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The rusted furnace stacks of the furnaces of the former Bethlehem Steel Plant in Bethlehem Pennsylvania that are part of a 10-acre campus encompasses what once were the main furnaces of the second largest steel producer in the United States at one time. A grass roots efforts has kept these historic and iconic stacks intact, a historic monument to a company that invented the I-beam, supplied much of the steel early in the Twentieth Century the skyscrapers of New York City and built over 1,100 warships for both World Wars. While some of the property including Bethlehem Steet Headquarters are the amazing furnaces still remain they have built an entertainment venue amongst other uses to maintain the history of one of the industrial revolutions most prolific companies. #developportdev @gothamtomato @developphotonewsletter @omsystem.cameras #excellent_america #omsystem @bheventspace @bhphoto @adorama @tamracphoto @tiffencompany #usaprimeshot #tamractales @kehcamera @mpbcom @visitpennsylvania @visitbethlehem @steelstacks_pa #omd #microfourthirds #micro43 #micro43photography #olympus
While I maintain the opinion that you can make a good photograph any day of the year -- or time of day for that matter -- when it comes to winter the most exciting time to go out photographing is definitely right after a fresh snowfall, especially when the precipitation is sticky and the wind is low, leaving the tree branches smothered in snow.
One of the exciting things about winter compared to the other seasons, is the unpredictable schedule for optimal conditions. In Fall, we have a general idea when peak foliage will hit. In Spring it's the same with the timeline for when the trees will bud and the flowers will bloom. And while you can make plenty of quality photographs before and after optimal conditions, those peak days come and go. But in winter, there is no set schedule. You never know when the next storm is around the corner, so that excitement lasts all season.
I made this photograph here on a walk with the baby at a nearby pond the morning after a particularly sticky snowstorm. While the skies were initially clouded over, by the time we got back to the car the sun had broken through and a lot of the snow was falling down from the branches.
The castle ruins are owned & maintained by the National Trust & open to visitors. This is especially interesting to children as special events like re-enactment of past battles take place
The first stone of Corfe Castle was laid more than 1,000 years ago. Since then it’s seen its fair share of battles, mysteries and plots. It’s been a treasury, military garrison, royal residence and family home.
The keep was built in the early 12th century for King Henry I, William the Conqueror’s son. It was designed to be impressive – and it certainly was. Standing 21m tall and on the top of a 55m high hill, this gleaming tower of Purbeck limestone could be seen from miles around.
After a brief period of confiscation, the castle was handed back to the Bankes family and remained in their ownership for three and a half centuries.
In 1982 Ralph Bankes gave it to the National Trust along with the family's extensive holdings in Purbeck, their mansion at Kingston Lacy near Wimborne and its adjoining land. The Bankes estate was one of the most generous gifts in the Trust's history.
Most of info from the NT site.
What was once so common but seemed to disappear almost overnight were the various vintage railroad sheds and shanties that one could easily find trackside in towns and cities everywhere.
I didn’t take the time to photograph them nearly as much as I should have, but I did on this particular occasion back in late September of the year 1986 along the Soo Line in Marshfield, Wisconsin. – What I did neglect to do that day however was to look more closely for markings or a car number that may have still showed on the worn paint to be able to attempt a bit of history tracing, I bet this retired box car hauled a lot of freight back in the day.
For the purpose of creating a maintainers shack, this old outside-braced wooden car had windows and a doorway cut in, a stove added for heat, and you can see that at one time it even had an electric power hook-up for interior lights.
Of course this shanty disappeared decades ago, and this area along the now Canadian National mainline in Marshfield has changed so much that its difficult for me to place the exact location this relic was even located, my best guess is near N. Vine Avenue or Ash Avenue there in town. – September 27th, 1986 ~~ A Jeff Hampton Photograph ©
The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See, otherwise known as Seville Cathedral. Originally conceived as a Mosque, work began in 1172. Allowing for the regular working naps known as siesta and the unfortunate habit of the dome collapsing onto surprised and presumably disappointed onlookers, construction in various major forms continued at a modest pace until 1903. Arguably, work continues today with the exterior being cleaned and maintained during my most recent visit in 2023.
