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Two hikers pasue for a rest during a hike through the Northwest Territories wilderness, which is evident even in the heart of the capital city of Yellowknife; this was photographed in the Ski Club Trails only minutes away from the city's downtown.
Given the current situation in Ukraine we thought we’d show our support with a mural featuring embattled actor/comedian turned President, Volodomyr Zelensky. Given his new pseudo military look we thought that would be a good starting point. It turns out that portraiture is particularly tough. I’m glad we didn’t attempt this on the street as after painting the face over a couple of times we were pulling our hair out in frustration at the lack of a true resemblance, despite the fact we’d used a stencil so the proportions should be correct at least.
In this situation there was only one person we could talk to about how best to remedy the situation - the doctor they told you to go see - Mr @whoamirony. After giving us a few pointers on our endless list of necessary improvements we eventually managed to get it to this point. Which is about as far as we can take it.
We’ve definitely tried but I'm not entirely convinced we’ve done the Ukrainian people proud with one so I’ve sent myself back to the drawing board to come up with another Ukraine themed piece that will hopefully look how I intend…
Cheers
id-iom
Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, âWe are the last nation but the foremost on the Day of Resurrection. They were given scriptures before us and we were given scripture after them; and the day of Friday was the day about which they differed and Allah guided us to it; so tomorrow is for the Jews and the day after tomorrow for the Christians.â The Prophet remained silent for a while and then he said, âIt is an obligation upon every Muslim to take a bath at least once every seven days, in which he should wash his head and his body.â
In another narration, the Prophet said, âIt is the right of Allah upon every Muslim that he takes a bath at least once every seven days.â
[Sahih Bukhari, Book 13, Number 21]
Dari Abu Hurairah RA bahawa Nabi SAW telah bersabda : Kita adalah umat yg terakhir, tetapi umat yg terdahulu pada hari kiamat. Kita adalah umat yang paling awal masuk ke syurga, sedangkan mereka telah menerima kitab sebelum kita, kita diberikan kitab selepas mereka, mereka telah berbalah. Allah telah memberi hidayah kepada kita tentang perkara yg mereka perselisihkan. Inilah hari di mana mereka berselisih tentangnya. Allah telah memberi hidayah kepada kita. Hari Jumaat adalah hari (kebesaran) kita, esok (sabtu) hari kebesaran Yahudi dan lusa (Ahad) hari kebesaran Nasrani.
Hadis Riwayat Muslim.
To all of my muslim friends, let's take a few minutes of our time to reflects ourselves. Let's pray that we will become better muslim each day.
Nikon D7000 | 0.3s | f/16 | ISO 100 | 11mm | 0.9s GND
Mingle Media TV and Red Carpet Report host Moogega Cooper were invited to cover the red carpet arrivals the Paley Center for Media Presents An Evening with FX's 'Justified’ in Hollywood.
Get the Story from the Red Carpet Report Team, follow us on Twitter and Facebook at:
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About FX’s Justified
Based on Elmore Leonard’s novella Fire in the Hole. Justified was developed by Graham Yost and stars Timothy Olyphant as ‘Deputy US Marshal Raylan Givens,’ a lawman who finds himself drawn back to his home state of Kentucky. This January, Raylan confronts the Crowes, a deadly, lawless family from Florida intent on settling in Harlan with new criminal enterprises in mind. Meanwhile, ‘Boyd Crowder’ (Walton Goggins) struggles to free his imprisoned fiancée ‘Ava’ (Joelle Carter) as he partners with the Dixie Mafia’s ‘Wynn Duffy’ (Jere Burns). For more info visit: www.justifiedtv.com, twitter.com/JustifiedFX,
About The Paley Center for Media:
The Paley Center for Media seeks to preserve the past, illuminate the present, and envision the future through the lens of media. With the nation’s foremost public archive of television, radio, and Internet programming, the Paley Center produces programs and forums for the public, industry professionals, thought leaders, and the creative community to explore the evolving ways in which we create, consume, and share news and entertainment. The Paley Center for Media was founded in 1975 by William S. Paley, a pioneering innovator in the industry. For more information, please visit www.paleycenter.org.
For more of Mingle Media TV’s Red Carpet Report coverage, please visit our website and follow us on Twitter and Facebook here:
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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/
Reichsmarschall (literally translated as Marshal of the Empire, but the German term is used in English) Hermann Wilhelm Goering (January 12, 1893 - October 15, 1946) in his first official photograph after his promotion to Reichsmarschall. He is holding his Luftwaffe Feldmarschall's baton, given to him by Reichskanzler (Reichchancellor) Adolf Hitler on February 4, 1938, encrusted with gold crosses and eagles, and capped in diamonds. He appeared in a similar sky blue Luftwaffe uniform in a large portrait at the entrance to the Berlin Headquarters. He designed his own uniforms and would change five times a day, depending on his mood. In a speech to the Reichstag (German Parliament) in September 1939, Hitler had anointed Goering as his successor. In an evening ceremony at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin (Berlin Opera House), Hitler awarded twelve generals promotions to Feldmarschall (Field Marshal) and elevated Goering from Feldmarshall to Reichsmarschall. Other officers were promoted as well for their actions in the Battle of France. The promotions gave the armed forces a clear line of succession and was intended to prevent fighting over command if Hitler was incapacitated or assassinated. Goering's subordinates felt that his promotion to Reichsmarschall was the last day the Luftwaffe had a leader; he retired after the ceremony for a party at his Berlin residence, stoked with foodstuffs from the subjugated nations of the Reich, and enjoyed his new position. The ceremony, held at the height of the Battle of Britain, allowed Hitler to call for the British to surrender or face "unending suffering and misery." Goering was unable to bring the Royal Air Force to destruction; the Luftwaffe's losses were unsustainable. The other Luftwaffe officers promoted at the same time had no relief for the rest of the war. After failing to supply the surrounded 6th Army during the battle of Stalingrad in 1942, Goering increasingly fell out of favor. When the Royal Air Force and the United States 8th Air Force began bombing Germany "around the clock" despite a maximum effort by the Luftwaffe, Hitler blamed Goering; the Fuerher was encouraged by Martin Bormann, who wanted to discredit Goering. Goering retreated into the high life; collecting stolen works of classic art, hunting on his estate confiscated from Jews, and abusing drugs and food. Luftwaffe officers had to come to him. When he did rarely appear in front of Luftwaffe pilots and his own ground forces, he stunned them with his appearance, overweight, sweaty, disconnected, angry, and sometimes wearing makeup. Goering would berate his men for failing to stop the bombers, but never listened to their entreaties for more training, production, better gunsights and aircraft. By 1945, Goering was totally out of favor, and no longer welcome in the Fuehrer's presence. He took Hitler's decision to stay in Berlin as a sign to act on his decree of succession. Enraged over a suspected coup d'etat, Hitler ordered his arrest and execution of Goering and his family on April 25. Goering survived and was arrested by the Allies on May 9. This same uniform, without the medals and the baton, was the one he wore during his press conference with western reporters in Augsburg on May 11. He was the third highest ranking Nazi to stand trial in Nuremberg. After a vitriolic and spirited defense (he wore a double-brested uniform too large for him since he lost weight in prison and was denied drugs), he cheated the hangman a few hours before his scheduled execution by taking cyanide. Goering's baton is on display at the National Infantry Museum in Fort Benning, Georgia.
The High Level Segment of the Governing Council of the Community of Democracies took place on March 5, on the occasion of the 28th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Given the occasion, the meeting dealt intensively with topics related to human rights, and hosted three United Nations Special Rapporteurs: SR on Promoting the Rights to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, David Kaye; SR on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders Michel Forst; and SR on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association, Maina Kiai. Special Rapporteurs presented their latest reports and insights and discussed them with Ministers and High Level Participants.
Another day, another dollar...gone. Bethany had spent well over half the cash Paulie had given to her on the finest and best motel room in Hathian (which was a singular oxymoron, to be sure). And she furnished it with the superfluous yet utterly necessary amenities a once spoiled rich girl couldn't live without, such as 1000 thread count egyptian cotton sheets and a japanese silk robe (yeah, she's got 'em, don't ya raz it!). After decking out her new digs (which she intends to be just temporary - honestly, she can do much bettah!) she was ready to hit the streets again to find some fun. C'mon, there is no rest for the wicked. ^.^
The thrill of the chase baited her more than anything. The rush was part near as good as the bliss of a good cookie. Yummy! It didn't take long for Bethany to spot her next target. He stood there with his goodie bag slung low across his shoulder, staring into space, looking like a stoned Adonis statue. Perfect. Perfect for the picking. Then, he moved. Ah shit. He went around the corner of the Grind - a local coffee shop specializing in liquid tar suitable for oral consumption that'll perk you up in jiffy! Bethany, of course, followed.
Bang! Bang! Shit! Shit!
Things began to move like a slow motion picture show and everyone sat in their fuzzy peach recliners to watch...
Bullets whizzed past Bethany's head and she ducked like a Canada goose. Her eyes darted around to see where the seriously disturbed shooter was who had so untimely glitched her quest for her prize. The small crowd that loitered around the Grind made themselves scarce like dinosaurs. Except Bethany, she stayed. Stupidity and stubbornness were not her most admirable traits, though they seemed to be her most prominent ones as of late. She was gonna get what she came for, dammit!
The bullets hit home - dahyam, Patrick's aim was good. Silker hit the ground and he coughed up blood. He crawled for cover and managed to pull out one of his pistols and cock it back, ready to shoot the bastard that shot him - dahyam, Silker was one tough shit with two bloody holes in him! Suddenly Bethany caught sight of the man with the bag, her prize. His blade moved like quicksilver as he lunged at Silker, but Silker's bullet was faster (daresay, physics factors in on this one). Ratien (that's the bagman) fell back against the wall with Silker's bullet in his gut, but he kept going like the energizer bunny - dahyam blitzen Ratien!
Bethany took this most opportune moment of insane bulleticious distraction to go for it. She sprinted towards Ratien's bag at full speed and was unexpectedly clotheslined by his massively strong trunk of an arm. The wind and the wind's dog got knocked out of her and she thudded to the sidewalk, OUCH! Bugger! Totally not according to plan.
And, oh, the fun had only just begun for Bethany...
Well, hello! Where the hell did Kieran come from?! Kieran, the one that caught her pickpocketing that poor sorry sob the other day, yanked Bethany up by the hair on her head and promptly slammed her back down to French kiss the pavement. She had a very short but intense love affair with the cement and Kieran's fist and boot. Uber OUCH! The sound of wee-wee-ing sirens crescendoed as background music for this 'rated R for extreme violence' scene. And then, blink, the lights went out.
Yeah, not a good day for picking pockets.
Given that our British Airways flight from London Heathrow Airport (LHR) to Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO) was only a little over 2 hours, I was surprised when the flight attendants offered us a choice of meal -- a chicken-and-bacon sandwich or a vegetarian meal. Mike and I both chose the vegetarian option, and it was actually quite good! Our ''Mezze Salad'' included hummus, tabbouleh, and falafel.
A couple of thousand people gathered Tuesday afternoon at the Haymarket Riot Memorial Sculpture on Des Plaines Street in Chicago's West Loop to celebrate the traditional workers May Day..
Speeches were given and music was played. The usual festive type of atmosphere seemed to be absent this time. People were angry over the actions of the Trump administration directed towards the working class in general, and immigrants..
Billionaire J. B. Pritzker, candidate for governor of Illinois, put in an appearance, He was supported by local union members carrying signs that read 'We Rise With J.B.'. His presence sparked some vocal opposition from people who felt that 'this is a working class event and a billionaire has no business being part of it'. Some shouting occurred between the two camps, but other than that things remained peaceful.
The march went down Washington Street then shifted over via LaSalle Street to the State of Illinois Thompson Center on Randolph Street where another rally was held.
To me, what symbolized the event and the message being broadcast on the many signs people displayed, was Felipe the Ice Cream Seller. Pushing his cart loaded with tasty frozen treats, he accompanied the marchers from Des Plaines Street all the way to the Thompson Center. It was a warm day with temperatures in the low 80s. It's been a long time since Chicago has had a day that warm. Needless to say Felipe did a lot of business. He works out of the Paleteria 2215 S. Kedzie Avenue in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood. Apparently, a paletero can earn up to $30-$60 a day pushing that cart around. It's a heavy cart too. I had a chance to talk to him a little bit. A very nice man. Just doing his best to earn a living. An excellent example of what the working class is all about.
Recently given to me by an old friend, along with three other knives, this is the first Uncle Henry model to find a home in my modest accumulation of knives. It needs some TLC, in the form of a good cleaning and polishing, along with some time on the oilstone, but it is a well built and sound knife.
Uncle Henry... That name stirs some very fond memories of my early days of pocketknife use, loss, and acquisition.
When I was a boy of about seven, my family would travel to Minnesota every year or so, to visit relatives. It was always a special joy when we would visit Uncle Hank and Aunt Ginny. You see... my Uncle Hank (Henry) would lead my two older brothers and me into the other room and sit us down in front of his old desk. He would then open the two very large, and deep, bottom drawers (sometimes one of the upper drawers too), and he would say, "Boys, you look through those drawers, and you pick out one (and he emphasized one) knife each, to take home with you". Our little sister would be off playing with her dolls, or whatever little girls did when they were being totally ignored by their older brothers.
To understand this situation properly, one needs to understand that our Uncle Hank worked in a commercial laundry service, where they laundered uniforms and coveralls for various manufacturing firms. It seems that the workers would quite often leave their knife in the pocket of said uniform trousers or coveralls. Uncle Hank would then, naturally, pull them out and find a new home for them - there was just no way to possibly track down the owner.
Those lower desk drawers were likely ten inches deep and wide, by about eighteen inches from front to back, and most times, they were plum full, or nearly full of all sorts of folding knives. Well, the adults for once didn't need to worry about the three of us getting into mischief - we spent hours upon hours pouring over what seemed to be an unending supply of pocketknives.
I do remember clearly though, that I, being so young, was not allowed to choose a fishing knife. You know... the one with the really long and pointy blade - we just called them pig-stickers. That was almost heartbreaking, but hey, I always found just the perfect knife for my pocket before all was said and done.
