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We managed to get to the Lake District for the Easter weekend. We were open at work on Good Friday so I had to be in at work for a couple of hours and didn’t set off until 9.00am. We had a quick café stop and then jumped on the M62. It took us until 2.00pm to get to Langdale. We crawled up the M61 and M6, reminding me why we used to avoid Bank Holiday traffic. Although staying in Ambleside we drove to Langdale to get a couple of hours walking in. Langdale was packed but we found a place to park at the foot of the pass up to Blea Tarn. We headed up Pike of Blisco – against a steady stream of walkers descending at this time in the afternoon. I didn’t bother taking photos to any great extent, it wasn’t great light, windy and the appalling weekend forecast had depressed me – this was supposed to be the best day and it was nearly over. After a nice settled spell, possibly the first in the north of England this winter (now officially British Summertime) heavy rain and gales were coming our way apparently.
Each morning I studied the maps trying to second guess the light, wind and crowds. On Saturday it was initially dry, much to our surprise, we parked in Coniston and set off up Walna Scar Road. It’s a long steep drag to the top of the pass, the cloud was down and thick, the wind was getting extreme as we got higher – and we didn’t see a soul! We were heading over Brown Pike onto Dow Crag, we weren’t likely to get lost on a ridge. By now it was raining hard and the wind was making staying upright difficult. We slid off the rocky summit of Dow Crag on our backsides, the safest way. We dropped on to Goats Hause, the wind was screaming through and but I guessed there would be some shelter if we headed for the Old Man of Coniston. We met the first person of the day here, arriving at the summit just before him. There was still winter snow on north facing slopes but the wind wasn’t as bad as Dow Crag. It was grim, 30 metre visibility and there was very little point in staying on the tops as originally planned. Jayne was up for heading straight down the tourist track through the quarries. We have only ever ascended it before but we set off down at a trot, passing some fell runners along the way. There was a steady stream of Easter trippers heading up and judging by the questions we were asked on the way down they had little idea of what they were heading in to or how far they were from the summit, and all in appalling conditions. Lower down it was quite calm and many had little idea of the severity of the conditions on the tops. The countryside was rapidly waterlogging again after the belated dry spell.
Sunday brought more very heavy rain and gales on the tops. What looked like snow had accumulated on high ground overnight. It was actually several inches of hail and was horrible underfoot, like small wet marbles but trapping a lot of water on the lower slopes below the freezing line. We parked at Patterdale and walked across slopes that the recent floods had wreaked havoc on, with a lot of remedial work to be done this summer. The plan was to get to Boardale Hause and decide whether to go high – over Place Fell – or head in to Boardale and stay low by doing a circuit of Place Fell. It was raining hard and there was a howling gale but it was behind us, the cloud had lifted a bit so we went high. The summit plateau was a nightmare, covered in slippy, wet, slushy hail with the wind nearly blowing us over. We went north straight over the top and down the other side, the top was in thick cloud but the lower slopes were clear and we legged it off the fell, descending by Scalehow Force waterfall, which was in fine form with the heavy rain. We followed the path above the shores of Ullswater back to Patterdale. Another wet walk.
Monday saw us parked a mile or so south of yesterday’s parking place in Patterdale at Bridgend. With the weather being bad people weren’t out early, even on a bank holiday, so we didn’t have a problem parking. There wasn’t a plan, we were just making it up. Today looked promising, Storm Katie was battering the rest of the country but missed the north for a change. The tops were wintry, again it was hail accumulations not snow, on the high ground it was on very old lying snow and very difficult on steep descents. We decided to take the steady slopes of Hartsop above How to Hart Crag, on to Fairfield and then hopefully over Cofa Pike on to St Sunday Crag, Birks and finally Arnison Crag. This was just less than ten miles and it turned out to be a very tough five hours, exhausting, particularly after the three previous days. A large coastguard helicopter circled us repeatedly and finally landed on the path we were following to Hart Crag, we assumed it was on an exercise. The ground was frozen above 2500 feet and walking was easier as the snow/hail was load bearing and we could yomp on a bit. It was like midwinter with frequent squally whiteouts blasting in. The wind would pick up first lifting the frozen hail in a frozen spindrift that bounced along several feet high blasting our faces, this was followed by, what was more like frozen drizzle than snow, fine, but hard, we could feel it through our clothes it came at us that hard. I decided that we would head straight over Cofa Pike to St Sunday. A mistake with hindsight. The lake of footprints was the first bad sign but we were committed. We lived to tell the tale but Jayne had a bit of a near miss. The crag down to Cofa is steep and it was covered in hail on old snow, the layer of hail was shearing away from the underlying snow and we had to go down on out backsides, keeping a tight grip as we went. At one point Jayne failed to arrest a slide that was above a steep and deep drop. I had hold of her from a position in front of her and to her left and I was fairly well anchored so I felt in control and was sure of the outcome. From her point of view it was frightening and it subdued her for the rest of the walk. She had also ripped the outer lining of her Paramo waterproof trousers as well. Considering that we were going downhill it was hard going, every step a slip or a slide, with the underlying grass saturated and a thin layer of hail it was an unpleasant walk off the fell. At the end of Arnison Crag we took a pathless shortcut – that we swore we would never use again years ago – to save around twenty minutes of walking. This was the only day I had the camera out all day and had to cover it with a dryliner bag whenever a heavy shower came in. I also broke the lens hood. We drove to Keswick for afternoon coffee and toast at Brysons. The new Paramo store across the square was the next stop for new trousers. These Paramos had cost £85 14 years ago and they have just brought a new model out. We had two choices, The old model was reduced to…..£85 – after 14 years we could pay the same price or we could return the old trousers - cleaned – and get a £50 voucher towards the new model, which are £135, or £85 with the voucher. The old ones were ¾ of a mile away in the car – unwashed – so we bought the old model. Needless to say we had a couple of drinks in the Golden Rule in Ambleside every night before our tea.
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva participates in an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C. on June 22, 2020. IMF Photo/Cory Hancock
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva meets with General Manager of the Bank for International Settlements Agustín Carstens during the 2022 Spring Meetings at the International Monetary Fund.
IMF Photo/Allison Shelley
18 April 2022
Washington, DC, United States
Photo ref: 651A6778.jpg
Stephen Brown, Managing Director of Cohn & Wolfe Atlanta speaks at the Social Communications & Content Marketing Leadership Forum hosted by PR Newswire and the Business Development Institute on 11/15/11 in Atlanta, GA.
2 June 2015 - Talk Together-Managing Diversity in Cities
A question from the audience
OECD, Paris, France.
For more information, visit: www.oecd.org/Forum
Photo: OECD/Andrew Wheeler
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva meets with United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen at the United States Treasury.
IMF Photo/Joshua Roberts
1 July 2021
Washington, DC, United States
Photo ref: _JR21985.ARW
We managed to get up to The Lake District for a few days at Easter. We got away from work on Good Friday afternoon and spent three hours covering 110 miles, the M61 and M6 were very slow or stopped. As ever once there we soon left the hassle behind. We were using a B&B that we used very regularly for ten years until the owner passed away quite suddenly. Now under new ownership it has been totally gutted and refurbished, it’s very nice but twice as expensive.
