £13 million worth of grants were made to support heritage buildings.
Advising central UK government on which English heritage assets are nationally important and should be protected by designation (i.e. listing, scheduling, etc.).
Administering and maintaining the register of England's listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered battlefields, World Heritage Sites and protected parks and gardens. This is published online as the National Heritage List for England.
Advising local authorities on managing changes to the most important parts of heritage.
Providing expertise through advice, training and guidance to improve the standards and skills of people working in heritage, practical conservation and access to resources. In 2009–2010 it trained around 200 professionals working in local authorities and the wider sector.
Consulting and collaborating with other heritage bodies, local and national planning organisations e.g. the preparation of the 2010 Planning Policy statement for the Historic Environment (PPS5).
Commissioning and conducting archaeological research, including the publication of Heritage Counts and Heritage at Risk on behalf of the heritage sector; these are annual research surveys into the state of England's heritage.
It is not responsible for approving alterations to listed buildings. The management of listed buildings is the responsibility of local planning authorities and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
Historic England also owns the National Heritage Collection of nationally important historic sites, currently in public care. However, it does not run these sites as this function is instead carried out by the English Heritage Trust under licence until 2023.
Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle is a cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is located on the River Tyne's northern bank, opposite Gateshead to the south. It is the most populous settlement in the Tyneside conurbation and North East England.
Newcastle developed around a Roman settlement called Pons Aelius, the settlement became known as Monkchester before taking on the name of a castle built in 1080 by William the Conqueror's eldest son, Robert Curthose. It was one of the world's largest ship building and repair centres during the industrial revolution. Newcastle was part of the county of Northumberland until 1400, when it separated and formed a county of itself. In 1974, Newcastle became part of Tyne and Wear. Since 2018, the city council has been part of the North of Tyne Combined Authority.
The history of Newcastle upon Tyne dates back almost 2,000 years, during which it has been controlled by the Romans, the Angles and the Norsemen amongst others. Newcastle upon Tyne was originally known by its Roman name Pons Aelius. The name "Newcastle" has been used since the Norman conquest of England. Due to its prime location on the River Tyne, the town developed greatly during the Middle Ages and it was to play a major role in the Industrial Revolution, being granted city status in 1882. Today, the city is a major retail, commercial and cultural centre.
Roman settlement
The history of Newcastle dates from AD 122, when the Romans built the first bridge to cross the River Tyne at that point. The bridge was called Pons Aelius or 'Bridge of Aelius', Aelius being the family name of Roman Emperor Hadrian, who was responsible for the Roman wall built across northern England along the Tyne–Solway gap. Hadrian's Wall ran through present-day Newcastle, with stretches of wall and turrets visible along the West Road, and at a temple in Benwell. Traces of a milecastle were found on Westgate Road, midway between Clayton Street and Grainger Street, and it is likely that the course of the wall corresponded to present-day Westgate Road. The course of the wall can be traced eastwards to the Segedunum Roman fort at Wallsend, with the fort of Arbeia down-river at the mouth of the Tyne, on the south bank in what is now South Shields. The Tyne was then a wider, shallower river at this point and it is thought that the bridge was probably about 700 feet (210 m) long, made of wood and supported on stone piers. It is probable that it was sited near the current Swing Bridge, due to the fact that Roman artefacts were found there during the building of the latter bridge. Hadrian himself probably visited the site in 122. A shrine was set up on the completed bridge in 123 by the 6th Legion, with two altars to Neptune and Oceanus respectively. The two altars were subsequently found in the river and are on display in the Great North Museum in Newcastle.
The Romans built a stone-walled fort in 150 to protect the river crossing which was at the foot of the Tyne Gorge, and this took the name of the bridge so that the whole settlement was known as Pons Aelius. The fort was situated on a rocky outcrop overlooking the new bridge, on the site of the present Castle Keep. Pons Aelius is last mentioned in 400, in a Roman document listing all of the Roman military outposts. It is likely that nestling in the shadow of the fort would have been a small vicus, or village. Unfortunately, no buildings have been detected; only a few pieces of flagging. It is clear that there was a Roman cemetery near Clavering Place, behind the Central station, as a number of Roman coffins and sarcophagi have been unearthed there.
Despite the presence of the bridge, the settlement of Pons Aelius was not particularly important among the northern Roman settlements. The most important stations were those on the highway of Dere Street running from Eboracum (York) through Corstopitum (Corbridge) and to the lands north of the Wall. Corstopitum, being a major arsenal and supply centre, was much larger and more populous than Pons Aelius.
Anglo-Saxon development
The Angles arrived in the North-East of England in about 500 and may have landed on the Tyne. There is no evidence of an Anglo-Saxon settlement on or near the site of Pons Aelius during the Anglo-Saxon age. The bridge probably survived and there may well have been a small village at the northern end, but no evidence survives. At that time the region was dominated by two kingdoms, Bernicia, north of the Tees and ruled from Bamburgh, and Deira, south of the Tees and ruled from York. Bernicia and Deira combined to form the kingdom of Northanhymbra (Northumbria) early in the 7th century. There were three local kings who held the title of Bretwalda – 'Lord of Britain', Edwin of Deira (627–632), Oswald of Bernicia (633–641) and Oswy of Northumbria (641–658). The 7th century became known as the 'Golden Age of Northumbria', when the area was a beacon of culture and learning in Europe. The greatness of this period was based on its generally Christian culture and resulted in the Lindisfarne Gospels amongst other treasures. The Tyne valley was dotted with monasteries, with those at Monkwearmouth, Hexham and Jarrow being the most famous. Bede, who was based at Jarrow, wrote of a royal estate, known as Ad Murum, 'at the Wall', 12 miles (19 km) from the sea. It is thought that this estate may have been in what is now Newcastle. At some unknown time, the site of Newcastle came to be known as Monkchester. The reason for this title is unknown, as we are unaware of any specific monasteries at the site, and Bede made no reference to it. In 875 Halfdan Ragnarsson, the Danish Viking conqueror of York, led an army that attacked and pillaged various monasteries in the area, and it is thought that Monkchester was also pillaged at this time. Little more was heard of it until the coming of the Normans.
Norman period
After the arrival of William the Conqueror in England in 1066, the whole of England was quickly subjected to Norman rule. However, in Northumbria there was great resistance to the Normans, and in 1069 the newly appointed Norman Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Comines and 700 of his men were killed by the local population at Durham. The Northumbrians then marched on York, but William was able to suppress the uprising. That same year, a second uprising occurred when a Danish fleet landed in the Humber. The Northumbrians again attacked York and destroyed the garrison there. William was again able to suppress the uprising, but this time he took revenge. He laid waste to the whole of the Midlands and the land from York to the Tees. In 1080, William Walcher, the Norman bishop of Durham and his followers were brutally murdered at Gateshead. This time Odo, bishop of Bayeux, William's half brother, devastated the land between the Tees and the Tweed. This was known as the 'Harrying of the North'. This devastation is reflected in the Domesday Book. The destruction had such an effect that the North remained poor and backward at least until Tudor times and perhaps until the Industrial Revolution. Newcastle suffered in this respect with the rest of the North.
In 1080 William sent his eldest son, Robert Curthose, north to defend the kingdom against the Scots. After his campaign, he moved to Monkchester and began the building of a 'New Castle'. This was of the "motte-and-bailey" type of construction, a wooden tower on top of an earthen mound (motte), surrounded by a moat and wooden stockade (bailey). It was this castle that gave Newcastle its name. In 1095 the Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Mowbray, rose up against the king, William Rufus, and Rufus sent an army north to recapture the castle. From then on the castle became crown property and was an important base from which the king could control the northern barons. The Northumbrian earldom was abolished and a Sheriff of Northumberland was appointed to administer the region. In 1091 the parish church of St Nicholas was consecrated on the site of the present Anglican cathedral, close by the bailey of the new castle. The church is believed to have been a wooden building on stone footings.
Not a trace of the tower or mound of the motte and bailey castle remains now. Henry II replaced it with a rectangular stone keep, which was built between 1172 and 1177 at a cost of £1,444. A stone bailey, in the form of a triangle, replaced the previous wooden one. The great outer gateway to the castle, called 'the Black Gate', was built later, between 1247 and 1250, in the reign of Henry III. There were at that time no town walls and when attacked by the Scots, the townspeople had to crowd into the bailey for safety. It is probable that the new castle acted as a magnet for local merchants because of the safety it provided. This in turn would help to expand trade in the town. At this time wool, skins and lead were being exported, whilst alum, pepper and ginger were being imported from France and Flanders.
Middle Ages
Throughout the Middle Ages, Newcastle was England's northern fortress, the centre for assembled armies. The Border war against Scotland lasted intermittently for several centuries – possibly the longest border war ever waged. During the civil war between Stephen and Matilda, David 1st of Scotland and his son were granted Cumbria and Northumberland respectively, so that for a period from 1139 to 1157, Newcastle was effectively in Scottish hands. It is believed that during this period, King David may have built the church of St Andrew and the Benedictine nunnery in Newcastle. However, King Stephen's successor, Henry II was strong enough to take back the Earldom of Northumbria from Malcolm IV.
The Scots king William the Lion was imprisoned in Newcastle, in 1174, after being captured at the Battle of Alnwick. Edward I brought the Stone of Scone and William Wallace south through the town and Newcastle was successfully defended against the Scots three times during the 14th century.
Around 1200, stone-faced, clay-filled jetties were starting to project into the river, an indication that trade was increasing in Newcastle. As the Roman roads continued to deteriorate, sea travel was gaining in importance. By 1275 Newcastle was the sixth largest wool exporting port in England. The principal exports at this time were wool, timber, coal, millstones, dairy produce, fish, salt and hides. Much of the developing trade was with the Baltic countries and Germany. Most of the Newcastle merchants were situated near the river, below the Castle. The earliest known charter was dated 1175 in the reign of Henry II, giving the townspeople some control over their town. In 1216 King John granted Newcastle a mayor[8] and also allowed the formation of guilds (known as Mysteries). These were cartels formed within different trades, which restricted trade to guild members. There were initially twelve guilds. Coal was being exported from Newcastle by 1250, and by 1350 the burgesses received a royal licence to export coal. This licence to export coal was jealously guarded by the Newcastle burgesses, and they tried to prevent any one else on the Tyne from exporting coal except through Newcastle. The burgesses similarly tried to prevent fish from being sold anywhere else on the Tyne except Newcastle. This led to conflicts with Gateshead and South Shields.
In 1265, the town was granted permission to impose a 'Wall Tax' or Murage, to pay for the construction of a fortified wall to enclose the town and protect it from Scottish invaders. The town walls were not completed until early in the 14th century. They were two miles (3 km) long, 9 feet (2.7 m) thick and 25 feet (7.6 m) high. They had six main gates, as well as some smaller gates, and had 17 towers. The land within the walls was divided almost equally by the Lort Burn, which flowed southwards and joined the Tyne to the east of the Castle. The town began to expand north of the Castle and west of the Lort Burn with various markets being set up within the walls.
In 1400 Henry IV granted a new charter, creating a County corporate which separated the town, but not the Castle, from the county of Northumberland and recognised it as a "county of itself" with a right to have a sheriff of its own. The burgesses were now allowed to choose six aldermen who, with the mayor would be justices of the peace. The mayor and sheriff were allowed to hold borough courts in the Guildhall.
Religious houses
During the Middle Ages a number of religious houses were established within the walls: the first of these was the Benedictine nunnery of St Bartholomew founded in 1086 near the present-day Nun Street. Both David I of Scotland and Henry I of England were benefactors of the religious house. Nothing of the nunnery remains now.
