its_dramatic photos on Flickr

Rio Grande Gorge Bridge by Deb Nystrom

This bridge in the past has also been known as the “High Bridge and it” hangs 650 feet above the Rio Grande River. This makes it the fifth highest bridge in the United States behind the highest bridge being the Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado that is 1,053 feet high. However, unlike the tourism only Royal Gorge Bridge this bridge across the Rio Grande actually serves a useful purpose as a busy highway bridge. The bridge was built in 1965 and since then has been featured in a number of movies due to its dramatic profile across this spectacular gorge.

A Raging Curtain Call: Beaver Falls (Part 9): Prior To The Rage by Chance Hill (Doctor Love)

7 4

Part of the Beaver Creek stream and belonging to the Quillayute River watershed, this powerful and easily overlooked segmented plunged-based waterfall has a height and tallest drop of 25 feet.

Photo of Beaver Falls, before its dramatic drop, captured via Minolta MD W.Rokkor-X 24mm F/2.8 Lens. Olympic National Forest. Coast Range. Olympic Peninsula. Clallam County, Washington. Late December 2016.

Exposure Time: 1 sec. * ISO Speed: ISO-100* Aperture: F/22 * Bracketing: None

Chill time at Bondi Beach by Teun Janssen

5

The sweeping white-sand crescent of Bondi is one of Australia’s most iconic beaches. Reliable waves draw surfers while, nearby, hardy locals swim in the Icebergs ocean pool year-round. Trendy, health-conscious Sydneysiders head to laid-back cafes around Hall Street, while hip backpackers frequent the area's casual pubs. Walkers and joggers use the clifftop Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk, with its dramatic scenery.

Dunnottar Castle Ruins 15th Century Scottish Highlands 7/7/2018 by DanoAberdeen

5

Saturday 7th July 2018, a revisit to my favourite place, Stonehaven a 25 minute drive from my home, I can never visit without taking in Dunnottar Castle views, today she looked magnificent.

The rock the Castle sits upon was forced to the surface 440 million years ago during the Silurian period. A red rock conglomerate with boulders up to 1m across known as Pudding Stone is incredibly durable.

The ancient Highland rock pebbles and cementing matter is so tough that faults or cracks pass through the pebbles themselves.

I first visited Dunnottar Castle summer 2017, this magnificent castle sits high on a hill, last time I visited I captured my shots from the cliffs overlooking the site, though today I made the journey up the hill and entered the castle walls , wow what a magnificent experience, just perfect with loads of great photo opportunities to capture real Scottish history,after two hours wandering around and capturing as many shots that caught my eye , I made my way home, a magnificent experience indeed.

Dunnottar Castle (Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Fhoithear, "fort on the shelving slope" is a ruined medieval fortress located upon a rocky headland on the north-east coast of Scotland, about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) south of Stonehaven.

The surviving buildings are largely of the 15th and 16th centuries, but the site is believed to have been fortified in the Early Middle Ages. Dunnottar has played a prominent role in the history of Scotland through to the 18th-century Jacobite risings because of its strategic location and defensive strength. Dunnottar is best known as the place where the Honours of Scotland, the Scottish crown jewels, were hidden from Oliver Cromwell's invading army in the 17th century. The property of the Keiths from the 14th century, and the seat of the Earl Marischal, Dunnottar declined after the last Earl forfeited his titles by taking part in the Jacobite rebellion of 1715.

The castle was restored in the 20th century and is now open to the public.

The ruins of the castle are spread over 1.4 hectares (3.5 acres), surrounded by steep cliffs that drop to the North Sea, 50 metres (160 ft) below. A narrow strip of land joins the headland to the mainland, along which a steep path leads up to the gatehouse.

The various buildings within the castle include the 14th-century tower house as well as the 16th-century palace. Dunnottar Castle is a scheduled monument, and twelve structures on the site are listed buildings.

History

Early Middle Ages

A chapel at Dunnottar is said to have been founded by St Ninian in the 5th century, although it is not clear when the site was first fortified, but in any case the legend is late and highly implausible. Possibly the earliest written reference to the site is found in the Annals of Ulster which record two sieges of "Dún Foither" in 681 and 694.

The earlier event has been interpreted as an attack by Brude, the Pictish king of Fortriu, to extend his power over the north-east coast of Scotland. The Scottish Chronicle records that King Domnall II, the first ruler to be called rí Alban (King of Alba), was killed at Dunnottar during an attack by Vikings in 900. King Aethelstan of Wessex led a force into Scotland in 934, and raided as far north as Dunnottar according to the account of Symeon of Durham. W. D. Simpson speculated that a motte might lie under the present caste, but excavations in the 1980s failed to uncover substantive evidence of early medieval fortification.

The discovery of a group of Pictish stones at Dunnicaer, a nearby sea stack, has prompted speculation that "Dún Foither" was actually located on the adjacent headland of Bowduns, 0.5 kilometres (0.31 mi) to the north.

Later Middle Ages

During the reign of King William the Lion (ruled 1165–1214) Dunnottar was a center of local administration for The Mearns. The castle is named in the Roman de Fergus, an early 13th-century Arthurian romance, in which the hero Fergus must travel to Dunnottar to retrieve a magic shield.

In May 1276 a church on the site was consecrated by William Wishart, Bishop of St Andrews. The poet Blind Harry relates that William Wallace captured Dunnottar from the English in 1297, during the Wars of Scottish Independence. He is said to have imprisoned 4,000 defeated English soldiers in the church and burned them alive.

In 1336 Edward III of England ordered William Sinclair, 8th Baron of Roslin, to sail eight ships to the partially ruined Dunnottar for the purpose of rebuilding and fortifying the site as a forward resupply base for his northern campaign. Sinclair took with him 160 soldiers, horses, and a corps of masons and carpenters.

Edward himself visited in July, but the English efforts were undone before the end of the year when the Scottish Regent Sir Andrew Murray led a force that captured and again destroyed the defences of Dunnottar.

In the 14th century Dunnottar was granted to William de Moravia, 5th Earl of Sutherland (d.1370), and in 1346 a licence to crenellate was issued by David II. Around 1359 William Keith, Marischal of Scotland, married Margaret Fraser, niece of Robert the Bruce, and was granted the barony of Dunnottar at this time. Keith then gave the lands of Dunnottar to his daughter Christian and son-in-law William Lindsay of Byres, but in 1392 an excambion (exchange) was agreed whereby Keith regained Dunnottar and Lindsay took lands in Fife.