To my mind the purpose of these epic and opulent god-barns was to install belief and fear by scale.
The red cliffs of Capitol Reef tower above the well maintained homestead in Fruita, Utah. Once one of the most isolated communities in the U.S., Fruita (formerly known as "Junction") is now HQ for the National Park Service, who maintain fruit orchards and a few of the old buildings. The campground is one of the most scenic in the NPS system, just a stones throw behind this scene. The park is a great example of how human impact on the landscape is nicely blended in with the surroundings, with "historical" orchards adjacent to 1500+ year old petroglyph panels, just below the cliffs of the reef.
#4
This impressive church is located just outside Nethy Bridge. The Old Kirk was purchased from the Church of Scotland by the Abernethy Old Kirk Association (AOKA) in April 2011, a group formed to preserve and maintain the building for weddings, funerals and occasional worship for the benefit of the community. The church is well preserved and the grounds well looked after.
Serving the popular tourist suburb of Arashiyama in western Kyoto is the Hankyu Railway's Arashiyama Line. This short local line connects Katsura Station with the namesake city and is served by these 1970's era 6000 Series EMU's every 10 minutes. Another aspect of this line that is noticeable is not just how well maintained and clean their trains are, but their lineside infrastructure as well. Silver riveted catenary gantries and silver signals with finials; how retro!
The "Handsome Railway" living up to its name, that's for sure.
Hankyu Electric Railway; Arashiyama Line
Hankyu 6000 Series
Arashiyama Hinokamicho, Nishikyo Ward, Kyoto
PANCHET Dam Maintained by DAMODAR VALLEY CORPORATION (DVC) over DAMODAR River During the Winter Season in a Bright Afternoon. Tourists Visit the Dam Situated in WEST BENGAL (PURULIA) - JHARKHAND (DHANBAD) Border Mostly in Monsoon and Winter. Though scenes of Water release from Dam during Monsoon Attracts more than Winter. Tourists Enjoy Boating Ride Facility on the River Which is Exquisite.
esterday we visited Railway Museum in Chennai.Very first impression of me is that takes me to my age of 10 to 20 years.
It took me 5 minutes to recover back to normal position as I gone back many years and was travelling from TPJ to Egmore on seeing the locomotives in the picture.
All the trains from south had been pulled by the YP or YG class Steam Locomotives up to Villuppuram then by Electric Locomotives to Chennai.
The 6.25-acre museum has technical and heritage exhibits, with a sizable collection of steam engines from the British period to Indian made.
It is impressive to note that the museum is well maintained one adorned with old beauties in showroom conditions.
One should not forget to appreciate Sathis kumar. S.K Section Engineer and in charge of the museum, also photo artist and trekker by passion, for his dedicated service making the museum more attractive and interesting with gardening and cleanliness.
Of the maintained gorges in the area, Havana Glen is one of the shortest, with about 1-2 minutes hike on the trail leading to this waterfall. What I especially like about this falls is that, unlike places like Buttermilk Falls and Watkins Glen, the end of the trail at the falls leaves you free to explore where to set up. You aren't stuck with one composition by angry signs and stone walls. This was also definitely one of the more graceful and elegant falls in the area.
The high retail value of saffron is maintained on world markets because of labour-intensive harvesting methods, which require some 440,000 hand-picked saffron stigmas per kilogram (200,000 stigmas/lb) – equivalently, 150,000 crocus flowers per kilogram (70,000 flowers/lb). Forty hours of labour are needed to pick 150,000 flowers.
One freshly picked crocus flower yields on average 30 mg of fresh saffron or 7 mg dried; roughly 150 flowers yield 1 g (1⁄32 oz) of dry saffron threads; to produce 12 g (7⁄16 oz) of dried saffron, 450 g (1 lb) of flowers are needed; the yield of dried spice from fresh saffron is only 13 g/kg (0.2 oz/lb).