The friary of Blackfriars, Newcastle (Dominican) was established in 1239. These were also known as the Preaching Friars or Shod Friars, because they wore sandals, as opposed to other orders. The friary was situated in the present-day Friars Street. In 1280 the order was granted royal permission to make a postern in the town walls to communicate with their gardens outside the walls. On 19 June 1334, Edward Balliol, claimant to be King of Scotland, did homage to King Edward III, on behalf of the kingdom of Scotland, in the church of the friary. Much of the original buildings of the friary still exist, mainly because, after the Dissolution of the Monasteries the friary of Blackfriars was rented out by the corporation to nine of the local trade guilds.
The friary of Whitefriars (Carmelite) was established in 1262. The order was originally housed on the Wall Knoll in Pandon, but in 1307 it took over the buildings of another order, which went out of existence, the Friars of the Sac. The land, which had originally been given by Robert the Bruce, was situated in the present-day Hanover Square, behind the Central station. Nothing of the friary remains now.
The friary of Austinfriars (Augustinian) was established in 1290. The friary was on the site where the Holy Jesus Hospital was built in 1682. The friary was traditionally the lodging place of English kings whenever they visited or passed through Newcastle. In 1503 Princess Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII of England, stayed two days at the friary on her way to join her new husband James IV of Scotland.
The friary of Greyfriars (Franciscans) was established in 1274. The friary was in the present-day area between Pilgrim Street, Grey Street, Market Street and High Chare. Nothing of the original buildings remains.
The friary of the Order of the Holy Trinity, also known as the Trinitarians, was established in 1360. The order devoted a third of its income to buying back captives of the Saracens, during the Crusades. Their house was on the Wall Knoll, in Pandon, to the east of the city, but within the walls. Wall Knoll had previously been occupied by the White Friars until they moved to new premises in 1307.
All of the above religious houses were closed in about 1540, when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries.
An important street running through Newcastle at the time was Pilgrim Street, running northwards inside the walls and leading to the Pilgrim Gate on the north wall. The street still exists today as arguably Newcastle's main shopping street.
Tudor period
The Scottish border wars continued for much of the 16th century, so that during that time, Newcastle was often threatened with invasion by the Scots, but also remained important as a border stronghold against them.
During the Reformation begun by Henry VIII in 1536, the five Newcastle friaries and the single nunnery were dissolved and the land was sold to the Corporation and to rich merchants. At this time there were fewer than 60 inmates of the religious houses in Newcastle. The convent of Blackfriars was leased to nine craft guilds to be used as their headquarters. This probably explains why it is the only one of the religious houses whose building survives to the present day. The priories at Tynemouth and Durham were also dissolved, thus ending the long-running rivalry between Newcastle and the church for control of trade on the Tyne. A little later, the property of the nunnery of St Bartholomew and of Grey Friars were bought by Robert Anderson, who had the buildings demolished to build his grand Newe House (also known as Anderson Place).
With the gradual decline of the Scottish border wars the town walls were allowed to decline as well as the castle. By 1547, about 10,000 people were living in Newcastle. At the beginning of the 16th century exports of wool from Newcastle were more than twice the value of exports of coal, but during the century coal exports continued to increase.
Under Edward VI, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, sponsored an act allowing Newcastle to annexe Gateshead as its suburb. The main reason for this was to allow the Newcastle Hostmen, who controlled the export of Tyne coal, to get their hands on the Gateshead coal mines, previously controlled by the Bishop of Durham. However, when Mary I came to power, Dudley met his downfall and the decision was reversed. The Reformation allowed private access to coal mines previously owned by Tynemouth and Durham priories and as a result coal exports increase dramatically, from 15,000 tons in 1500 to 35,000 tons in 1565, and to 400,000 tons in 1625.
The plague visited Newcastle four times during the 16th century, in 1579 when 2,000 people died, in 1589 when 1700 died, in 1595 and finally in 1597.
In 1600 Elizabeth I granted Newcastle a charter for an exclusive body of electors, the right to elect the mayor and burgesses. The charter also gave the Hostmen exclusive rights to load coal at any point on the Tyne. The Hostmen developed as an exclusive group within the Merchant Adventurers who had been incorporated by a charter in 1547.
Stuart period
In 1636 there was a serious outbreak of bubonic plague in Newcastle. There had been several previous outbreaks of the disease over the years, but this was the most serious. It is thought to have arrived from the Netherlands via ships that were trading between the Tyne and that country. It first appeared in the lower part of the town near the docks but gradually spread to all parts of the town. As the disease gained hold the authorities took measures to control it by boarding up any properties that contained infected persons, meaning that whole families were locked up together with the infected family members. Other infected persons were put in huts outside the town walls and left to die. Plague pits were dug next to the town's four churches and outside the town walls to receive the bodies in mass burials. Over the course of the outbreak 5,631 deaths were recorded out of an estimated population of 12,000, a death rate of 47%.
In 1637 Charles I tried to raise money by doubling the 'voluntary' tax on coal in return for allowing the Newcastle Hostmen to regulate production and fix prices. This caused outrage amongst the London importers and the East Anglian shippers. Both groups decided to boycott Tyne coal and as a result forced Charles to reverse his decision in 1638.
In 1640 during the Second Bishops' War, the Scots successfully invaded Newcastle. The occupying army demanded £850 per day from the Corporation to billet the Scottish troops. Trade from the Tyne ground to a halt during the occupation. The Scots left in 1641 after receiving a Parliamentary pardon and a £4,000,000 loan from the town.
In 1642 the English Civil War began. King Charles realised the value of the Tyne coal trade and therefore garrisoned Newcastle. A Royalist was appointed as governor. At that time, Newcastle and King's Lynn were the only important seaports to support the crown. In 1644 Parliament blockaded the Tyne to prevent the king from receiving revenue from the Tyne coal trade. Coal exports fell from 450,000 to 3,000 tons and London suffered a hard winter without fuel. Parliament encouraged the coal trade from the Wear to try to replace that lost from Newcastle but that was not enough to make up for the lost Tyneside tonnage.
In 1644 the Scots crossed the border. Newcastle strengthened its defences in preparation. The Scottish army, with 40,000 troops, besieged Newcastle for three months until the garrison of 1,500 surrendered. During the siege, the Scots bombarded the walls with their artillery, situated in Gateshead and Castle Leazes. The Scottish commander threatened to destroy the steeple of St Nicholas's Church by gunfire if the mayor, Sir John Marley, did not surrender the town. The mayor responded by placing Scottish prisoners that they had captured in the steeple, so saving it from destruction. The town walls were finally breached by a combination of artillery and sapping. In gratitude for this defence, Charles gave Newcastle the motto 'Fortiter Defendit Triumphans' to be added to its coat of arms. The Scottish army occupied Northumberland and Durham for two years. The coal taxes had to pay for the Scottish occupation. In 1645 Charles surrendered to the Scots and was imprisoned in Newcastle for nine months. After the Civil War the coal trade on the Tyne soon picked up and exceeded its pre-war levels.
A new Guildhall was completed on the Sandhill next to the river in 1655, replacing an earlier facility damaged by fire in 1639, and became the meeting place of Newcastle Town Council. In 1681 the Hospital of the Holy Jesus was built partly on the site of the Austin Friars. The Guildhall and Holy Jesus Hospital still exist.
Charles II tried to impose a charter on Newcastle to give the king the right to appoint the mayor, sheriff, recorder and town clerk. Charles died before the charter came into effect. In 1685, James II tried to replace Corporation members with named Catholics. However, James' mandate was suspended in 1689 after the Glorious Revolution welcoming William of Orange. In 1689, after the fall of James II, the people of Newcastle tore down his bronze equestrian statue in Sandhill and tossed it into the Tyne. The bronze was later used to make bells for All Saints Church.
In 1689 the Lort Burn was covered over. At this time it was an open sewer. The channel followed by the Lort Burn became the present day Dean Street. At that time, the centre of Newcastle was still the Sandhill area, with many merchants living along the Close or on the Side. The path of the main road through Newcastle ran from the single Tyne bridge, through Sandhill to the Side, a narrow street which climbed steeply on the north-east side of the castle hill until it reached the higher ground alongside St Nicholas' Church. As Newcastle developed, the Side became lined with buildings with projecting upper stories, so that the main street through Newcastle was a narrow, congested, steep thoroughfare.
In 1701 the Keelmen's Hospital was built in the Sandgate area of the city, using funds provided by the keelmen. The building still stands today.
Eighteenth century
In the 18th century, Newcastle was the country's largest print centre after London, Oxford and Cambridge, and the Literary and Philosophical Society of 1793, with its erudite debates and large stock of books in several languages predated the London Library by half a century.
In 1715, during the Jacobite rising in favour of the Old Pretender, an army of Jacobite supporters marched on Newcastle. Many of the Northumbrian gentry joined the rebels. The citizens prepared for its arrival by arresting Jacobite supporters and accepting 700 extra recruits into the local militia. The gates of the city were closed against the rebels. This proved enough to delay an attack until reinforcements arrived forcing the rebel army to move across to the west coast. The rebels finally surrendered at Preston.
In 1745, during a second Jacobite rising in favour of the Young Pretender, a Scottish army crossed the border led by Bonnie Prince Charlie. Once again Newcastle prepared by arresting Jacobite supporters and inducting 800 volunteers into the local militia. The town walls were strengthened, most of the gates were blocked up and some 200 cannon were deployed. 20,000 regulars were billeted on the Town Moor. These preparations were enough to force the rebel army to travel south via the west coast. They were eventually defeated at Culloden in 1746.
Newcastle's actions during the 1715 rising in resisting the rebels and declaring for George I, in contrast to the rest of the region, is the most likely source of the nickname 'Geordie', applied to people from Tyneside, or more accurately Newcastle. Another theory, however, is that the name 'Geordie' came from the inventor of the Geordie lamp, George Stephenson. It was a type of safety lamp used in mining, but was not invented until 1815. Apparently the term 'German Geordie' was in common use during the 18th century.
The city's first hospital, Newcastle Infirmary opened in 1753; it was funded by public subscription. A lying-in hospital was established in Newcastle in 1760. The city's first public hospital for mentally ill patients, Wardens Close Lunatic Hospital was opened in October 1767.
In 1771 a flood swept away much of the bridge at Newcastle. The bridge had been built in 1250 and repaired after a flood in 1339. The bridge supported various houses and three towers and an old chapel. A blue stone was placed in the middle of the bridge to mark the boundary between Newcastle and the Palatinate of Durham. A temporary wooden bridge had to be built, and this remained in use until 1781, when a new stone bridge was completed. The new bridge consisted of nine arches. In 1801, because of the pressure of traffic, the bridge had to be widened.
A permanent military presence was established in the city with the completion of Fenham Barracks in 1806. The facilities at the Castle for holding assizes, which had been condemned for their inconvenience and unhealthiness, were replaced when the Moot Hall opened in August 1812.
Victorian period
Present-day Newcastle owes much of its architecture to the work of the builder Richard Grainger, aided by architects John Dobson, Thomas Oliver, John and Benjamin Green and others. In 1834 Grainger won a competition to produce a new plan for central Newcastle. He put this plan into effect using the above architects as well as architects employed in his own office. Grainger and Oliver had already built Leazes Terrace, Leazes Crescent and Leazes Place between 1829 and 1834. Grainger and Dobson had also built the Royal Arcade at the foot of Pilgrim Street between 1830 and 1832. The most ambitious project covered 12 acres 12 acres (49,000 m2) in central Newcastle, on the site of Newe House (also called Anderson Place). Grainger built three new thoroughfares, Grey Street, Grainger Street and Clayton Street with many connecting streets, as well as the Central Exchange and the Grainger Market. John Wardle and George Walker, working in Grainger's office, designed Clayton Street, Grainger Street and most of Grey Street. Dobson designed the Grainger Market and much of the east side of Grey Street. John and Benjamin Green designed the Theatre Royal at the top of Grey Street, where Grainger placed the column of Grey's Monument as a focus for the whole scheme. Grey Street is considered to be one of the finest streets in the country, with its elegant curve. Unfortunately most of old Eldon Square was demolished in the 1960s in the name of progress. The Royal Arcade met a similar fate.