We were out in good time on Saturday, it was dull and cool but very calm. I’d deliberated for ages as to where to walk, wanting to avoid the worst of the Easter crowds. It was the busiest I’d seen the Lakes for a long time amd the North Lakes in particular had stunning weather, the South Lakes had dense fog in places until the afternoon and was much cooler – but not cold. Parking in Patterdale we headed up Arnison Crag, on to Birks aiming for St Sunday Crag. This was where it started to go wrong. I got a sudden pain in my right ankle, near a previous serious ankle injury, it’s not unusual to get a bit of pain in this ankle but it got worse. My ankle felt like it was in a vice. On the plus side the cloud which was very low initially was clearing higher at the same speed that we were climbing. We scrambled over Cofa Pike through some snow on to Fairfield and for a change the summit was clear with glorious views. I had to undo my gaiter and slacken my boot, my ankle was swelling and bruising. I took paracetemol and carried on – I didn’t have much choice really. We walked to Hart Crag out to Dove Crag, back to Hart Crag as we wanted to head down over Hartsop above How. We stopped for a quick sandwich and pot of lemon tea before heading down the rocky path. By now I was suffering but still able to walk fairly fast. The yomp back along the road to Patterdale was tough. We covered 11.5 miles in around five hours, which was OK for a first walk in the mountains for a while. We drove to Keswick wanting to get to Brysons tearooms for cake and coffee. Keswick was packed and sunny and we had to walk in half a mile, that was painful, my ankle was agony until I got it loosened up. Toasted Plum Bread, apple pie and ice cream and coffee made up for the grief.
On Sunday I knew I couldn’t walk much. I was applying Ibuprofen Gel regularly but it was going to be a car and camera day. There was dense fog when we set off so I decided we needed to be somewhere attractive when it started to clear, I just didn’t know when that was going to be. We drove into Langdale and the fog broke to reveal Blue sky and the top of the Langdale Pikes, it was fantastic. I immediately thought of Blea Tarn and drove up the pass out of Langdale. I expected to find, as is usual, tripods in a row, with photographers clicking away. There wasn’t a soul, it was so calm and peaceful – and beautiful – I couldn’t believe my luck. I limped as fast as I could to the Tarn, unfortunately an overnight camper, who I chatted with about the beauty, reflections and the camera I was carrying, did her best to encourage her dog into the water and she got in to get washed. It was so calm that the ripples would cross the entire tarn and spoil the photos. I shot as quick as I could, moving away from her all the time. I think I had around 15 minutes at the most before a breeze – that I couldn’t feel – started to ripple the water. The reflections disappeared and it was over. Without the bad ankle I would have missed this tranquillity as we would have been toiling up out first climb of the day. The fog stayed put in the South Lakes but we headed north over Dunmail Raise to blue sky and 17 degrees.
On Monday after 36 hours of Ibuprofen I felt that my ankle would stand a six or seven miler – but where? We had very thick fog in Ambleside so again I drove over Dunmail Raise and again it was fantastic. I could see the chance of some good photos around Thirlmere but I had to get waterside at a point where the view wasn’t obstructed with saplings and bushes growing out of the water. This was easier said than done, it took three attempts to get a decent location. I had reflections, hanging mist, water and mountains – and wet feet again, fortunately I had my walking boots and socks to put on for the walk ahead. After my photo chase we parked at Steel End and headed up the steep nose of Steel Fell. It’s a tough climb but the view over Thirlmere was great. We could see the wall of fog to the south and I was looking forward to getting to the top, hoping that we would be able to see over it with mountains poking out of a sea of white. This was exactly as it was, the Lion and the Lamb on Helm Crag looked like an island in the sea of mist. We walked along the ridge to Calf Crag with clear views to the north and a sea on mist to the south, it looked like the right choice again. We were going to head down Wythburn back to Thirlmere. Wyth Burn runs through a secluded hanging valley through an area called The Bog. I’ve walked down here a few times and at first glance it looks dry – they didn’t name it The Bog for nothing – it is extremely wet. It doesn’t matter how high you walk to avoid it – you can’t! We were wet above the gaiters by the time we got back and it was tough on the ankle. Brysons here we come, another beautiful hot day in Keswick but back to work tomorrow.
We managed to get to the Lake District for the Easter weekend. We were open at work on Good Friday so I had to be in at work for a couple of hours and didn’t set off until 9.00am. We had a quick café stop and then jumped on the M62. It took us until 2.00pm to get to Langdale. We crawled up the M61 and M6, reminding me why we used to avoid Bank Holiday traffic. Although staying in Ambleside we drove to Langdale to get a couple of hours walking in. Langdale was packed but we found a place to park at the foot of the pass up to Blea Tarn. We headed up Pike of Blisco – against a steady stream of walkers descending at this time in the afternoon. I didn’t bother taking photos to any great extent, it wasn’t great light, windy and the appalling weekend forecast had depressed me – this was supposed to be the best day and it was nearly over. After a nice settled spell, possibly the first in the north of England this winter (now officially British Summertime) heavy rain and gales were coming our way apparently.
Each morning I studied the maps trying to second guess the light, wind and crowds. On Saturday it was initially dry, much to our surprise, we parked in Coniston and set off up Walna Scar Road. It’s a long steep drag to the top of the pass, the cloud was down and thick, the wind was getting extreme as we got higher – and we didn’t see a soul! We were heading over Brown Pike onto Dow Crag, we weren’t likely to get lost on a ridge. By now it was raining hard and the wind was making staying upright difficult. We slid off the rocky summit of Dow Crag on our backsides, the safest way. We dropped on to Goats Hause, the wind was screaming through and but I guessed there would be some shelter if we headed for the Old Man of Coniston. We met the first person of the day here, arriving at the summit just before him. There was still winter snow on north facing slopes but the wind wasn’t as bad as Dow Crag. It was grim, 30 metre visibility and there was very little point in staying on the tops as originally planned. Jayne was up for heading straight down the tourist track through the quarries. We have only ever ascended it before but we set off down at a trot, passing some fell runners along the way. There was a steady stream of Easter trippers heading up and judging by the questions we were asked on the way down they had little idea of what they were heading in to or how far they were from the summit, and all in appalling conditions. Lower down it was quite calm and many had little idea of the severity of the conditions on the tops. The countryside was rapidly waterlogging again after the belated dry spell.
Sunday brought more very heavy rain and gales on the tops. What looked like snow had accumulated on high ground overnight. It was actually several inches of hail and was horrible underfoot, like small wet marbles but trapping a lot of water on the lower slopes below the freezing line. We parked at Patterdale and walked across slopes that the recent floods had wreaked havoc on, with a lot of remedial work to be done this summer. The plan was to get to Boardale Hause and decide whether to go high – over Place Fell – or head in to Boardale and stay low by doing a circuit of Place Fell. It was raining hard and there was a howling gale but it was behind us, the cloud had lifted a bit so we went high. The summit plateau was a nightmare, covered in slippy, wet, slushy hail with the wind nearly blowing us over. We went north straight over the top and down the other side, the top was in thick cloud but the lower slopes were clear and we legged it off the fell, descending by Scalehow Force waterfall, which was in fine form with the heavy rain. We followed the path above the shores of Ullswater back to Patterdale. Another wet walk.