6/18 Objekt Marciena (LV)
i.mycdn.me/image?id=174815482783&t=0&plc=WEB&...
The monster, they started with:
Maintaining track speed, WAMX 4174 leads the pack as T6 sweeps through photogenic downtown Edgerton.
Edgerton, WI
2022.06.24
This garden, maintained by the City of Toronto is just across from the Humber Bay Lighthouse and I have photographed it many times.
Thanks for visiting, stay healthy and hopeful. #BeKind
La Mussara, Tarragona (Spain).
EnFoCa: 2ª KDD - "Los Castillejos" i La Mussara [22/03/2009].
ENGLISH
La Mussara is a town in Tarragona that has been left about 50 years ago. It is on the edge of a cornice of the Muntanyes de Prades, at 990m. height, and thence there are spectacular views of all Tarragona.
It appears mentioned in documents in 1173 where it states that the town already was inhabited. The church of La Mussara appears mentioned in a bull of Celestine III in 1194. The temple maintained the category of parish until in 1534 it passed to depend on the one on Vilaplana. Nowadays about the church of San Salvador, built on the previous one of gothic style, it only left the four walls and the bell tower of 1859. As peculiar things of this town, it was named ranas to its inhabitants because when it rained a little, it formed a great pool in the only street of the town. Also from here it comes the Catalan saying “baixar de La Mussara” (to lower of La Mussara), equivalent to the Castilian “bajar de la higuera” or “bajar de la parra”.
The Mussara gave up exist officially in January 1960, and nobody knows so that of its depopulation. It is attributed mainly to the phylloxera plague, but that is not a zone in which the culture of the grapevine is important, reason why almost surely that the abandonment could have to the water shortage... or simply that the population was scattered and there they lacked the more basic things like a doctor, a rector, electricity or telephone. All this halo of mystery in the disappearance of the town and the place in which it has given cause to a series of histories and legend that borders the fantasy and the superstition, cataloguing La Mussara like a “damn town”.
Inside the church and in the cemetery black masses are celebrated. Proof of it is the esoteric symbols that sometimes appear painted in the walls. In many corners of the town also they are deposited branches of flowers. There is one who has heard helmets of horses in the neighborhood of the church, or even chimes of the same church (that does not have bell). There is people who say to feel a species of call that it impels to him to go to La Mussara. A friend mine, who is neighboring of the zone, commented me that some years ago a man raised in his car, stopped minutes next to the pool, and soon he went at full speed to the precipice of the viewpoint.
Some hikers who have themselves bold to spend the night there have seen luminous shades, or figures moving between the houses and losing themselves behind the trees. Even there are witnesses of UFO sightings. But in which they agree more most of phenomena it is in the cold fog that appears suddenly and that it disorients people immersed in her, in such a way that what for them can seem minutes, soon they discover in its clocks that have spent hours. The electrical apparatuses also are altered.
From remote times to well entered 20th century, that zone has been land of witches. It counts the legend that during the carlists wars soldiers went to the cemetery of La Mussara to unearth a carlist general called Cercós (really Isidre Pàmies i Borràs, named general for a reason or purpose posthumous by Carlos VII) to shoot it (or to hang it, according to other sources), although already was dead. The fog confused to them and unearthed and shot the body of a old witch (l'àvia Boronada). This caused that the fog thickened still more to his around and that the soldiers fled terrified when occurring account of the error. One tells that this unleashed a curse on them.
Another legend talks about a rock near, which who steps on it or it jumps it passes to a parallel dimension, “Vila del Sis” (Town of the Six). It is know the case of a pair of “boletaires” (pickers of mushrooms) that went by the zone looking for mushrooms in October 1991. They were speaking one with another one calmly, watching the ground, when one of them, Enrique Martinez Ortiz, it let respond, and until now it has not been known nothing else about him. He was neighboring of the place and he perfectly knew the land, reason why doubt that was had lost. Searches by the zone were organized during days, with the participation of soldiers of a close barracks, with unfruitful result.