In 1849 a new bridge was built across the river at Newcastle. This was the High Level Bridge, designed by Robert Stephenson, and slightly up river from the existing bridge. The bridge was designed to carry road and rail traffic across the Tyne Gorge on two decks with rail traffic on the upper deck and road traffic on the lower. The new bridge meant that traffic could pass through Newcastle without having to negotiate the steep, narrow Side, as had been necessary for centuries. The bridge was opened by Queen Victoria, who one year later opened the new Central Station, designed by John Dobson. Trains were now able to cross the river, directly into the centre of Newcastle and carry on up to Scotland. The Army Riding School was also completed in 1849.
In 1854 a large fire started on the Gateshead quayside and an explosion caused it to spread across the river to the Newcastle quayside. A huge conflagration amongst the narrow alleys, or 'chares', destroyed the homes of 800 families as well as many business premises. The narrow alleys that had been destroyed were replaced by streets containing blocks of modern offices.
In 1863 the Town Hall in St Nicholas Square replaced the Guildhall as the meeting place of Newcastle Town Council.
In 1876 the low level bridge was replaced by a new bridge known as the Swing Bridge, so called because the bridge was able to swing horizontally on a central axis and allow ships to pass on either side. This meant that for the first time sizeable ships could pass up-river beyond Newcastle. The bridge was built and paid for by William Armstrong, a local arms manufacturer, who needed to have warships access his Elswick arms factory to fit armaments to them. The Swing Bridge's rotating mechanism is adapted from the cannon mounts developed in Armstrong's arms works. In 1882 the Elswick works began to build ships as well as to arm them. The Barrack Road drill hall was completed in 1890.
Industrialisation
In the 19th century, shipbuilding and heavy engineering were central to the city's prosperity; and the city was a powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution. Newcastle's development as a major city owed most to its central role in the production and export of coal. The phrase "taking coals to Newcastle" was first recorded in 1538; it proverbially denotes bringing a particular commodity to a place that has more than enough of it already.
Innovation in Newcastle and surrounding areas included the following:
George Stephenson developed a miner's safety lamp at the same time that Humphry Davy developed a rival design. The lamp made possible the opening up of ever deeper mines to provide the coal that powered the industrial revolution.
George and his son Robert Stephenson were hugely influential figures in the development of the early railways. George developed Blücher, a locomotive working at Killingworth colliery in 1814, whilst Robert was instrumental in the design of Rocket, a revolutionary design that was the forerunner of modern locomotives. Both men were involved in planning and building railway lines, all over this country and abroad.
Joseph Swan demonstrated a working electric light bulb about a year before Thomas Edison did the same in the USA. This led to a dispute as to who had actually invented the light bulb. Eventually the two rivals agreed to form a mutual company between them, the Edison and Swan Electric Light Company, known as Ediswan.
Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine, for marine use and for power generation. He used Turbinia, a small, turbine-powered ship, to demonstrate the speed that a steam turbine could generate. Turbinia literally ran rings around the British Fleet at a review at Spithead in 1897.
William Armstrong invented a hydraulic crane that was installed in dockyards up and down the country. He then began to design light, accurate field guns for the British army. These were a vast improvement on the existing guns that were then in use.
The following major industries developed in Newcastle or its surrounding area:
Glassmaking
A small glass industry existed in Newcastle from the mid-15th century. In 1615 restrictions were put on the use of wood for manufacturing glass. It was found that glass could be manufactured using the local coal, and so a glassmaking industry grew up on Tyneside. Huguenot glassmakers came over from France as refugees from persecution and set up glasshouses in the Skinnerburn area of Newcastle. Eventually, glass production moved to the Ouseburn area of Newcastle. In 1684 the Dagnia family, Sephardic Jewish emigrants from Altare, arrived in Newcastle from Stourbridge and established glasshouses along the Close, to manufacture high quality flint glass. The glass manufacturers used sand ballast from the boats arriving in the river as the main raw material. The glassware was then exported in collier brigs. The period from 1730 to 1785 was the highpoint of Newcastle glass manufacture, when the local glassmakers produced the 'Newcastle Light Baluster'. The glassmaking industry still exists in the west end of the city with local Artist and Glassmaker Jane Charles carrying on over four hundred years of hot glass blowing in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Locomotive manufacture
In 1823 George Stephenson and his son Robert established the world's first locomotive factory near Forth Street in Newcastle. Here they built locomotives for the Stockton and Darlington Railway and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, as well as many others. It was here that the famous locomotive Rocket was designed and manufactured in preparation for the Rainhill Trials. Apart from building locomotives for the British market, the Newcastle works also produced locomotives for Europe and America. The Forth Street works continued to build locomotives until 1960.
Shipbuilding
In 1296 a wooden, 135 ft (41 m) long galley was constructed at the mouth of the Lort Burn in Newcastle, as part of a twenty-ship order from the king. The ship cost £205, and is the earliest record of shipbuilding in Newcastle. However the rise of the Tyne as a shipbuilding area was due to the need for collier brigs for the coal export trade. These wooden sailing ships were usually built locally, establishing local expertise in building ships. As ships changed from wood to steel, and from sail to steam, the local shipbuilding industry changed to build the new ships. Although shipbuilding was carried out up and down both sides of the river, the two main areas for building ships in Newcastle were Elswick, to the west, and Walker, to the east. By 1800 Tyneside was the third largest producer of ships in Britain. Unfortunately, after the Second World War, lack of modernisation and competition from abroad gradually caused the local industry to decline and die.
Armaments
In 1847 William Armstrong established a huge factory in Elswick, west of Newcastle. This was initially used to produce hydraulic cranes but subsequently began also to produce guns for both the army and the navy. After the Swing Bridge was built in 1876 allowing ships to pass up river, warships could have their armaments fitted alongside the Elswick works. Armstrong's company took over its industrial rival, Joseph Whitworth of Manchester in 1897.
Steam turbines
Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine and, in 1889, founded his own company C. A. Parsons and Company in Heaton, Newcastle to make steam turbines. Shortly after this, he realised that steam turbines could be used to propel ships and, in 1897, he founded a second company, Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company in Wallsend. It is there that he designed and manufactured Turbinia. Parsons turbines were initially used in warships but soon came to be used in merchant and passenger vessels, including the liner Mauretania which held the blue riband for the Atlantic crossing until 1929. Parsons' company in Heaton began to make turbo-generators for power stations and supplied power stations all over the world. The Heaton works, reduced in size, remains as part of the Siemens AG industrial giant.
Pottery
In 1762 the Maling pottery was founded in Sunderland by French Huguenots, but transferred to Newcastle in 1817. A factory was built in the Ouseburn area of the city. The factory was rebuilt twice, finally occupying a 14-acre (57,000 m2) site that was claimed to be the biggest pottery in the world and which had its own railway station. The pottery pioneered use of machines in making potteries as opposed to hand production. In the 1890s the company went up-market and employed in-house designers. The period up to the Second World War was the most profitable with a constant stream of new designs being introduced. However, after the war, production gradually declined and the company closed in 1963.
Expansion of the city
Newcastle was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835: the reformed municipal borough included the parishes of Byker, Elswick, Heaton, Jesmond, Newcastle All Saints, Newcastle St Andrew, Newcastle St John, Newcastle St Nicholas, and Westgate. The urban districts of Benwell and Fenham and Walker were added in 1904. In 1935, Newcastle gained Kenton and parts of the parishes of West Brunton, East Denton, Fawdon, Longbenton. The most recent expansion in Newcastle's boundaries took place under the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974, when Newcastle became a metropolitan borough, also including the urban districts of Gosforth and Newburn, and the parishes of Brunswick, Dinnington, Hazlerigg, North Gosforth and Woolsington from the Castle Ward Rural District, and the village of Westerhope.
Meanwhile Northumberland County Council was formed under the Local Government Act 1888 and benefited from a dedicated meeting place when County Hall was completed in the Castle Garth area of Newcastle in 1910. Following the Local Government Act 1972 County Hall relocated to Morpeth in April 1981.
Twentieth century
In 1925 work began on a new high-level road bridge to span the Tyne Gorge between Newcastle and Gateshead. The capacity of the existing High-Level Bridge and Swing Bridge were being strained to the limit, and an additional bridge had been discussed for a long time. The contract was awarded to the Dorman Long Company and the bridge was finally opened by King George V in 1928. The road deck was 84 feet (26 m) above the river and was supported by a 531 feet (162 m) steel arch. The new Tyne Bridge quickly became a symbol for Newcastle and Tyneside, and remains so today.
During the Second World War, Newcastle was largely spared the horrors inflicted upon other British cities bombed during the Blitz. Although the armaments factories and shipyards along the River Tyne were targeted by the Luftwaffe, they largely escaped unscathed. Manors goods yard and railway terminal, to the east of the city centre, and the suburbs of Jesmond and Heaton suffered bombing during 1941. There were 141 deaths and 587 injuries, a relatively small figure compared to the casualties in other industrial centres of Britain.
In 1963 the city gained its own university, the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, by act of parliament. A School of Medicine and Surgery had been established in Newcastle in 1834. This eventually developed into a college of medicine attached to Durham University. A college of physical science was also founded and became Armstrong College in 1904. In 1934 the two colleges merged to become King's College, Durham. This remained as part of Durham University until the new university was created in 1963. In 1992 the city gained its second university when Newcastle Polytechnic was granted university status as Northumbria University.
Newcastle City Council moved to the new Newcastle Civic Centre in 1968.
As heavy industries declined in the second half of the 20th century, large sections of the city centre were demolished along with many areas of slum housing. The leading political figure in the city during the 1960s was T. Dan Smith who oversaw a massive building programme of highrise housing estates and authorised the demolition of a quarter of the Georgian Grainger Town to make way for Eldon Square Shopping Centre. Smith's control in Newcastle collapsed when it was exposed that he had used public contracts to advantage himself and his business associates and for a time Newcastle became a byword for civic corruption as depicted in the films Get Carter and Stormy Monday and in the television series Our Friends in the North. However, much of the historic Grainger Town area survived and was, for the most part, fully restored in the late 1990s. Northumberland Street, initially the A1, was gradually closed to traffic from the 1970s and completely pedestrianised by 1998.
In 1978 a new rapid transport system, the Metro, was built, linking the Tyneside area. The system opened in August 1980. A new bridge was built to carry the Metro across the river between Gateshead and Newcastle. This was the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, commonly known as the Metro Bridge. Eventually the Metro system was extended to reach Newcastle Airport in 1991, and in 2002 the Metro system was extended to the nearby city of Sunderland.
As the 20th century progressed, trade on the Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides gradually declined, until by the 1980s both sides of the river were looking rather derelict. Shipping company offices had closed along with offices of firms related to shipping. There were also derelict warehouses lining the riverbank. Local government produced a master plan to re-develop the Newcastle quayside and this was begun in the 1990s. New offices, restaurants, bars and residential accommodation were built and the area has changed in the space of a few years into a vibrant area, partially returning the focus of Newcastle to the riverside, where it was in medieval times.
The Gateshead Millennium Bridge, a foot and cycle bridge, 26 feet (7.9 m) wide and 413 feet (126 m) long, was completed in 2001. The road deck is in the form of a curve and is supported by a steel arch. To allow ships to pass, the whole structure, both arch and road-deck, rotates on huge bearings at either end so that the road deck is lifted. The bridge can be said to open and shut like a human eye. It is an important addition to the re-developed quayside area, providing a vital link between the Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides.