Monday saw us parked a mile or so south of yesterday’s parking place in Patterdale at Bridgend. With the weather being bad people weren’t out early, even on a bank holiday, so we didn’t have a problem parking. There wasn’t a plan, we were just making it up. Today looked promising, Storm Katie was battering the rest of the country but missed the north for a change. The tops were wintry, again it was hail accumulations not snow, on the high ground it was on very old lying snow and very difficult on steep descents. We decided to take the steady slopes of Hartsop above How to Hart Crag, on to Fairfield and then hopefully over Cofa Pike on to St Sunday Crag, Birks and finally Arnison Crag. This was just less than ten miles and it turned out to be a very tough five hours, exhausting, particularly after the three previous days. A large coastguard helicopter circled us repeatedly and finally landed on the path we were following to Hart Crag, we assumed it was on an exercise. The ground was frozen above 2500 feet and walking was easier as the snow/hail was load bearing and we could yomp on a bit. It was like midwinter with frequent squally whiteouts blasting in. The wind would pick up first lifting the frozen hail in a frozen spindrift that bounced along several feet high blasting our faces, this was followed by, what was more like frozen drizzle than snow, fine, but hard, we could feel it through our clothes it came at us that hard. I decided that we would head straight over Cofa Pike to St Sunday. A mistake with hindsight. The lake of footprints was the first bad sign but we were committed. We lived to tell the tale but Jayne had a bit of a near miss. The crag down to Cofa is steep and it was covered in hail on old snow, the layer of hail was shearing away from the underlying snow and we had to go down on out backsides, keeping a tight grip as we went. At one point Jayne failed to arrest a slide that was above a steep and deep drop. I had hold of her from a position in front of her and to her left and I was fairly well anchored so I felt in control and was sure of the outcome. From her point of view it was frightening and it subdued her for the rest of the walk. She had also ripped the outer lining of her Paramo waterproof trousers as well. Considering that we were going downhill it was hard going, every step a slip or a slide, with the underlying grass saturated and a thin layer of hail it was an unpleasant walk off the fell. At the end of Arnison Crag we took a pathless shortcut – that we swore we would never use again years ago – to save around twenty minutes of walking. This was the only day I had the camera out all day and had to cover it with a dryliner bag whenever a heavy shower came in. I also broke the lens hood. We drove to Keswick for afternoon coffee and toast at Brysons. The new Paramo store across the square was the next stop for new trousers. These Paramos had cost £85 14 years ago and they have just brought a new model out. We had two choices, The old model was reduced to…..£85 – after 14 years we could pay the same price or we could return the old trousers - cleaned – and get a £50 voucher towards the new model, which are £135, or £85 with the voucher. The old ones were ¾ of a mile away in the car – unwashed – so we bought the old model. Needless to say we had a couple of drinks in the Golden Rule in Ambleside every night before our tea.
St Martin, Acrise.
A friend managed to get inside a week or so ago, and I have been wanting to return some time, so I checked online and found that St Martin is now open 10 - 4 every day.
I rushed out, and found it was indeed unlocked.
Set down a track through a wood, past some old cricket nets, which was part of an old minor country house, and there is St Martin, sitting in its churchyard, bellcote at the west end, looking peaceful.
A warden was weeding the path, welcomed me to the church, and confirmed it is open every day thanks to someone living in one of the flats in the once grand house.
Always great views from the gallery where the organ now takes most of the space.
A fine church, with several monuments, although the electric lights were impossible to find, then I noticed candles everywhere.
Another step nearer normal.
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ACRISE.
LIES the next parish south-eastward from Eleham. It is written in the survey of Domesday, Acres, taking its name from its high situation, and the plenty of oak trees growing in it. It is vulgarly called by the common people in the neighbourhood, Awkeridge, by which name I have sometimes seen it written, both in wills and deeds. The north-east part of it, in which part of the manor of Brandred lies, is in the hundred of Folkestone, and the remainder of it within this hundred of Loningborough.
Acrise is an obscure parish, which, like all the others on these hills, is, though poor, exceedingly healthy. It is situated great part of it on high ground, in a wild, dreary and flinty country, among those hills which are here very frequent and steep. It is rather more than two miles long, and about one mile broad. In the south-west part of it, encircled by a large grove of trees, is Acrise-court, a respectable brick mansion, seemingly of the age of Henry VII. and almost close to it, on the north side of the church, about a mile from which stands the parsonage, and a small hamlet of houses round Acrise-green. At some distance further is Hode, the house of which is built of stone, with arched windows and doors of the gothic form, belonging to Mr. Nicholas Marsh, of Eleham; and at the northern boundary of the parish is the hamlet of Brandred, near which there is some coppice wood. The large heath, called Swinfield minnis, extends along the eastern side of this parish, part of which is within the bounds of it. The soil is mostly a red earth, mixed with quantities of flints, the rest of it is chalk, a barren unfertile soil.
There is a fair held here, on the Tuesday next after Oct, 10, yearly.
Acrise, at the time of taking the general survey of Domesday, was part of the possessions of the bishop of Baieux, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in it:
In Nuniberg hundred, Anschitil de Ros holds of the bishop, Acres, which two brothers held, and each had a balimote; now it is for one manor, and it was taxed for one suling. The arable land is two carucates. In demesne there is one carucate and an half, and five villeins, with five borderers having one carucate. Wood for the pannage of ten hogs, aud a church. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth forty shillings, and afterwards thirty shillings, now sixty shillings.
Four years after the taking of the above survey, the bishop of Baieux was disgraced, and all his possessions were confiscated to the crown; upon which the seignory of this manor seems to have been immediately granted to the above-mentioned Anschitil de Ros, the mesne tenant of it, who thenceforward became lord paramount, holding it immediately of the crown in capite. Of his descendants this manor was again held by the family of Cosenton, or Cossington as they were sometimes spelt, who resided both here and at Cosenton, in Aylesford.
This manor of Acrise, alias Okeridge, was granted to them to hold of the barony of Ross, as of the manor of Horton Kirkby, which seems to have been the chief manor of that barony, and in imitation of whose arms, Or, three roses, gules, the Cosentons bore Azure, three roses, or. Sir Stephen de Cosenton possessed it in the 7th year of Edward III. and that year obtained a charter of free-warrenfor his lands in Acrise, Cossyngtone, and Suthbertone. (fn. 1) At length, after it had continued in his descendants till the reign of king Henry VIII. Thomas Cosenton, esq. dying in the beginning of it without male issue, his three daughters became his coheirs, and shared a large inheritance between them; upon the division of which, this manor was allotted to the youngest, Elizabeth, married to Alexander Hamon, esq. who bore for his arms, Azure, three demi lions, passant-guardant, or. He afterwards resided at Acrise-place, as did his grandson Alexander Hamon, esq. who died possessed of this manor in 1613, leaving two daughters his coheirs; Elizabeth married to Sir Edward Boys, of Fredville, and Catherine to Sir Robert Lewknor, to the latter of whom, by his will, he devised this manor and estate. He afterwards resided at Acrise-place, and bore for his arms, Argent, three chevronels, gules. His descendants continued possessed of it till Robert Lewknor his grandson, in 1666, alienated it, with other estates in this neighbourhood, to Thomas Papillon, esq. of Lubenham, in Leicestershire.