It is all truth or lie, which is clear is that La Mussara is a place surrounded by natural beauty by its landscape, and of mystery by its undocumented history.
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CASTELLANO
La Mussara es un pueblo de Tarragona que lleva unos 50 años abandonado. Está al borde de una cornisa de las Muntanyes de Prades, a unos 990m. de altura, y desde allí hay unas vistas espectaculares de toda Tarragona.
Aparece citado en documentos de 1173 donde consta que el pueblo estaba ya habitado. La iglesia de La Mussara aparece citada en un bula de Celestino III de 1194. El templo mantuvo la categoría de parroquia hasta que en 1534 pasó a depender de la de Vilaplana. Hoy en día de la iglesia de San Salvador, construída sobre la anterior de estilo gótico, sólo quedan las cuatro paredes y el campanario de 1859. Como cosas curiosa de este pueblo, a sus habitantes se les llamaba ranas porque cuando llovía un poco se formaba una gran charca en la única calle del pueblo. También de aquí proviene el dicho catalán "baixar de la Mussara" (bajar de la Mussara), equivalente al castellano "bajar de la higuera" o "bajar de la parra".
La Mussara dejó de existir oficialmente en enero de 1960, y nadie sabe el por qué de su despoblación. Se atribuye principalmente a la plaga de filoxera, pero aquella no es una zona en que el cultivo de la vid sea importante, por lo que casi seguro que el abandono se pudo deber a la escasez de agua... o simplemente que la población ya estaba muy diseminada y allí faltaban las cosas más básicas, como médico, rector, electricidad o teléfono. Todo este halo de misterio en la desaparición del pueblo y el lugar en que se encuentra han dado pie una serie de historias y leyendas que rozan la fantasía y la superstición, catalogando La Mussara como "pueblo maldito".
En el interior de la iglesia y en el cementerio se celebran misas negras. Prueba de ello son los símbolos esotéricos que a veces aparecen pintados por las paredes. En muchos rincones del pueblo también se encuentran depositados ramos de flores. Hay quien ha oído cascos de caballos en los alrededores de la iglesia, o incluso campanadas de la misma iglesia (que no tiene campana). Hay gente que dice sentir una especie de llamada que le impulsa a ir a La Mussara. Un amigo mío, que es vecino de la zona, me comentó que no hace muchos años un hombre subió en su coche, se detuvo unos minutos al lado de la charca, y luego se dirigió a toda velocidad al barranco del mirador.
Algunos excursionistas que se han atrevido a pasar la noche allí han visto sombras, o figuras luminosas moviéndose entre las casas y perdiéndose tras los árboles. Incluso hay testigos de avistamientos OVNI. Pero en lo que más coinciden la mayoría de fenómenos es en la fría niebla que aparece de repente y que desorienta a los que se ven inmersos en ella, de tal modo que lo que para ellos pueden parecer minutos, luego descubren en sus relojes que han pasado horas. Los aparatos eléctricos también se ven alterados.
Desde tiempos remotos hasta bien entrado el siglo XX, aquella zona ha sido tierra de brujas. Cuenta la leyenda que durante las guerras carlistas unos soldados fueron al cementerio de La Mussara a desenterrar a un general carlista llamado Cercós (realmente Isidre Pàmies i Borràs nombrado general a título póstumo por Carlos VII) para fusilarlo (o colgarlo, según otras fuentes), aunque ya estuviera muerto. La niebla les confundió y desenterraron y fusilaron el cuerpo de una anciana bruja (l'àvia Boronada). Esto provocó que la niebla se espesara aún más a su alrededor y que los soldados huyeran despavoridos al darse cuenta del error. Se cuenta que esto desató una maldición sobre ellos.