William Keith completed construction of the tower house at Dunnottar, but was excommunicated for building on the consecrated ground associated with the parish church. Keith had provided a new parish church closer to Stonehaven, but was forced to write to the Pope, Benedict XIII, who issued a bull in 1395 lifting the excommunication.William Keith's descendents were created Earls Marischal in the mid 15th century, and they held Dunottar until the 18th century.

16th century rebuilding

Through the 16th century the Keiths improved and expanded their principal seats: at Dunnottar and also at Keith Marischal in East Lothian. James IV visited Dunnottar in 1504, and in 1531 James V exempted the Earl's men from military service on the grounds that Dunnottar was one of the "principall strenthis of our realme".

Mary, Queen of Scots, visited in 1562 after the Battle of Corrichie, and returned in 1564.

James VI stayed for 10 days in 1580, as part of a progress through Fife and Angus, during which a meeting of the Privy Council was convened at Dunnottar.

During a rebellion of Catholic nobles in 1592, Dunnottar was captured by a Captain Carr on behalf of the Earl of Huntly, but was restored to Lord Marischal just a few weeks later.

In 1581 George Keith succeeded as 5th Earl Marischal, and began a large scale reconstruction that saw the medieval fortress converted into a more comfortable home. The founder of Marischal College in Aberdeen, the 5th Earl valued Dunnottar as much for its dramatic situation as for its security.

A "palace" comprising a series of ranges around a quadrangle was built on the north-eastern cliffs, creating luxurious living quarters with sea views. The 13th-century chapel was restored and incorporated into the quadrangle.

An impressive stone gatehouse was constructed, now known as Benholm's Lodging, featuring numerous gun ports facing the approach. Although impressive, these are likely to have been fashionable embellishments rather than genuine defensive features.

Civil wars

Further information: Scotland in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms

In 1639 William Keith, 7th Earl Marischal, came out in support of the Covenanters, a Presbyterian movement who opposed the established Episcopal Church and the changes which Charles I was attempting to impose. With James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, he marched against the Catholic James Gordon, 2nd Viscount Aboyne, Earl of Huntly, and defeated an attempt by the Royalists to seize Stonehaven. However, when Montrose changed sides to the Royalists and marched north, Marischal remained in Dunnottar, even when given command of the area by Parliament, and even when Montrose burned Stonehaven.

Marischal then joined with the Engager faction, who had made a deal with the king, and led a troop of horse to the Battle of Preston (1648) in support of the royalists.

Following the execution of Charles I in 1649, the Engagers gave their allegiance to his son and heir: Charles II was proclaimed king, arriving in Scotland in June 1650. He visited Dunnottar in July 1650, but his presence in Scotland prompted Oliver Cromwell to lead a force into Scotland, defeating the Scots at Dunbar in September 1650.

The Honours of Scotland

Charles II was crowned at Scone Palace on 1 January 1651, at which the Honours of Scotland (the regalia of crown, sword and sceptre) were used. However, with Cromwell's troops in Lothian, the honours could not be returned to Edinburgh. The Earl Marischal, as Marischal of Scotland, had formal responsibility for the honours, and in June the Privy Council duly decided to place them at Dunnottar.

They were brought to the castle by Katherine Drummond, hidden in sacks of wool. Sir George Ogilvie (or Ogilvy) of Barras was appointed lieutenant-governor of the castle, and given responsibility for its defence.

In November 1651 Cromwell's troops called on Ogilvie to surrender, but he refused. During the subsequent blockade of the castle, the removal of the Honours of Scotland was planned by Elizabeth Douglas, wife of Sir George Ogilvie, and Christian Fletcher, wife of James Granger, minister of Kinneff Parish Church. The king's papers were first removed from the castle by Anne Lindsay, a kinswoman of Elizabeth Douglas, who walked through the besieging force with the papers sewn into her clothes.

Two stories exist regarding the removal of the honours themselves. Fletcher stated in 1664 that over the course of three visits to the castle in February and March 1652, she carried away the crown, sceptre, sword and sword-case hidden amongst sacks of goods. Another account, given in the 18th century by a tutor to the Earl Marischal, records that the honours were lowered from the castle onto the beach, where they were collected by Fletcher's servant and carried off in a creel (basket) of seaweed. Having smuggled the honours from the castle, Fletcher and her husband buried them under the floor of the Old Kirk at Kinneff.

Meanwhile, by May 1652 the commander of the blockade, Colonel Thomas Morgan, had taken delivery of the artillery necessary for the reduction of Dunnottar. Ogilvie surrendered on 24 May, on condition that the garrison could go free. Finding the honours gone, the Cromwellians imprisoned Ogilvie and his wife in the castle until the following year, when a false story was put about suggesting that the honours had been taken overseas.

Much of the castle property was removed, including twenty-one brass cannons,[28] and Marischal was required to sell further lands and possessions to pay fines imposed by Cromwell's government.

At the Restoration of Charles II in 1660, the honours were removed from Kinneff Church and returned to the king. Ogilvie quarrelled with Marischal's mother over who would take credit for saving the honours, though he was eventually rewarded with a baronetcy. Fletcher was awarded 2,000 merks by Parliament but the sum was never paid.

Whigs and Jacobites

Religious and political conflicts continued to be played out at Dunnottar through the 17th and early 18th centuries. In 1685, during the rebellion of the Earl of Argyll against the new king James VII, 167 Covenanters were seized and held in a cellar at Dunnottar. The prisoners included 122 men and 45 women associated with the Whigs, an anti-Royalist group within the Covenanter movement, and had refused to take an oath of allegiance to the new king.

The Whigs were imprisoned from 24 May until late July. A group of 25 escaped, although two of these were killed in a fall from the cliffs, and another 15 were recaptured. Five prisoners died in the vault, and 37 of the Whigs were released after taking the oath of allegiance.

The remaining prisoners were transported to Perth Amboy, New Jersey, as part of a colonisation scheme devised by George Scot of Pitlochie. Many, like Scot himself, died on the voyage.