Recent developments
Today the city is a vibrant centre for office and retail employment, but just a short distance away there are impoverished inner-city housing estates, in areas originally built to provide affordable housing for employees of the shipyards and other heavy industries that lined the River Tyne. In the 2010s Newcastle City Council began implementing plans to regenerate these depressed areas, such as those along the Ouseburn Valley.
Given the developments in Côte d'Ivoire, and in particular in Abidjan, France decided last night to reinforce the French military force Licorne.
For several days, the Licorne force patrols densified in Area 4 of the city, home to many foreigners and French threats of looting conducted by rogue groups.
Since March 31, more than 1,650 citizens, which over half are foreign nationals, were welcomed at a French military camp of Port-Bouet, where life is organized for these nationals, many of whom are waiting to join family and home.
Moreover, on the night of April 2 to 3, two companies and command elements were thrown into Abidjan from pre-positioned forces by military transport aircraft Transall C160 and C130 Hercules.
At the same time, the Licorne force has taken control of the airport Houphët Felix Boigny International Airport in Abidjan.
The impartial forces, UNOCI and Licorne, provide security and air traffic control of the airport which should allow back military and civilian flights.
The Licorne force now has about 1500 soldiers. She had already been reinforced for the first time in late January with the grounding of an operational reserve board, established by the BPC Tonnerre who was taking part in Operation highbush in the Gulf of Guinea.
Côte d’Ivoire
Compte-tenu de l’évolution de la situation en Côte d’Ivoire, et en particulier dans la ville d’Abidjan, la France a décidé la nuit dernière de renforcer la force militaire française Licorne.
Depuis plusieurs jours, la force Licorne a densifié ses patrouilles dans la zone 4 de la ville, où résident de nombreux ressortissants étrangers et français, menacés des pillages conduits par des groupes crapuleux.
Depuis le 31 mars, plus de 1 650 ressortissants, dont plus de la moitié sont des ressortissants étrangers, sont accueillis au camp militaire français de Port-Bouët où la vie s’organise pour ces ressortissants, dont beaucoup sont en famille et attendent de rejoindre leur domicile.
Par ailleurs, dans la nuit du 2 au 3 avril, deux compagnies et des éléments de commandement ont été projetés à Abidjan à partir des forces prépositionnées par des avions de transport militaires C160 Transall et C130 Hercules.
Dans le même temps, la force Licorne a pris le contrôle de l’aéroport Félix Houphët Boigny, l’aéroport international d’Abidjan.
Les forces impartiales, de l’ONUCI et de Licorne, assurent la sécurité et le contrôle aérien de l’aéroport. Ce qui doit permettre d’accueillir à nouveau les vols militaires et civils.
La force Licorne compte aujourd’hui environ 1500 militaires. Elle avait déjà été renforcée une première fois fin janvier avec la mise à terre d’une réserve opérationnelle embarquée, mise en place par le BPC Tonnerre qui participait alors à l’opération Corymbe dans le golfe de Guinée.
Given that jet fighters might be tricky to fly for pilots used to flying propeller aircraft, let alone new trainee pilots, Lockheed proposed in 1945 that a two-seat conversion trainer be built for the P-80 Shooting Star. The US Army Air Force rejected the idea on cost grounds, citing that the T-6 Texan already in service would be sufficient enough. After a series of fatal crashes of the P-80, the USAAF revisited Lockheed’s proposal, which included extending the P-80’s fuselage by three feet, extending the canopy backwards, and adding a second cockpit with full flight controls. This aircraft, designated first TP-80C on its maiden flight in March 1948, then TF-80C, then finally T-33A, would go on to be far more successful than the fighter it was based on.
The T-33 was designed to be simple, robust, and easy to fly for trainee pilots, though it was intended at first to be only used for propeller-qualified pilots to transition into jets. As propeller aircraft were mostly phased out of the independent US Air Force’s inventory, the service made the decision to go to an “all-jet” training syllabus, and as a result pilots began flying T-33s in flight school.
The “T-Bird,” as it became known, could still be unforgiving in certain circumstances, and was less forgiving as the T-37 Tweet or the T-38 Talon that would eventually replace it. It also was an aircraft for practical jokers: the in-and-outs of the T-33 was something only experienced pilots knew well, and trainees could be subjected to all kinds of tricks by the instructor pilot. The T-33 was, however, eminently reliable. Even after it was withdrawn from training units in the mid-1950s, it soldiered on as a “hack” aircraft for units, a familiarization aircraft, advanced trainer, and aggressor aircraft, especially in Air Defense Command and Air National Guard units.
Well into the 1980s, T-33s could be found in frontline USAF units, and it was said that, when the last F-16 was retired, the pilot would hitch a ride home in a T-Bird. While this did not prove true, it was not off by much—the last USAF T-33s did not leave the inventory until around 1988. The US Navy also used T-33s, including both standard Shooting Stars and the heavily modified TV-1 Seastar, which had a larger engine, reworked tail, and strengthened fuselage for carrier operations. While the Seastar was replaced in the 1960s by the T-2 Buckeye, standard T-33s remained as test and chase aircraft for the Navy’s test squadrons into the 1990s.
Because of its robustness and cheap flyaway price, the T-33 was also popular with foreign air forces: no less than 41 nations operated T-33s at one time or another, and it was license-built in Japan by Kawasaki and in Canada as the CT-133 Silver Star, which differed from US-built aircraft only in using a Rolls-Royce Nene engine. While it was usually used in the trainer role, many were modified for a variety of roles, including armed AT-33s and reconnaissance RT-33s (some of which were also used by the USAF). AT-33s, which were basically two-seat F-80s, were used in several conflicts worldwide, mainly in South America; Bolivia still uses its AT-33s as frontline counterinsurgency aircraft. While Bolivia remains the only air force to still operate T-33s on a regular basis, many of these nations did not retire their Shooting Stars until the late 1990s—Canada did not retire its last CT-133s until 2008, and Boeing Aircraft has two T-33As on charge as chase aircraft. 6557 T-33s were built overall, and today over 80 and possibly as many as a hundred survive, with many still flyable.
Though painted as 53-5326, this is actually 57-0701. As is typical with T-33s, it is hard to track down this aircraft's unit history; it is known to have spent at least part of its career as a general "hack" aircraft at Kelly AFB, Texas. 57-0701 was retired in 1971 and donated to the town of Hillsboro, North Dakota as a memorial, where it was painted as 53-5326, an aircraft that had served with the 119th Fighter-Interceptor Group (North Dakota ANG) at nearby Fargo.
It seems every town in North Dakota has an aircraft on display, and Hillsboro is no different. 57-0701 is displayed without tiptanks, and could use a new coat of paint, as the "Happy Hooligans" scheme is beginning to fade after several decades of North Dakota winters. I must have passed this T-33 dozens of times while traveling the Empire Builder between Montana and Chicago, but since the train almost always passes through Hillsboro at night, I didn't know this aircraft existed until just recently.
Given the developments in Côte d'Ivoire, and in particular in Abidjan, France decided last night to reinforce the French military force Licorne.
For several days, the Licorne force patrols densified in Area 4 of the city, home to many foreigners and French threats of looting conducted by rogue groups.
Since March 31, more than 1,650 citizens, which over half are foreign nationals, were welcomed at a French military camp of Port-Bouet, where life is organized for these nationals, many of whom are waiting to join family and home.
Moreover, on the night of April 2 to 3, two companies and command elements were thrown into Abidjan from pre-positioned forces by military transport aircraft Transall C160 and C130 Hercules.
At the same time, the Licorne force has taken control of the airport Houphët Felix Boigny International Airport in Abidjan.
The impartial forces, UNOCI and Licorne, provide security and air traffic control of the airport which should allow back military and civilian flights.
The Licorne force now has about 1500 soldiers. She had already been reinforced for the first time in late January with the grounding of an operational reserve board, established by the BPC Tonnerre who was taking part in Operation highbush in the Gulf of Guinea.
Côte d’Ivoire
Compte-tenu de l’évolution de la situation en Côte d’Ivoire, et en particulier dans la ville d’Abidjan, la France a décidé la nuit dernière de renforcer la force militaire française Licorne.
Depuis plusieurs jours, la force Licorne a densifié ses patrouilles dans la zone 4 de la ville, où résident de nombreux ressortissants étrangers et français, menacés des pillages conduits par des groupes crapuleux.
Depuis le 31 mars, plus de 1 650 ressortissants, dont plus de la moitié sont des ressortissants étrangers, sont accueillis au camp militaire français de Port-Bouët où la vie s’organise pour ces ressortissants, dont beaucoup sont en famille et attendent de rejoindre leur domicile.
Par ailleurs, dans la nuit du 2 au 3 avril, deux compagnies et des éléments de commandement ont été projetés à Abidjan à partir des forces prépositionnées par des avions de transport militaires C160 Transall et C130 Hercules.
Dans le même temps, la force Licorne a pris le contrôle de l’aéroport Félix Houphët Boigny, l’aéroport international d’Abidjan.
Les forces impartiales, de l’ONUCI et de Licorne, assurent la sécurité et le contrôle aérien de l’aéroport. Ce qui doit permettre d’accueillir à nouveau les vols militaires et civils.
La force Licorne compte aujourd’hui environ 1500 militaires. Elle avait déjà été renforcée une première fois fin janvier avec la mise à terre d’une réserve opérationnelle embarquée, mise en place par le BPC Tonnerre qui participait alors à l’opération Corymbe dans le golfe de Guinée.
Creature from the Black Lagoon, 1954
Most monster movie fans have believed for decades that the design of the Creature was the work of Bud Westmoore, but that is not the case. The Creature's "gill-man" design actually came off of the pen of artist Milicent (Millicent) Patrick. Although the fetching young illustrator never got her name in the films credits she was paraded from film screening to film screening in hopes that her model-like good looks would drum up more publicity for the film. Her contribution to the history of monster films has never been fully given the credit that it so deserves. Unfortunately there a far too many such "unknown heroes" in the genre of horror and sci-fi films.
The Creature's appearance was based on old
seventeenth-century woodcuts of two bizarre
creatures called the Sea Monk and the Sea
Bishop. The Creature's final head was based on
that of the Sea Monk, but the original discarded
head was based on that of the Sea Bishop.
Here we have several shots of Milicent Patrick. Patrick was the person responsible for the look and design of the "Creature From the Black Lagoon".
Universal was already famous for iconic "monster" movies. Frankenstein and Dracula became part of the culture. Creature from the Black Lagoon (CBL) is mostly in the same vein of monster-horror flick, but with a little science in its fiction. Unlike magical or demonic monsters, this one is supposedly a "natural" anomaly of evolution. CBL is often classified as sci-fi, so it's worthy of inclusion here.
Budget-wise, CBL is a B movie, but it's a cut above the usual B crowd. The acting was reasonable. The cinematography was impressive. The only "special" effect was the creature's costume. While the Creature is, in many people's mind, THE icon for man-in-rubber-suit monster costumes, something about the creature found resonance in movie-goers. He was strong enough to merit two sequels.
The producers tapped Jack Arnold for director. Arnold, who directed It Came From Outer Space had an excellent eye. His use of many camera locations, angles, framing and cuts, he lets the camera become invisible. Viewers are in the scene, not simply watching it.
The actors didn't get in the way of the story. Richard Carlson was already a big name in the sci-fi movie world. It Came From Outer Space, Magnetic Monster, and Riders to the Stars. Richard
Denning was a hunky star of many westerns and detective movies. He would go on to star in a few more sci-fi films. The female lead, Julie Adams was perfect as the beautiful damsel. The supporting cast were a little quirky at times, but not as stiff and wooden as second-teir actors tend to be.