The family of Papillon, or Papillion, seems to have been of good account in this kingdom in very early times; for I find Toraldus de Papilion, one of the witnesses to a deed of confirmation of William the Conqueror, to the church of Durham. William Papilion was one of king Edward I.'s faithful servants, and recommended by him to the abbot and convent of Leicester, for a corodie from that house in the 31st year of his reign. (fn. 2) And from him it is very probable the Papillons, of Lubenham, in that county, derive their descent and first settlement in it. Thomas Papillon, of Lubenham, the purchaser of this manor, was an eminent merchant of London, for which he served in parliament, as he had before done for Dover, and bore for his arms, Azure, a chevron, or, between three butterflies, or papillons, argent. He was of the Mercers company, to which he gave 1000l. Philip Papillon, his son, served in parliament several times for Dover, and once for New Romney. His first wife was Anne, eldest daughter of William Jolliffe, esq. of Staffordshire, by her he had a son David. He married secondly Susan Henshaw, by whom he had a son Philip, who was of East Malling, and three daughters. David Papillon, the eldest son, was chosen to serve in parliament for New Romney, and for Dover likewise. He was one of the commissioners of excise, and resided both here and at Lee. He died in 1762, leaving by Mary, daughter of Timothy Keyser, esq. of London, a son David, and five daughters. David Papillon, esq. the son, resided at times both here and at Lee, and was one of the commissioners of excise. By his first wife Bridget, daughter of William Turner, of the White Friars, Canterbury, son of William, by Anna-Maria Papillon, he had surviving seven children, Thomas, born in 1757, now lieutenant-colonel in the East Kent battalion of militia, and by his father's gift the present possessor of this manor and seat; Philip, rector of Eythorne, and vicar of Kennington; William, in orders likewise, of Wymundham, in Norfolk, who married the daughter of the Rev. Richard Drake, of that parish; John-Rawsterne, vicar of Tunbridge, and George, Elizabeth and Sarah. He married secondly Hester, daughter of the Rev. Dr. Curteis, of Sevenoke, and prebendary of Canterbury; by his second wife, who died s. p. in 1782. Thomas Papillon, esq. the eldest son above-mentioned, the present possessor of this manor, married Anne, daughter of Henry Pelham, esq. and now resides at Acriseplace.
Brandred is a manor, in the north-east part of this parish, having a hamlet of its own name within it, which, at the time of taking the general survey of Domesday, seems to have been part of the possessions of the canons of St. Martin's priory, in Dover, under the description of which it is entered thus: The land of Brandet pays twenty shillings and six-pence to St. Martin in alms. And a little below, under the same title of their possessions: Among the common land of St. Martin there are, among others, one hundred acres of land at Brand which acquit themselves, that is, are free from payment of custom and scot.
This manor continued part of the possessions of the church and priory of St. Martin above-mentioned, till its dissolution in the 27th year of the reign of king Henry VIII. when it was suppressed, as not having revenues to the amount of the clear yearly value of two hundred pounds, those of this priory not amounting to more than 170l. 14s. 11d. clear yearly income, and was surrendered that year, with all its lands and possessions, to the king's use. But they did not remain long in the hands of the crown, for the king, in his 29th year, granted the scite of the priory. with all lands and possessions belonging to it, except the patronage of certain churches mentioned in it, in exchange to archbishop Cranmer, (fn. 3) in whose successor, they have continued to the present time, his grace the archbishop being now entitled to the inheritance of it.
In the hamlet of Brandred, is an estate, the house of which, though now only a farm-house, was, as early as queen Elizabeth's reign, the property and residence of the Marsh's, descended from those of Marton, in East Langdon, and it continued so down to T.Marsh, of Brandred, who died in 1664, leaving by Anne, daughter of Thomas Nethersole, of Nethersole, in Wimlingswold, a son, John Marsh, who in 1665, removed thither, in whose descendants it has continued down to John Marsh, esq. of Salisbury, afterwards of Nethersole, who is the present possessor of this estate, but now resides at Chichester, in Sussex.
Charities.
A person unknown gave land in this parish, for the benefit of the poor, now of the annual value of 1l. occupied at present by John Sharp.
The poor constantly relieved are about eleven, casually nine.
Acrise is within the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Eleham.
¶The church, which is dedicated to St. Martin, is but small, consisting of only one isle and one chancel, having a tower at the west end, with a low turret on it, flat at top, in which there is one bell. The church is kept very neat. In the chancel, on a stone, is a memorial and figure of a woman in brass, for Mary, wife of Peter Heyman, esq. daughter and coheir of William Tirrill, esq. of Essex, obt. 1601. On a stone, a memorial in brass, for Alexander Hamon, esq. obt. 1613. A monument for William Turner, esq. late of Grays-Inn, obt. 1729; married Anna-Maria, daughter of Thomas Papillon, esq. obt. 1738; arms, Turner, argent and ermine, three fer de molins, sable, a pale counterchanged in fess, on a chief, or, a lion rampant-guardant, between two roses, gules, impaling Papillon; and a monument for Anne, late wife of Mr. Philip Papillon, of London, merchant, eldest daughter of William Jolliffe, esq. obt. 1693. There are many hatchments of the Papillon family round the isle; between which and the chancel there is a large pointed arch, with zig-zag ornaments.
This church was given, about the reign of king Henry II. by William de Cosenton, lord of the manor of Acrise, to the priory of Leeds, to which the patronage of it afterwards belonged; but it never was appropriated, and archbishop Baldwin, who lived in that reign, granted out of it to the priory an annual pension of forty shillings. In which state the patronage of it continued till the dissolution of the priory, or abbey of Leeds as it was then called, in the 31st year of Henry VIII. when it came, with the rest of the possessions of it, into the hands of the crown, in which it has continued ever since, the king being the present patron of it.
The above-mentioned pension of forty shillings has not been paid since the dissolution of the priory.
This rectory is valued in the king's books at seven pounds, and the yearly tenths at fourteen shillings. In 1588 it was valued at eighty pounds, communicants sixty-eight. In 1640 the like number of communicants, and it was valued at one hundred pounds.
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, First Vice President of Spain and IMFC Chair Nadia Calvino, Secretary-General of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Mathias Cormann, President of the World Bank Group David Malpass, President for the 2021 COP26 conference Alok Sharma, and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Simon Stiell participate in the Getting to Net Zero with IFIs and Multilateral Partnerships Seminar during the 2022 Annual Meetings at the International Monetary Fund.
IMF Photo/Alison Shelley
12 October 2022
Washington, DC, United States
Photo ref: AS221012162.cr3
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva participates in the IMFC Early Warning Exercise during the 2021 Spring Meetings at the International Monetary Fund.
IMF Photo/Joshua Roberts
8 April 2021
Washington, DC, United States
Photo ref: _JR17795.ARW
Managed to grab this image from Oxfordshire last night,
before the fog rolled in.
C11
EOS 600D
Photoshop
Managing Director of the IMF Christine Lagarde visited Government Buildings today where she met Taoiseach Enda Kenny and signed the visitor's book.
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva speaks during the Annual Meetings Plenary during the 2022 Annual Meetings at the International Monetary Fund.
IMF Photo/Cory Hancock
14 October 2022
Washington, DC, United States
Photo ref: CH221014009.arw
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International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn (C) and his wife Anne Sinclair (L) is escorted by Zambia's Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane (R) at the Lusaka International Airport March 10, 2010 in Lusaka, Zambia. Strauss-Kahn is on his final leg of a three country visit to Africa. IMF Photograph/Stephen Jaffe
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva participates in a conversation with University of West Indies students titled “The Caribbean and the IMF—Building a Strong Partnership” moderated by UWI Lecturer and President to the Barbados Economic Society Simon Naitram at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.
IMF Photo/Kim Haughton
16 June 2022
Bridgetown, Barbados
Photo ref: KH220616082.jpg
I've managed to make a bit more progress on the side table project I've been having some fun with. There was an additional loom arm assembly that was part of this abandoned structure that can now be seem as the lowest shelf now being added to the table. There are a series of 1/2" dowel holes on the main frame side rails and that was to accommodate other weaving combs to be injected into the designer's weaving pattern, as each additional combed loom harness represents variable options as to the complexity of the finished effort.