The cellar, located beneath the "King's Bedroom" in the 16th-century castle buildings, has since become known as the "Whigs' Vault".

Both the Jacobites (supporters of the exiled Stuarts) and the Hanoverians (supporters of George I and his descendents) used Dunnottar Castle. In 1689 during Viscount Dundee's campaign in support of the deposed James VII, the castle was garrisoned for William and Mary with Lord Marischal appointed captain.

Seventeen suspected Jacobites from Aberdeen were seized and held in the fortress for around three weeks, including George Liddell, professor of mathematics at Marischal College.

In the Jacobite Rising of 1715 George Keith, 10th Earl Marischal, took an active role with the rebels, leading cavalry at the Battle of Sheriffmuir. After the subsequent abandonment of the rising Lord Marischal fled to the Continent, eventually becoming French ambassador for Frederick the Great of Prussia. Meanwhile, in 1716, his titles and estates including Dunnottar were declared forfeit to the crown.

Later history

The seized estates of the Earl Marischal were purchased in 1720 for £41,172, by the York Buildings Company who dismantled much of the castle.

In 1761 the Earl briefly returned to Scotland and bought back Dunnottar only to sell it five years later to Alexander Keith, an Edinburgh lawyer who served as Knight Marischal of Scotland.

Dunnottar was inherited in 1852 by Sir Patrick Keith-Murray of Ochtertyre, who in turn sold it in July 1873 to Major Alexander Innes of Cowie and Raemoir for about £80,000.

It was purchased by Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray, in 1925 after which his wife embarked on a programme of repairs.

Since that time the castle has remained in the family, and has been open to the public, attracting 52,500 visitors in 2009.

Dunnottar Castle, and the headland on which is stands, was designated as a scheduled monument in 1970.In 1972 twelve of the structures at Dunnottar were listed.

Three buildings are listed at category A as being of "national importance": the keep; the entrance gateway; and Benholm's Lodging.

The remaining listings are at category B as being of "regional importance".[39] The Hon. Charles Anthony Pearson, the younger son of the 3rd Viscount Cowdray, currently owns and runs Dunnottar Castle which is part of the 210-square-kilometre (52,000-acre) Dunecht Estates.

Portions of the 1990 film Hamlet, starring Mel Gibson and Glenn Close, were shot there.

Description

Dunnottar's strategic location allowed its owners to control the coastal terrace between the North Sea cliffs and the hills of the Mounth, 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) inland, which enabled access to and from the north-east of Scotland.

The site is accessed via a steep, 800-metre (2,600 ft) footpath (with modern staircases) from a car park on the coastal road, or via a 3-kilometre (1.9 mi) cliff-top path from Stonehaven. Dunnottar's several buildings, put up between the 13th and 17th centuries, are arranged across a headland covering around 1.4 hectares (3.5 acres).

The dominant building, viewed from the land approach, is the 14th-century keep or tower house. The other principal buildings are the gatehouse; the chapel; and the 16th-century "palace" which incorporates the "Whigs' Vault".

Defences

The approach to the castle is overlooked by outworks on the "Fiddle Head", a promontory on the western side of the headland. The entrance is through the well-defended main gate, set in a curtain wall which entirely blocks a cleft in the rocky cliffs.

The gate has a portcullis and has been partly blocked up. Alongside the main gate is the 16th-century Benholm's Lodging, a five-storey building cut into the rock, which incorporated a prison with apartments above.

Three tiers of gun ports face outwards from the lower floors of Benholm's Lodging, while inside the main gate, a group of four gun ports face the entrance. The entrance passage then turns sharply to the left, running underground through two tunnels to emerge near the tower house.

Simpson contends that these defences are "without exception the strongest in Scotland", although later writers have doubted the effectiveness of the gun ports. Cruden notes that the alignment of the gun ports in Benholm's Lodging, facing across the approach rather than along, means that they are of limited efficiency.

The practicality of the gun ports facing the entrance has also been questioned, though an inventory of 1612 records that four brass cannons were placed here.

A second access to the castle leads up from a rocky cove, the aperture to a marine cave on the northern side of the Dunnottar cliffs into which a small boat could be brought. From here a steep path leads to the well-fortified postern gate on the cliff top, which in turn offers access to the castle via the Water Gate in the palace.

Artillery defences, taking the form of earthworks, surround the north-west corner of the castle, facing inland, and the south-east, facing seaward. A small sentry box or guard house stands by the eastern battery, overlooking the coast.

Tower house and surrounding buildings

The tower house of Dunnottar, viewed from the west

The late 14th-century tower house has a stone-vaulted basement, and originally had three further storeys and a garret above.

Measuring 12 by 11 metres (39 by 36 ft), the tower house stood 15 metres (49 ft) high to its gable. The principal rooms included a great hall and a private chamber for the lord, with bedrooms upstairs.

Beside the tower house is a storehouse, and a blacksmith's forge with a large chimney. A stable block is ranged along the southern edge of the headland. Nearby is Waterton's Lodging, also known as the Priest's House, built around 1574, possibly for the use of William Keith (died 1580), son of the 4th Earl Marischal.

This small self-contained house includes a hall and kitchen at ground level, with private chambers above, and has a projecting spiral stair on the north side. It is named for Thomas Forbes of Waterton, an attendant of the 7th Earl.

The palace

The palace, to the north-east of the headland, was built in the late 16th century and early to mid-17th century. It comprises three main wings set out around a quadrangle, and for the most part is probably the work of the 5th Earl Marischal who succeeded in 1581.

It provided extensive and comfortable accommodation to replace the rooms in the tower house. In its long, low design it has been compared to contemporary English buildings, in contrast to the Scottish tradition of taller towers still prevalent in the 16th century.

Seven identical lodgings are arranged along the west range, each opening onto the quadrangle and including windows and fireplace. Above the lodgings the west range comprised a 35-metre (115 ft) gallery. Now roofless, the gallery originally had an elaborate oak ceiling, and on display was a Roman tablet taken from the Antonine Wall.

At the north end of the gallery was a drawing room linked to the north range. The gallery could also be accessed from the Silver House to the south, which incorporated a broad stairway with a treasury above.

The basement of the north range incorporates kitchens and stores, with a dining room and great chamber above. At ground floor level is the Water Gate, between the north and west ranges, which gives access to the postern on the northern cliffs.