When we left to go back to grandma's and grandpa's house, we weren't allowed to open our prized new possessions until we got there. But boy, when we did, the mumbly-peg, whittlin', cuttin', and general using and abusing of said knives began - and we had fun - plain and simple brotherly fun.
Those knives are but a fond memory of mine now, some 63 years later, but this Uncle Henry is now, and will be in the future, a prized possession of mine for the duration of time my faculties will allow. And it will always remind me of my Uncle Hank. This knife has synthetic Staglon (Delrin) handle scales, Nickel Silver bolsters, brass liners, and stainless steel (Schrade+) blades. Made in U.S.A.
If I were to purchase the most expensive collector knife out there today, it wouldn't mean nearly as much to me as a knife (new or used) given to me by a friend or family member.
Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G Prime Lens
DSC_4670-E-S
For the first time in human history the scientist-saint Swamy Ramalinga Vallalar has given us a complete science of immortality and eternity in scientific terms in all its details.
In the 1860s Charles Darwin published his "Theory of Evolution". But when the American professor Chancey Wright asked him,what would be the next stage in human evolution? He replied that he did not know. But Swamy Ramalinga Vallalar answered that question positively. Not only the next stage in Human Evolution but the final stage was also conducted his experiment in his own body successfully and realized histeachings. He transformed his physical body into a body of wisdom-light. The details are given in these lectures
delivered by
Thiru.R.Kuppusamy.
Salem Th.Kuppusamy Sir Contact Details:(India)
Email : r.kuppusamy@gmail.com
Mobile : +(91) 9842751510
*Other features covered in these lectures are :*
- Can Humans eradicate the problem of world poverty and hunger?
- The enlightenment of the human body as well as the enlightenment
ofconsciousness.
- The intelligence born of love as contrasted with that born ofthought which
is nothing but matter thiugh subtle.
- Can humans ever succeed in attaining total self-sufficiency in termsof
food, breath and knowledge independently of nature?
Arut Perum Jyothi Arut Perum Jyothi
Thanip Perum Karunai Arut Perum Jyothi
GRACE-LIGHT MANTRA (Mantra for ascension - to invoke grace, light and compassion)
Stagecoach London Limited Alexander Dennis TransBus Plaxton 34362 LV52HKO Which Is The Last Of This Batch Of Buses At Bromley Bus Garage The Rest Of This Batch Went To Catford Bus Garage When The Route 314 was Given Brand New Enviro 200'S 34362 Is Seen Here On Her Native Route 314 Having her 5 Minutes Of Rest Before A Run To New Addington As TB 79 34362 Has Also Been Seen on Route 61 ,Route 227 And Route 246 34362 Is Also The Oldest Greatest Single Decker Bus At Bromley Bus Garage (TB)
“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.
Big Boy was the name given to the Union Pacific Railroad's twenty-five 4000 class 4-8-8-4 articulated steam locomotives built between 1941 and 1944 by Alco. No. 4012 is on display at the Steamtown National Historic Site at Scranton, PA.
A világ legnagyobb gőzmozdonya a Union Pacific vasúttársaság Big Boy artikulált (csuklós) 4-8-8-4 tengelyelrendezésű mozdonya. A 4012-es sorozatszámú egyik túlélő mozdony a pennsylvaniai Scranton vasúttörténeti emlékhelyén van kiállítva, távolról sem tökéletes állapotban - nekem viszont óriási élmény volt a monstrum megérintése, alapos megszemlélése, miután annyi mindent olvastam róla különböző könyvekben.
The Big Boys were the only locomotives to have the 4-8-8-4 wheel arrangement, combining two sets of eight driving wheels with both a four-wheel leading truck for stability entering curves and a four-wheel trailing truck to support the large firebox.
The Big Boys were specifically designed to pull a 3,600 short ton (3,300 t) freight train over the long 1.14% grade of the Wasatch Mountains in Utah. Before their arrival, helpers were needed. Adding and removing helpers from a train slowed them down. For such locomotives to be worthwhile, they had to be faster and more powerful than slow mountain luggers tried after World War I. To avoid locomotive changes, the new class would need to pull long trains at sustained speed—60 miles per hour (100 km/h)—once past the mountain grades. Towards the end of the 4000's career (in the late 1950s) it was found that they could still pull more than their rated tonnage - they regularly pulled 4,450 short tons (4,040 t) up the Wasatch grade, unassisted.
They were designed for stability at 60 miles per hour (100 km/h). They were built with a heavy margin of reliability and safety, as they normally operated well below that speed in freight service. Optimal horsepower was achieved at about 35 mph (56 km/h); optimal tractive effort, at about 10 mph (16 km/h).
25 Big Boys were built, all were coal burning, with large grates to burn low quality Wyoming coal from mines owned by the railroad. Postwar increases in the price of both coal and labor and the efficiency of diesel-electric motive power foretold a limited life for the Big Boys, but they were among the last steam locomotives taken out of service. The last revenue train hauled by a Big Boy ended its run early in the morning on July 21, 1959. Four of them remained in operational condition at Green River, Wyoming until 1962. Their duties were assumed by diesels and turbines.
Sandal Castle is a ruined medieval castle in Sandal Magna, a suburb of the city of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England, overlooking the River Calder. It was the site of royal intrigue and the setting for a scene in one of William Shakespeare's plays.
History
The Warennes
William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey (1081–1138) was granted the Sandal estates in 1107. The 2nd earl built the first Sandal Castle of timber. He supported Robert Curthose against Henry I and was banished from the kingdom for two years. Later he was given the Wakefield manor. William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey (1119–1148) spent little time at Sandal, having taken crusading vows and joined the Second Crusade. He had one daughter, Isabel de Warenne (1137–1199), who married William of Blois, son of King Stephen, who became the 4th earl. He died in 1159, leaving no children. Isabel, his widow, next married Hamelin (1129–1202), the 5th earl. He was the son of Geoffrey of Anjou and assumed the Warrene name on his marriage in 1164. Hamelin is thought to have built the early Norman stone fortifications at Conisbrough Castle and also begun to replace the wooden fortifications at Sandal with stone.
William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey (1166–1240) married Maud Marshal in 1225. He was loyal to his cousin, King John and is one of the four nobles whose name appears in the Magna Carta for John. On King John's death in 1216 he supported Henry III. Maud de Warenne, William's widow, held the Wakefield Manor from 1240 until their son John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey (1231–1304) came of age in 1252. John married Alice de Lusignan in 1247. In 1296 the 6th Earl was appointed warden for Scotland by Edward I and in 1299, the Earl and his royal master were triumphant over the Scots at the Battle of Falkirk.
William de Warrene (1256–1286) was killed at a tournament in Croydon pre-deceasing his father. His son John de Warenne, 7th Earl of Surrey (1286–1347) was born in the year of his death. John married Joan of Bar but lived adulterously with Maud de Nereford from a village near Castle Acre in Norfolk. In 1347, the 7th Earl died. His sons John and Thomas became Knights Hospitaller in the Holy Land, predeceasing their mother. The lands passed to Edward III. The Warennes had castles at Lewes in Sussex and Reigate in Surrey, Castle Acre Castle in Norfolk and Conisbrough in Yorkshire.
The Dukes of York
In 1347, Edward III granted Sandal to his fifth son Edmund of Langley who was six years old at the time. His elder brother John of Gaunt held Pontefract and Knaresborough Castles, Edmund was granted Wark Castle near Coldstream in the Scottish Borders, and in 1377 Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire which was to become his home, and for the next 75 years the family seems to have spent little time at Sandal, leaving it to the management of constables or stewards.
In 1385 Edmund was made Duke of York as a reward for his support for his nephew, Richard II of England. He was succeeded by his son, also Edward who campaigned in Ireland and died at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. Edward was succeeded by his nephew, Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York.
The Battle of Wakefield
Early in 1460, during the Wars of the Roses, Richard Plantagenet made a bid for the throne. He was initially not well-received, but an Act of Accord made in October 1460 recognised him as heir to the throne and named him Protector of the Realm. In December Richard went to Sandal Castle, either to consolidate his position or to counter Lancastrian dissent. He had an army of 3,000–8,000 men but on 30 December in the Battle of Wakefield, he was outnumbered and outmaneuvered by Queen Margaret's army, coming from nearby Pontefract. Richard suffered a crushing defeat and both he and his younger son Edmund, Earl of Rutland were killed (although only two months later Richard's eldest son Edward became king).
Richard III
The castle's last brush with royalty came in 1483 when Richard's eighth son (and twelfth child) Richard III chose it as a northern base and ordered significant investments. This hope was short lived however as Richard was killed in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. After this the castle was maintained a little, but gradually declined, with the building of Wakefield Prison in the 1590s leaving it even less useful.
The English Civil War
During the English Civil War Sandal Castle was Royalist, although its neglected state left it out of the major conflicts. In 1645 however it was besieged at least three times by Parliamentarian troops. Butler recounts: Having been assured that they would receive a safe passage to Welbeck House in north Nottinghamshire they surrendered the castle at 10 o'clock on 1 October 1645. The garrison was then 10 officers and 90 men with two of the men called "seniors" implying that they were professional soldiers rather than just non-commissioned officers. They also surrendered 100 muskets, 50 pikes, 20 halberds, 150 swords and two barrels of gunpowder: no pieces of artillery are mentioned.
As a result of this capitulation, only Bolton Castle in Wensleydale and Skipton Castle remained in Royalist hands in Yorkshire, but Sandal "was the most resolute of all the three northern garrisons" and its fall caused great rejoicing among the parliamentarian forces. By the siege's end, it was a ruin. The following year, Parliament ordered that it be made untenable.
The castle
The motte at Sandal Castle
The castles built by William the Conqueror's followers were self-sufficient strongholds, some of which were tax-gathering points, some controlled the larger towns, river crossings or passes through hills. Two castles were built near Wakefield, one at Lowe Hill on the north bank of the Calder and Sandal on the south bank. The first castles were probably started and completed in the early 12th century by William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey after he had been granted the manor of Wakefield by Henry I.
Sandal and Lowe Hill were motte-and-bailey earthwork castles with wooden towers on the mound and baileys with timber palisades and deep ditches. Sandal is built on a natural sandstone ridge, the Oaks Rock. The motte was raised to 10 metres (33 ft) with the 7 metres (23 ft) deep moat surrounding it. Only Sandal survived and during the 13th century the keep, curtain wall and other buildings were rebuilt in stone, probably started by either the sixth or seventh Earls Warenne.[Timber motte and bailey castles were often converted into stone if they were in use for long periods; Sandal is a particularly good example of this.
The stone keep was circular with four towers each four storeys high; two of them close together formed a gatehouse, and the east tower contained a well, 37 metres (121 ft) deep. The double-walled keep would have had guardrooms, storerooms and servants' quarters on the ground floor, the main hall above and private apartments on the second floor. The tower rooms had garderobes, (lavatories) that discharged on the outer walls of the keep. The curtain wall was 6 metres (20 ft) high with a wall walk along its length, it enclosed the bailey and crossed the moat twice to reach the keep.
The barbican at Sandal was inside the bailey; it was a three-storey tower with a moat opposite two drum towers at the entrance to the keep, all of which were constructed in the early 1270s. The barbican with its own gate and portcullis added an extra line of defence between the main entrance gate and the keep. Attackers entering the barbican had to make a right-angled turn to enter the keep, which was protected by a drawbridge between the drum towers. A stairway from the barbican led to a sally port.
The bailey lay to the south-east of the keep with the main gatehouse on the north-east side. It was crescent shaped, about 71 metres (233 ft) long and 52 metres (171 ft) wide. Inside the bailey there was a 12 metres (39 ft) deep well and two privy shafts, one of which is 8 metres (26 ft) deep.
The ruins
The ruins were a source of stone for local building and became a place for locals to relax. They were depicted in the foreground of a drawing of Wakefield from the south by Samuel Buck in 1719 or 1722, and in 1753 an engraving was published of an Elizabethan survey drawing.
The ruins were first excavated by the Yorkshire Archaeological Society in 1893. A more detailed project began in the summer of 1964 and was a partnership between Wakefield Corporation, Wakefield Historical Society and the University of Leeds. This project started as an experiment in adult education, but with the help of over a hundred local volunteers it grew into a complete and rigorous excavation that continued for nine years. Whilst excavating the bailey, archaeologists found remains of flint tools suggesting a Mesolithic encampment was there in about 5,000 BC.
In 2003, a wooden walkway was provided to allow access to the summit of the motte without causing erosion: it was subsequently closed as unsafe. A visitor centre was constructed about 110 yards (100 m) from the castle. There have been historical re-enactments and "living history" days, including commemoration of the Battle of Wakefield and the deaths of Richard Duke of York and his son Edmund. In February 2015 Wakefield Council announced that due to budget constraints they were considering plans to either close the visitor centre or reduce its opening hours. The centre has since closed.
The castle is a Scheduled Monument, which means it is a "nationally important" historic building and archaeological site which has been given protection against unauthorised change. It is also a Grade II* listed building.
Wikipedia says:
Kuntur Wasi (Quechua kuntur condor, wasi house, "condor house") is the name given to the ruins of a religious center with complex architecture and stone sculptures, located in the Andean highlands of Peru.
It is believed the inhabitants had a link with the Chavín culture.
Kuntur Wasi is located in the Northern Mountain Range of Peru, specifically at the headwaters of the Jequetepeque River, in the region of the city of Cajamarca near the small town of San Pablo. The Jequetepeque valley provided a transportation corridor between the coastal region and the highlands.
Kuntur Wasi was a center where people congregated.
It is thought to have been constructed around 1000-700 BCE, during the Initial Period. The architecture consists of a hill-top temple, quadrangular platforms, a sunken courtyard, and series of rooms.
In the floor of one room there is an anthropomorphic figure made of clay, about 30 inches (75 cm) in height. It is painted with cinnabar red, malachite green, and black, yellow, and pink. Its face has big square eyes and a wide mouth with prominent canine teeth. There are also stepped platforms and funeral structures.
Lithosculptures have been found, similar to the Chavín style.
Kuntur Wasi was occupied between the years 1200-50 BC.
It was first discovered in 1945 by Julio C. Tello. In 1989, scientists from the University of Tokyo excavated four tombs at Kuntur Wasi. Valuable items, such as pectoral necklaces (decorative breastplates), gold crowns, ornamental stone beads, earrings, sets of dishes and iconographies of people were discovered in the burial area.