Synopsis
A old archeologist, working in the remote Amazon, finds the fossilized hand -- somewhat humanoid, but obviously aquatic. He shows it to some other scientists who agree to mount an expedition to find the rest of the skeleton. While Dr. Maia was doing all this, a creature with the same kind of hand tears up his camp and kills his two native helpers. The scientists spend many days digging and sifting, but come up empty. They decide to go further upstream to the Black Lagoon to search. There, they encounter the Gill-Man. The two scientists are at odds over what's best -- capture the creature alive, kill it and bring it back, study it and leave, etc. All this debate becomes moot when the creature begins killing off crew members. The creature barricades the entrance to the lagoon so the ship cannot leave. The expedition becomes a battle for survival. They manage to drug and capture the creature, but it escapes its cage-tank. It kills Dr. Williams. It then captures the beautiful woman, taking her to his cave lair. The men follow, find her and the creature. After taking several bullet hits, the creature staggers away and dives into the lagoon. The final image is of the creature floating downwards, limp and lifeless.
Why is this movie fun?
This is one of those cultural icon movies that even non-fans of sci-fi know. In that regard, watching it like seeing a celebrity in person. Arnold does a good job with pacing and keeping tension up. It's interesting that the creature gets his own theme music, of sorts. Arnold that the same ascending three note phrase, "do da DEEEEE!" accompany each appearance. The creature's mixture of vulnerability and apparent invincibility, kept you off guard. Spear gun hits or bullets seemed to almost take him down, but not quite.
Dueling Scientists -- Dr. Reed (Carlson) represents the "good" side of science. He wants to study the creature, but not interfere or harm anything. He wants to expand the field of knowledge for altruistic reasons. Dr. Williams (Denning) represents the dark side of science. He's focused on the fundraising potential, the economic cost of expeditions. When confronted with the creature, he's all for killing it (not so much for the safety of the others) in order to bring it back for exhibition. This dualism of scientists is somewhat two-dimensional, but works as a sub-theme.
Many B-grade sci-fi films show their low-budget monster as little as possible. CBL breaks that rule in a big way. Viewers get several partial views right away (the hand) and not too far into the film, a full view of him. Since the producers didn't cheap out on the gill-man's costume, viewers aren't let down. He looks, moves and acts much one would think a gill-man would.
The gill-man is not simply a killing machine type of monster. His curiosity with (attraction to) Kay makes him more complex. In the swimming sequence (a strong foreshadow of the swimming girl scene in Jaws), he swims along with her, unseen, in a sort of parallel dance. He, the ancient, strong and primal male matching moves with the lithe, beautiful, innocent female. Some suggest that the gill-man's popularity was how well he echoed the adolescent male condition: awkward, unattractive, misunderstood, full of rage, attracted to beautiful women, but insecure approaching them. The big scene, in which the gill-man grabs Kay off the boat and swims her down to his cave lair is easily a young male fantasy.
CBL has the classic they're-after-our-women scene. It lives up to the poster art. The gill-man grabs the woman and runs (swims) off with her. He carries her in his arms toward his lair. Unlike other versions of this classic image, the gill-man appears to actually want the woman.
The Waverley Route
Seen exiting the small, almost an excuse of bus station in Edinburgh is Border Buses 12001 (YX20ODK). This particular bus has been adapted to carry bicycles to assist tourism in the Scottish Borders.
Notice the destination display which incorporates Carlisle, in England. The route the bus is on goes right through the Scottish Borders to end up right outside (more or less) Carlisle Railway Station. It basically shadows what was a railway line and was one of the most controversial railway closures that arose out of the much unfairly maligned Beeching Report into the reshaping of the railways in Britain.
The Waverley Route was a railway line that ran south from Edinburgh, through Midlothian and the Scottish Borders, to Carlisle. The line was built by the North British Railway; the stretch from Edinburgh to Hawick opened in 1849 and the remainder to Carlisle opened in 1862. The line was nicknamed after the immensely popular Waverley Novels, written by Sir Walter Scott.
The North British Railway (NBR) was established on 4 July 1844 when Parliamentary authorisation was given for the construction of a 57-mile-30-chain (92.3 km) line from Edinburgh to Berwick-upon-Tweed with a 4-mile-50-chain (7.4 km) branch to Haddington. The company's chairman and founder was John Learmonth, the chairman of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, whose ambition it was to enclose the triangle of land between Edinburgh, Berwick and Carlisle with NBR rails.
Carlisle was a key railway centre where a cross-border link with the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway could be established. The NBR's Edinburgh-Berwick line was to be the starting point for the route which would run diagonally across the Southern Uplands to the Solway Plain and Carlisle, a distance of some 98 miles (158 km). The first step in establishing the line was the acquisition of the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway (E&DR), a local line opened in 1831 which ran from an inconveniently sited station at St Leonards on the southern extremity of Edinburgh to Dalhousie on the Lothian Coalfield. The E&DR, which had been authorised on 26 May 1826 as a tramway to carry coal to the Firth of Forth at Fisherrow and, later, Leith, ran for a distance of 8+1⁄2 miles (13.7 km) with branches eastwards to Leith and Fisherrow from Wanton Walls.The proprietors of the E&DR viewed the NBR's overtures with some alarm as they feared the loss of their valuable coal traffic; thought was given to extending the E&DR to meet the Edinburgh and Glasgow or the projected Caledonian Main Line but the proprietors' concerns were assuaged by the NBR's generous offer of £113,000 for the outright purchase of the line and the sale was completed in October 1845.
In the state in which it was acquired, the E&DR was of little use to the NBR as it had been operated as a horse-drawn tramway for the previous thirteen years, was built to a 4 ft 6 in gauge and was in a dilapidated state in terms of both infrastructure and rolling stock. Nevertheless, the concern brought with it a number of advantages: its proprietors had developed an efficient coal-marketing organisation which would greatly benefit its new owners, it consolidated the NBR's position in Edinburgh while also barring the rival Caledonian Railway from the Lothian Coalfields, and, perhaps most importantly, the E&DR pointed in the direction of Carlisle.
Parliamentary authorisation for the line's acquisition was obtained on 21 July 1845 with the passing of the North British Railway (Edinburgh & Dalkeith Purchase) Act, which allowed the NBR to lay a spur from its Edinburgh-Berwick line near Portobello to the E&DR at Niddrie, thereby allowing NBR services to run directly from North Bridge station to Dalhousie.
Even before the NBR had obtained its Act authorising the acquisition of the E&DR, John Learmonth had instructed John Miller to carry out a flying survey of the territory to the south of Dalkeith for a potential line to Kelso which would connect with a branch from Berwick. The scheme, which would see a 52-mile (84 km) line from the E&DR's terminus at Dalhousie Mains to Hawick, was discussed at a shareholders' meeting on 19 December 1844 where it drew criticism for being nearly as long as the NBR's Berwick line.[14] Learmonth described the line as a "protective" one to guard against incursions by the NBR's Glasgow-based rival, the Caledonian Railway, and stated that there was no intention of extending it further to Carlisle. The proposal having been carried by a substantial majority, the Act authorising the line was obtained on 21 July 1845 with the incorporation of the Edinburgh and Hawick Railway
Although nominally independent, the company had £400,000 of its capital subscribed by NBR directors and the shares, each bearing a 4% guarantee, were to be transferred to NBR shareholders after incorporation.[6] A special shareholders' meeting on 18 August 1845 authorised a further £400,000 to be raised which would be used to buy out the Edinburgh and Hawick company.[14] At the same time, Learmonth revealed that it was in fact intended to continue to Carlisle.
The line would first be extended to Galashiels by paying £1,200 to buy out the independent Galashiels Railway project The line to Hawick was to be the greatest and most costly of the NBR's lines.From Dalhousie it climbed up the valleys of the South Esk and the Gore Water for 8 miles (13 km) at 1 in 70 to reach a 900-foot (270 m) summit at Falahill, before dropping down to the Gala Water which it crossed fifteen times to reach Galashiels. The next stage passed through the Tweed Valley, around the Eildons to Melrose and St Boswells, and finally to Hawick over undulating terrain.Construction was already under way in June 1846 when the company obtained authorisation to build seven branch lines – four from its Berwick line and three from the Hawick line.The line opened on 1 November 1849.
The completion of the Border Union Railway was an unwelcome development for the West Coast partnership set up by the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR), the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway and the Caledonian Railway, which had dominated the joint station at Carlisle Citadel and the profitable Anglo-Scottish traffic which passed through it. By 1860, the traffic was generating more than £1,500,000 for the partnership; this represented more than two-thirds of its income.To protect their interests, the companies concluded a secret agreement to deny a share of the Carlisle traffic to the newcomer by providing that traffic from the south for Edinburgh had to be sent via the Caledonian main line unless specifically consigned to the NBR's Waverley line. This proved so effective that locomotive parts ordered by the NBR from the Midlands reached the company's St Margarets works in Edinburgh via the Caledonian. Nevertheless, the NBR did make some inroads into the partnership's traffic, and the Edinburgh-London goods traffic carried over the East Coast line declined from 4,045 tonnes in 1861 to 624 tonnes in 1863.
In the face of these difficulties, the initial results of the Waverley Route were disappointing; this led to heated discussions at NBR board meetings. A lobby developed, featuring in particular shareholders from Glasgow, which called for the line to be abandoned or sold to the Midland Railway.The campaign was led by Archibald Orr-Ewing, an NBR director who described the line as "the most serious burden on the North British". By 1872, expenditure on the Border Union Railway had reached £847,000, £199,000 more than the capital hitherto raised, and a further £300,000 was required. In addition, no shipping company was prepared to start a service to Ireland from Silloth, even though the port had assumed greater importance for the NBR as a result of the difficulties at Carlisle. As a result, although it had not been the NBR's intention to own ships, it became necessary to acquire the paddle steamers Ariel in 1862, followed by Queen and Silloth in 1864, in order to operate a passenger and goods service between Silloth and Liverpool, Dublin and Belfast.
The financial picture changed with the decision of the Midland Railway to construct the Settle-Carlisle Line. Intent on establishing an Anglo-Scottish main line to rival the East Coast and West Coast lines, the Midland's ambitions had been stymied by the L&NWR, upon which the Midland depended for access to Carlisle via the Ingleton branch. The L&NWR's insistence on operating the service between Ingleton and Low Gill as a rural branch line led the Midland in 1866 to apply for Parliamentary authorisation to construct its own line to Carlisle. However, in the wake of the Overend Gurney crisis and an offer by the L&NWR to grant running powers between Ingleton and Carlisle on reasonable conditions, the Midland began to have second thoughts, and requested the abandonment of its proposed scheme in 1869.
Both the NBR and the Glasgow and South Western Railway petitioned against the abandonment on the basis that it would leave them dependent on the L&NWR's monopoly at Carlisle; they also resented the fact that they had been used by the Midland as a means to negotiate terms with the L&NWR.The House of Commons Committee hearing the case for the bill took the same view, and the Midland was obliged to proceed with construction of the Settle-Carlisle line.
A through service between St Pancras and Edinburgh began on 1 May 1876 after new rails had been fitted to the Waverley Route at a cost of £23,957 in order to equip the line for Midland trains. The block telegraph was still being installed when the first through services traversed the line. Upon completion of the Midland's line, the Waverley Route attained main line status. The opening of the Forth Bridge in 1890 led to an increase in traffic carried over the Midland's line to stations north of Carlisle. Receipts in June, July, August and September of that year were £6,809 higher than in the corresponding months of the previous year.