Otra leyenda habla de una roca cercana, que quien la pisa o la salta pasa a una dimensión paralela, a la "Vila del Sis" (Villa del Seis). Se conoce el caso de una pareja de "boletaires" (recolectores de setas) que iban por la zona buscando setas en octubre de 1991. Iban hablando uno con otro tranquilamente, mirando al suelo, cuando uno de ellos, Enrique Martínez Ortiz, dejó de responder, y hasta ahora no se ha sabido nada más de él. Era vecino del lugar y se conocía perfectamente el terreno, por lo que se duda que se hubiera perdido. Se organizaron batidas por la zona durante días, con la participación de soldados de un cuartel próximo, con resultado infructuoso.
Sea todo ello verdad o mentira, lo que está claro es que La Mussara es un lugar rodeado de belleza natural por su paisaje, y de misterio por su historia indocumentada.
Más info: ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Mussara, www.franrecio.com/investigaciones/la_mussara_pueblo_maldi...
Trev, Zak and I went to Kingsbury Water Park on this beautiful, warm, springlike day. From there, we walked uphill to Kingsbury Parish Church, a beautiful, ancient building. The churchyard was wonderful - the best I've ever seen, so well maintained. The churchyard's maintenance man is in hospital - GET WELL SOON!. This Cedar of Lebanon was a wonderful sight. Couldn't resist taking a photo. So stately and magnificent.
The name Kingsbury is derived from the Saxon 'Chinesburie' meaning 'royal fortified house' or 'Kings Fort'. The 'bury' part of the name means 'fort' or 'defensive work'. The location of the church and remains of a medieval home (Kingsbury Hall) above the river suggest a good location for a 'defensive' work. Kingsbury Hall (or Bracebridge Hall as it was their family home for many years) is now only part lived in as a farmhouse. It was a fortified manor house and the remains of a curtain wall can still be seen. Kingsbury was founded by the same Angles tribe that established Curdworth and Minworth.
The village is mentioned in the Domesday survey. Two priests are recorded, so the church must have existed. So is Hemlingford Mill, which still exists. It was originally a water mill, used for many purposes including milling corn into flour and grinding gun barrels for muskets during the Napoleonic Wars. Later it was used as a garden centre. A bridge was built across the River Tame near to the mill in 1783. This was single carriageway so traffic lights were installed later on, until it was bypassed by a new road to serve the oil terminal in the 1960s. The centre section of the old bridge was swept away by a flash flood in the early 1980s and was replaced with modern concrete. It is now used for pedestrians only.
In 1473-4 during the Wars of the Roses there was a family dispute involving the Bracebridges and their distant relations, the Ardens (William Shakespeare's maternal ancestors) of Park Hall in Castle Bromwich. John Arden had fallen in love with Alice Bracebridge. John's father, Sir Walter, did not approve. John was kidnapped and taken to Bracebridge Hall. Sir Walter appealed to King Edward IV, who appointed Sir Simon de Montford of Coleshill and Sir Richard Bingham of Middleton to arbitrate. John and Alice were married in February 1474. In 1502 John inherited Park Hall in Castle Bromwich, while his younger brother Thomas settled at Wilmcote near Stratford upon Avon. Thomas had a son Robert, who was the father of Mary Arden, William Shakespeare's mother.
The stones of the church porch show evidence of arrow-sharpening grooves, sometimes said to have been done by soldiers but more probably by hunting parties or locals waiting their turn for the nearby village butts, as all males had to be proficient with a longbow.
Until the 19th century Kingsbury was a small hamlet, and the main landowner in the area was the Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel. The Birmingham and Derby Railway was built through Kingsbury in 1839 and industry was soon established, most notably coal mining and gravel extraction, which fuelled the expansion of the village.
May 14th, 2021 2:00PM
High of 80 degrees Fahrenheit
77 degrees Fahrenheit at capture
One of two coachwhips found, both having recently mated. They were loosely coiled underneath a palmetto in a well maintained pine forest. It was a warm and mostly sunny day, following several days of rain. Both snakes upon capture were extremely defensive, eventually striking all three of our group in the face. The male eventually escaped during pictures and the female was released shortly thereafter.