The east and north ranges are linked via a rectangular stair. The east range has a larder, brewhouse and bakery at ground level, with a suite of apartments for the Countess above. A north-east wing contains the Earl's apartments, and includes the "King's Bedroom" in which Charles II stayed. In this room is a carved stone inscribed with the arms of the 7th Earl and his wife, and the date 1654. Below these rooms is the Whigs' Vault, a cellar measuring 16 by 4.5 metres (52 by 15 ft). This cellar, in which the Covenanters were held in 1685, has a large eastern window, as well as a lower vault accessed via a trap-door in the floor.

Of the chambers in the palace, only the dining room and the Silver House remain roofed, having been restored in the 1920s. The central area contains a circular cistern or fish pond, 16 metres (52 ft) across and 7.6 metres (25 ft) deep, and a bowling green is located to the west.

At the south-east corner of the quadrangle is the chapel, consecrated in 1276 and largely rebuilt in the 16th century. Medieval walling and two 13th-century windows remain, and there is a graveyard to the south.

A “Swiss Miss” House in Vista Las Palmas by Dale Cruse - 12M views

4

One of Palm Springs’ distinctive “Swiss Miss” houses, designed by Charles Du Bois and built by the Alexander Construction Company in the late 1950s. Its dramatic A-frame entry, stone walls, and Polynesian-inspired details made the small Vista Las Palmas group a Desert Modern landmark.

21OC0842W2-SharpenAI-focusZW2.jpg-gigapixel-standard-scale-1_50x.jpg Thunder Bay ~ Sleeping Giant by Bruce Symington

3

The Sleeping Giant (Nanibijou) silhouette. A Storm reinforcing the name "Thunder Bay " . Sheets of heavy rain blanketing the Peninsula.

The Sleeping Giant is a formation of mesas and sills on Sibley Peninsula which resembles a giant lying on its back when viewed from the west to north-northwest section of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. As one moves southward along the shoreline toward Squaw Bay the Sleeping Giant starts to separate into its various sections. Most distinctly in the view from the cliffs at Squaw Bay the Giant appears to have an Adam's Apple. The formation is part of Sleeping Giant Provincial Park. Its dramatic steep cliffs are among the highest in Ontario (250 m). The southernmost point is known as Thunder Cape, depicted by many early Canadian artists such as William Armstrong.

One Ojibway legend identifies the giant as Nanabijou, who was turned to stone when the secret location of a rich silver mine now known as Silver Islet was disclosed to white men.

London - Piccadilly Circus Prior to 1911. And Vincent Price. by pepandtim

4 1

The Postcard

A Rotary Photographic Series postcard that was posted in Faversham on Saturday the 27th. of May 1911 to:

Mrs. Watts,

Greenstreet,

Nr. Sittingbourne,

Kent.

The message on the back of the card was as follows:

"Dear Aunt,

Just a card to let you

know Annie and I will

walk over on Sunday

if fine.

If not convenient will

you please drop me a

card.

With much love from

us all.

From Ethel".

Piccadilly Circus

Piccadilly Circus is a road junction and public space in London's West End. It was built in order to connect Regent Street with Piccadilly. In this context, a circus, from the Latin word meaning "circle", is a round open space at a street junction.

The Circus now connects Piccadilly, Regent Street, Shaftesbury Avenue, the Haymarket, Coventry Street (onwards to Leicester Square) and Glasshouse Street.

Piccadilly Circus is close to major shopping and entertainment areas, and its status as a major traffic junction has made the Circus a busy meeting place and a tourist attraction in its own right.

Piccadilly Circus is particularly known for its video display and neon signs mounted on the corner building on the northern side, as well as the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain and statue of Anteros (which is popularly, though mistakenly, believed to represent Eros).

Piccadilly Circus is surrounded by several notable buildings, including the London Pavilion and Criterion Theatre. Underneath the plaza is Piccadilly Circus Underground Station, part of the London Underground system.

History of Piccadilly Circus

Piccadilly Circus connects to Piccadilly, a thoroughfare whose name first appeared in 1626 as Piccadilly Hall, named after a house belonging to one Robert Baker, a tailor famous for selling piccadills, a term used for various kinds of collars.

The street was named Portugal Street in 1692 in honour of Catherine of Braganza, the queen consort of King Charles II, but by 1743 it was being referred to as Piccadilly.

Piccadilly Circus was created in 1819, at the junction with Regent Street, which was then being built under the planning of John Nash on the site of a house and garden belonging to a Lady Hutton. The intersection was then known as Regent Circus South (just as Oxford Circus was known as Regent Circus North), and it did not begin to be known as Piccadilly Circus until the mid 1880's, with the construction of Shaftesbury Avenue. In the same period, the Circus lost its circular form.

The junction has been a very busy traffic interchange since construction, as it lies at the centre of Theatreland, and handles exit traffic from Piccadilly, which Charles Dickens Jr. described as follows in 1879:

"Piccadilly, the great thoroughfare leading

from the Haymarket and Regent Street

westward to Hyde Park Corner, is the nearest

approach to the Parisian boulevard of which

London can boast."

Piccadilly Circus tube station was opened on the 10th. March 1906, on the Bakerloo line, and on the Piccadilly line in December of that year. In 1928, the station was extensively rebuilt to handle an increase in traffic.

Piccadilly Circus's first electric advertisements appeared in 1908, and, from 1923, electric billboards were set up on the façade of the London Pavilion. Electric street lamps, however, did not replace the gas ones until 1932.

The circus became a one-way roundabout on the 19th. July 1926, and traffic lights were first installed on the 3rd. August 1926.

During World War II many servicemen's clubs in the West End served American soldiers based in Britain. So many prostitutes roamed the area approaching the soldiers that they received the nickname "Piccadilly Commandos", and both Scotland Yard and the Foreign Office discussed possible damage to Anglo-American relations.

The Holford Plan for the Circus

At the start of the 1960's, it was determined that the Circus needed to be redeveloped to allow for greater traffic flow. In 1962, Lord Holford presented a plan which would have created a "double-decker" Piccadilly Circus; the upper deck would have been an elevated pedestrian concourse linking the buildings around the perimeter of the Circus, with the lower deck being solely for traffic, most of the ground-level pedestrian areas having been removed to allow for greater vehicle flow.