Throughout its lifetime, the Waverley Route only achieved moderate success. Even during its best years, returns from the line's intermediate stations were meagre. In 1920, the eleven stations between Stobs and Harker on the sparsely populated area between Hawick and Carlisle raised only £28,152 in receipts, with Longtown contributing the bulk of this amount. The line was challenging to work due to its severe gradients requiring costly double-heading, and difficult to maintain particularly in winter.
As a result, right from the first year of its existence, there were calls from within the NBR to close the line; it was considered a millstone by its successive operators. Too far east of the Scottish industrial heartland in the Clyde Valley, and traversing thinly-populated countryside for much of the way, the Waverley Route lived off cross-border passenger services and traffic generated by the wool textile industries in Galashiels, Selkirk and Hawick. As a passenger artery, the effectiveness of the route as a competitor to Edinburgh-London traffic was hampered by its slower journey times compared with the East Coast and West Coast lines, requiring the line's operators to compensate by laying on superior rolling stock. In 1910, the West Coast and East Coast lines achieved a journey time of eight hours and fifteen minutes over their respective distances of 400 miles (640 km) and 393 miles (632 km), whereas the Midland's expresses via the Waverley Route covered the 406+3⁄4 miles (654.6 km) in eight hours and forty minutes.
Those who travelled on the line often did so because of the pleasant journey and spectacular scenery north of Leeds, and holiday workings were timed to allow passengers to take in the landscape during daylight hours. In terms of passenger numbers, a reasonable load was carried from Edinburgh to Leeds and Sheffield, but beyond there, patronage was lighter. A survey conducted in July 1963 on a peak Saturday Edinburgh-London service showed that fewer than 40 passengers were carried between Kettering and St Pancras, although the train had been standing room only as far as Leeds Local services fared little better, as motor transport made inroads from the 1920s onwards, resulting in the successive closures to passenger traffic of the Waverley Route's branch lines: Lauder on 12 September 1932, Dolphinton on 1 April 1933, Duns to Earlston and Jedburgh on 12 August 1948, Duns and Selkirk on 10 September 1951, Hexham on 15 October 1956 and Peebles and Eyemouth on 5 February 1962
After railway nationalisation in 1948, the need for two lines between Edinburgh and Carlisle was inevitably questioned. The Caledonian's main line provided a faster connection, and could be operated as a branch off the West Coast line.
With passenger receipts inconsequential, the line relied on its goods traffic: coal was brought in and out of the Tweed town mills and Cheviot wool brought from local farms.Once new road transport techniques allowed farmers to move their sheep to market in one move and merchants to shift coal from pit to boilerhouse without using the railway, an impending sense of doom could be felt for the line.
In March 1963, the British Railways Board published Richard Beeching's report on the Reshaping of British Railways. The 148-page document proposed the withdrawal of passenger services from 5,000 route miles (8,000 km) considered as unremunerative, and the closure of over 2,000 stations. Among the lines whose passenger service would be affected was the Waverley Route. The document had a map which showed that the section between Hawick and Carlisle fell into the lowest category of unremunerative line, with a weekly patronage of less than 5,000 passengers. The Hawick-Edinburgh stretch fared little better, with between 5,000 and 10,000 passengers a week.] At the time, the Waverley Route was running at an estimated annual loss of £113,000, with an average operating cost per train mile for diesel-hauled freights of 12.390 shillings, one of the worst in Scotland. For British Railways, the line was seen as a high-cost alternative to the West Coast Main Line, and its retention could not be justified by its dwindling freight traffic which could be diverted to the West Coast. As a result, as from the publication of the report, the Scottish Region and the London Midland Regions of British Railways, which had responsibility for the section south of Longtown, both assumed that the line would definitely close, as proposed by Beeching.
The Beeching report was received with dismay in the Borders, as although many were not surprised to see the Langholm branch slated for closure, the loss of the whole Waverley line came as a shock, particularly as even more rural-based routes such as the West Highland Line were not mentioned in the document. The economic and social implications of the proposed closure were of concern to a number of Government ministries, including the Scottish Office which, in April 1964, requested the Minister of Transport to ask Beeching to postpone publication of closure notices for the Waverley Route. The Scottish Economic Planning Council also asked the Minister to hold fire on any proposals, due to the nature, size and importance of the region served by the line.
In the 1964 general election, the Unionist Party Member of Parliament for Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles, Charles Donaldson, whose constituency covered Hawick and who had voted for the Beeching report, saw his majority cut by the Liberal candidate, David Steel, who had opposed closure of the railway line. Steel overturned the Conservative majority in a 1965 by-election; his opposition to the route's closure was one of the three main local issues of his campaign.
The election of Labour in October 1964 did not stop the programme of Beeching closures, despite the party's manifesto commitment to halt major closures. It was still intended to close the Waverley Route, although the timing of the proposal was a matter of debate between the new Minister of Transport, Barbara Castle, and the Secretary of State for Scotland, Willie Ross, who was acutely aware of the sensitivity of the closure proposal for the Borders region and for wider Scottish economic development.
The proposal for the closure of the entire line and its 24 stations was finally issued on 17 August 1966; it said closure would happen on 2 January 1967 if no objections were received; replacement bus services were to be provided by Eastern Scottish. British Rail estimated that a net saving of £232,000 would be made from closure.[109] 508 objections to closure were lodged with the Transport Users' Consultative Committee (TUCC) in Edinburgh within the allotted six-week period, and a public hearing was held in Hawick on 16 and 17 November 1966.
Representatives from the County councils of Berwickshire, Roxburghshire and Selkirkshire and the town councils of Galashiels, Jedburgh, Innerleithen, Hawick, Kelso, Selkirk and Peebles attended the meeting to fight the case against closure.[111] There were no representatives from English councils; only Northumberland had contacted the TUCC requesting to be informed of the outcome.Arguments made against closure included the inadequacies of local roads and the damage which would be caused to the fabric of Borders life, whilst British Rail pointed to the falling patronage of the line and the increased car ownership in the area. The TUCC's 15-page report was submitted to Barbara Castle in December 1966, but it was only in April 1968 that she concluded that the annual subsidy required for the line's retention – £700,000 for the whole route or £390,000 for Hawick-Edinburgh – could not be justified.Even to run a reduced service between Edinburgh and Hawick, on a single track with most stations closed and with the most stringent economies, a grant of about £250,000 per year would be required, representing 11d per passenger mile. In the Minister's opinion, grants on such a scale, even for a drastically modified and rationalised service, could not be justified on a value-for-money basis. In the meantime, British Rail's Network for Development plans published in May 1967 confirmed that the line was considered neither as a trunk route to be developed, nor as a rural branch line qualifying for subsidy on social grounds.
Barbara Castle's intention to discontinue passenger services on the Waverley Route was opposed by Willie Ross and Anthony Crosland, President of the Board of Trade, who considered that it would call into question the Government's intention to support the economic development of the Borders region and make a mockery of the consultative arrangements for the closure of railway lines by ignoring the findings of the TUCC and rejecting the recommendations of the Scottish Economic Planning Council.
Castle was replaced by Richard Marsh in April 1968 after a Cabinet reshuffle. The new minister was unhappy to be moved from his previous position of Minister of Power to a ministry about which he "knew nothing and cared less".On 8 April 1968, two days after the reshuffle, the Ministerial Committee on Environmental Planning (MCEP) met to hear the arguments for and against closure of the line; Marsh referred to statistics which showed that passenger numbers between Edinburgh and Hawick had dipped by 30% between 1964 and 1967, while car ownership had risen by 120% and the local population had decreased by 9.5%. In reply, those on the side of retention argued that closure of the line at a time when government policy was to encourage industry to move to the Borders area would send the wrong message and asked the Minister not to reach a final decision until publication of a report by a group of University of Edinburgh consultants, James Wreford Watson, Percy Johnson-Marshall and James Nathan Wolfe, on the development of the Borders region.
The report – The Central Borders: A Plan for Expansion – was delivered to Willie Ross on 19 April and, while concluding that the economic well-being of the region depended on good transport links with Edinburgh, it was nevertheless equivocal on the need for the Waverley Route and its recommendations concerned road transport rather than rail.
The Waverley Route's fate was decided at a meeting of the MCEP on 21 May chaired by Peter Shore, Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, and attended by Willie Ross, Marsh, Tom Urwin, Ray Gunter, Dick Taverne and Ernest Fernyhough.
Two supporters of the line – Antony Crosland and Lord Brown of Machrihanish – were absent. After hearing arguments on both sides, Shore summarised the committee's opinion in favour of closure throughout "as quickly as possible", noting that the effect on the movement of freight traffic would be minimal and that inconvenience for some passengers was an inevitable consequence of any closure. Following the meeting, Ross escalated the matter to the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, begging him "to look at the cumulative consequences of our course of action on our standing in Scotland".
Marsh countered with a memorandum which stated that closure would affect "only about 200 regular travellers [...], of whom all but 30 would be adequately catered for by alternative bus services", and that the subsidy required to continue the passenger service would run into more than several million pounds per year. He was supported by Peter Shore, who sent a separate memorandum referring to the Central Borders study and its lack of support for the line. The Prime Minister replied to Ross on 5 June indicating that he saw no reason to reopen the MCEP's decision. An official statement by Richard Marsh in the House of Commons on 15 July 1968 confirmed the Waverley Route's demise.
A petition against closure, with 11,678 signatures presented to the Prime Minister in December 1968 by a Hawick housewife, Madge Elliot, accompanied by David Steel and the Earl of Dalkeith, MP for Edinburgh North, was to no avail.The line closed on Monday 6 January 1969, one of 37 lines closed by Marsh during his 18-month term of office.It was the largest railway closure in the United Kingdom until the closure of the Great Central Main Line a few months later.
The demise of the Waverley Route contrasts with the outcome of the proposal to close the Llanelli-Craven Arms line which was considered in Summer 1969. In both cases, patronage had declined and closure would result in a large area left without rail transport. However, the decisive difference which ensured the survival of the Welsh line was the number of marginal Labour constituencies through which it ran, a fact exploited to great effect by George Thomas, Secretary of State for Wales, in his successful defence of the line.
Freight services to Hawick continued until 25 April 1969, while the Longtown-Harker section survived until August 1970 to service the Ministry of Defence munitions depot. The last section to close was the line from Millerhill junction to the National Coal Board's Butlerfield washery south of Newtongrange in June 1972. The line to Millerhill junction remained open to serve the marshalling yard and diesel depot at Millerhill, as well as to give access to the freight-only Edinburgh South Suburban lines. Two days after closure, on Wednesday 8 January, British Rail symbolically lifted a section of track at Riddings Junction in the presence of reporters and photographers.
Tracklifting was complete by late 1972. Negotiations for the sale of parts of the railway solum had already begun, despite a request by Lord Melgund for it to be safeguarded. Lothian Regional Council was offered the section between Millerhill and the southern Midlothian boundary for £7,000 in May 1975 but refused on account of the limited possibilities for reuse of the trackbed and the potential maintenance liability involved. The short viaduct over the Teviot in Hawick was dismantled in September 1975, with Hawick station itself becoming the site of the Teviotdale Leisure Centre, and the A7 road was realigned on parts of the solum, notably north of Heriot, by 1977. Redevelopment of the trackbed accelerated after 1984 with the construction of a small housing estate near the site of Gorebridge station, the Melrose bypass in 1988 over much of the trackbed through Melrose station, as well as further A7 improvements including the Dalkeith western bypass and the Hardengreen bypass in 2000. In 1986, the Tarras and Byreburn viaducts on the Langholm branch were demolished.
Cut off from Edinburgh to the north and Carlisle to the south, those without a car had no option but to travel by bus. The additional bus services laid on by Eastern Scottish as a condition of closure were more frequent than the Waverley Route's trains, but the journey time was 50% longer. The Galashiels-Edinburgh X95 service took 75 minutes in 2006 to travel the distance, this journey time increasing to 86 minutes northbound in 2010 and May 2011 as a result of timetable changes. This compares unfavourably with the last Waverley Route timetable in 1968–1969, according to which the slowest train took 65 minutes over the same distance, whereas the fastest managed the journey in 42 minutes.