Since the beginning of the University of Tokyo's archaeological mission, eight tombs have been found in the area.
The Kuntur Wasi Museum, managed by local citizens, opened in 1994.
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Según Wikipedia:
Kuntur Wasi es un sitio arqueológico que data del Formativo Inferior, se encuentra ubicado en el centro poblado del mismo nombre, en la provincia de San Pablo, en el departamento de Cajamarca, en el Perú.
En la lengua quechua Kuntur Wasi significa "Casa del Cóndor". Según el arqueológo japonés, Yoshio Onuki, estudioso principal de este sitio arqueológico, Kuntur Wasi es una expresión prechavín pero que posteriormente posee una gran influencia no solo de Chavín sino también de Cupisnique especialmente en la orfebrería y la cerámica.
Kuntur Wasi pasó por los siguientes periodos:
Fase Ídolo: Construcción del centro ceremonial con pisos enlucidos con cal de color blanco. En esta fase hay una cierta relación con Huacaloma y Pacopampa.
Fase Kuntur: Construcción de un nuevo complejo ceremonial en forma de U. Se desarrolla la cerámica fina y la orfebrería.
Fase Copa: Modificación del complejo arquitectónico ceremonial y la renovación del sistema de canales de drenaje.
Fase Sotera: Existe una relación con la Fase Layzón del valle de Cajamarca.
Corresponde a la decadencia de Kuntur Wasi.
Name: George H Revell
Arrested for: not given
Arrested at: North Shields Police Station
Arrested on: 10 November 1905
Tyne and Wear Archives ref: DX1388-1-81-George H Revell
The Shields Daily News for 10 November 1905 reports:
"George H. Revell, tramp, Sheffield, was charged with being drunk and disorderly in Clive Street, and was remanded for eight days, there being a further charge against him of having stolen from the common lodging house, situate at No. 38 Duke Street, an overcoat and a jacket, valued at 7s, the property of Matthew Lazenby, yesterday".
The Shields Daily News for 17 November 1905 reports:
"George H. Revell (45), tramp, Sheffield, was charged on remand with being drunk and disorderly in Clive Street, and was fined 5s and costs or seven days. He was further charged with stealing, on the same date, from a common lodging house, situate at 31 Duke Street, an overcoat and a jacket, valued at 7s, the property of Matthew Lazenby, or otherwise with receiving the same. The accused pleaded guilty and was committed to prison for 6 weeks".
These images are a selection from an album of photographs of prisoners brought before the North Shields Police Court between 1902 and 1916 in the collection of Tyne & Wear Archives (TWA ref DX1388/1).
(Copyright) We're happy for you to share this digital image within the spirit of The Commons. Please cite 'Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums' when reusing. Certain restrictions on high quality reproductions and commercial use of the original physical version apply though; if you're unsure please email archives@twmuseums.org.uk.
The Triumph Renown is strictly the name given to the Triumph's large saloon car made from 1949 to 1954 but it is, in reality, part of a three-car series of the 1800, 2000 and Renown models. Together with the Triumph Roadster, they were the first vehicles to carry the Triumph badge following the company's takeover by the Standard Motor Company.
Overview
ManufacturerStandard Motor Company
Production1946–54. 15,491 made[1]
Body and chassis
Body style4 door saloon, limousine.
Powertrain
Engine1766 cc or 2088 cc Straight-4 overhead valve
Transmission3-speed manual
Dimensions
Wheelbase108 in (2,743 mm) 1800, 2000 & Renown
111 in (2,819 mm) TDC & limousine[2]
Length168 in (4,267 mm) 2000
178 in (4,521 mm)Renown
181 in (4,597 mm) TDC & limousine[2]
Width64 in (1,626 mm)[2]
Height65 in (1,651 mm)[3]
Bodywork[edit]
The cars were distinctively styled in the later 1930s vogue for Razor Edge coachwork used in the 1940s by others including Austin for its big Sheerline. The six light (featuring three side windows on each side) design and the thin C pillars at the rear of the passenger cabin anticipated the increased window areas that would become a feature of British cars during the 1960s. The car's side profile resembled that of the contemporary prestigious Bentley saloons, which some felt was more than a coincidence. Similar styling subsequently appeared on the smaller Triumph Mayflower. The Managing Director of the Standard Motor Company at that time, Sir John Black, commissioned the design of the Razoredge saloon. There has been much discussion over the years as to exactly which designers of that period were responsible for the styling but it is very clear from the records that Sir John drove the production forward and used the Triumph name from the prewar Triumph company that had been bought by the Standard Motor Company.
The body was built by Mulliners of Birmingham in the traditional coachbuilder's method of sheet metal over a wooden frame.[1] The principal panels were constructed not from steel, which was in short supply in the wake of the Second World War, but from aluminium. It had been used extensively for aircraft manufacture during the war, which had taken place in a number of car plants (known at the time as "shadow factories") in the English Midlands. But by the mid-1950s aluminium had become the more expensive metal, which may have hastened the Renown's demise.Triumph Renown Mk I TDB 1949–52[edit]
The car was renamed the Renown in October 1949. It had an entirely new chassis based on the Standard Vanguard with pressed steel sections replacing the tubes previously used. The front suspension changed to coil springing. Although the 3-speed column change transmission was retained, from June 1950 an overdrive unit was offered as an option. Inside there was a new instrument layout.
A Renown tested by the British magazine The Motor in 1950 had a top speed of 75.0 mph (120.7 km/h) and could accelerate from 0–60 mph (97 km/h) in 24.3 seconds. A fuel consumption of 23.9 miles per imperial gallon (11.8 L/100 km; 19.9 mpg-US) was recorded. The test car cost £991 including taxes.[5]
Of the 6501 produced, fewer than 100 are known to have survived.[4]
Triumph Renown Limousine 1951–54[edit]
(188 in 1952; 3 in 1953; 3 in 1954)
In 1951 a limousine version was announced with an extra 3 in (76 mm) in the wheelbase. A division (glass partition) was placed behind the driver separating the front and back of the car. A radio and heater were fitted as standard.
A limousine with overdrive tested by The Motor magazine in 1952 had a top speed of 77.5 mph (124.7 km/h) slightly quicker than they had recorded two years earlier for the saloon and could accelerate from 0–60 mph (97 km/h) in 25.0 seconds. The reported fuel consumption was 21.6 miles per imperial gallon (13.1 L/100 km; 18.0 mpg-US). The test car cost £1440 including taxes.[3]
A total of 190 were made[4] though only very small numbers remain.
wikipedia
1978 Renault Alpine A310 information given by the owner.
The Alpine A310 was the successor of the Alpine 1961-1976 A110. The A310 was presented in March 1971.
In 1973 Renault took over the Dieppe based Alpine factory.
In 1976 the original 4 cylinder engine was replaced by a more powerful V6 and Robert Opron made a restyle for the A310 body.
2849 cc 6 cylinder V-shape engine.
Production Alpine A310: 3/1971-1985.
Production A310 V6 Mk2: 9/1976-1985.
Production A310 2.9 Litre: 1982-1985.
So probably this car has received a new and not original engine.
Seen in front of Renault Garage Ets. Heinen, Sankt Vith.
Collection Ludwig Heinen.
See also: www.google.nl/maps/place/Heinen+%2F+Ludwig/@50.2902313,6....
Number seen: 5.
Sankt Vith / Schönberg-Waldecho (B.), N626, Manderfelderstrasse, May 25, 2017.
© 2017 Sander Toonen Amsterdam | All Rights Reserved
St Margaret of Antioch, Cowlinge, Suffolk
Given its proximity to the Cambridgeshire border, some people would argue that this Suffolk church is closer to civilisation than most, and yet St Margaret of Antioch, Cowlinge, has a decidedly remote feel to it. Gentle hills enfold these pretty villages, and St Margaret stands distant from the houses it serves. Cowlinge, pronounced coo-linj, stands about a mile north of the Haverhill to Bury road, not far from the better-known Denston. You approach it up a track from the north, where it is rather hemmed in, but the graveyard opens up widely beyond on the other side.
The first impression is one of redness. From the outside, Cowlinge seems a rather pretty accretion of centuries' work, its tower a typical red brick 18th century rebuilding - there are similar ones across the county at Grundisburgh and Layham. The chancel and nave appear to have met each other by chance as much as intention, and all is pleasantly patched up, with solid red-brick buttressing and just about every kind of window you can think of. There are aisles, there is a clerestory, but this is not a grand church. Rather, it is the kind of building a DIY enthusiast might put together if he wanted a late medieval one in his back garden.
And somehow, this makes it beautiful, especially if seen from the south-east or north-east. You might expect the interior to be similarly ramshackle, but you step through the north door into cool whiteness, and as you walk through this treasure chest of a church, unusual vistas open up at each turn. This is a complex church.
Facing east to start with, the first impression is of the wall-painting above the chancel arch, and the gated rood screen beneath. There are gates in the screens at nearby Withersfield and Denston, but unlike those these doors rise to the full height of the screen. The screen itself is perhaps not as beautiful as the parclose screen enclosing the chapel in the south aisle. Mortlock points out how similar it is to the one up the road at Dalham. The paleness of the wood is very pleasing.I thought it compared very well with the parclose at Dennington, which has been repainted gaudily. Another good parclose of the same age is at Westhorpe. A memorial window contains 1920s glass by Christopher Webb of Christ with the fishermen at Galilee.
One the wall beside the parclose in the south aisle is a small exposed area of wall painting. It appears to be an unbearded male saint holding something that may well be a chalice, in which case it is St John the Evangelist. The better-known wall painting here is the one I mentioned earlier, above the chancel arch. It is often referred to as a doom, but it is organised rather differently to others of its kind. Instead of the day of judgement, with God in Majesty overseeing the parting of the ways into hell on his right and heaven on his left, it depicts St Michael, to the south of the arch, balancing a set of scales in which a sinner is being weighed against his sins.
St Michael is a common feature of doom paintings - he appears nearby at Stoke by Clare and on the famous doom at Wenhaston. The unusual aspect of this one, however, is to the north of the arch, where the Virgin Mother of God stands. She reaches out with a wand, and tips the balance of the scales. Simon Jenkins, in his England's Thousand Best Churches, suggests that she is tipping the balance in the favour of the virtuous. This is, of course, exactly what she is not doing. The virtuous had no need of intervention; the good in them would outweigh their sins in any case. Mary is intervening on behalf of sinners who have prayed to her for her help, and she is tipping the scales in the favour of those sinners. It represents the efficacy of intercessions to Our Blessed Lady, and as such it was anathema to the 16th century reformers.
In common with other wall paintings, this priceless art treasure was whitewashed over rather than destroyed. It would be interesting to know when this happened. We know that during William Dowsing's iconoclastic progress through Suffolk and Cambridgeshire in 1644, he found no wall paintings still in existence. It has always been assumed that they were covered by the Anglicans when the new Church of England took possession of our parish churches a century earlier. But I do wonder if they might have been done away with a century before even that, perhaps around the middle of the 15th century, when the ruling classes were enforcing orthodox Catholic dogma in the face of the superstitions of the ordinary people. Part of this process involved setting up larger roods at the east end of the nave, and I think this wall-painting may have been covered before that happened here.
The chancel arch beneath the doom is also extensively painted, and also of interest on all of the pillars a large amount of medieval graffiti, some of which is described as being consecration crosses. This, of course, cannot be so, for the medieval church ordered its liturgical needs rather better than this, and these are no doubt the work of some bored 17th century vandal.
Stepping through into the chancel, it is at once one of the loveliest in Suffolk, and one of the most dominated, since Peter Scheemakers' ugly 18th century memorial for Francis Dickins glowers against the north wall. Dickins was responsible for the building of the tower. The figures are life size, and the monument is wholly secular, even pagan. They look like nothing so much as a couple on their way to a toga party pausing to pose with the FA Cup.
Near the north door, a plaque on the wall records the visitation of 1618 when permission was given for the local house of correction to set up seating here for its inmates. There are still banked benches below, but these are later, and were probably intended for the village schoolchildren. Seating on a similar scale can be seen at nearby Kedington, divided there into boys' and girls' sections. On a somewhat larger scale they can also be seen at Laxfield.
A fine view of this church can be had by climbing to the spacious gallery beneath Dickins' tower. Once up here, the space is dominated by another huge classical memorial to Dickins and above it a George II royal arms, which also records that George Finton and Henry Seabrook were the churchwardens who set it up in 1731.
St Margaret is everything a historic church should be. Well-ordered, welcoming, suited to its Protestant present and mindful of its Catholic past. It used to be left open all the time, but a traumatic assault on the building some five years ago by a mentally ill man suffering from a religious mania, during which both screens and the altar were set fire to, means that it is now kept locked, but with a very cheerful churchwarden who was most happy to come and open up.
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.
File name: 10_03_001343a
Binder label: Medical
Title: When I was given up to die, by the most skillful physicians, Parker's Tonic kept me alive and raised me up after everything else failed. It is just as good for children. Try it and be convinced. (front)
Date issued: 1870-1900 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 print : chromolithograph ; 12 x 8 cm.
Subject: Girls; Patent medicines
Notes: Title from item.
Statement of responsibility: Hiscox & Co.
Collection: 19th Century American Trade Cards
Location: Boston Public Library, Print Department
Rights: No known restrictions.
Seen as a seagull and a duck, these nebulae are not the only cosmic clouds to evoke images of flight. But both are winging their way across this broad celestial landscape, spanning almost 7 degrees across planet Earth's night sky toward the constellation Canis Major. The expansive Seagull (top center) is itself composed of two major cataloged emission nebulae. Brighter NGC 2327 forms the head with the more diffuse IC 2177 as the wings and body. Impressively, the Seagull's wingspan would correspond to about 250 light-years at the nebula's estimated distance of 3,800 light-years. At the lower right, the Duck appears much more compact and would span only about 50 light-years given its 15,000 light-year distance estimate. Blown by energetic winds from an extremely massive, hot star near its center, the Duck nebula is cataloged as NGC 2359. Of course, the Duck's thick body and winged appendages also lend it the slightly more dramatic popular moniker, Thor's Helmet. via NASA ift.tt/2tR9INp
Yesterday morning I was fortunate to have been given a tour of the area of Baltimore in which I lived right after I was born - The neighborhood of Waverly.