This concept was kept alive throughout the rest of the 1960's. A final scheme in 1972 proposed three octagonal towers (the highest 240 feet (73 m) tall) to replace the Trocadero, the Criterion and the "Monico" buildings.

Fortunately the plans were permanently rejected by Sir Keith Joseph and Ernest Marples; the key reason given was that Holford's scheme only allowed for a 20% increase in traffic, and the Government required 50%.

The Holford plan is referenced in the documentary film "Goodbye, Piccadilly", produced by the Rank Organisation in 1967 as part of their Look at Life series when it was still seriously expected that Holford's recommendations would be acted upon. Piccadilly Circus has since escaped major redevelopment, apart from extensive ground-level pedestrianisation around its south side in the 1980's.

Terrorist Bombs

Piccadilly Circus has been targeted by Irish republican terrorists multiple times. On the 24th. June 1939 an explosion occurred, although no injuries were caused, and on the 25th. November 1974 a bomb injured 16 people. A 2lb bomb also exploded on the 6th. October 1992, injuring five people.

The Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain

The Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain in Piccadilly Circus was erected in 1893 to commemorate Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th. Earl of Shaftesbury. Lord Shaftesbury was a Victorian politician, philanthropist and social reformer.

It was removed from the Circus twice and moved from the centre once.

The first time was in 1922, so that Charles Holden's new tube station could be built directly below it. The fountain returned in 1931. During the Second World War, the fountain was removed for the second time and replaced by advertising hoardings. It was returned again in 1948.

When the Circus underwent reconstruction work in the late 1980's, the entire fountain was moved from the centre of the junction at the beginning of Shaftesbury Avenue to its present position at the southwestern corner.

The subject of the Memorial is the Greek god Anteros, and was officially given the name The Angel of Christian Charity, but it is generally mistakenly believed to be his brother Eros.

Location and Sights

Piccadilly Circus is surrounded by tourist attractions, including the Criterion Theatre, London Pavilion and retail stores. Nightclubs, restaurants and bars are located in the area and neighbouring Soho, including the former Chinawhite Club.

Illuminated Signs

Piccadilly Circus was surrounded by illuminated advertising hoardings on buildings, starting in 1908 with a Perrier sign, but only one building now carries them, the one in the northwestern corner between Shaftesbury Avenue and Glasshouse Street. The site is unnamed (usually referred to as "Monico" after the Café Monico, which used to be on the site); it has been owned by property investor Land Securities Group since the 1970's.

The earliest signs used incandescent light bulbs; these were replaced with neon lights and with moving signs (there was a large Guinness clock at one time). The first Neon sign was for the British meat extract Bovril.

From December 1998, digital projectors were used for the Coke sign, the square's first digital billboard, while in the 2000's there was a gradual move to LED displays, which by 2011 had completely replaced neon lamps.

The number of signs has reduced over the years as the rental costs have increased, and in January 2017 the six remaining advertising screens were switched off as part of their combination into one large ultra-high definition curved Daktronics display, turning the signs off during renovation for the longest time since the 1940's. On the 26th. October 2017, the new screen was switched on for the first time.

Until the 2017 refurbishment, the site had six LED advertising screens above three large retail units facing Piccadilly Circus on the north side, occupied by Boots, Gap and a mix of smaller retail, restaurant and office premises fronting the other streets.

A Burger King located under the Samsung advert, which had been a Wimpy Bar until 1989, closed in 2008, and was converted into a Barclays Bank.

Coca-Cola has had a sign at Piccadilly Circus since 1954. In September 2003, the previous digital projector board and the site that had been occupied by Nescafé was replaced with a state-of-the-art LED video display that curves round with the building.

From 1978 to 1987 the spot had been used by Philips Electronics, and a neon advertisement for Foster's used the location from 1987 until 1999.

For several months in 2002, the Nescafé sign was replaced by a sign featuring the quote "Imagine all the people living life in peace" by Beatle John Lennon. This was paid for by his widow Yoko Ono, who spent an estimated £150,000 to display an advert at this location. Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Zero, Fanta, Sprite and Vitamin Water have all been advertised in the space.

The Hyundai Motors sign launched on the 29th. September 2011. It replaced a sign for Sanyo which had occupied the space since 1988, the last to be run using neon lights rather than Hyundai's computerised LED screen.

Earlier Sanyo signs with older logos had occupied the position since 1978, although these were only half the size of the later space.

McDonald's added its sign in 1987, replacing one for BASF. The sign was changed from neon to LED in 2001. A bigger, brighter screen was installed by Daktronics in 2008.

Samsung added its sign in November 1994, the space having been previously occupied by Canon Inc. (1978–84) and Panasonic (1984–94). The sign was changed from neon to LED in summer 2005, and the screen was upgraded and improved in autumn 2011.

L'Oreal, Hunter Original and eBay had signs in the Piccadilly Circus billboards since October 2017. One Piccadilly, the highest resolution of all the LED displays was installed by Daktronics in late 2013, underneath the Samsung and McDonald's signs. It allowed other companies to advertise for both short- and long-term leases, increasing the amount of advertising space but using the same screen for multiple brands.

The Curve, a similar space to One Piccadilly, was added in 2015, replacing a space previously occupied by Schweppes (1920–61), BP (1961–67), Cinzano (1967–78), Fujifilm (1978–86), Kodak (1986–90) and TDK (1990–2015).

On special occasions the lights are switched off, such as the deaths of Winston Churchill in 1965 and Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997. On the 21st. June 2007, they were switched off for one hour as part of the Lights Out London campaign.

Other companies and brands that have had signs on the site include Bovril, Volkswagen, Max Factor, Wrigley's Spearmint, Skol, Air India and Will's Gold Flake Cigarettes.

By way of a summary, and to aid the dating of other photographs of Piccadilly Circus, major brands and dates are as follows:

-- BASF up to 1987

-- Bovril from 1923

-- BP 1961 to 1967

-- Canon 1978 to 1984

-- Cinzano 1967 to 1978

-- Coca Cola from 1954

-- eBay from 2017

-- Fosters 1987 to 1999

-- Guinness from 1930 - see below

-- Fujifilm 1978 to 1986

-- Hyundai from 2011

-- Kodak 1986 to 1990

-- l'Oréal from 2017

-- McDonald's from 1987

-- Nescafé from 1999

-- Panasonic 1984 to 1994

-- Perrier from 1908

-- Philips 1978 to 1987

-- Samsung from 1994

-- Sanyo 1978 to 2011

-- Schweppes 1920 to 1961

-- TDK 1990 to 2015

Guinness

-- From 1930 to 1932, a Guinness ad showed a pint of Guinness and stated that 'Guinness is Good For You.'