The replacement bus moved to Lowland Scottish as part of the restructuring of the Scottish Bus Group in 1985 and stayed with Lowland when it was privatised. With the purchase of Lowland by Firstbus, the service moved to sit eventually under First Scotland East. However the reopening of the Borders Railway as far as Tweedbank, which shadows part of the former Waverley Route, played havoc with the economics of the route and were a key factor in First’s decision to sell the business to Craig of Campbeltown which led to the creation of Border Buses. Now only alternate hour cover the full route, mainly to allow for concessionary travel.
Campaigners want the railway line to be re-opened as far as Carlisle. But this history shows that it was never a viable or extensively used railway. I get that there is a desire to travel by train but it has to be realistic. There is little point in re-opening a line that’ll be poorly used. Perhaps the line should be left as it is.
Following event was given as training event for Disabled people by UNISDR at its preventionweb.net on. Lack of societal recognitions and discrimination of the necessity to mainstream 70 Million persons who are differently abled in India are highly vulnerable to disasters in Urban and Rural India need a positive change to be inclusive part of empowering them to cope with disasters. Saritsa Foundation has been pioneering the mission to provide equal opportunities to disable people to build their capacity with needed sensitivity for past 14 years. It has raised awareness and imparted education and training with mock drills and local resources for 9700 people.
It is satisfying to state that visually impaired participants are provided opportunity to learn to protect them and be self reliant to cope with disasters.
- The Awareness, Education and Training are conducted with interactive participatory methodology.
- The participants are encouraged to analyze risk and vulnerability to them under various scenarios of their houses, their working places and their movement and their areas.
- They are encourage to raise awareness among themselves and their families and prepared to respond accordingly.
- Make use of local resources and local experience and expertise.
- Participants are provided practical training with mock drills with live scenarios of disasters.
- Develop buddy system (Jodi system) to respond to disasters.
- Practice to cope with different emergencies as trained by practical training and mock drills.
Saritsa Foundation had launched Braille books in many Indian Languages on DRR in year 2003-2004. The Audio books on the subject were also prepared in regional languages. During the year 2013, Saritsa Foundation has conducted workshop for Visually Impaired women, girls and youth in 5 institutions in Gujarat and Maharashtra. The mission continues.
On International Disaster Risk Reduction Day - 13 October Saritsa Foundation is organizing a workshop for Kamala Mehta High School for Blind Girls, Mumbai / National Association for Blind Mumbai on 13th October 2013.
Ah, Ukraine! When I first visited Rusfurrence in 2013, and was given a tour of Moscow by my excellent hosts, I thought I’d fallen in love with Russian cuisine – only to discover that nearly everything I’d devoured was in fact Ukrainian. Therefore, I knew I would one day have no choice but to visit the source, and boy howdy, was it worth it.
Our hosts and dear friends took such excellent care of us, with ‘us’ including a surprising number of foreigners, most of whom had never been to Ukraine before. My boyfriend Rush joined me, as did our friend Bostitch, and we met up with Oatcake and Fox Amoore and far, far too many other friends to mention.
The convention itself was fantastic, marked by the lively, can-do spirit the Ukrainians are known for, though I regrettably saw far too little of it. We’d wanted to take a quick look at Kiev while we were in the country but it wound up taking us three hours to get back, and it also didn’t help that I’d caught a bug that left me too tired to partake of many of the events – including a party bus!
Still, there was plenty of fun to be had in the evenings. The Tiger Bar set up in the corridor of the fourth floor, the Stone Soup bar in the suite and balcony of room 107, and of course the traditional picnic and barbecue in the woods, which I was told was how WUFF had originally started. It started raining rather fiercely immediately after the campfire got started, but the Ukrainians proved themselves indomitable, putting together a shovel team to dig emergency trenches and build dams around the fire, which never went out!
Words can’t describe the warmth and fun of the con. We’ll certainly be back.
For more WUFF ’16 photos, check out the gallery here: www.flickr.com/photos/alexfvance/albums/72157668089241926
As always, share and enjoy.
- Alex "Khaki” Vance
If you want to say hi, you can find me on Twitter @khakidoggy, or drop me an email at khakidoggy@me.com
[ If you appear in any of the photos you're free to use them; if you know anyone in a photo, please do share it with them! ]
For even more con photography: www.flickr.com/photos/alexfvance/albums/
Wilhelm Maybach played a vital role in the early development of car technology. As technical director at Daimler he created the Mercedes Simplex, the “first modern car”, at the request of Emile Jellinek. When in 1907 he left to found his own company, his aim was to create and manufacture the most advanced cars possible, and his top-of-the-range model, the D8 with its 12-cylinder engine, can certainly be considered one of the best cars of the period. The engine was a direct result of his work as engine supplier for Zeppelin’s dirigibles.
The car offered, chassis @1435, was the first one equipped with a 7-passenger, fully transformable limousine body, built by Spohn. The first owner, who received it as a gift from Adolf Hitler, was His Highness the Maharajah of Patiala and Raj Pramukhirthe. Hidden during the war, it was first registered in 1951 following the establishment of Indian title and registration laws. It was given a red number plate, indicating that it was a state car. In fact it was arguably the most important car in India.
In 1997 the car was sold by its second owner at an auction in Geneva. In 2001/2002 the car was bought by a German collector who, incredibly, decided to remove the original body and give the car a 2 seater Cabriolet body. Even though the new body used a design by Spohn and was well made by the German firm Reifen-Wagner, this modification reduces the originality and the value of the car. Fortunately, the original body is not lost: it was kept and preserved and now belongs to the Museum for Historical Maybach vehicles in Germany.
A postally unused Valentine's Series postcard.
The people in the photograph have all been posed by the photographer.
Llandudno
Llandudno is a seaside resort in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. The town's name is derived from its patron saint, Saint Tudno.
Llandudno is the largest seaside resort in Wales, and as early as 1861 was being called 'the Queen of the Welsh Watering Places' (a phrase later also used in connection with Tenby and Aberystwyth; the word 'resort' came a little later).
History of Llandudno
The town of Llandudno developed from Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements over many hundreds of years on the slopes of the limestone headland, known to seafarers as the Great Orme and to landsmen as the Creuddyn Peninsula.
The origins in recorded history are with the Manor of Gogarth conveyed by King Edward I to Annan, Bishop of Bangor in 1284.
The Great Orme
Mostly owned by Mostyn Estates, the Great Orme is home to several large herds of wild Kashmiri goats originally descended from a pair given by Queen Victoria to Lord Mostyn.
The summit of the Great Orme stands at 679 feet (207 m). The Summit Hotel, now a tourist attraction, was once the home of world middleweight champion boxer Randolph Turpin.
The limestone headland is a haven for flora and fauna, with some rare species such as peregrine falcons and a species of wild cotoneaster (cambricus) which can only be found on the Great Orme.
The sheer limestone cliffs provide ideal nesting conditions for a wide variety of sea birds, including cormorants, shags, guillemots, razorbills, puffins, kittiwakes, fulmars and numerous gulls.
There are several attractions including the Great Orme Tramway and the Llandudno Cable Car that takes tourists to the summit. The Great Orme also has the longest toboggan run in Britain at 750m.
The Development of Llandudno
By 1847 the town had grown to a thousand people, served by the new church of St. George, built in 1840. The great majority of the men worked in the copper mines, with others employed in fishing and subsistence agriculture.
In 1848, Owen Williams, an architect and surveyor from Liverpool, presented Lord Mostyn with plans to develop the marshlands behind Llandudno Bay as a holiday resort. These were enthusiastically pursued by Lord Mostyn.
The influence of the Mostyn Estate and its agents over the years was paramount in the development of Llandudno, especially after the appointment of George Felton as surveyor and architect in 1857.
Between 1857 and 1877 much of central Llandudno was developed under Felton's supervision. Felton also undertook architectural design work, including the design and execution of the Holy Trinity Church in Mostyn Street.
The Llandudno and Colwyn Bay Electric Railway operated an electric tramway service between Llandudno and Rhos-on-Sea from 1907, this being extended to Colwyn Bay in 1908. The service closed in 1956.
Llandudno Attractions
The Beach and The Parade
A beach of sand, shingle and rock curves two miles between the headlands of the Great Orme and the Little Orme.
For most of the length of Llandudno's North Shore there is a wide curving Victorian promenade. The road, collectively known as The Parade, has a different name for each block, and it is on these parades and crescents that many of Llandudno's hotels are built.
Llandudno Pier
The pier is on the North Shore. Built in 1878, it is a Grade II listed building.
The pier was extended in 1884 in a landward direction along the side of what was the Baths Hotel (where the Grand Hotel now stands) to provide a new entrance with the Llandudno Pier Pavilion Theatre, thus increasing the pier's length to 2,295 feet (700 m); it is the longest pier in Wales.
Attractions on the pier include a bar, a cafe, amusement arcades, children's fairground rides and an assortment of shops & kiosks.
In the summer, Professor Codman's Punch and Judy show (established in 1860) can be found on the promenade near the entrance to the pier.
The Happy Valley
The Happy Valley, a former quarry, was the gift of Lord Mostyn to the town in celebration of the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887. The area was landscaped and developed as gardens, two miniature golf courses, a putting green, a popular open-air theatre and extensive lawns.
Ceremonies connected with the Welsh National Eisteddfod were held there in 1896, and again in 1963.
In June 1969, the Great Orme Cabin Lift, a modern alternative to the tramway, was opened with its base station adjacent to the open-air theatre. The distance to the summit is just over 1 mile (1.6 km), and the four-seater cabins travel at 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h) on a continuous steel cable over 2 miles (3.2 km) long.
It is the longest single-stage cabin lift in Great Britain, and the longest span between pylons is over 1,000 feet (300 m).
The popularity of the 'Happy Valley Entertainers' open-air theatre having declined, the theatre closed in 1985. Likewise the two miniature golf courses closed, and were converted in 1987 to create a 280-metre (920 ft) artificial ski slope and toboggan run. The gardens were extensively restored as part of the resort's millennium celebrations, and remain a major attraction.
Marine Drive
The first route round the perimeter of the Great Orme was a footpath constructed in 1858 by Reginald Cust, a trustee of the Mostyn Estate. In 1872 the Great Orme's Head Marine Drive Co. Ltd. was formed to turn the path into a carriage road.
Following bankruptcy, a second company completed the road in 1878. The contractors for the scheme were Messrs Hughes, Morris, Davies, a consortium led by Richard Hughes of Madoc Street, Llandudno.
The road was bought by Llandudno Urban District Council in 1897. The 4 mile (6.4 km) one-way drive starts at the foot of the Happy Valley. After about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) a side road leads to St. Tudno's Church, the Great Orme Bronze Age Copper Mine and the summit of the Great Orme.
Continuing on the Marine Drive the Great Orme Lighthouse (now a small hotel) is passed, and, shortly afterwards on the right, the Rest and Be Thankful Cafe and information centre.
Below the Marine Drive at its western end is the site of the wartime Coast Artillery School (1940–1945), now a scheduled ancient monument.
The West Shore
The West Shore is a quiet beach on the estuary of the River Conwy. It was here at Pen Morfa that Alice Liddell (of Alice in Wonderland fame) spent the long summer holidays of her childhood from 1862 to 1871.
There are a few hotels and quiet residential streets. The West Shore is linked to the North Shore by Gloddaeth Avenue and Gloddaeth Street, a wide dual carriageway.