But really, I know I'm probably going into pretty murky waters in attempting to describe a mechanism to which I have zero practical experience at ever using. So I'm no doubt butchering the appropriate shop talk language for this craft which goes back pretty much as far as our own species goes...at least in more traditional terms related to how we have recorded our collective civilizations via pictograms and writings in the ancient languages of several thousand years ago.
Anyway...The table now seems to sit with greater stability having the added keel weight of this arm, which I also stripped down to match the raw wood finish of the rest of it thus far.
One last interesting side note related to some manufacturer's info on this piece, the metal comb assembly of this had some writing on the outer rails of it which spelled out the following:
MMONS loom harness co. with the listing off of their two business facilities. One of them in Charlotte South Carolina, the heart of America's textile industry for a great many years. The second location was listed as being more up north in Lawrence Mass.
Sadly, I was not able to find a single decent piece of information on the company, in order to perhaps gain more insight as to its age. But of the hundreds of pictures of table top sized weaving looms I shuttle boated my eyeballs back and forth over, my loom would appear to be one of the better made ones, with the thickest, sturdiest timbers and with very strong fasteners that have a feeling of confidence that it will stay that way for a long, long time. All while enduring the stresses put on it by the weaving process itself which calls for fairly robust tensioning of the materials being used as the yarn. But it doesn't fold up or go as wide as most of the larger floor mount, free standing looms. So that probably devalued it down to garbage status, as far as its last owners were concerned. I think it has value as a table frame and saves it from the landfill. That's a win-win situation in my books.
Cheers! :)
I hadn't managed to catch up with the Little Boy Giant until the siesta of his second day awake in Liverpool (he'd been sleeping in St George's Hall for a further day before that), but it was great to be able to study him – it was easy to work my way to the front of the crowd during the 'intermission', but that was rather more challenging later, as an estimated 1.3 million people visited Liverpool this weekend for the Giants. And it felt it.
It was the Little Boy Giant first visit to the city, though local sources (all seeming to quote the same press release) claim the Little Boy Giant was the very first giant encountered (they say 'made') by Royal de Luxe, inspired by the Company's work in African villages, and was first seen publicly in Cameroon in 1997.
The Royal de Luxe website acknowledges that the Company was there in 1997 and the Little Boy Giant definitely appeared with them in Le Havre, France in 1998, but it also says that Royal de Luxe had accompanied The Giant (aka Giant Uncle, aka Shipwrecked Giant) nine times before that, as early as 1993, and the Giants don't seem to have joined the Cameroon trip at all.
Similarly, Royal de Luxe have been a little confused about the Giants' family links. Previous events said the Little Boy Giant is brother to the Little Girl Giant and is The Giant's adopted son, yet The Giant is the Little Girl Giant's uncle, and, er, she beheaded her father in 2007.
Anyway, he's 6 m tall and weighs 600 kg – less than might be expected, but still enough to justify the attendance of 27 Lilliputians (23 specialists from Royal de Luxe and 4 local) to help him negotiate the crowds and ensure his comfort. Their vehicle is behind the Little Boy Giant.
Various press coverage claims this is the Royal de Luxe’s final ever time in the city, but I'm not sure that's accurate. It's the last outing for the Giants, worldwide, but the Company already has plans for other projects, perhaps involving a gorilla, and I haven't heard that they definitely won't return to Liverpool in some capacity.
Directly behind is a dock pumping station, built in 1881 and now Grade II Listed.
The 'streaky bacon' building on the right is actually the reflection, in Mann Island Building 1's glass façade, of the White Star Building (Albion House), off the left of the image. Famously, a list of those lost in the sinking of RMS 'Titanic' (owned by the White Star Line) was publicly read from an upper balcony. The Giants' first visit to Liverpool was in 2012, commemorating the centenary of that sad event.
Managed to sneak up to a higher viewpoint to get a better view of the outer part of the marina - it's a shame it was such a hazy day.
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva is interviewed by Al Arabeya during COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
IMF Photo/Georges Mohsen
6 November 2022
Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt
Photo ref: IMG_1979.JPG
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde (R) holds up an IMF publication with First Deputy Managing Director David Lipton (L) at their press conference April 20, 2017 at the IMF Headquarters in Washington, DC. IMF Staff Photo/Stephen Jaffe
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, Deputy Secretary of the IMF Sabina Bhatia, and Founder of Marshall Plan for Moms and Girls Who Code Reshma Saujani participate in the IMF Inspired event Reimagining the Workplace for Women during the 2021 Annual Meetings at the International Monetary Fund.
IMF Photo/Cory Hancock
8 October 2021
Washington, DC, United States
Photo ref: CH211008031.arw
Finally I managed to get inside and get permission to shoot the old 1936 Grade II Listed Chester Odeon Cinema. Work is just about to start (in December 2014) in turning this building into a new world-class theatre, library and cinema (due for completion in 2016).
The building will be run by Chester Performs and will also house much of that company’s work, including the Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre company, the MBNA Chester Music Festival and Essar Chester Literature Festival.
A few highlights from the mornings shoot where as follows:
-Still seeing a few (untouched but mouldy!) Juicy Strawberry sweets in the pick and mix.
-Two of the projectors still wired up in the main projection room.
-The smell of the building was odd but seemed to have a lot of history to it (like an old book).
-Finding a reel of unused tickets (I took one as a memento!).
-Seeing the “ODEON” sign marks on the wall (the original letters have been removed).
-Finding a sign for the film “28 weeks later” which looks like it might have been one of the last screenings in the cinema (from 2007).
For more information about the project and current plans (being submitted for planning application) see the web site:
To see a recent film made by Chat Noir Productions Ltd for the project called “Ghosts of the Odeon”, see this link:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7YkpgG8NRE
Many thanks to the team in RE:NEW for allowing me to shoot inside the building and I also look forward to hopefully revisiting the building during the restoration / building process.
IMF First Managing Director David Lipton, left, and Chilean Governor Rodrigo Vergara, center, look on as Carmen Reinhart, of the Harvard Kennedy School, speaks during the IMF-Chatham House Seminar titled "The Liberalization and Management of Capital Flows" at the 2013 IMF World Bank Spring meetings Thursday April 18, 2013 at IMF headquarters in Washington, D.C. (IMF Photo/Cliff Owen)
The store (Natural Gum Marketing Enterprise in Adama) is managed by the government. This site is only for cleaning and packing for export. Gum is coming from Southern, South Eastern and Western regions of Ethiopia. Regional offices are located within each area, and employ traders to buy the gum. After that, the gum is transported to the storage site in the town of Adama. Each gum is cleaned by hand, sorted by size, and then color. Gum is collected from Acacia (Boswllia Paprifera ) and Acacia Senegal (South East Boswllia Negra).
Photo by Ollivier Girard/CIFOR
If you use one of our photos, please credit it accordingly and let us know. You can reach us through our Flickr account or at: cifor-mediainfo@cgiar.org and m.edliadi@cgiar.org
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva talks with former First Managing Director of the IMF John Lipsky during the 2022 Annual Meetings at the International Monetary Fund.