-- From 1932 to 1953 the Guinness ad featured a clock and stated 'Guinness Time' as well as 'Guinness is Good For You.'

-- From 1954 to 1959 the Guinness clock had two sealions under it.

-- From 1959 to 1972 the Guinness ad featured a cuckoo clock with a swinging pendulum featuring two back-to-back toucans.

The Criterion Theatre

The Criterion Theatre, which is a Grade II* listed building, stands on the south side of Piccadilly Circus. Apart from the box office area, the entire theatre, with nearly 600 seats, is underground, and is reached by descending a tiled stairway. Columns are used to support both the dress circle and the upper circle, restricting the views of many of the seats inside.

The theatre was designed by Thomas Verity, and opened as a theatre on the 21st. March 1874, although original plans were for it to become a concert hall.

In 1883, the Criterion was forced to close in order to improve ventilation and to replace gaslights with electric lights, and was re-opened the following year. The theatre closed in 1989 and was extensively renovated, re-opening in October 1992.

The London Pavilion

On the northeastern side of Piccadilly Circus is the London Pavilion. The first building bearing the name was built in 1859, and was a music hall. In 1885, Shaftesbury Avenue was built through the former site of the Pavilion, and a new London Pavilion was constructed, which also served as a music hall. In 1924 electric billboards were erected on the side of the building.

In 1934, the building underwent significant structural alteration and was converted into a cinema. In 1986, the building was rebuilt, preserving the 1885 façade, and converted into a shopping arcade.

In 2000, the building was connected to the neighbouring Trocadero Centre, and signage on the building was altered in 2003 to read "London Trocadero". The basement of the building connects with the Underground station.

Major Shops

The former Swan & Edgar department store on the west side of the Circus was built in 1928–29 to a design by Reginald Blomfield. Since the closure of the department store in the early 1980's, the building has been successively the flagship London store of music chains Tower Records, Virgin Megastore and Zavvi. The current occupier is clothing brand The Sting.

Lillywhites is a major retailer of sporting goods located on the corner of the circus and Lower Regent Street, next to the Shaftesbury fountain. It moved to its present site in 1925. Lillywhites is popular with tourists, and they regularly offer sale items, including international football jerseys at up to 90% off.

Nearby Fortnum & Mason is often considered to be part of the Piccadilly Circus shopping area, and is known for its expansive food hall.

The County Fire Office

Dominating the north side of the Circus, on the corner of Glasshouse Street, is the County Fire Office building, with a statue of Britannia on the roof. The original building was designed by John Nash as the extreme southern end of his Regent Street Quadrant.

Its dramatic façade was clearly influenced by Inigo Jones's old Somerset House. Although Robert Abraham was the County Fire Insurance Company's architect, it was probably Nash who was instrumental in choosing the design.

In 1924 the old County Fire Office was demolished and replaced with a similar but much coarser building designed by Reginald Blomfield, but retaining the statue of Britannia. During the London Blitz it was the only building in the Circus to be damaged, although only a few window panes were blown out. The building is Grade II listed.

Piccadilly Circus Underground Station

Piccadilly Circus station on the London Underground is located directly beneath Piccadilly Circus itself, with entrances at every corner. It is one of the few stations to have no associated buildings above ground, and is fully underground. The below-ground concourse and subway entrances are Grade II listed.

The station is on the Piccadilly line between Green Park and Leicester Square, and the Bakerloo line between Charing Cross and Oxford Circus.

Demonstrations at Piccadilly Circus

The Circus' status as a high-profile public space has made it the location for numerous political demonstrations, including the 15th. February 2003 anti-war protest and the "Carnival Against Capitalism" protest against the 39th. G8 summit in 2013.

Piccadilly Circus in Popular Culture

The phrase 'It's like Piccadilly Circus' is commonly used in the UK to refer to a place or situation which is extremely busy with people. It has been said that a person who stays long enough at Piccadilly Circus will eventually bump into everyone they know.

Probably because of this connection, during World War II, "Piccadilly Circus" was the code name given to the Allies' D-Day invasion fleet's assembly location in the English Channel.

Piccadilly Circus has inspired both artists and musicians. Piccadilly Circus (1912) is the name and subject of a painting by British artist Charles Ginner, part of the Tate Britain collection.

Sculptor Paul McCarthy produced a 320-page two-volume edition of video stills by the name of Piccadilly Circus.

In the lyrics of their song "Mother Goose", on the Aqualung album from 1971, the band Jethro Tull tells:

"And a foreign student said to me:

'Was it really true there were

elephants, lions too, in Piccadilly

Circus?'".

Bob Marley mentioned Piccadilly Circus in his song "Kinky Reggae", on the Catch a Fire album in 1973.

L. S. Lowry's painting Piccadilly Circus, London (1960), part of Lord Charles Forte's collection for almost three decades, sold for £5,641,250 when auctioned for the first time at Christie's on the 16th. November 2011.

Contemporary British painter Carl Randall's painting 'Piccadilly Circus' (2017) is a large monochrome canvas depicting the area at night with crowds, the making of which involved painting over 70 portraits from life.

In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019), the second campaign mission takes place at Piccadilly Circus, where the game has the player intervene during a terrorist attack by the fictional terrorist group Al-Qatala. There is also a multi-player map called Piccadilly, which appears to take place in the aftermath of the terrorist attack.

Circa

Circa is an art platform based at London's Piccadilly Circus. They commission and stream a monthly programme of art and culture, every evening at 20:21, across a global network of billboards in London, Tokyo and Seoul.

Established in October 2020 by British-Irish artist Josef O'Connor, the daily and free public art programme pauses the world famous advertisements in Piccadilly Circus and across a global network of screens for three minutes every evening.

They commission new work to fill the space that considers the world in response to the present year. It is the largest digital art exhibition in Europe. O'Connor recalls:

‘I first had the idea when I was 19, but it was only

about three years ago that I acted on it and reached

out to the screen owner, Landsec, via Twitter.