Mississippi
España - Málaga - El caminito del Rey
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC1W96UTycE
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjcZGvytKaU
www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3xVf_0f49Q
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ENGLISH:
The Gorge Desfiladero de los Gaitanes is a natural beauty spot, placed in the centre of the province, between the towns of Alora, Antequera and Ardales. This is one of the most beautiful spots of the Malaga Mountains. Between its steep and considerably high walls, the River Guadalhorce flows, after having passed through the reservoirs El Chorro (The Spurt), Guadalhorce, Guadalteba and Gaitanejo.
The Gaitanes Gorge is a canyon, carved by the river Guadalhorce in the territory of Álora, which at some points is only 10 meters wide and 700 meters deep. The nothern access to it is via Guadalhorce reservoirs and the southern is via El Chorro.
The construction of a water channel from the reservoirs in the north to El Chorro, which was meant to make the most of the slope in a hydroelectric power station, was carried out together with a path for maintaining the channel. This one is known as El Caminito del Rey Path (The Kings’s Little Pathway) because it was first opened by King Alfonso XIII in 1921. This path, about 3 kilometers long, has just been refurbished, and it goes along vertical walls and a footbridge over the gorge on the same waterway.
Until the arrival of the High Speed Train (AVE), the gorge was the only rail access to Málaga from the inland part of Andalusia, with a long tunnel in the east wall of the gorge. Today, there is another tunnel located one kilometer east, under Huma Mountain, used as an access by high-speed rail.
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ESPAÑOL:
El Paraje Natural Desfiladero de los Gaitanes se encuentra en el centro de la provincia de Málaga, entre los municipios de Álora, Antequera y Ardales. Constituye uno de los paisajes más espectaculares de la sierra malagueña, con paredes escarpadas y de altura considerable, entre las que discurre el río Guadalhorce después de pasar por los embalses de El Chorro, Guadalhorce, Guadalteba y Gaitanejo.
El Desfiladero de los Gaitanes es un cañón excavado por el río Guadalhorce en el término municipal de Álora, con acceso desde el norte por los embalses del Guadalhorce y desde el sur por El Chorro, que en algunos puntos sólo tiene 10 metros de anchura y que alcanza los 700 metros de profundidad.
La construcción de un canal de agua desde los embalses del norte hasta El Chorro para aprovechar aquí el desnivel en una central hidroeléctrica, llevó aparejado un camino de mantenimiento de dicho canal, conocido como Caminito del Rey porque la obra fue inaugurada por el rey Alfonso XIII en 1921. Este camino (lo que se conoce como las pasarelas), de unos 3 kilómetros de longitud, acaba de ser restaurado, y discurre entre paredes verticales y un puente en el mismo desfiladero sobre el canal de agua.
Hasta la llegada del AVE, el desfiladero era el único acceso ferroviario a Málaga capital desde el interior de Andalucía, con un largo túnel excavado en la pared este del desfiladero. En la actualidad existe otro túnel situado a un kilómetro al este, bajo la Peña Huma, para el acceso ferroviario de alta velocidad.
Looking at some of my old photos from our trip to Scotland. I have seen many images of this scene and decided to add mine to the collection.
The Lagangarbh Cottage is owned by the National Trust for Scotland and is maintained by the Scottish Mountaineering Club, providing accommodations for members and guests.
Germany, Mainau, … a peaceful "place”, near to the shore & the city of Konstanz is the location of island Mainau in Lake Constance, opposite to the shore of the City of Überlingen. It is maintained as a garden island & a model of excellent environmental practices. The island can be reached via a bridge & has a jetty for ferries.
Dahlia, there are over 40 species of dahlia, with hybrids commonly grown as garden plants. The majority types do not produce fragrant flowers, like most plants that do not attract pollinating insects through scent, they are brightly coloured, displaying most hues, with the exception of blue.