IMF Photo/Tom Brenner
12 October 2022
Washington, DC, United States
Photo ref: TB221210789.jpg
Septermber 24, 2011 - Washington DC. 2011 World Bank / IMF Annual Meetings. Press Briefing: Development Committee Chair, World Bank President Robert Zoellick, and IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde. Photo: ©vSimone D. McCourtie / World Bank
Photo ID: 092411-DevComPress_105F
Agenda, Wednesday, June 5
0830 Registration of Participants
0900 Welcoming Remarks
Mr. Ernest Z. Bower
Senior Adviser and Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies
Center for Strategic and International Studies
0915 Presentation: "The South China Sea in Focus"
Mr. Gregory Poling
Research Associate, Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies
Center for Strategic and International Studies
0945 Break
1015 Significance of the South China Sea Dispute
Speakers:
Dr. Patrick M. Cronin
Senior Advisor and Senior Director, Asia-Pacific Security Program
Center for a New American Security
Mr. Alexander Metelitsa
Economist
Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department of Energy
Mr. Murray Hiebert
Deputy Director and Senior Fellow, Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Moderator:
Mr. Ernest Z. Bower
Senior Advisor and Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies
Center for Strategic and International Studies
1145 Break for Lunch
1200 Luncheon & Keynote Speech
Keynote Address:
Mr. Joseph Y. Yun
Acting Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
U.S. Department of State
Moderator:
Mr. Ernest Z. Bower
Senior Advisor and Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies
Center for Strategic and International Studies
1315 Break
1330 Recent Developments in the South China Sea
Speakers:
Dr. Wu Shicun
President
National Institute for South China Sea Studies
Dr. Renato C. De Castro
Professor
De La Salle University
Dr. Yann-Huei Song
Research Fellow
Institute of European American Studies
Dr. Tran Truong Thuy
Director, South China Sea Studies Program
Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam
Moderator:
Mr. Murray Hiebert
Deputy Director and Senior Fellow, Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies
Center for Strategic and International Studies
1500 Break
1515 South China Sea in Regional Politics
Speakers:
Amb. Hemant Krishan Singh
Wadhwani Chair in India-U.S. Policy Studies
Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations
Vice Admiral Hideaki Kaneda, JMSDF (ret.)
Director, The Okazaki Institute
The Japan Institute for International Affairs
Dr. Carlyle A. Thayer
Emeritus Professor
University of New South Wales, Australian Defense Force Academy
Dr. Donald K. Emmerson
Director, Southeast Asia Forum
Stanford University
Moderator:
Mr. Murray Hiebert
Deputy Director and Senior Fellow, Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies
Center for Strategic and International Studies
1700 End of Day One
Agenda, Thursday, June 6
0800 Registration of Participants
0900 Role of International Law in Managing the Disputes
Dr. Xinjung Zhang
Associate Professor of Public International Law
Tsinghua University Law School
Mr. Henry S. Bensurto, Jr.
Secretary General, Commission on Maritime and Ocean Affairs Secretariat
Department of Foreign Affairs, Philippines
Dr. Peter Dutton
Professor and Director, China Maritime Studies Institute
U.S. Naval War College
Dr. Nguyen Dang Thang
Vietnam Lawyer’s Association
Moderator:
Mr. Ernest Z. Bower
Senior Advisor and Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies
Center for Strategic and International Studies
1030 Coffee Break
1045 Policy Recommendations to Boost Cooperation in the South China Sea
Ms. Bonnie S. Glaser
Senior Adviser for Asia, Freeman Chair in China Studies
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Mr. Leonardo Bernard
Research Fellow, Centre for International Law
National University of Singapore
Mr. Christian Le Miere
Senior Research Fellow for Naval Forces and Maritime Security, Defense and Military Analysis Program
International Institute for Strategic Studies
Moderator:
Mr. Ernest Z. Bower
Senior Advisor and Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies
Center for Strategic and International Studies
1215 End of Conference
Managed to get a boat ride out to beside the giant wave for the finals of the Billabong Pro Surf Competition
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva visited Matipula School in Chongwe District, Zambia.
IMF Photo/Kim Haughton
23 January 2023
Lusaka, Zambia
Photo ref: KEH05351.ARW
We managed to get up to The Lake District for a few days at Easter. We got away from work on Good Friday afternoon and spent three hours covering 110 miles, the M61 and M6 were very slow or stopped. As ever once there we soon left the hassle behind. We were using a B&B that we used very regularly for ten years until the owner passed away quite suddenly. Now under new ownership it has been totally gutted and refurbished, it’s very nice but twice as expensive.
We were out in good time on Saturday, it was dull and cool but very calm. I’d deliberated for ages as to where to walk, wanting to avoid the worst of the Easter crowds. It was the busiest I’d seen the Lakes for a long time amd the North Lakes in particular had stunning weather, the South Lakes had dense fog in places until the afternoon and was much cooler – but not cold. Parking in Patterdale we headed up Arnison Crag, on to Birks aiming for St Sunday Crag. This was where it started to go wrong. I got a sudden pain in my right ankle, near a previous serious ankle injury, it’s not unusual to get a bit of pain in this ankle but it got worse. My ankle felt like it was in a vice. On the plus side the cloud which was very low initially was clearing higher at the same speed that we were climbing. We scrambled over Cofa Pike through some snow on to Fairfield and for a change the summit was clear with glorious views. I had to undo my gaiter and slacken my boot, my ankle was swelling and bruising. I took paracetemol and carried on – I didn’t have much choice really. We walked to Hart Crag out to Dove Crag, back to Hart Crag as we wanted to head down over Hartsop above How. We stopped for a quick sandwich and pot of lemon tea before heading down the rocky path. By now I was suffering but still able to walk fairly fast. The yomp back along the road to Patterdale was tough. We covered 11.5 miles in around five hours, which was OK for a first walk in the mountains for a while. We drove to Keswick wanting to get to Brysons tearooms for cake and coffee. Keswick was packed and sunny and we had to walk in half a mile, that was painful, my ankle was agony until I got it loosened up. Toasted Plum Bread, apple pie and ice cream and coffee made up for the grief.
On Sunday I knew I couldn’t walk much. I was applying Ibuprofen Gel regularly but it was going to be a car and camera day. There was dense fog when we set off so I decided we needed to be somewhere attractive when it started to clear, I just didn’t know when that was going to be. We drove into Langdale and the fog broke to reveal Blue sky and the top of the Langdale Pikes, it was fantastic. I immediately thought of Blea Tarn and drove up the pass out of Langdale. I expected to find, as is usual, tripods in a row, with photographers clicking away. There wasn’t a soul, it was so calm and peaceful – and beautiful – I couldn’t believe my luck. I limped as fast as I could to the Tarn, unfortunately an overnight camper, who I chatted with about the beauty, reflections and the camera I was carrying, did her best to encourage her dog into the water and she got in to get washed. It was so calm that the ripples would cross the entire tarn and spoil the photos. I shot as quick as I could, moving away from her all the time. I think I had around 15 minutes at the most before a breeze – that I couldn’t feel – started to ripple the water. The reflections disappeared and it was over. Without the bad ankle I would have missed this tranquillity as we would have been toiling up out first climb of the day. The fog stayed put in the South Lakes but we headed north over Dunmail Raise to blue sky and 17 degrees.