My Friend Karen, seen here, volunteered to walk me around the area, though she knew nothing of my past. I only told her I had been born in the neighborhood and haven't been able to find the actual street where I lived.
At the time I was a completely helpless, slobbering little unit with no skills or control of my bowels. We moved away from Waverly when I was about two years of age.
I also told her I had learned to swim and been ordered to dance at gunpoint during my partial year of high school here in Waverly.
One of the main attractions of Waverly was the former Memorial Stadium, where the Baltimore Colts (now the Indianapolis Colts) and the Baltimore Orioles played.
Memorial Stadium was demolished over a 10-month period beginning in April of 2001.
In its place is a low-income senior housing complex called Stadium Place. Where Karen and I are seated in this photo is Thanksgiving Place, which is a gathering center and place of reflection for individuals and the community at large.
Tethered to the single sitting bench in the center of Thanksgiving Place is a "Contemplation Book", where people can write and share their thoughts.
We took several photos of the writings found in this book. Some were humorous, others profane, but many were touching and clearly written from deep within the hearts of the writers.
The one pictured here was a favorite.
Click here to read what this one young lady wrote, or you can read my transcription here:
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05/23/09
"He brought me up here for what? I don't know what to think, feel or what I'm seeing. My heart says one thing and my mind another. I know I love him but he can't love me! There's no reason he should. I'm so unhappy with myself how can I make someone else happy! I put my makeup on every morning with my outfits that are so fly! But it's all a cover up. It all hides the way I really feel. I wish I knew how to change or who I even am! Cuz I don't know.
But I will continue to pray."
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Others will be posted within this photo thread in the coming days.
Given the choice this older gentleman eyes two beauties but it appears youth wins out over age
1935 Ford roadster
1931 Ford A coupe
Beach Hop Whangamata New Zealand
For my video; youtu.be/y9S_S3bV6zs
Given this building's location on North Halsted, it's probably not long for this world.
The photograph is a little wonky because of high-ISO and handheld imperfections, but I wanted to take advantage of the fact that there weren't any cars parked in front of the structures.
“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.
I've been given, over time, about three different names for this plant/flower. Can someone give me a definite answer, please?
Thank you to Plantaholic Sheila for the ID:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fumaria_officinalis
Better viewed large and thank you for your favourites.
Given that jet fighters would 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—including the one that killed the USAAF’s top ace, Richard Bong—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. 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.
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.
This T-33 is on display in the Malmstrom AFB Museum airpark, and represents a general "hack" aircraft assigned for general duties and familiarization for the base. The aircraft went on display around 2004; it's actually the newest aircraft in the airpark. I'm not sure of its provenance. It's finished in an anticorrosion silver paint to simulate bare metal. Though displayed as 56-1779, this is actually 57-0574.
dimensions given by rattleCAD to set up a jig. My design of the jig should allow to take these values to adjust the jig
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/louisiana-woman-says-rapist-...
Louisiana woman says her rapist was given custody of her child in ongoing court dispute
"It should never have gotten this far," the woman said.
A Louisiana woman said a court gave temporary custody of her daughter to the man who raped her when she was 16, a recent development in a yearslong legal battle that advocates say should never have happened.
Crysta Abelseth, 32, claims she was raped by John Barnes when she was under the age of consent in Louisiana, and he was 30. The assault resulted in Abelseth becoming pregnant with her now teenage daughter, she said.
Abseleth said Barnes, who has been confirmed through a paternity test to be the child’s biological father, was given sole custody of her daughter earlier this year amid a court battle that dates back to 2011. She was ordered to pay him child support, court records show.
Initially both had shared custody of the child, who is 15 years old today.
“It’s been consuming my life. It has just drained me emotionally, financially,” Abelseth said. “I’m just exhausted. My quality of life has been minimal, because of having to ‘co-parent’ with this man who raped me and having to see him and speak with him. Anytime she has an event, he’s there. It was very difficult.”
An attorney for Barnes did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Barnes, in an email, directed a reporter to court documents about the case. In court documents, Barnes has denied that he committed felony rape.
Abelseth told WBRZ, a local station in Baton Rouge that first reported her story, that Barnes raped her after offering to take her home following a night out with friends in 2005. She was under the legal age of consent in Louisiana, which is 17. She told the station that she let family and friends believe a boyfriend had impregnated her.
Abelseth said that she reported the rape to police in July 2015, after meeting with a trauma counselor who informed her that she was still within her right to pursue charges against Barnes. She said law enforcement has not acted on the complaint since.
On Thursday, the Tangipahoa Sheriff’s Office said in a statement to WBRZ that the initial complaint "never made it through the proper channels within the department to be assigned for investigation. Therefore, our department absolutely dropped the ball, and we simply must own our mistake.”
“The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office has reviewed and identified the breakdown in operations relating to the initial complaint filed by the complainant,” Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff Daniel Edwards said in the statement. “Since that time, enhancements to department procedures have been implemented and measures put in place to ensure reports from the public never go overlooked or mishandled. Especially those cases alleging criminal acts against our youth.”
The department also said Abelseth did not follow up on the matter until April of this year, which Abelseth denies.
“I was calling and leaving messages and wasn’t getting responses,” she said.
The case has now been turned over to the local district attorney’s office, the sheriff’s department said in the statement. No charges have been filed.
Neither the Tangipahoa Sheriff’s Office nor Scott Perrilloux, the district attorney for Louisiana’s 21st District, responded to multiple requests for comment on Abelseth’s case.
In court documents, Abelseth has alleged that Barnes has been physically, mentally and sexually abusive toward their child.
www.wbrz.com/news/investigative-unit-rape-victim-ordered-...
INVESTIGATIVE UNIT: Rape victim ordered to pay her abuser child support
PONCHATOULA- It's one of the most egregious cases victims' advocates tell the WBRZ Investigative Unit they have ever seen, after a judge awarded full custody to a woman's abuser and forced her to pay child support.
This story dates back decades and involves a woman who was raped at the age of 16 by a man almost twice her age.
Crysta Abelseth knows all too well about overcoming adversity. The now 32-year old is a mother of a teenager that WBRZ has made an editorial decision not to identify because she's a minor. Abelseth's daughter is the child of a rape.
Abelseth met John Barnes in the City of Hammond back in 2005. She says he offered to take her home after a night out at a local bar with friends.
"Instead of bringing me home, he brought me to his house," Abelseth recalled. "Once inside, he raped me on his living room couch."
Abelseth did not know Barnes before that night, but came away from it pregnant.
"Everyone assumed it [the pregnancy] was from a boyfriend, and I let them believe that," Abelseth recalled.
Abelseth had a healthy baby girl, and everything was fine until John Barnes learned sometime in 2011 that he might have a daughter.
"When my daughter was five years old, he found out about her, and once he found out about her, he pursued custody and wanted to take her away from me," Abelseth said. "They granted him 50/50 custody despite the fact that [the child] was caused by rape."
A DNA test is part of court documents that proves with 99.97% accuracy, John Barnes is the child's father. Barnes was 30 years old and Abelseth 16 at the time of conception. The act was illegal at the time, even if it were consensual; Abelseth maintains it never was.
Seven years ago, in July 2015, Abelseth pressed criminal charges against Barnes. A report she filed with the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office for simple rape details everything that was done to her. Abelseth said she waited to file the police report because she did not know the law.
"I thought if I didn't do it the next day, there was nothing I could do about it," Abelseth said. "I went to a trauma counselor, and he said, 'No, you have 30 years after you turn 18.'"
From 2015 until now, nothing has happened with the report. The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office says an investigation is still open.
"It was never assigned to a detective, and nothing was ever investigated," according to Abelseth.
A search of John Barnes shows he owns Gumbeaux Digital Branding, a web company in Ponchatoula. Barnes' website shows Ponchatoula Police as a client.
Court records in the Tangipahoa Parish courthouse show Barnes admitted he's the biological father of the child. This year, he was granted custody of that child even though a criminal complaint was filed in 2015. Mysteriously those records are under seal, hidden from public view.
Stacie Triche works for the non-profit organization Save Lives. She's helping Abelseth through this tangled web that allowed her perpetrator to get custody of the child.
"When I found out she was a rape victim, and this rapist could potentially get full custody, that's when I stepped in and said something has to be done about this," Triche said.
Things took a dramatic turn this year when a judge granted Barnes full custody. It happened after Barnes alleged Abelseth gave her daughter a cell phone. Abelseth said she was also ordered to pay Barnes child support.
"She's been forced to pay her perpetrator," Triche said. "Forced to pay her rapist child support and legal fees and give up custody of the child that's a product of the rape. It makes no sense."
The WBRZ Investigative Unit discussed this case with the Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault (LFASA). Their lawyers said not only is this egregious, but they've never seen a case like it.
"It seems pretty straight forward that not only did a crime take place, but as a result of the crime, this person should not have custody of the child," Attorney Sean Cassidy with LFASA said.
Abelseth said for years she's tried to go about this the right way through the courts. But having her daughter taken away weeks ago over allegations she gave her a cell phone left her with a lack of confidence that she'll ever get a fair shake with justice impossible to find for the past 16 years.
"He's well connected," Abelseth said. "He's threatened me multiple times, saying he has connections in the justice system, so I better be careful and he can take her away anytime he wants to. I didn't believe him until it happened."
Abelseth said a hearing is scheduled next month to revoke Barnes' parental rights.
Barnes admitted over the phone Abelseth's daughter is his, but referred all questions to his lawyer, who never got back to the WBRZ Investigative Unit.
The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office continues to say the case is still open.
WBRZ reached out to Judge Jeffrey Cashe, who made the custody decision. An employee in his office said judicial canons prevent the judge from talking about it.
If you would like to help Crysta Abelseth with her mounting legal expenses, you can do that by clicking here.
Michael, master of initiation, is chief of the celestial militia, and each of us belongs to it thanks to his guardian angel, who, according to René Guénon, is our archetype on the informal plane. Initiatory realization would identify us with him, the first of the higher states. In a Judeo-Christian text (the Precepts of Hermas), it is said that “a spirit given by God, possessing the power of divinity, speaks of its own accord, for it comes from above, from the power of the divine Spirit. When a man, who has the Spirit of God within him, enters an assembly, then the angel of the prophetic Spirit who assists this man takes hold of him and the man thus filled with the Holy Spirit, addresses the crowd with the words that God wants”. It is the sixth sense, that of eternity, which the initiate acquires when he truly achieves his initiation. The Hebrew Kabbalah says of Metatron: “His name is like that of his master”, and Metatron is likened to Schaddaï, one of the divine names. Metatron and Schaddaï have the same numerical value 314. Schaddaï translates as the Almighty, who is the God of Abraham, hence the God of the Covenant. Albulafia, a famous Kabbalist of the Middle Ages, asserts that Metatron, identified with Schaddaï, was his spiritual master, attesting, as has been said, that he is the initiator of angels and men. And commenting on the divine voice speaking to him, Albulafia says: “the meaning of Shaddai is corporeal... and it is impossible to reveal more explicitly on this subject because there is a numerical equivalence between corporeal (hagashmi) and Messiah (Moshiah)” (G.C. Scholem, Les grands courants de la mystique juive p. 391 note 72).
Metatron was an angel and the Scribe of God who recorded the Word of God. In Heaven, Metatron was personally selected by God to write down his word and then God disappeared. Eventually, out of fear that the Archangels would steal the information of God from him, Metatron left Heaven and hid among Native American tribes and modern day Americans until discovered by the Winchesters in 2013.
In Season 8, learning that all the Archangels were either dead or in Hell, Metatron then sought to take vengeance upon the other Angels for forcing him to leave, using Castiel to make a spell written on the Angel tablet, and emptied Heaven of all angels.
In Season 9, Metatron's actions caused many angel rebellions on Earth and upon his own disappointment of being alone in Heaven, Metatron started working to rebuild with Gadreel as his second in command, using the Angel Tablet to attain god-like power, accepting only the angels he sought fit and either killing or using those he didn't like. Once done so he attempted to become a god to mankind itself, rallying many human followers until confronted by Dean himself. After Castiel shattered the angel tablet and tricked Metatron into revealing his true intentions, at the cost of Gadreel's self-sacrifice, Metatron was overthrown and locked in Heaven's dungeon, but not before he killed Dean and caused his transformation into a demon.
In Season 10, Metatron remained locked in Heaven's dungeon plotting his revenge until Castiel and Sam Winchester released him to help remove the Mark of Cain from Dean. They removed his grace, turning him human, but spared his life in exchange for the location of the rest of Castiel's grace after he revealed he didn't know how to remove the Mark. However, this is really a trick so that Metatron can get the grace himself and the demon tablet which he had stored in the same location, a library. While Metatron escapes with the demon tablet, Castiel gets his grace back and is left worried about what Metatron will do with the tablet and his freedom.
In Season 11, the Winchesters and Castiel search for Metatron in hopes that he can tell them about Amara and how to beat her. Castiel eventually locates Metatron in his new job as a videographer and captures him, retrieving the demon tablet. After nearly tricking Castiel into killing him, Metatron informs him of the true nature of the Darkness and Castiel lets him go, believing him to no longer be a threat and now pitiable. After getting called upon by God to write his autobiography, Metatron teamed up with the Winchesters to rescue Lucifer. After a failed attempt to harm Amara, Metatron was imploded by her.
Contents
1History
1.1Background
1.2Season 8
1.3Season 9
1.4Season 10
1.5Season 11
1.6Season 13
1.7Season 14
1.8Season 15
2Personality
3Physical Appearance
4Powers and Abilities
4.1Former Powers
4.2Powers with the Angel Tablet
4.3As a Human
5Weaknesses
6Death
6.1Killed By
7Appearances
8Trivia
9See also
10References
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History
Background
“I'm not one of them. I'm not an archangel. I'm really more run-of-the-mill. I worked in the secretarial pool before God chose me to take down the word. Anyway, he seemed very worried about his work, what would happen to it when he left, so he had me write down instructions. Then he was gone. After that... the archangels took over. They cried, and they wailed. They wanted their father back. I mean, we all did. But then -- then they started to scheme. The archangels decided if they couldn't have dad, they'd take over the universe themselves. But they couldn't do anything that big without The Word of God. So I began to realize maybe they would realize... they needed me.”