Mostyn Street
Running behind the promenade is Mostyn Street, leading to Mostyn Broadway and then Mostyn Avenue. These are the main shopping streets of Llandudno. Mostyn Street accommodates the high street shops, the major high street banks and building societies, two churches, amusement arcades and the town's public library.
The last is the starting point for the Town Trail, a planned walk that facilitates viewing Llandudno in a historical perspective.
Victorian Extravaganza
Every year in May bank holiday weekend, Llandudno has a three-day Victorian Carnival, and Mostyn Street becomes a funfair.
Madoc Street and Gloddaeth Street and the Promenade become part of the route each day for a mid-day carnival parade. Also the Bodafon Farm fields become the location of a Festival of Transport for the weekend.
Venue Cymru
The North Wales Theatre, Arena and Conference Centre, built in 1994, and extended in 2006 and renamed "Venue Cymru", is located near the centre of the promenade on Penrhyn Crescent.
It is noted for its productions of opera, orchestral concerts, ballet, musical theatre, drama, circus, ice shows and pantomimes.
The Llandudno Lifeboat
Until 2017, Llandudno was unique within the United Kingdom in that its lifeboat station was located inland, allowing it to launch with equal facility from either the West Shore or the North Shore as needed.
In 2017, a new lifeboat station was completed, and new, high-speed, offshore and inshore lifeboats, and a modern launching system, were acquired. This station is close to the paddling pool on North Shore.
Llandudno's active volunteer crews are called out more than ever with the rapidly increasing numbers of small pleasure craft sailing in coastal waters. The Llandudno Lifeboat is normally on display on the promenade every Sunday and bank holiday Monday from May until October.
The Ancient Parish Church
The ancient parish church dedicated to Saint Tudno stands in a hollow near the northern point of the Great Orme, and is two miles (3 km) from the present town.
It was established as an oratory by Tudno, a 6th.-century monk, but the present church dates from the 12th. century and it is still used on summer Sunday mornings.
Llandudno's Links with Mametz and Wormhout
-- Mametz
The 1st. (North Wales) Brigade was headquartered in Llandudno in December 1914, and included a battalion of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, which had been raised and trained in Llandudno.
During the Great War this Brigade took part in the Battle of the Somme, and the Brigade was ordered to take Mametz Wood. Two days of fighting brought about the total destruction of Mametz village by shelling.
After the war, the people of Llandudno (including returning survivors) contributed generously to the fund for the reconstruction of the village of Mametz.
-- Wormhout
Llandudno is twinned with the Flemish town of Wormhout which is 10 miles (16 km) from Dunkirk. It was near there that many members of the Llandudno-based 69th. Territorial Regiment were ambushed and taken prisoner.
The Site Mémoire de la Plaine au Bois near Wormhout commemorates the massacre of these prisoners on the 28th. May 1940. The men had been retreating towards Dunkirk ahead of the advancing Germans.
About 100 troops, having run out of ammunition, surrendered to the Germans, assuming that they would be taken prisoner according to the Geneva Convention.
However they were all imprisoned in a small barn, and the SS threw stick-grenades into the building, killing many POW's.
However the grenades failed to kill everyone, largely due to the bravery of two British NCO's, Stanley Moore and Augustus Jennings, who hurled themselves on top of the grenades, using their bodies to shield their comrades from the blast.
In order to finish off the remaining soldiers, the SS fired into the barn with rifles and automatic weapons. A few survived to tell the tale, but no-one was ever indicted for war crimes because of insufficient evidence.
A replica of the barn can be seen at the site of the massacre.
Llandudno's Cultural Connections
Matthew Arnold gives a vivid and lengthy description of 1860's Llandudno - and of the ancient tales of Taliesin and Maelgwn Gwynedd that are associated with the local landscape - in the first sections of the preface to 'On the Study of Celtic Literature' (1867).
Llandudno is also used as a location for dramatic scenes in the stage play and film 'Hindle Wakes' by Stanley Houghton, and the 1911 novel, 'The Card', by Arnold Bennett, and its subsequent film version.
Elisabeth of Wied, the Queen Consort of Romania and also known as writer Carmen Sylva, stayed in Llandudno for five weeks in 1890.
On leaving, she described Wales as "A beautiful haven of peace". Translated into Welsh as "Hardd, hafan, hedd", it became the town's official motto.
Other famous people with links to Llandudno include the Victorian statesman John Bright and multi-capped Welsh international footballers Neville Southall, Neil Eardley, Chris Maxwell and Joey Jones.
Australian ex-Prime Minister Billy Hughes attended school in Llandudno. Gordon Borrie QC (Baron Borrie), Director General of the Office of Fair Trading from 1976 to 1992, was educated at the town's John Bright Grammar School when he lived there as a wartime evacuee.
The international art gallery Oriel Mostyn is in Vaughan Street next to the post office. It was built in 1901 to house the art collection of Lady Augusta Mostyn. It was requisitioned in 1914 for use as an army drill hall, and later became a warehouse, before being returned to use as an art gallery in 1979. Following a major revamp the gallery was renamed simply 'Mostyn' in 2010.
Llandudno has its own mini arts festival 'LLAWN' (Llandudno Arts Weekend). It is a mini festival that rediscovers and celebrates Llandudno’s past in rather a unique way; via art, architecture, artefact, sound, performance, and participation.
The festival takes place over three days of a weekend in late September, originally conceived as a way to promote what those in the hospitality sector refer to as the ‘shoulder season’, which means a lull in the tourist calendar.
In January 1984 Brookside character Petra Taylor (Alexandra Pigg) committed suicide in Llandudno.
In 1997, the English cookery programme "Two Fat Ladies" with Jennifer Patterson and Clarissa Dickson Wright filmed an episode in Llandudno.
Finally made the Tina Givens Bloom Dress (free pattern!) in some Cotton and Steel Double Gauze that had been languishing in the stash and was begging to be used.
I've been so happy with the quality of C&S double gauze, the modified Top 64 I made last year and nearly worn to death is still holding up well to dozens of wash and dry cycles. Good to know that even though it feels fragile, you don't have to baby the fabric to get it clean.
This is from their Fall 2014 line when they first brought in double gauze. I've fallen in and out of love with it since it was hard to choose a pattern that wouldn't bust up the graphic stripes. Now that I made the top, I'm totally head over heels again.
ajavaz.com/2015/07/15/tina-givens-bloom-dress-in-cotton-s...
Given the temperatures here in NYC, I thought I'd have a look back at our vacation in Belize and warm up a little. When I posted this, the outside temperature is -10°C (14°F) or with wind chill -17°C (2°F).
Photos available at: www.afulki.com
Spannende wedstrijd met uiteindelijk een 3-0 score voor Dames 1 | Exciting game ends with a 3-0 victory for Ladies 1
Canon EOS1D MkIV | Canon EFL 300mm F2.8 (non-IS) + 1,4x converter (= 420mm)
Capture One Pro 20
For best view: Press L
©Copyright 2021 Leon Harting - Credit MUST be given AT ALL TIMES
So today I was given the opportunity to have a crack at some Fashion/Editorial style photography courtesy of my new found friend Pete from Photography 08.
The girl in the photo is a bride to be and wanted some photos for her soon to be hubby. So I met up with Pete at his studio and we got on with taking in turns to shoot the bride to be in a variety of outfits!
This is just one outfit from near the end of the shoot. She gave some serious attitude and I really like this image.
This is my first attempts at more fashion based photography and I must say its a refreshing change!!
I will credit the MUA and Hairstylist once I find out their names! haha.
Land at Tonbridge was given to Richard Fitzgilbert, Richard of Brionne, following the Battle of Senlac in 1066. At Tonbridge there was an important crossing of the Medway (probably dating back to the Iron Age) where he built a motte and bailey castle. The motte (mound) is huge, about 27,000 cubic metres and the bailey runs partly along the banks of the Medway and was probably served by a water gate.
www.flickr.com/photos/barryslemmings/sets/72157629105437762/ to see the full set.
In addition to Tonbridge he was also given land at Clare, on the Essex/Suffolk borders, where a second castle of his still exists although much altered. He took the name Richard De Clare. As a result of supporting Robert, son of William the Conqueror, in a rising against King William II, the castle and town of Tonbridge were sacked and burned. In the 1090s the De Clares rebuilt the castle and added a stone keep to the top of the motte. Stone keeps on mottes are relatively rare and it is interesting to note that the sister castle at Clare also has the remains of one.
Stone walls were added to the bailey made of dressed local stone front and back with a rubble and morter infill. One section of the surviving wall is 2.6 metres thick. The De Clares later received the titles of Earl of Hertford and Earl of Gloucester and in 1215 Richard the 3rd Earl of Gloucester and his son Gilbert were two of the 25 barons responsible for policing Magna Carta. King John objected and Tonbridge was attacked and seized. It was not returned to the De Clares until the reign of Henry III.
In 1262 Gilbert became Earl (the 'Red Earl' on account of his red hair) and he subsequently backed the barons against Henry III. In 1264 Henry captured Rochester Castle and then swung south against Tonbridge seizing the town, the castle and Gilbert's wife the countess Alice. Gilbert backed De Montfort at Lewes against the King but in 1265 he switched sides because of De Montfort's ambitions and plans to allay with the Welsh.
Gilbert regained Tonbridge but also gained a reputation for inconstancy. It appears the second loss of Tonbridge sparked Gilbert to build the imposing gatehouse which is the principal surviving feature at Tonbridge today.
The gatehouse is dated to the 1262 -1314 period and was probably complete by 1272 when Gilbert played host to the new King Edward I. It consists of a pair of drum towers with substantial foundations jutting out into the moat and once had a barbican (now lost). This barbican probably contained the drawbridge. At the rear are round towers of more slender proportion.
The main structure has gates and portcullises on BOTH sides of the building indicating that the gatehouse could also be held against a breach of the bailey walls or a rebellion by the garrison. Indeed the gatehouse is liberally supplied with at least six separate portcullises. Access to the gatehouse interior is primarily from inside the archway and the small doors on each each side of this passageway have their own portcullis. Additional portcullises also exist at wallwalk level - one of these leading to a covered way which once led up to the keep on the motte. In effect the gatehouse and the keep could be completely isolated from the rest of the site and it was possible to safely walk from one to the other inside the wallwalk.
The gatehouse was also liberally supplied with meutrieres (murder holes) both in the passageway and on the outside but these probably served a fire-fighting function as well as a military purpose. Shooting from the holes in the passageway roof would prevent combustibles being heaped against the side doors which gave access to the gatehouse itself or allow water to be poured on any combustibles which arrived.
There is considerable storage in the basement level either side of the gatehouse with a real-life 'secret passage' linking the two basements below the gate passage itself. The upper level was probably a guard room but a higher level has larger windows, fine carved heads and large fireplaces and this may have been a fine apartment for a constable, visitors or overflow accomodation from the adjacent keep. It was at this level that the main portcullis was operated and, while the gate and mechanism are both missing, Tonbridge Council have installed a light projector to show an image of the missing portcullis upon the wall. A nice touch.
I remember the gatehouse as a gutted shell but Tonbridge Council have reinstated internal access to the gate since 2000 and added a new roof and access all the way to the top of the gatehouse's roof giving an imposing view over the town. Inside there is a substantial museum in one basement containing examples of locally manufactured glass and cricket balls while elsewhere there are figures of 12th/13th century members of the garrison including one chap sitting on the garderobe with a very serious expression on his face - obvious he needs more ruffage in his diet. At another window a man stands ready with a crossbow in his hand.
Elsewhere model guards eat food in the other basement while a clerk checks his paperwork and another guard counts arrows stored in a barrel. It is clear that the council have spent a lot of money on the castle restoration and the interpretation displays and I came away with the impression of money well spent.