On Monday after 36 hours of Ibuprofen I felt that my ankle would stand a six or seven miler – but where? We had very thick fog in Ambleside so again I drove over Dunmail Raise and again it was fantastic. I could see the chance of some good photos around Thirlmere but I had to get waterside at a point where the view wasn’t obstructed with saplings and bushes growing out of the water. This was easier said than done, it took three attempts to get a decent location. I had reflections, hanging mist, water and mountains – and wet feet again, fortunately I had my walking boots and socks to put on for the walk ahead. After my photo chase we parked at Steel End and headed up the steep nose of Steel Fell. It’s a tough climb but the view over Thirlmere was great. We could see the wall of fog to the south and I was looking forward to getting to the top, hoping that we would be able to see over it with mountains poking out of a sea of white. This was exactly as it was, the Lion and the Lamb on Helm Crag looked like an island in the sea of mist. We walked along the ridge to Calf Crag with clear views to the north and a sea on mist to the south, it looked like the right choice again. We were going to head down Wythburn back to Thirlmere. Wyth Burn runs through a secluded hanging valley through an area called The Bog. I’ve walked down here a few times and at first glance it looks dry – they didn’t name it The Bog for nothing – it is extremely wet. It doesn’t matter how high you walk to avoid it – you can’t! We were wet above the gaiters by the time we got back and it was tough on the ankle. Brysons here we come, another beautiful hot day in Keswick but back to work tomorrow.
We managed to get to the Lake District for the Easter weekend. We were open at work on Good Friday so I had to be in at work for a couple of hours and didn’t set off until 9.00am. We had a quick café stop and then jumped on the M62. It took us until 2.00pm to get to Langdale. We crawled up the M61 and M6, reminding me why we used to avoid Bank Holiday traffic. Although staying in Ambleside we drove to Langdale to get a couple of hours walking in. Langdale was packed but we found a place to park at the foot of the pass up to Blea Tarn. We headed up Pike of Blisco – against a steady stream of walkers descending at this time in the afternoon. I didn’t bother taking photos to any great extent, it wasn’t great light, windy and the appalling weekend forecast had depressed me – this was supposed to be the best day and it was nearly over. After a nice settled spell, possibly the first in the north of England this winter (now officially British Summertime) heavy rain and gales were coming our way apparently.
Each morning I studied the maps trying to second guess the light, wind and crowds. On Saturday it was initially dry, much to our surprise, we parked in Coniston and set off up Walna Scar Road. It’s a long steep drag to the top of the pass, the cloud was down and thick, the wind was getting extreme as we got higher – and we didn’t see a soul! We were heading over Brown Pike onto Dow Crag, we weren’t likely to get lost on a ridge. By now it was raining hard and the wind was making staying upright difficult. We slid off the rocky summit of Dow Crag on our backsides, the safest way. We dropped on to Goats Hause, the wind was screaming through and but I guessed there would be some shelter if we headed for the Old Man of Coniston. We met the first person of the day here, arriving at the summit just before him. There was still winter snow on north facing slopes but the wind wasn’t as bad as Dow Crag. It was grim, 30 metre visibility and there was very little point in staying on the tops as originally planned. Jayne was up for heading straight down the tourist track through the quarries. We have only ever ascended it before but we set off down at a trot, passing some fell runners along the way. There was a steady stream of Easter trippers heading up and judging by the questions we were asked on the way down they had little idea of what they were heading in to or how far they were from the summit, and all in appalling conditions. Lower down it was quite calm and many had little idea of the severity of the conditions on the tops. The countryside was rapidly waterlogging again after the belated dry spell.
Sunday brought more very heavy rain and gales on the tops. What looked like snow had accumulated on high ground overnight. It was actually several inches of hail and was horrible underfoot, like small wet marbles but trapping a lot of water on the lower slopes below the freezing line. We parked at Patterdale and walked across slopes that the recent floods had wreaked havoc on, with a lot of remedial work to be done this summer. The plan was to get to Boardale Hause and decide whether to go high – over Place Fell – or head in to Boardale and stay low by doing a circuit of Place Fell. It was raining hard and there was a howling gale but it was behind us, the cloud had lifted a bit so we went high. The summit plateau was a nightmare, covered in slippy, wet, slushy hail with the wind nearly blowing us over. We went north straight over the top and down the other side, the top was in thick cloud but the lower slopes were clear and we legged it off the fell, descending by Scalehow Force waterfall, which was in fine form with the heavy rain. We followed the path above the shores of Ullswater back to Patterdale. Another wet walk.
Monday saw us parked a mile or so south of yesterday’s parking place in Patterdale at Bridgend. With the weather being bad people weren’t out early, even on a bank holiday, so we didn’t have a problem parking. There wasn’t a plan, we were just making it up. Today looked promising, Storm Katie was battering the rest of the country but missed the north for a change. The tops were wintry, again it was hail accumulations not snow, on the high ground it was on very old lying snow and very difficult on steep descents. We decided to take the steady slopes of Hartsop above How to Hart Crag, on to Fairfield and then hopefully over Cofa Pike on to St Sunday Crag, Birks and finally Arnison Crag. This was just less than ten miles and it turned out to be a very tough five hours, exhausting, particularly after the three previous days. A large coastguard helicopter circled us repeatedly and finally landed on the path we were following to Hart Crag, we assumed it was on an exercise. The ground was frozen above 2500 feet and walking was easier as the snow/hail was load bearing and we could yomp on a bit. It was like midwinter with frequent squally whiteouts blasting in. The wind would pick up first lifting the frozen hail in a frozen spindrift that bounced along several feet high blasting our faces, this was followed by, what was more like frozen drizzle than snow, fine, but hard, we could feel it through our clothes it came at us that hard. I decided that we would head straight over Cofa Pike to St Sunday. A mistake with hindsight. The lake of footprints was the first bad sign but we were committed. We lived to tell the tale but Jayne had a bit of a near miss. The crag down to Cofa is steep and it was covered in hail on old snow, the layer of hail was shearing away from the underlying snow and we had to go down on out backsides, keeping a tight grip as we went. At one point Jayne failed to arrest a slide that was above a steep and deep drop. I had hold of her from a position in front of her and to her left and I was fairly well anchored so I felt in control and was sure of the outcome. From her point of view it was frightening and it subdued her for the rest of the walk. She had also ripped the outer lining of her Paramo waterproof trousers as well. Considering that we were going downhill it was hard going, every step a slip or a slide, with the underlying grass saturated and a thin layer of hail it was an unpleasant walk off the fell. At the end of Arnison Crag we took a pathless shortcut – that we swore we would never use again years ago – to save around twenty minutes of walking. This was the only day I had the camera out all day and had to cover it with a dryliner bag whenever a heavy shower came in. I also broke the lens hood. We drove to Keswick for afternoon coffee and toast at Brysons. The new Paramo store across the square was the next stop for new trousers. These Paramos had cost £85 14 years ago and they have just brought a new model out. We had two choices, The old model was reduced to…..£85 – after 14 years we could pay the same price or we could return the old trousers - cleaned – and get a £50 voucher towards the new model, which are £135, or £85 with the voucher. The old ones were ¾ of a mile away in the car – unwashed – so we bought the old model. Needless to say we had a couple of drinks in the Golden Rule in Ambleside every night before our tea.
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has breakfast with other leaders before the G20 family photo at the Fontana di Trevi.
IMF Photo/Giuseppe Nucci
31 October 2021
Rome, Italy
Photo ref: G20 - IMF -31th October - HD with captions-2.jpg
I never managed to learn its flavor. It was at least several days from being ripe, and I bought this the day before my flight out. I purchased some cherimoyas and bananas just to have a source of ethylene to ripen it. It showed no sign of ripening, so I eventually resorted to fruit denting. Dented fruit ripens much faster. Well, it was so tough that smashing it against concrete did little other than break off some of the fleshy spines. Before my flight out, I cored some chunks out with a spoon. The samples had nearly no taste, so this one got away.
Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park
Honaunau-Napoopoo, HI
Managed to get a shot of this bird with my DSLR rather than my compact camera, and I'm very pleased with how it turned out.