— Metatron describing his early life to Sam and Dean
in The Great Escapist
Although originally presumed to be an archangel, Metatron himself revealed that he was simply a common angel with a secretarial position. He was chosen by God to be his Scribe sometime before God's departure from Heaven, as Castiel described "he took down dictation when creation was being formed." Metatron received instructions to write down the Word of God. Metatron stated that, before he was chosen to be the Scribe, he lived a life of isolation and obscurity among his fellow angels. As such, he was overjoyed to be chosen above all others as God's scribe. When God left, the archangels despaired, and soon after began conspiring to claim the universe as their own. This prompted Metatron to distance himself from Heaven, so as to protect the Word of God and to prevent the archangels from claiming the tablets. Metatron also left a personal note on the demon tablet. It mentions the angel taking leave of his master and letting humans take responsibility of the compendium of tablets.
Metatronsymbol
Metatron's signature
Metatron hid himself along with the First Nation Tribe of the Two Rivers, where he blessed the tribe with immortality in exchange for stories and books. However, when talking to Gadreel later, he claimed that he never got used to them and had to isolate himself to keep sane. He noted the chaotic nature of humanity as fascinating but would be annoyed by the emotion and energy they expressed.
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Season 8
Sam Trigger
Sam and Dean meet Metatron
Sam and Dean eventually tracked him down, in his vessel Marv, and convince him to aid them. They learned that Metatron had been reading books and ignoring all the angel chaos since their arrival on Earth and Sam, going through the trials, wanted Metatron to kill him out of anger towards the scribe. After Dean gave him a lecture on how he should have been helping them, and his prophet Kevin Tran, he rescued Kevin from being killed by Crowley and revealed that the third trial is to cure a demon. Metatron also gave warning to Sam and Dean that even if they succeed in closing Hell it will come with consequences and they must be ready to face those retributions.
Naomi and the angels captures Metatron
Naomi and the angels takes Metatron away
Metatron had a plan all along to bade the time by until Heaven would ultimately fall, pretending to have a wanting to save it, Metatron would recruit Castiel to help him complete the 3 "trials" that would apparently close Heaven off, doing this, Metatron believed that he could close angels off into a space where they'd need to sort out their own problems. The first trial, to kill an angel/human hybrid called a Nephilim, went successfully. The second trial, to take the bow of a Cupid, was also a victory, Metatron is then captured by Naomi and brought to Heaven to be tested on so that Naomi could see into the scribe of heaven's eyes. Once she does, however, she becomes aware of Metatron's plans and warns Dean and Castiel that Metatron has been lying to them, at first they don't believe her, but once Kevin confirms (or at least tries to) that neither of Metatron's trials were even inscribed onto the angel tablet, Castiel travels to Heaven to find out, despite Dean telling him to wait while he saved Sam.
“Do you have any idea what it would be like to be plucked from obscurity, to sit at God's feet, to be asked to write down his word? The ache I felt when he was gone, telling myself, 'Father's left, but look what he's left us -- Paradise.' But you and your archangels couldn't leave well enough alone. You ran me from my home. Did you really think you could do all of that to me and there'd be no payback.”
— Metatron, to Naomi
MetatronFinale
Metatron reveals his true motives
Once Castiel arrives, Metatron reveals that Naomi was telling the truth, he captures Castiel and ties him to Naomi's operating chair and steals his grace as part of the third trial. He revealed that their acts were for a spell to expel all angels from Heaven, rather than seal them in. With Castiel's grace gone, he is now human, the spell is complete and before Castiel is to fall, Metatron tells him to live a normal life as a human, get married, have children, and once Castiel dies, and his soul reaches Heaven, to come back to Metatron, and tell him what his life was like as a mortal being. Metatron then seals Heaven off, and thousands of Angels fall from the sky around the world, the Men-of-Letters headquarters is put on red alert as the hierarchy of Heaven has collapsed, Metatron is last seen teleporting Castiel out of the operating room. Shortly afterwards, the angels fell.
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Season 9
Metatron's spell caused the deaths of several angels, including Sophia, Azrael and Ezekiel. His spell also caused the angel uprising and civil war between Bartholomew and Malachi leading the creation of their respective factions. Metatron's spell also closed Heaven from all human souls destined to ascend there who would be stuck in the Veil and putting Reapers out of business. Some of these reapers like Maurice and April Kelly would side with Bartholomew while others like Tessa, still faithful to their mission, would become incredibly saddened and almost suicidal at being unable to help the human souls in pain.
SPN 0437
Metatron manipulates Gadreel
Metatron eventually reappears on Earth. He confronts Ezekiel, revealing his true nature as "Gadreel", with an opportunity to serve as his second-in-command, and informs him that he can allow certain angels to return to Heaven. He reveals that he still has access to Heaven, and contrary to his earlier thoughts of enjoying being the only angel still there, he finds it rather boring. He explains that they are going to be rebuilding Heaven with a select few angels allowed inside, and Metatron will rule as the new God (although he would simply be known as X). As a test of loyalty, he orders Gadreel to kill somebody he regards as a threat to their new order, and sends him after Kevin Tran. Gadreel kills Kevin and goes to rejoin Metatron.
In "Captives", Bartholomew's followers are trying to find Metatron by marking his sightings on Earth and recording the photos taken at each sighting.
In "Road Trip, Metatron continues to give Gadreel names of people to kill, including the latter's former torturer Thaddeus as a show of good will. Metatron has also "flipped a switch" in Heaven to prevent the continuation of Prophets after Kevin's death. Metatron also gave him that name of an angel who had abused Gadreel in prison. While at a bar, ironically with Gadreel's first vessel as the bartender, Gadreel arrives to give Metatron the tablets and is getting sick of killing humans and angels but Metatron gives him another which turns out to be a cellmate of Gadreel's in Heaven who he reluctantly kills. Metatron also tells Gadreel that his place isn't to question but to obey. Later Metatron is waiting at the bar again to a status update when Gadreel does not contact him. Gadreel does eventually arrive but in his angelic form and possesses his first vessel again. Metatron instantly assumes the Winchesters have set him back.
SPN 1357
Metatron smugly gloats to Dean, Sam and Castiel
In "Meta Fiction", Metatron has holed himself in a room with a typewriter, surrounded by Chuck's novels. He captures Castiel, bringing him to him under the illusion of a fictional scenario he created. In the illusion, the archangel Gabriel has returned to life to try and convince Castiel to lead the angels against Metatron. After Castiel breaks free from the illusion, Metatron tells him that he wants him to be the villain in his own story in which Metatron is the hero. Metatron then hears about his right-hand man, Gadreel, being taken hostage by the Winchesters. Metatron proposes a trade, Castiel for Gadreel. When he arrives at the meeting place, he lets himself fall into a holy fire trap set by Sam and Dean to show that he can't get out of it, which he does. He then honors their deal but reminds them that no matter what they come up with, they can't win against him. Later, Metatron gets back to work and speaks to Gadreel who asks him if the Winchesters capturing him was part of Metatron's plan. Metatron explains that in a story, sometimes characters do surprising things but as long as he knows the ending, what happens on the journey is of little importance.
MetatronGadreel
Metatron and Gadreel meets with Tyrus
In "Stairway to Heaven", Metatron tries on a trench-coat similar to Castiel's and then meets with angelic faction leader Tyrus. Tyrus refuses to listen to Metatron's offer and points out that if Gadreel kills him, his faction will just join Castiel. He challenges Metatron to a round of bowling to see if he'll listen to the offer, but Metatron loses. As Metatron and Gadreel are leaving, Constantine arrives and blows himself up, killing Tyrus and injuring Gadreel. Metatron then contacts Castiel's faction and offers them all amnesty if they switch sides immediately, telling them about Castiel's fading grace and that he only cares about Sam and Dean. Metatron is pleased when Castiel's angels join him, revealing to a disgusted Gadreel that it was his plan all along and he planted the suicide bombers to draw all angels to his side. However, Gadreel is so disgusted by Metatron's actions, he switches sides.
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Metatron finally exposed
In "Do You Believe In Miracles?", Metatron makes a broadcast to all the angels across "angel radio" stating that he is going to Earth and the portal to Heaven will be closed until his return. Metatron, taking on a scruffy homeless appearance, resurrects a young woman hit by a truck and heals a homeless man of his diabetes, earning him human followers who look to him as their new savior. When an angel reveals the truth, Metatron nearly attacks him until his new followers do it for him and kill the angel with Metatron's angel blade. That night, Dean arrives and faces against Metatron with the First Blade. Metatron is amused since the Angel Tablet grants him great powers and he knows that Castiel and Gadreel are failing in their mission to break his link to it. Metatron easily overpowers Dean and stabs him with his blade, mortally wounding him and eventually killing him. At the same time Castiel shatters the tablet, breaking Metatron's connection to it and removing his added powers. Metatron quickly flees when Sam swings an angel blade at him. Metatron goes to Heaven where he traps Castiel in a chair and taunts him about Dean's death and how the angels are just "sheep" who will follow Metatron wherever he leads them no matter what he's done to bring them under him. As Metatron goes to kill Castiel, Castiel reveals that he broadcasted the whole conversation over "angel radio" and the angels storm Metatron's office and overpower Metatron. Rather than killing him for his actions, Castiel locks Metatron in Heaven's dungeon.
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Season 10
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Metatron in Heaven's prison
In Black, Hannah tells Castiel that Metatron is still locked up and that his prison door has been made permanent.
Castiel arrives to stop Hannah from let Metratron out
Castiel arrives in time to stop Hannah from releasing Metatron
In Reichenbach, Metatron is still imprisoned in Heaven's prison, confined to a straitjacket when Hannah goes to visit him regarding Castiel's stolen grace. Metatron offers to give the grace to her, but only if she releases him as he has had time to reflect on his actions and doesn't want to shut down Heaven anymore. Before Hannah can answer his deal, Castiel shows up and says "no", refusing to work with Metatron as he's made deals in the past that have gone bad. When Castiel is alone with Metatron, it's revealed that he hasn't changed as he vows to kill everyone whenever he is finally free from his captivity.
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Dean tortures Metatron
In The Hunter Games, Castiel has Ingrid bring Metatron to Earth for him and the Winchesters to question about how to remove the Mark of Cain, believing that as the Scribe of God, he would know. Metatron is amused when he learns that Dean is alive and not a demon, but has gone "nuclear." He agrees to tell them and tells Sam and Dean they need the First Blade which is hidden. Later, Dean visits Metatron and demands the rest of the spell, but Metatron refuses, saying he wants things each time he gives away a tidbit of information and there is a lot. Dean starts beating on Metatron who goads him, telling him it brings him further under the Mark's power each time. As Sam and Castiel try to break in, Dean starts cutting Metatron with an angel blade, seriously wounding him. Before Dean can kill Metatron, Castiel and Sam break in and Sam restrains Dean. Castiel decides to return Metatron to Heaven rather than risk his life, but Metatron leaves a possible clue that Dean mulls over: "Behold, the river shall end at the source!"
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Castiel takes Metatron's Grace
In Inside Man, Castiel and Bobby Singer break Metatron out of prison after assuring him that he'll be Castiel's punching bag instead of Dean's this time. On Earth, Metatron taunts Castiel and Sam about how he has all the leverage, but Castiel removes his grace, making him human at which point Sam shoots him in the leg. Now vulnerable, Metatron cowers and admits he doesn't know how to remove the Mark of Cain and was lying before to buy himself some time until he could screw them over. Metatron explains that the Mark is God-level or Lucifer-level power and its not covered on the tablets. While Sam doesn't believe him, Castiel can tell that Metatron is actually telling the truth. When Sam goes to kill him, Metatron quickly tells them that he wasn't lying about there still being some of Castiel's grace left and offers to take him to it in exchange for his life. Castiel reluctantly agrees and he and Metatron take off in his car to find it while Sam returns to the Bunker.
Metatron killed Trucker Cupid
Metatron killed Trucker Cupid
During Book of the Damned, Castiel and Metatron continue their road trip to retrieve Castiel's grace. Metatron starts to enjoy his new humanity, but annoys Castiel with his antics, resulting in Castiel punching Metatron. Eventually they stop for food which Metatron enjoys but turns out to be lactose intolerant and makes a mess. As they leave, Castiel and Metatron are attacked by an angry Cupid who nearly kills Castiel before Metatron saves him and kills the Cupid. However, this doesn't endear him to Castiel as he'd hoped.
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Metatron escapes with the demon tablet
Reaching a library, Metatron reveals that it is where the grace is hidden as no one visits a library anymore. While Castiel is able to sense that his grace is actually there, he can't sense its location and Metatron reveals he doesn't know it either. Under threat, Metatron explains that he had another angel hide the grace, even from him so he couldn't give up its location under torture. However, he had the angel hide clues in the books and he and Castiel search finding the first clue: "what's the most insane thing a man can do?" Looking for a book with that title, Metatron tries to talk to Castiel about what he will do once he gets all of the remaining angels back into Heaven since Hannah has put it back in order. Castiel refuses to talk and Metatron uses the distraction to cast a spell to stun Castiel. Metatron reveals that the clues are actually book titles and that he's there to retrieve Castiel's grace as well as the demon tablet which is hidden there also. Metatron retrieves the demon tablet, but finds that Castiel has gotten to his grace first so he flees with just the tablet. It is later revealed that he steals Castiel's car when he goes. Getting his grace back restores Castiel to his full power and rank as a Seraphim, but he and Sam worry about what Metatron could do with the demon tablet. Castiel also lies to Dean about how he got his grace back, saying that Hannah got it out of Metatron and not telling him about Metatron's escape despite the threat it poses.
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Season 11
In Form and Void, Efram and Jonah torture Castiel for information on Metatron's escaped, not believing Castiel didn't help him since Castiel has Metatron's grace. Hannah attempts to help them through trickery, but fails as Castiel honestly knows nothing and sees through the deception.
In The Bad Seed, the Winchesters and Castiel search for Metatron, hoping that as he's the Scribe of God, he may know something about Amara. However, their searches turn up nothing as Metatron hasn't had any accidents with Castiel's car which would've led them to him. Castiel is a bit surprised, commenting that after centuries of being a shut-in, Metatron wouldn't be expected to be a good driver.
Castiel discovers that Metatron is the cameraman
Castiel finds out that Metratron is the videographer
In Our Little World, while watching a news clip of a violent crime, Castiel spots that the videographer is Metatron from his reflection in a car's mirror.