I was inspired by Piccadilly’s kinetic architecture -

how it morphed and changed with time to reflect

the world - from neon lights in 1908 to the iconic

red and white Sanyo sign in the 1990's, etc.

You could accurately guess the decade by just

looking at a photo or postcard of the landmark.

This inspired the concept for Circa, to pause time

and commission artists to create new work that

considers the world around them, circa 2020/21, etc.’

The first artist to fill the three-minute daily slot was Ai Weiwei, who is quoted as saying in an interview with The Art Newspaper that:

"Circa 2020 offers a very important platform

for artists to exercise their practice and to

reach out to a greater public”.

Other notable artists and curators whose works have been exhibited as part of the Circa programme include Cauleen Smith, Eddie Peake, Patti Smith, James Barnor curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Vivienne Westwood, David Hockney, Alvaro Barrington and Anne Imhof.

Each commission for the project is approved by an independent council chaired by the British independent curator and ex-director of The Royal Academy, Norman Rosenthal.

On the 1st. January 2021, Circa commissioned two live performances from Patti Smith to help put an end to 2020 and beckon in the New Year. The New Year's Eve screening in Piccadilly Circus was eventually cancelled due to Covid restrictions, but the performance was still broadcast for free via the Circa YouTube Channel on the 31st. December to an audience of over 1.5million people around the world.

Circa and Serpentine Galleries' collaborative presentation of James Barnor’s work in April 2021 completed a journey that began more than half a century ago, when Barnor photographed BBC Africa Service presenter Mike Eghan against the backdrop of Piccadilly Circus’s neon signs in 1967.

The iconic image is held within the Tate collection, and was the inspiration behind Ferdinando Verderi’s Italian Vogue cover, with Barnor remote-shooting model Adwoa Aboah standing in the exact same location to create a present reflection on the past.

To celebrate her 80th. Birthday, British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood was commissioned by Circa to present a new video work in Piccadilly Circus created with her brother entitled 'Don't Buy a Bomb,' an anti-war message presented for ten minutes on the Piccadilly Lights screen.

In the ten-minute film, the punk icon performed a re-written rendition of ‘Without You’ from My Fair Lady to offer a stark warning of societal indifference to looming environmental catastrophes, a cry against the arms trade, and its link to climate change.

In May 2021, British artist David Hockney's 2.5 minute iPad drawing of a sunrise entitled “Remember you cannot look at the sun or death for very long,” was broadcast by Circa across digital billboard screens in London's Piccadilly Circus, New York's Times Square and prominent locations in Los Angeles, Tokyo and the largest outdoor screen in Seoul.

Vincent Price

So what else happened on the day that the card was posted?

Well, on the 27th. May 1911, Vincent Price was born in St. Louis Missouri.

Vincent Leonard Price Jr. was an actor, well known for his distinctive voice and performances in horror films.

His career spanned other genres, including film noir, drama, mystery, thriller, and comedy.

He appeared on stage, television, radio, and more than one hundred films.

He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one for motion pictures, and one for television. Price also has a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

Price was an art collector and consultant, with a degree in art history, lecturing and writing books on the subject.

Additionally, he was the founder of the Vincent Price Art Museum in California. He was also a noted gourmet cook.

Price suffered from emphysema, a result of being a lifelong smoker, and Parkinson's disease.

His symptoms were especially severe during the filming of Edward Scissorhands, making it necessary to cut his filming schedule short.

Vincent died of lung cancer on October 25, 1993, at UCLA Medical Center at the age of 82.

His remains were cremated, and his ashes scattered off Point Dume in Malibu, California.

68 8

REFORD GARDENS | LES JARDINS DE METIS

Coucher de soleil, Sainte-Flavie.

Visit : www.refordgardens.com/

Photo taken close to REFORD GARDENS. (Sainte-Flavie)

Mrs Elsie Reford loved those beautiful sunsets.

Reference: Elsie's Paradise, The Reford Gardens, Alexander Reford, 2004, ISBN 2-7619-1921-1, That book is a must for Reford Gardens lovers!

''I shall always, all my life, want to come back to those sunsets.'' Elsie Reford, July 20, 1913. (page 25)

" It is just after 8 o'clock and I am sitting in front of my big window with the gorgeous panorama of a glorious afterglow from a perfect sunset. There is every hue of blue on the water of 'the Blue Lagoon' while Pointe-aux-Cenelles is bathed in pink and crimson and the dark hills of the north shore seem no further than two or three miles distant. I don't think in the whole world at this moment there could be anything more beautiful." Elsie Reford, June 2, 1931. (page 81)

Beautiful flowers at Reford Gardens.

''One thing I can do that no one else can is to pass the love that I feel for this place and this woman'' Alexander Reford

Visit : www.refordgardens.com/

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

From Wikipedia:

Elsie Stephen Meighen - born January 22, 1872, Perth, Ontario - and Robert Wilson Reford - born in 1867, Montreal - got married on June 12, 1894.

Elsie Reford was a pioneer of Canadian horticulture, creating one of the largest private gardens in Canada on her estate, Estevan Lodge in eastern Québec. Located in Grand-Métis on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, her gardens have been open to the public since 1962 and operate under the name Les Jardins de Métis and Reford Gardens.

Born January 22, 1872 at Perth, Ontario, Elsie Reford was the eldest of three children born to Robert Meighen and Elsie Stephen. Coming from modest backgrounds themselves, Elsie’s parents ensured that their children received a good education. After being educated in Montreal, she was sent to finishing school in Dresden and Paris, returning to Montreal fluent in both German and French, and ready to take her place in society.

She married Robert Wilson Reford on June 12, 1894. She gave birth to two sons, Bruce in 1895 and Eric in 1900. Robert and Elsie Reford were, by many accounts, an ideal couple. In 1902, they built a house on Drummond Street in Montreal. They both loved the outdoors and they spend several weeks a year in a log cabin they built at Lac Caribou, south of Rimouski. In the autumn they hunted for caribou, deer, and ducks. They returned in winter to ski and snowshoe. Elsie Reford also liked to ride. She had learned as a girl and spent many hours riding on the slopes of Mount Royal. And of course, there was salmon-fishing – a sport at which she excelled.