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde answers a question during a joint press conference at the presidential palace in Bangui, CAR on January 24,2017. IMF Staff Photograph/Stephen Jaffe
Minister of Finance and the Public Service of Jamaica, Audley Shaw (L) greets International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde (R) at a reception for conference participants in Kingston, Jamaica November 15, 2017. IMF Photo/Alex Curro
WIPO Director General Francis Gurry presents a keynote speech at a seminar organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) and India's Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) on "Managing Copyright in Publishing: The Need for Awareness and Outreach” in New Delhi on March 31, 2016. Also present at the opening were: DIPP Joint Secretary Rajiv Aggarwal, FICCI Secretary General Alwyn Didar Singh and WIPO Assistant Director General and Chief of Staff Naresh Prasad.
The Director General addressed the importance of copyright as the principle market mechanism for remunerating creators, as well as the challenges of digital transformation.
Copyright: WIPO. Photo: Abhishake Singh. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 IGO License.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and Austrian Finance Minister Magnus Brunner talk after the signing ceremony continuing the cooperation between the IMF and Austria in the context of the Joint Vienna Institute (JVI) for another four years, at the International Monetary Fund.
IMF Photo/Ariana Lindquist
23 April 2022
Washington, DC, United States
Photo ref: AL220423353.jpg
The Tripartite Action to Protect and Promote the Rights of Migrant Workers within and from the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS TRIANGLE) project aims to reduce the exploitation of labour migrants by contributing to the development of legal and safe recruitment channels and improved labour protection mechanisms.
Funded by AusAID, one specific mechanism of the GMS TRIANGLE project is managed cross-border migration services, as shown here in Lao PDR.
© ILO/A.DOW
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, Minister of Finance of Indonesia Sri Mulyani, and Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley participate in the Debate on the Global Economy during the 2022 Spring Meetings at the International Monetary Fund.
IMF Photo/Cory Hancock
21 April 2022
Washington, DC, United States
Photo ref: CH220421103.arw
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva rehearses her IMFC Plenary speech at the International Monetary Fund.
IMF Photo/Cory Hancock
20 April 2022
Washington, DC, United States
Photo ref: CH220420126.arw
So, somehow despite paying extra for EMS shipping from Singapore, I still managed to get my MP57 after everyone who preordered in the US did. Needless to say I'm not exactly thrilled with the outcome of this.
MP57 is of course Skyfire/Jetfire, and is the most recently reelased figure in the Masterpiece line up. After seeing the pretty good job that Hasbro/Takara did on the Siege version, I figured that this figure would just be that one, but with much better production values.
Turns out I'm only half right.
Being in MP scale, Jetfire is huge. The box is 20.5 inches long, and is basically the entire length of the Jet mode. Photos have put the Jet mode at the same length as the combined Convoy/Optimus Prime 3.0 with its trailer attached.
Of course, the character mass shifts during transformation to result in a robot mode that is canonically twice as tall as Convoy, but in Jet mode is a flying fortress capable of troop transport. To show this side of things, the set comes with three mini figures - Prime, Wheeljack, and Jazz. Not sure why specifically these three, but that's what they chose..
The mini figures are actually decently articulated, with no articulation on the main torso whatsoever and very basic arms and legs. Which is normally fine (and expected) for figures of this size, but I REALLY thing they should have either given Jezz wrists of maybe considered the awkwardness of how things look with his hands fused like that.
Otherwise, accessories include two additional faces, a battle mask, his rifle, two thruster effects, Decepticon/Blank chest plate and the same Base/Stand that came with the Seekers and Dinobot,
Jet mode features landing gear that are manually operated (I say this because I remember the original G1 toy featuring spring mounted goodness) and there are various compartments you can open up for the mini figures to fit into/use, specifically the cockpit, under the fuselage, in the jetpack, and in the red pods on the lower legs. The pods are also accessible in robot mode should you so wish.
Being an updated G1 toy, this toy can assume the infamous Gerwalk mode that was the result of repurposing a Robotech toy. I honestly can't recall it actually being used in the show, but then again I can't remember many things.
Gerwalk mode can be achieved with or without the arms deployed, but of course the process is a bit more involved than back in the day. In order to make Gerwalk mode a bit more stable, the figure has die cast metal hips that provide additional support for the legs.
While yes, you can actually put the figure in Gerwalk without the support, for your own sanity you're probably going to want to do it, especially if you're displaying it in said mode for a longer period of time.
Transformation into robot mode is for the most part straight forward. MOST part. When you get to the backpack though, you're likely going to want to throw the figure out the window. The whole shifting mechanism is based on sliding panels, which are notoriously bad because of misalignment issues and just general friction. Couple with that some questionable QC and you've got a very frustrating time and getting things to shift and hold together.
The QC issues don't appear to be limited to the backpack as I have had a somewhat difficult time getting the shoulders to slot into their tab properly. I've also got a loose joint on one of my wings, though fortunately that doesn't really affect much. Getting the various accessories into the backpack cavity was also a bit of a challenge due to fit issues. I also found that the heels had to be put in just the right position for it to fold out correctly.
The resulting robot is tall, though when compared to other figures it's not as excessively large in comparison as comparing vehicle modes The goal was G1 accuracy, and you have to admit they did a bang up job from that respect. Proportions were always wonky so no criticisms from me in that regard.
Due to the weight of the figure, the legs are pretty much all ratcheting joints. Which is great from stability perspective, but not that great from an actual posing perspective. The actual hip joints are strong enough for standing robot mode, but the legs will splay out in Gerwalk mode. With the "ab crunch" hip joints deployed, the hips CAN be strong enough, but as always, test and observe. Actual range of motion is pretty typical, and the waist has flaps so you can move the legs out to the side.
However, it should be stated that the figure at least can stand up. My Siege figure has some issues with a loose hip, so it's either stand up straight or do the splits.
The rest of the body is.. pretty standard, really. There's no waist joint, and the shoulders technically are standard shoulders - but because there are additional flaps needed to move the shoulder in place, you technically have Butterfly Joint-type range of motion, but yeah, it looks weird. Elbows are single jointed but you're able to maximize range of motion. Hands are the typical MP hands with semi-fixed positions. The head can actually pull up a bit for additional range of motion
In general, you're probably not doing any dynamic battle poses without the stand, and even then you're doing them with the figure facing forward because there's only so much you can do laterally.
Speaking of heads, the facial expressions are alright, and the battle mask appears to be useable with or without an underlying face (though I think it fits better without the face under, so that might just be me forcing the thing on). It attaches with a magnet, so the grip is just the right amount to hold it in place. The faces, on the other hand, are friction based and can be a royal pain to get on and off. The other head gimmick to mention is in the head there's a meter of some sort. I don't remember the purpose of this, but I think it had to do with his changing of allegiances between Autobot and Decepticon (Jetfire was a scientist associate of Starscream).
So there you have it. Was it worth the wait? Ehhh.. I mean, it's not as bad as I thought it would be, but it turns out the lack of waist was my smallest concern. It just feels to me like the QC guys dropped the ball, because if they can get smaller figures to tab and slot n perfectly, there's no reason a figure that is at least double that size can't get it right. I mean, the new Seekers are much more complicated transformation wise and I don't have any problems like I do with Jetfire... though I guess the weak hips on the seekers is a problem I avoid here.
I think overall, though, unless you're looking specifically for a G1 styled Jetfire, you should probably consider the Siege figure, especially if you get one that doesn't have joint issues. It's like 1/3 the price, about the same size, and is significantly less frustrating to deal with.