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Castiel finally tracks down Metatron
Metatron films the aftermath of a shooting, stealing the man's wallet and money only to discover that he is still alive. Metatron bemoans how he used to be able to heal such wounds with ease, though he can't anymore and wouldn't anyway. As Metatron tells the man that he's "not that guy" anymore and can't save him, Castiel appears behind him and tells Metatron that he can save the guy. Castiel heals the man's wound as Metatron video tapes, explaining that he found Metatron by scanning the police radio and then getting to the scene of the crime before the cops. Seeing Metatron recording him, Castiel knocks the camera out of his hand and breaks it, to Metatron's annoyance as he had to steal and pawn a lot of stuff to pay for his camera and felt the footage of a real-life angel would get him more than a homicide. As a police car arrives, Castiel grabs Metatron and drags him away.
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Severely beaten, Metatron reveals the Darkness's true identity
Castiel takes Metatron to an old warehouse where he is disgusted by what Metatron is doing for money. Metatron points out that Castiel only tried to live as a human for around a month but Metatron is human forever. He tells Castiel that he was nothing when Castiel took his grace, on the run from angels without money but he managed to build his own business. Metatron claims that religion and literature are dead so he has caught up with the times through videography. Metatron tells him that reality is the new literature of the era and he's out on the streets every night capturing it, seeing himself as reality's author. An annoyed Castiel starts to ask Metatron about Amara, but Metatron misunderstands what he wants and believes he wants the demon tablet. Metatron tries to claim that he hid it where Castiel and the Winchesters will never find it, but Castiel just pulls the demon tablet out of his coat and tells Metatron he found it under Metatron's mattress after searching his apartment. Castiel asks Metatron about the Darkness, but while Metatron admits he knows something, he refuses to tell Castiel. When Castiel threatens him, Metatron calls him broken, scarred deep and paralyzed by trauma and fear. Telling Metatron its not fear, Castiel attacks Metatron, beating him badly and demanding answers about the Darkness. Metatron simply continues to taunt Castiel about how everyone uses him enraging Castiel into further attacking and leaving Metatron badly beaten. Castiel nearly beats Metatron to death, but when Metatron asks Castiel to finish the job, he stops himself. Castiel realizes Metatron wants to die and asks him about what he said about being happy as a human and building a life for himself. Metatron admits he lied and can't stand a human life anymore. Castiel refuses to kill Metatron, telling him that Metatron was right about Castiel being tired of having his strings pulled and he won't let the former angel off easy. Castiel asks Metatron again about the Darkness and Metatron reveals the truth about it: the Darkness is God's sister that he had to give up in order to create the world.
After getting what he needs from Metatron, Castiel lets him go to the Winchesters' annoyance. Castiel explains that Metatron isn't going anywhere as if he draws any sort of attention, the angels will destroy him. Castiel tells the Winchesters that Metatron is now human "and a pitiable one at that" and that he left him in traction.
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Metatron meets God
Many weeks later in Don't Call Me Shurley, Metatron is desperately searching for food inside a dumpster. When he finds a burger, he kindly gives it to a stray dog, forcing himself to continue digging finding nothing before he shouts that he gives up. Suddenly, he and the dog are summoned to a bar, where he finds Chuck Shurley, the author of the Supernatural books. Metatron wondered if he was going to be destroyed as he went on rant about his life as he criticizes Chuck's books, which he deems not even close to cracking the top 10,000 best books he's ever read. Chuck soon revealed his knowledge of Metatron burning one of his books as the latter questioned his knowledge of that.
When Chuck offers him a pair of sunglasses, Metatron is awe-struck when he witnesses Chuck reveal himself to be God, prompting a worried Metatron to take back everything he said.
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Metatron's talk with God
God, or preferably "Chuck", requests Metatron for help in completing his auto-biography. Metatron is initially delighted, even jokingly asking if he can be angel again if its good but his suggestion is denied which he agrees. He soon realizes that Chuck intends to finish this book regardless if the world is destroyed by The Darkness, due to having grown disappointed in all of his creations. Furthermore, when Metatron angers him he is thrown out of the bar and is disappointed when Chuck tells him that the only reason he chose him as his scribe was because he was "the closest to the door". Despite that, they continue writing the biography with Metatron even revealing he took over Heaven to get God's attention as he voices the imperfections of humans but how they never give up.
It is thanks to Metatron's persistent pleas and demands that Chuck eventually accepts his former role as God and goes off to help Sam and Dean Winchester deal with a rabid situation, as well as revealing himself to them for the first time.
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In All in the Family, Metatron is in a bar when he sees a news report on Amara's fog in Hope Springs, Idaho. After spotting the Winchesters meeting with Chuck in the report, Metatron calls Dean and asks to meet to show him something.
Later that night, the Winchesters meet with Metatron at the bar where he tells them of his meeting with Chuck and reveals the latter plans to meet with the Darkness and sacrifice himself to her. Metatron proves this by giving the Winchesters Chuck's autobiography, which Metatron refers to as "a suicide note".
Sam, Metatron and Donatello arrives at the building where Lucifer is being held
Sam, Metatron and Donatello come to Lucifer's rescue
After Dean has an unsuccessful meeting with Chuck, Sam lets Metatron into the Bunker after he repeatedly texts them. Metatron offers his help in defeating the Darkness, pointing out the level of knowledge he possesses as the Scribe of God. Metatron explains that he's been by God's side since the Creation and now that he wants to kill himself, Metatron feels that if there's anything he can do to save him and his creation, he should. Dean explains to Metatron that they plan to rescue Lucifer from the Darkness and work with him and God to defeat her.
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Metatron is killed by Amara
As Dean acts as a distraction for the Darkness, Sam, Metatron and Donatello Redfield travel to where Lucifer is trapped. Metatron sets to work examining his binds, horrified by the state Lucifer is in. Metatron casts a spell and frees Lucifer who is unable to teleport them out. After Donatello senses the Darkness coming, Metatron tells them to go while he stays behind to hold her off. Metatron draws an angel banishing sigil and uses it on the Darkness to no effect when she arrives. Metatron tells Amara that God meant well and asks her to spare the universe. Amara tells Metatron to "spare this" and then surrounds him with darkness, imploding Metatron into nothing. Dean later comments that he didn't see it coming that Metatron would sacrifice himself as he did.
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Season 13
In The Big Empty, the Shadow shows Castiel a vision of Metatron stealing his grace.
In War of the Worlds, while wondering if the angels have Jack, Castiel asks Duma if Jack is potentially in Metatron's old cell. However, Duma assures him that this is not the case as the angels intend to enslave Jack if they can get their hands on him, not imprison him.
In Funeralia, Naomi reveals that she survived Metatron's attack on her, but it took her years to recover to the point that she is now "mostly here."
Season 14
In Byzantium, the Shadow's attack on Heaven to get Jack's soul is stated to have opened all of the gates of Heaven, even the ones that Metatron permanently sealed years before.
Season 15
In Our Father, Who Aren't in Heaven, the Winchesters and Castiel have Prophet Donatello Redfield search through the Demon Tablet in hopes of finding something to lock God up. Donatello finds Metatron's annotated notes on the tablet which Donatello states appears to be an effort by Metatron to give context to God's actions. Donatello finds out from Metatron's notes that God has a secret fear which he guards closely and only shared with favorite which they realize means Michael.
In Inherit the Earth, Metatron appears in the flashback sequence at the end.
Personality
“So I'm a fake. Do you have any idea how much pan-cake makeup and soft lighting it took to get God to work a rope line? He hated it. And, you know, humans sense that. So they prayed harder and longer and fought more wars in his name. And for what?! So they could die of malaria? Leukemia? And all the while, blaming themselves! "Oh, if only I'd been more prayerful, God would have loved me! God would have saved me!" You know what?! God didn't even know their name! But I do. Because I've walked among them. And I can save them.”
— Metatron in Do You Believe In Miracles?
For an angel, Metatron appeared to be quite human-like, openly expressing emotions such as joy, admiration, disdain and sympathy. He does not show the arrogance or pettiness that other celestial beings do. He admired humans, due to their use of free will, and particularly enjoyed their stories, seeing it as a great example of free will. Metatron views existence as his own personal story, with himself as the hero and his opponents as villains. He even purposely spares many of his enemies and encourages them to oppose him, simply so that they will be playing the roles he has assigned them in his story.
However Metatron disliked other angels, and was fearful and suspicious of them, particularly of the Archangels. Metatron appeared benevolent and helped humans with his powers. However, he was suspicious when dealing with those he did not know. Metatron is also very logical and intelligent.
However, he has also proved to be very bitter, vengeful and manipulative with angels as well. It was revealed he wanted to expel all angels from Heaven as revenge for his own exile. So he tricked and manipulated Castiel into completing the "trials" and expelled every angel from Heaven. Despite this, he claims that he is "an entity of his word" and he does trade the Winchesters Castiel for Gadreel as they agreed. While showing respect for God and believing him to be a fair individual, Metatron shows disdain for God "publishing the first draft" and believes firmly on re-writing and working at something until it is perfect. Metatron also believes himself to be extremely funny and claims he even made God laugh twice.
Metatron later reveals that he had changed his mind, as he became lonely upstairs, and now plans to rebuild Heaven, now with a select few angels. He also reveals his opinion of humans isn't as high as he originally stated, revealing although he doesn't hate them, he does find them "chaotic" and "exhausting" due to their endless expression of emotions and desires and claims that isolating himself was the only thing that kept him sane while he was on earth. Metatron is also quite cruel, capricious and uncaring as he sacrifices several of his own followers to turn his enemies against Castiel and takes gleeful pleasure in watching a fallen angel be attacked by people who are defending him. Metatron's ultimate goal is to assign himself as the new God while completing his own story which he sees as his "masterpiece."
Metatron can be incredibly arrogant, much of it coming from the god-like power he attains. However, even without this, he is still arrogant, telling Castiel that no one will believe Castiel's story and those who did can be easily dealt with. He also indicates to Castiel that he believes he himself to be one of if not the best storyteller there is and shows great disgust for humans and little respect for other angels, dismissing them as sheep that will follow blindly. This proves to be his downfall as when Castiel causes him to broadcast his true beliefs and intentions over "angel radio," Metatron is too arrogant to realize that he's being duped and too shocked to react quickly.
After his imprisonment, Metatron became vengeful, declaring that he would one day get out and destroy everything in revenge. However, Metatron is revealed to actually be a coward at heart: after Sam and Castiel took him to the Bunker, he lied about knowing how to remove the Mark of Cain in order to save himself and when he lost all his leverage when Sam and Castiel removed his grace, Metatron cowered and admitted to all his lies, breaking easily.
After Castiel turns him human, Metatron attempts to enjoy human experiences such as eating food but has trouble. After spending months as a human, Metatron becomes what Castiel calls a vulture, prying on human crime to make money to survive, video taping the aftermath of crimes and stealing money. Metatron tells him that religion and novels are dead and he now sees reality as the new literature which is why he got into videography as he is now the "author of reality". Though Metatron claims to have built a life for himself as a human and to be enjoying it, he actually wants to die rather than continue as he finds the human things he has to do undignified. As a result, Castiel lets him live, seeing Metatron as not being a threat anymore and a rather pitiable human now. While talking to a mortally wounded man, Metatron expressed regret over losing his former powers which would've allowed him to heal the man easily, but stated he wouldn't have done it even if he could've at the time. However, he does show some regret that he can't save the man even while planning to use his death to make money.
While Metatron was a skilled liar as an angel, he is a terrible liar as a human, telling Castiel he hid the demon tablet where he could never find it while it was just under his mattress in his apartment. Despite his dislike of being human, Metatron displayed an ability to adapt well to his new situation, being a good enough driver to steal Castiel's car and not draw attention with it, have an apartment, pay bills and get a job as a videographer. He also understands technology well enough to scour the police scanners for crimes and get to the scene before authorities even without being able to teleport.
After many weeks of being a helpless human, Metatron has come to accept humanity and adore them. He even gave a meal he found in a dumpster to a stray dog. His compassion for humanity was so strong that Metatron bravely spoke back against his creator, God, when the latter proved willing to just let his sister destroy the entire human race. During this encounter, Metatron also admitted to finding his own period as "God" to have been lame and silly, and his cruelty had solely been based on his desire for God's attention. Metatron also seems to have accepted that he will never become an angel again, as when he asked God if he would be allowed to become an angel again, he quickly accepted that it was a 'good call' not to have him become one.
After learning that God was going to sacrifice himself to Amara, Metatron aided the Winchesters in an effort to save God. Metatron explains to them that while at one time he didn't care, he has been by God's side since the Creation and God believed in him. As a result, if there's anything Metatron can do to save God and humanity, he is willing to do it. During the rescue of Lucifer, Metatron is shown to be horrified by the state of the archangel and after Lucifer can't teleport them out, decides to sacrifice himself to buy Sam time to get Lucifer to safety. At the end of his life, Metatron faces down Amara bravely and simply asks her to spare the universe, having no thought for himself as he did in the past.
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Physical Appearance
Metatron's true form was able to deteriorate the flesh off of Crowley's vessel. It is unknown what he truly looks like, however, as an angel, he does have at least two large, feathered wings. On Earth, he manifests in the embodiment of a middle-aged, pot bellied, bearded man. Metatron's clothing choice changes several times over the course of the series from his more casual clothes in "The Great Escapist" to a more ostentatious outfit while writing his "masterpiece", to a grungier look when he pretends to be homeless. He later wears a straight-jacket briefly, but is dressed in regular clothes once more when he's brought to Earth to be interrogated about the Mark of Cain, clothes he remains in afterwards. After becoming a human videographer, Metatron adds a cap with the words "Marv Corp" to his ensemble. He loses this after Castiel captures him.
Powers and Abilities
“So, you took Abaddon's scalp, then you figured you'd take on little old nebbishy me. What could go wrong? And you're powered by the bone of a jackass, and it is just awesome, right? Here's a tip - next time, try to be powered by the Word of God.”
— Metatron to Dean
in Do You Believe In Miracles?