Spaniards reported finding the plants growing in Mexico in 1525, in 1787 the French botanist Nicolas-Joseph Thiéry de Menonville, sent to Mexico to steal the cochineal insect valued for its scarlet dye.
In 1963 the dahlia was declared the national flower of Mexico. The tubers were grown as a food crop by the Aztecs, attempts to introduce the tubers as a food crop in Europe were unsuccessful.
Due to the for Germany unusual advantageous climate on the island at the lake the island is called the "Flowering Island". Famous for its parks & gardens with even full-grown palm trees, cypresses & countless other Mediterranean plants, partly even tropical vegetation can grow on the drop-shaped island.
The Plants & flower-beds with are constantly renewed by the gardeners, not only the over approximately 20,000 dahlia bushes Rhododendrons of 180 different species, Azaleas or the Italian rose garden, strictly geometric, consisting of pergolas, sculptures fountains, over 1200 kinds of roses can be found on the island.
A million daffodils, hyacinth, tulips, 500-year-old wild roses & more than 30,000 other rose bushes, also palm trees & citrus fruits grow here, the palms go into the greenhouse over the winter, with a changing climate soon maybe it will not be necessary anymore.
But that has nothing to do with the island's sometimes claimed tropical climate; the lake does level out temperatures & acts a little as central heating in winter because it has stored summer heat.
But above all, the art of the skilled gardeners & their work on the Mainau making this island so unique.
👉 One World one Dream,
🙏...Danke, Xièxie 谢谢, Thanks, Gracias, Merci, Grazie, Obrigado, Arigatô, Dhanyavad, Chokrane to you & over
17 million visits in my photostream with countless motivating comments
www.massage-southampton.co.uk/sports-massage-information..... you’re athletic, it is an Ideal aid to recovery from injury as well as helping prevent injuries, Sports Massage promotes faster recovery after competing or training and maintains a healthy musculoskeletal system by supporting not just the muscles but the ligaments, joints and tendons.
Starting the New Year with the first collage for January.
The new year never seems to really be here until the first month is over - possibly because it takes me that long to stop writing 2018 and having to correct myself ;o) This January I've done my usual mix of landscape, macro B+W, and still-life. I've also been using a variety of camera lenses (something that is hard to maintain when winter keeps me indoors a lot) - so a mix of Lensbaby, Russian lenses, macro and zoom and my trusty 'pocket rocket' the RX100. And I've started using the iPhone camera for the first time. All I need now is more hours in the day, and boundless energy to go with it ;o)
At a glance: At a Glance
Maintaining utilities in "old towns" can be a tricky process when you don't want to damage buildings that are over 500 years old.
During the 13th and 14th centuries, Honiton flourished as a market town, benefiting from its strategic location along the busy Exeter to London road.
"During the first months on Atlas, we marked out mining fields and progressively established outposts close to each field, to operate and maintain the harvesters from. My parents were stationed at one of those outposts for maintenance duty. For the remaining years of my scholarship in The Ring, before joining service as a drone operator on the sun-side, I only saw them on rare occasions. One of those was the regular medical check they would undergo, as traces of the raw materials on the machinery they were taking care of could be toxic despite all protective equipment. Our med staff quickly discovered that, curiously, not everyone reacted to such exposure.
After refining the resources, command launched unmanned carriers in closely spaced intervals towards other star systems controlled by the confederation. Given Atlas' thin atmosphere and comparably low mass, our engineers had developed highly efficient launch systems early on, halving our colony's fuel expenses for exports. The saved budget was partially redirected towards local causes, the majority however was shoved into the pockets of the Confederation."
Part III of ATLAS, a collaboration hosted in The Workshop.
This scene, like all in this series, was captured entirely in camera. Screen background with complementary light on the left; brickbuilt forced perspective foreground.
Let me know what you think!
The cutting-edge technology that keeps the Silverstone motor racing track in tip-top condition could be coming to Croydon. John Bownas spoke to the team hoping to bring it here.