In her day, she was known for her civic, social, and political activism. She was engaged in philanthropic activities, particularly for the Montreal Maternity Hospital and she was also the moving force behind the creation of the Women’s Canadian Club of Montreal, the first women club in Canada. She believed it important that the women become involved in debates over the great issues of the day, « something beyond the local gossip of the hour ». Her acquaintance with Lord Grey, the Governor-General of Canada from 1904 to 1911, led to her involvement in organizing, in 1908, Québec City’s tercentennial celebrations. The event was one of many to which she devoted herself in building bridges with French-Canadian community.

During the First World War, she joined her two sons in England and did volunteer work at the War Office, translating documents from German into English. After the war, she was active in the Victorian Order of Nurses, the Montreal Council of Social Agencies, and the National Association of Conservative Women.

In 1925 at the age of 53 years, Elsie Reford was operated for appendicitis and during her convalescence, her doctor counselled against fishing, fearing that she did not have the strength to return to the river.”Why not take up gardening?” he said, thinking this a more suitable pastime for a convalescent woman of a certain age. That is why she began laying out the gardens and supervising their construction. The gardens would take ten years to build, and would extend over more than twenty acres.

Elsie Reford had to overcome many difficulties in bringing her garden to life. First among them were the allergies that sometimes left her bedridden for days on end. The second obstacle was the property itself. Estevan was first and foremost a fishing lodge. The site was chosen because of its proximity to a salmon river and its dramatic views – not for the quality of the soil.

To counter-act nature’s deficiencies, she created soil for each of the plants she had selected, bringing peat and sand from nearby farms. This exchange was fortuitous to the local farmers, suffering through the Great Depression. Then, as now, the gardens provided much-needed work to an area with high unemployment. Elsie Reford’s genius as a gardener was born of the knowledge she developed of the needs of plants. Over the course of her long life, she became an expert plantsman. By the end of her life, Elsie Reford was able to counsel other gardeners, writing in the journals of the Royal Horticultural Society and the North American Lily Society. Elsie Reford was not a landscape architect and had no training of any kind as a garden designer. While she collected and appreciated art, she claimed no talents as an artist.

Elsie Stephen Reford died at her Drummond Street home on November 8, 1967 in her ninety-sixth year.

In 1995, the Reford Gardens ("Jardins de Métis") in Grand-Métis were designated a National Historic Site of Canada, as being an excellent Canadian example of the English-inspired garden.(Wikipedia)

Visit : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsie_Reford

LES JARDINS DE MÉTIS

Créés par Elsie Reford de 1926 à 1958, ces jardins témoignent de façon remarquable de l’art paysager à l’anglaise. Disposés dans un cadre naturel, un ensemble de jardins exhibent fleurs vivaces, arbres et arbustes. Le jardin des pommetiers, les rocailles et l’Allée royale évoquent l’œuvre de cette dame passionnée d’horticulture. Agrémenté d’un ruisseau et de sentiers sinueux, ce site jouit d’un microclimat favorable à la croissance d’espèces uniques au Canada. Les pavots bleus et les lis, privilégiés par Mme Reford, y fleurissent toujours et contribuent , avec d’autres plantes exotiques et indigènes, à l’harmonie de ces lieux.

Created by Elsie Reford between 1926 and 1958, these gardens are an inspired example of the English art of the garden. Woven into a natural setting, a series of gardens display perennials, trees and shrubs. A crab-apple orchard, a rock garden, and the Long Walk are also the legacy of this dedicated horticulturist. A microclimate favours the growth of species found nowhere else in Canada, while the stream and winding paths add to the charm. Elsie Reford’s beloved blue poppies and lilies still bloom and contribute, with other exotic and indigenous plants, to the harmony of the site.

Commission des lieux et monuments historiques du Canada

Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.

Gouvernement du Canada – Government of Canada

This photo and all those in my Photostream are protected by copyright. No one may reproduce, copy, transmit or manipulate them without my written permission.

Cave of Fire by Dave Coppedge

7 7

Having a little fun today in the Cima lava tube, East Mojave, known for its dramatic skylights. The red light was painted on, but the rest is natural light.

Kim Il-sung Square, Pyongyang, North Korea by Benoit Cappronnier

8

Kim Il-sung Square, Pyongyang, North Korea

The Kim Il-sung Square is located at the center of Pyongyang on the west bank of the Taedong river. It is similar in form and design to the Tiananmen Square in Beijing and is used for the same purposes. The Kim Il-sung Square is architecturally more refined with its dramatic riverside setting. If one stands in the square, the Tower of the Juche idea on the opposite bank appears to sit at the other end of the square, although it is actually across the river. The optical effect is achieved since the square is a few meters lower in the middle than near the waterside. Surrounding the square are a number of government buildings, with the Great People's Study House sitting at the "head" of the square.

It is the 30th largest square in the world, having an area of about 75,000 square meters (807,293 square feet) which can accommodate a rally of 100,000 people. Portraits of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-Il are on buildings surrounding the square. In the past, portraits of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin once hung on one side of the square until being removed in April 2012. To this day, the portraits have not been re-installed onto the facades of the square. The Grand People's Study House looks out onto the square and the river.

3 4

REFORD GARDENS | LES JARDINS DE METIS

GIANT HIMALAYAN LILY: up to 3.5 meters tall, flowers blossom about once every 7 years.

From Wikipedia:

Cardiocrinum giganteum, the giant Himalayan lily, is the largest species of any of the lily plants, growing up to 3.5 metres high. It is found in the Himalayas, China and Myanmar (Burma).

Two varieties are recognized.

C. giganteum var. giganteum - up to 3 metres tall, the outer part of the flower greenish and the inside streaked with purple - Tibet, Bhutan, Assam, Myanmar, Nepal, Sikkim

C. giganteum var. yunnanense - 1–2 metres tall, the outer part of the flower white and the inside streaked with purplish red - Myanmar, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan

The plant was first described scientifically in 1824 by Nathaniel Wallich. The species was introduced into commercial production (as Lilium giganteum) in Britain in the 1850s. A bulb grown from seed collected by Major Madden flowered in Edinburgh in July 1852, while those collected by Thomas Lobb were first exhibited in flower in May 1853.

See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiocrinum_giganteum