Metatron had the power of regular angels as well as few rare ones that are exclusive to him as God's scribe, and was able to use them all despite leaving Heaven for a long time, similar to seraphim, grigori and archangels. Additionally, as the Scribe of God, he was able to erase any Enochian sigils planted to ward off angels. Apart from his powers, he was incredibly intelligent. He was able to avoid detection by Heaven's forces for thousands of years. Possessing at least the demon and angel tablets and being the King of Heaven (or, as he sees it, the new "God"), he became even more powerful, gaining god-like powers such as being able to blow out a holy fire ring. After Castiel shattered the angel tablet, these extra powers were removed. Following the loss of the angel tablet, Metatron retained his powers as a regular angel, but later lost them when Castiel took his grace and rendered him human.
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Former Powers
Angelic Possession - Metatron possessed a human vessel to exist in corporeal form.
Biokinesis - Metatron manipulated angelic biology by searing and etching the names of all the prophets into the angels' brains.[1][2]
Geokinesis - Metatron was able to hide the Word of God tablets in the vault of the Earth for safe keeping.
Cosmic Awareness - As the Scribe of God, he articulated several documents referred to as the Words of God. He, therefore, possessed an acute knowledge of many creatures, including demons, Leviathans, and even his own kind. He also possessed a keen sense of spiritual realms, although he had no knowledge of who the Winchesters were, that Michael and Lucifer were trapped in the Cage or that Gabriel and Raphael were dead, due to him purposely separating himself from Heaven, however he caught up quickly. He also said to know how to remove the Mark of Cain, but it's revealed to be a lie of his.
Teleportation - He traveled from Heaven to Earth to relinquish the tablets. He also teleported across the room when confronting Sam and Dean. He was able to teleport Kevin with him to safety. And since he was the one that caused all of the angels to fall, he might be the only angel left with unbroken wings and the only angel able to teleport after the fall, besides Grigori and Archangels.
Invisibility - As Metatron attacked Crowley with his holy white light, he was nowhere to be seen.
Immortality - As an angel, Metatron didn't age and was immune to any earthly disease and toxin.
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Metatron healing Kevin
Healing - Metatron was able to heal Kevin Tran after Crowley nearly strangled him to death. He also healed Castiel after having cut his throat with an angel blade to extract his grace (even the blood from the wound disappeared with not even a smear). Metatron was able to heal a young woman's injuries while resurrecting her and a man's diabetes. When human and standing over a mortally wounded man, Metatron bemoaned his lack of power, stating the he could've once healed the man with a snap of his fingers. He likely meant that he could do this when he had god-like power since he required touch to heal Kevin.
Power Granting - Metatron was able to grant the Native Americans who gave him stories a much longer life than humanly possible.
Photokinesis - Metatron used this ability when saving Kevin Tran by burning Crowley. Interestingly, the Prophet's eyes lit up when Metatron arrived and used his white light. Whether this suggested Metatron temporarily possessed the prophet or merely channeled his power into the prophet is unknown or his true form reflected in his eyes.
Warding Removal - As the Scribe of God, Metatron could erase wardings and sigils without being affected by it. However, he could't remove a symbol or sigil that was already affecting him, shown as the supernatural handcuffs worked on him.
Spell Casting - Metatron was an extremely adept and skilled magician, easily one of the most proficient to appear to date. He was able to cast a powerful spell to expel all angels from Heaven. He was able to cast such a powerful spell on a door requiring the solving of the riddle that Castiel couldn't break it no matter how hard he tried with his super strength.
Apporting - Metatron was able to send Castiel back to Earth after he stripped the latter of his grace. Metatron was also able to summon a pair of handcuffs with binding sigils on them to trap Castiel in a chair.
Telekinesis - While powered by the Angel Tablet at least, Metatron displayed formidable telekinesis. He effortlessly whammed Dean and Sam into the Impala by simply shooting up his hands and opened the trunk with a lazy movement of his finger. He also easily threw Dean around the room during their fight despite Dean's possession of the Mark of Cain.
Mental Manipulation - Metatron was able to give Castiel all of his knowledge of human culture such as books and movies allowing Castiel to understand them instantly. He also implanted an illusion into Castiel's mind.
Control over the Portal to Heaven - Metatron could go to heaven or allow other beings to go to heaven because he had control over where the portal to heaven was or would be. By having the portal constantly moving, it would remain undetectable by other angels.
Resurrection - Metatron resurrected a young woman killed after being struck by a car.
Super Strength - As a common angel, Metatron possessed such strength that he could overpower humans and was naturally stronger than humans, ghosts, monsters, and demons. The angel tablet seemed to have lifted his strength to an intense level, to the point where he was able to effortlessly overpower Dean even when armed with the First Blade. While stronger than humans and demons while at normal strength, Metatron was easily overpowered when a group of ordinary angels ganged up on him at the same time. He was also easily overpowered by Naomi and her angels when they captured him. Although the Scribe of God, he doesn't seem to be a particularly strong angel, as he told Castiel he's not a warrior and relied on Castiel to do the fighting for him. He is also far inferior to archangels without the tablet. As a normal human without his grace, Metatron wasn't particularly strong anymore.
Skilled Liar and Manipulator - Due to his level of knowledge and time seeking revenge, Metatron was incredibly intelligent and resourceful and used this skill to manipulate people into doing his dirty work. In his quest to get revenge by casting the angels out, Metatron was able to manipulate Castiel with ease into aiding him despite Castiel having been used in the past. He also used Gadreel's desire for redemption to manipulate him into joining him despite his reluctance to take innocent life. Metatron continued this by manipulating Castiel's army through suicide bombers into believing Castiel was using them and turning them against him. Even while human, Metatron retained just sufficient amount of manipulating and lying ability that he was able to use Castiel's desire to get his grace back to successfully trick him into falling into a trap, managing to escape and acquire the Demon Tablet. However, Metatron's ability do this has severely diminished since becoming human as he tried to lie about the location of the demon tablet to Castiel and did so badly and was unable to manipulate Castiel into killing him.
Super Stamina - When Dean tortured Metatron for information on the Mark of Cain, Metatron was easily able to hold out despite Dean having learned torture from Alastair and took more pleasure in verbally tormenting him as he tried. However, he wasn't unbreakable as he indicated to Castiel that enough torture could break him as he had another angel hide Castiel's grace and the demon tablet so he couldn't tell anyone even under torture.
Regeneration - After Dean tortured Metatron for information on the Mark of Cain, he was eventually able to heal himself of the damage.
Supernatural Perception - Metatron could sense prophets like he did with Donatello.
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Powers with the Angel Tablet
Metatron was able to tap into the power of the Angel Tablet and it empowered him with high-tier powers no normal angel could ever dream of.
Lower Tier Nigh-Omnipotence - When he was powered by the angel tablet, Metatron's angelic powers were dramatically enhanced, explosively increasing his powers to near omnipotent levels. Noted to wield power similar to God's, although Metatron's later comments towards God implied he was never as powerful as God is even with the Angel Tablet powering him, he could effortlessly overcome most angelic weaknesses such as Holy Fire and Angel Blades now, the former of which he easily blew out like a candle.
Conjuration - Metatron was able to conjure single-malt whiskey in a flask for George to celebrate Metatron curing his diabetes with. He claimed he could create grace and a bowling alley. It can be inferred that he can create Angel Wings as well, seeing as the new graces wouldn't have been affected by the Expelling Angels spell.
Reality Warping - Like his Master, Metatron could rewrite the fabric of reality to suit his purposes.
Perception Altering - While powered by the Angel Tablet, Metatron was capable of altering the perception of even fellow angels, as he was able to implant an illusion in Castiel's mind and also to brainwash several of Castiel's followers into killing themselves.
Super Breath - When trapped in a circle of Holy Fire, Metatron was able to simply blow it out like a candle.
Portal Creation - According to Ezra, Metatron could open a portal to Heaven anywhere on Earth at will.
Prophet Control - Metaton was able to make it so no new Prophets were born.
Advanced Telepathy - Metatron was able to speak to all the angels on earth in their minds.
As a Human
Metatron passed his last years as a human with no special powers of his own since he had his grace removed.
Spell Casting - Even as a human, Metatron retained a limited ability to cast spells. He was able to cast the Angel Depowering Spell to escape. However, as a human, he lacked his innate spell casting abilities and instead relied on blood sigils. Despite this Metatron was able to cast a spell to release Lucifer from Amara's hold and was able to "narrow down" the spell when constrained by time. He was also able to cast a variation of the angel banishing sigil.
Electronics Knowledge - Metatron has shown himself to be adept at using electronics, using a camera to record crimes and hacking the police scanner to get to crime scenes faster than the police to record said crimes.
High Pain Tolerance - While not as resistant to pain as when he was an angel, even as a human Metatron was more resistant to pain than a regular person. He was still able to function with a gun shot wound to the leg to the point that he could walk around and act normally unless his wound was directly gripped. However, he was more prone to breaking easily under torture due to his mortality as Castiel only had to have Sam shoot him in the leg as a demonstration and then threaten his life to get him to tell them what they wanted to know. He was also able to taunt Castiel during a massive beating, though this partly had to do with the fact that he wanted Castiel to kill him.
Superhuman Intelligence - Despite being human, Metatron retained his knowledge from his time as an angel, including all the things he learned from God the other angels don't know. Metatron later told the Winchesters that he retained all of his knowledge of what was on the tablets including the various spells they contained.
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Weaknesses
Holy Fire - Metatron could be trapped in a ring of holy fire, and crossing the flames would kill him and his vessel.
Angel Blades - An angel blade could kill Metatron.
Loss of the Angel Tablet - Metatron's godly powers were removed when his connection to the Angel Tablet was severed.
Supernatural Handcuffs - Metatron could be bound by the supernatural handcuffs.
Grace Removal - Losing his grace caused him to become a human and lose all of his powers.
Mortality - Metatron was vulnerable to all mortal injuries after Castiel and Sam removed his grace. He was easily harmed by Sam shooting him in the leg and Castiel's beating which leaved him in traction.
Primordial Entities - Amara destroyed Metatron effortlessly. God was able to telekinetically throw him out of his bar.
Death
Killed By
Amara
In order to buy Sam time to escape with Lucifer and Donatello Redfield, Metatron attacked Amara with a modified version of an angel banishing sigil. However, the sigil had no effect on Amara. After Metatron pleaded with Amara to spare the universe, Amara imploded Metatron into nothingness.
Appearances
Season 7
Reading Is Fundamental (mentioned only)
Season 8
A Little Slice of Kevin (mentioned only)
The Great Escapist
Clip Show
Sacrifice
Season 9
Holy Terror
Road Trip
Captives (photo only)
Meta Fiction
King of the Damned (photos only)
Stairway to Heaven
Do You Believe In Miracles?
Season 10
Black (mentioned only)
Reichenbach
Soul Survivor (mentioned only)
The Hunter Games
Halt & Catch Fire (mentioned only)
Inside Man
Book of the Damned
Season 11
The Bad Seed (mentioned only)
Baby (mentioned only)
Our Little World
Don't Call Me Shurley
All in the Family
Season 13
The Big Empty (flashback only)
War of the Worlds (mentioned only)
Funeralia (mentioned only)
Season 14
Byzantium (mentioned only)
Season 15
Our Father, Who Aren't in Heaven (mentioned only)
Inherit the Earth (flashback only)
A Very Special Supernatural Special (archive footage)
Supernatural: The Men of Letters Bestiary: Winchester Family Edition (non-canon, mentioned only)
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Trivia
Metatron is the main antagonist of Season 9, along with Abaddon. He is a minor antagonist in seasons 10 and 11.
Metatron is an Archangel according to Jewish cultures. He is also the highest of all Angels and the angel of the Veil, with millions of wings, personifying God's Voice. In some versions, was the human Enoch who rose to Heaven as an Archangel. In some cases, he is called "the lesser YHVH".
Metatron's name means a guardian, a leader or the sun's servant.
The Leviathan Tablet said Metatron was an Archangel, but Metatron said he was a regular angel before he wrote The Word of God, so its possible God promoted him to Archangel in order to protect him while he made the Word of God.
Metatron is also a major antagonist in His Dark Materials, where he also wants to become God and usurp him. Just like in His Dark Materials, Metatron in Supernatural is easily defeated once stripped of the Angel Tablet's power. Both of the versions of Metatron also admire humans and are easily fooled by them.
In Road Trip it is implied that Metatron has had more than one vessel during his centuries on Earth.
The hotel room Metatron occupies in The Great Escapist, 366, is a reference to Biblical lore in which Metatron had a human incarnation as the prophet Enoch, who is said to have written 366 books in his lifetime.
When first learning of Metatron, Sam misunderstands his name to be Megatron, the main enemy of the Transformers franchise. This could have been an early indicator that Metatron was not a good guy.
According to Metatron, he apparently has made God laugh twice before.
Metatron is the second main antagonist to have killed Dean Winchester. First was Lilith when she set her hellhounds on him in Season 3 but Metatron is the first antagonist to have directly killed him.
In Meta Fiction, as part of his "story," Metatron uses Gabriel to trick Castiel. During the episode, its left ambiguous if its an illusion generated by Metatron or the actual Gabriel working for him and still alive. In Season 13's Devil's Bargain, Gabriel is revealed to still be alive. However, Gabriel's story subsequently shows that Gabriel had been a prisoner of Asmodeus since shortly after his "death" during the Apocalypse, making Gabriel one of Metatron's illusions. Metatron's Gabriel is in a weakened state relying on human transportation like the other angels while the real Gabriel retains his wings and full powers, including teleportation.
Metatron is the third main antagonist not to be killed. The first being Lucifer who didn't die but got trapped back into his cage in Season 5's Swan Song. Then Crowley in Season 6's The Man Who Knew Too Much where Castiel let him go while killing Raphael, then in Season 8's Sacrifice where Sam was curing Crowley but stopped because he would have died. In Metatron's case, he is defeated and imprisoned in Do You Believe In Miracles? before escaping in Book of the Damned. After being recaptured in Our Little World, Castiel lets him go once more as he doesn't see him as a threat and thinks he is now pitiable instead. While he is later killed in All in the Family, he dies fighting on the side of good rather than the side of evil and is not an antagonist at his death.
He is one of the only six angels to have ever seen God prior to the series. The other five being the Archangels and the angel Gadreel.
Castiel becomes a seventh angel in Alpha and Omega.