Pot holes – we all hate ‘em, and Croydon certainly has its share.
But now, the borough’s highways team is taking a lead from the people responsible for maintaining Silverstone’s grand prix circuit.
New technology that is good enough for the world’s top racing drivers is being tested in Croydon to see if it is up to the council’s exacting standards.
If trials are successful, the infrared-powered Nu-Phalt repair system could become invaluable to Croydon’s road repair crews who would be the first in London to realise its potential benefits.
Apart from a significant possible cost saving, the biggest advantages that the new technique has over traditional methods are:
•speed: a typical 1 square metre repair can be completed in just 20 minutes; currently, the same job takes considerably longer, and would be only a temporary fix;
•durability: the infra-red triggered thermal bonding means that patch repairs are far more permanent and blend seamlessly into the surrounding road surface;
•environmentally friendly: the process starts by recycling the existing macadam and needs only a small amount of new material to top off the repair.
The council has recently announced a multi-million pound investment project to resurface many of its roads.
However, there will always be a need for fast and efficient repairs in those cases where small patches of tarmac work loose.
This can happen at any time of the year – although it is usually after spells of wet or cold weather that these small holes open up to create a real headache for motorists and cyclists.
In total, the council’s emergency repairs operation currently costs about £560k every year in manpower and materials – and that’s not including the money that is budgeted separately for the major road resurfacing schemes that we will be seeing a lot more of over the next few years.
Steve Iles is the council’s head of highways, and he knows better than anyone else in the borough just how big a task it is to stay on top of the thousands of road repairs that his teams have to carry out every year.
Talking to Your Croydon about this mammoth job and his hopes for the promising high-tech solution, he first ran through some of the big numbers involved.
“We’ve got nearly 3,000 roads in Croydon, and these all get inspected by the council at least twice a year.
“We look out for any problems that might have arisen since the last visit – and particularly any new holes or cracks that could pose a hazard.
“Since January our system’s logged nearly 5,000 new reports from both streetscene inspectors and those members of the public who phone or email to tell us about possible problems.”
In that same time we’ve managed to fill in or repair about 9,800 – but there’s still around 8,600 that we know about waiting to be fixed.
“That takes a lot of doing,” continued Steve, “I’ve got six full-time staff who spend the majority of their day out doing this sort of work.
“And when they can’t do road repairs, because of snow and ice, they drive the gritting lorries to try to keep the roads clear.”
Tony Whyatt is the highways engineer whose research into improved technology solutions has led to the trial of the Nu-Phalt system.
“I’m really optimistic about how this will save us time and money.
“We reuse most of the existing road material on-site and need to add only a small amount of fresh material to each repair.
“There’s no noisy compressors, and the system cuts the number of vehicles and staff involved in each repair.
“We also minimise disruption to traffic – which is good for drivers – and these repairs can be driven over again almost immediately they’re finished.”
Indeed, driving away from our meeting with Tony we drove over a number of holes that had just been filled – and the first thing we noticed was that we didn’t notice them at all.
The repaired road was as smooth as the day it was originally laid.
There are some outdoor buildings here at South Pole to maintain the vehicles, which we have here. This garage type building can host a dozer or tractor.
Samburu National Reserve
Kenya
East Africa
Elephants are a keystone species. It means they create and maintain the ecosystems in which they live and make it possible for a myriad of plant and animal species to live in those environments as well. The loss of elephants gravely affects many species that depend on elephant-maintained ecosystems and causes major habitat chaos and a weakening to the structure and diversity of nature itself. To lose the elephant is to lose an environmental caretaker and an animal from which we have much to learn.
Only a bell and a bird break the silence…
It seems that the two talk with the setting sun.
Golden colored silence, the afternoon is made of crystals.
A roving purity sways the cool trees,
And beyond all that,
A transparent river dreams that trampling over pearls
It breaks loose
And flows into infinity.
Hora Inmensa – Juan Ramon Jimenez