While Metatron's plan to use suicide bombers worked in turning Castiel's army against him, it also led to his defeat as it led to Gadreel's defection. With Gadreel being Metatron's second-in-command, he proved to be a valuable asset to the Winchesters and Castiel in their efforts to stop Metatron as he knew all of Metatron's plans, where he hid the angel tablet and was able to get Castiel into Heaven where he was able to break the angel tablet and set up Metatron's defeat.
After seeing Metatron in Sam's mind, psychic Oliver Pryce calls him "some creep-ass hobbit looking fella." After seeing Metatron, Bobby Singer also refers to him as "a fraggle" which Metatron takes as a compliment.
Metatron was turned into a human after having his grace removed by Castiel. This is ironic as he did exactly the same thing to Castiel a year and a half earlier.
When Castiel stole Metatron's grace, it was in a mirror to the scene where Metatron stole Castiel's own grace: Castiel stole the grace in the same way and even healed Metatron's throat injury in the same fashion as Metatron did his.
Metatron's vessel appears to be lactose intolerant. Coincidentally, in the series Dan Vs, the main protagonist, Dan, who is voiced by Curtis Armstrong is also lactose intolerant.
Considering that Metatron has apparently been using his vessel for many millennia, it actually makes a lot of sense, since Lactase persistence, which allows humans to continue digesting lactose after weaning, only started becoming widespread around 7 millennia ago.
Castiel got his grace back, ironically presumably using the information on popular culture Metatron had uploaded into his brain earlier to find the right book. This allowed him to get there before Metatron despite being stunned.
Castiel expresses surprise in The Bad Seed that there's no sign of Metatron crashing his car or having moving violations with it. Castiel points out that after being a shut-in so long, it's surprising that Metatron is a good driver. After capturing Metatron, Castiel is shown in The Devil is in the Details to have reclaimed his car.
After becoming a human videographer, Metatron used the name "Marv Corp" for his company, Marv being his preferred name as a human.
After stealing the demon tablet, despite indicating he was going to do a lot with it, Metatron simply hid it under his mattress in his apartment where Castiel easily found it when he searched the apartment.
Metatron has bed bugs in his apartment.
Metatron is the first Big Bad to die since Abaddon. However, unlike the other Big Bads, Metatron sacrificed himself to save his former enemies.
While Metatron begins as a villain, he finds a measure of redemption in the end, sacrificing himself to buy the Winchesters time to escape from Amara rather than fleeing with them.
After becoming human Metatron gets a cell phone. When he calls Dean in All in the Family, Dean's phone displays Scribe Calling. Metatron also sends "300 texts" and a lot of emojis to get Dean to let him into the Bunker.
Metatron's experience as a human, while something he loathed at first seemed to change him for the better. This can be demonstrated by him feeding a stray dog food he dug out of a dumpster for himself while giving the dog a fond look and his changed outlook on humanity at the end of his life.
In Our Little World, when describing the truth about God and Amara, Metatron mentions about people wanting God to be a "finger-snapping, all-powerful creator." In All in the Family, Chuck in fact does snap his fingers when using his powers.
While Metatron resented being human at first, by the end of his life, he had adapted well to his situation, possibly aided by the centuries he spent living amongst the Native Americans before the Winchesters found him. He was also human for longer than Castiel, the only other angel to ever be forcibly turned human, incidentally by Metatron himself.
In Do You Believe In Miracles?, Metatron pretended to be homeless to turn a homeless encampment to worshiping him instead of God. While human in Don't Call Me Shurley, Metatron has in fact become homeless.
Metatron is singularly the only character to not exist in some form after death, as Amara completely destroyed his body and soul.
It's unknown if Metatron transcribed the Apocalypse World's Words of God or if a doppelganger of his did, which would make him the only known angelic being without a counterpart, if he dictated the tablets in the multiverse.
King Rama VIII was finally “given" a statue and a neat petite park (Suan Luang Phra Ram Eight) in 2006. 60 years after his death.
King Ananda was actually the first king of "Thailand". Up until 1939 the Chakris had been kings of "Siam". Ruling between 1935 and 1946 meant that King Ananda got to be both.
Unfortunately, the 1930s were not the best of times to be a King in Bangkok, particularly if you had to work under the laws of the Phibun government. Siam's last absolute monarch, King Prajadhipok (Rama VII), had been through a nasty coup in 1932 finally abdicating in 1935.
Without any Prajadhipok children to chose from the Royal Succession Committee recommended nephew Ananda for the role of constitutional monarch. Ananda was away studying at school in Switzerland at the time. So he was given a set of regents do the job for him until he got the hang of what's what and had finished his exams in Lausanne.
In late 1938 King Rama VIII was in Thailand, but in January 1939 returned to Europe. He didn't even get one Songkhran water festival to celebrate.
The Phibun government then started introducing some interesting cultural suggestions to the population, like singing anthems and praising the flag, saying “sawasdee”, dressing appropriately and not carrying your fruit basket on your head – better to use a pole over your shoulder with a basket on each end. This obviously went down well with the Japanese. Which Phibun was delighted about. Not much could beat a good bit of intense 1930s nationalism.
After the war was done with things got slightly more “liberal” in Bangkok, and although Phibun was let off at a war crimes tribunal on a “technicality” by his previous chum, Pridi, it was felt fine for King Ananda to come back to live here once more. So he came.
However, and I am saying nothing,
“A major disaster arrived from a completely unexpected angle. In the early morning of 9th June 1946 a pistol was fired in the bedroom of King Ananda, a shot that killed the young monarch who had returned from Switzerland only six months before. Probably it was an accidental death, it may have been caused when a royal servant had tried to wrench the pistol from the young king’s hands.”
(BJ Terwiel 2005, Thailand’s Political History)
Probably. May have.
And thus the throne passed to Ananda’s younger brother, Bhumibol Adulyadej, King Rama IX. Who named the park in honour of his younger brother on May 10, 2006 and ceremoniously dedicated the statue.
Sadly it seems, Ananda’s statue can only gaze over the Chao Phraya towards Rattanakosin Island, the home of the Chakri Dynasty.
He stands quite alone in Nonthaburi. Outside looking in. Rain clouds as a backdrop.
Given the tendency of privatizing and leasing of all that is publicly, I wonder when will this association be privatized. :)
Thank you Bob (Notraces) for all your advices!
We had a transatlantic conference on photography, which was held for days. :)
Given that Amy (aka badskirt ~ Amy) has declared October 2010 as Sew Not Stare with our oh, so coveted stash of Flea Market Fancy prints, I've mastered a plan and I've begun to cut. . .yes, 40 FMF prints and 2 Kona solids ~ Kona Crush in white and a sweet dusty blue.
I didn't want those trimmings to go to waste, I'll fill the Mason Jar and sit it on a shelf to admire.
Given to A.A. Milne's son Christopher. The birth of Winnie and his friends brought to us by Harrod's Dept Store via a friend of the family.
About the year c525AD a man of noble birth named Deiniol settled on this site. Having been given land, probably by Maelgwn, King of Gwynedd, he enclosed it with a fence constructed by driving poles into the ground and weaving branches in between them. The native technical term for this type of fence was 'bangor'. Within this enclosure Deiniol built his church in which he and his followers lived. They were missionaries, going about to evangelise and encouraging others to join them. Thus, a Celtic monastery or Clas was formed. As sometimes happens, the word 'bangor' was transferred from the original object - in this case the fence - to that closely associated with it - the settlement within. That is how Bangor got its name.
The church was formed in 546AD as a diocese by Maelgwn, based on St Deiniol's earlier monastic cell. This puts it as among the oldest churches in Britain. Whatever remained of early buildings on the site was destroyed by the Vikings, and a Norman successor church was burned by King John in 1210. The present structure is predominantly Decorated gothic of the 13th and 14th centuries.
The whitewashed interior was created or repaired by Sir Gilbert Scott in the 19th century, using such fragments as he could find of the ruined 14th century crossing and choir. Scott's attention to detail is evident in the coloured vault and episcopal furnishings of the choir or presbytery, including a fine set of choir stalls and bishop's throne. The medieval floor tiles were meticulously copied and relaid, while the reredos of 1881 is by Scott's son, Oldrid.
The Lady Chapel reveals a delicately chamfered arch framing a modern mural by Brian Thomas (1995) above a reredos by Caröe.
The Mostyn Christ is a late-15th century life-sized statue in wood with a face of poignant suffering. Belonging to the Mostyn family, it is an exquisite medieval work presumably created in Wales.
Mural by Brian Thomas
Given that two years ago we underwent a major revamp of our living quarters and did a massive declutter, it may seem odd that I've filled up a tiny space of our tiny home with a canvas. The reason for this is that when I was given a voucher for a canvas of Rhossili for our Charity Dinner Auction earlier in the month, I was also given an extra voucher to use at the same place. It also feels very self indulgent to put a photo I took myself onto the wall, but my OH insisted although I got to choose which one. I rarely if ever put full photos of our home on Flickr either unlike many but I've made an exception because it puts it into context.
Original pic in comments.
St Margaret of Antioch, Cowlinge, Suffolk
Given its proximity to the Cambridgeshire border, some people would argue that this Suffolk church is closer to civilisation than most, and yet St Margaret of Antioch, Cowlinge, has a decidedly remote feel to it. Gentle hills enfold these pretty villages, and St Margaret stands distant from the houses it serves. Cowlinge, pronounced coo-linj, stands about a mile north of the Haverhill to Bury road, not far from the better-known Denston. You approach it up a track from the north, where it is rather hemmed in, but the graveyard opens up widely beyond on the other side.
The first impression is one of redness. From the outside, Cowlinge seems a rather pretty accretion of centuries' work, its tower a typical red brick 18th century rebuilding - there are similar ones across the county at Grundisburgh and Layham. The chancel and nave appear to have met each other by chance as much as intention, and all is pleasantly patched up, with solid red-brick buttressing and just about every kind of window you can think of. There are aisles, there is a clerestory, but this is not a grand church. Rather, it is the kind of building a DIY enthusiast might put together if he wanted a late medieval one in his back garden.
And somehow, this makes it beautiful, especially if seen from the south-east or north-east. You might expect the interior to be similarly ramshackle, but you step through the north door into cool whiteness, and as you walk through this treasure chest of a church, unusual vistas open up at each turn. This is a complex church.
Facing east to start with, the first impression is of the wall-painting above the chancel arch, and the gated rood screen beneath. There are gates in the screens at nearby Withersfield and Denston, but unlike those these doors rise to the full height of the screen. The screen itself is perhaps not as beautiful as the parclose screen enclosing the chapel in the south aisle. Mortlock points out how similar it is to the one up the road at Dalham. The paleness of the wood is very pleasing.I thought it compared very well with the parclose at Dennington, which has been repainted gaudily. Another good parclose of the same age is at Westhorpe. A memorial window contains 1920s glass by Christopher Webb of Christ with the fishermen at Galilee.
One the wall beside the parclose in the south aisle is a small exposed area of wall painting. It appears to be an unbearded male saint holding something that may well be a chalice, in which case it is St John the Evangelist. The better-known wall painting here is the one I mentioned earlier, above the chancel arch. It is often referred to as a doom, but it is organised rather differently to others of its kind. Instead of the day of judgement, with God in Majesty overseeing the parting of the ways into hell on his right and heaven on his left, it depicts St Michael, to the south of the arch, balancing a set of scales in which a sinner is being weighed against his sins.
St Michael is a common feature of doom paintings - he appears nearby at Stoke by Clare and on the famous doom at Wenhaston. The unusual aspect of this one, however, is to the north of the arch, where the Virgin Mother of God stands. She reaches out with a wand, and tips the balance of the scales. Simon Jenkins, in his England's Thousand Best Churches, suggests that she is tipping the balance in the favour of the virtuous. This is, of course, exactly what she is not doing. The virtuous had no need of intervention; the good in them would outweigh their sins in any case. Mary is intervening on behalf of sinners who have prayed to her for her help, and she is tipping the scales in the favour of those sinners. It represents the efficacy of intercessions to Our Blessed Lady, and as such it was anathema to the 16th century reformers.
In common with other wall paintings, this priceless art treasure was whitewashed over rather than destroyed. It would be interesting to know when this happened. We know that during William Dowsing's iconoclastic progress through Suffolk and Cambridgeshire in 1644, he found no wall paintings still in existence. It has always been assumed that they were covered by the Anglicans when the new Church of England took possession of our parish churches a century earlier. But I do wonder if they might have been done away with a century before even that, perhaps around the middle of the 15th century, when the ruling classes were enforcing orthodox Catholic dogma in the face of the superstitions of the ordinary people. Part of this process involved setting up larger roods at the east end of the nave, and I think this wall-painting may have been covered before that happened here.
The chancel arch beneath the doom is also extensively painted, and also of interest on all of the pillars a large amount of medieval graffiti, some of which is described as being consecration crosses. This, of course, cannot be so, for the medieval church ordered its liturgical needs rather better than this, and these are no doubt the work of some bored 17th century vandal.
Stepping through into the chancel, it is at once one of the loveliest in Suffolk, and one of the most dominated, since Peter Scheemakers' ugly 18th century memorial for Francis Dickins glowers against the north wall. Dickins was responsible for the building of the tower. The figures are life size, and the monument is wholly secular, even pagan. They look like nothing so much as two well-pleased fans posing with the FA Cup.
Near the north door, a plaque on the wall records the visitation of 1618 when permission was given for the local house of correction to set up seating here for its inmates. There are still banked benches below, but these are later, and were probably intended for the village schoolchildren. Seating on a similar scale can be seen at nearby Kedington, divided there into boys' and girls' sections. On a somewhat larger scale they can also be seen at Laxfield.
A fine view of this church can be had by climbing to the spacious gallery beneath Dickins' tower. Once up here, the space is dominated by another huge classical memorial to Dickins and above it a George II royal arms, which also records that George Finton and Henry Seabrook were the churchwardens who set it up in 1731.
St Margaret is everything a historic church should be. Well-ordered, welcoming, suited to its Protestant present and mindful of its Catholic past. It used to be left open all the time, but a traumatic assault on the building some five years ago by a mentally ill man suffering from a religious mania, during which both screens and the altar were set fire to, means that it is now kept locked, but with a very cheerful churchwarden who was most happy to come and open up.
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
30 October 2021, Rome, Italy - G20 Summit
Photo credit must be given: ©Italian G20 Presidency
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