A couple of quick scenes for an ongoing storyline in Brethren of the Brick Seas on Eurobricks. Both scenes recycle older builds of mine and are for the purpose of illustrating the story only.

PLEASE, NO invitations or self promotions, THEY WILL BE DELETED. My photos are FREE to use, just give me credit and it would be nice if you let me know, thanks.

In 1655, Bernardine Church was burnt to the ground on the orders of Swedish invading forces. The church was rebuilt and is now one of the loveliest churches in Krakow.

Shots of buffalo enjoying a last drink before the sun finally sets. (1 more in comments)

Seen in Tarangire National park.

Another picture of two Ships moored on the River Fal.

A tower operator goes about his daily duty of hooping up orders to a train crew.

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, Ufford, Suffolk

They told her how, upon St. Agnes' Eve,

Young virgins might have visions of delight,

And soft adorings from their loves receive

Upon the honey'd middle of the night,

If ceremonies due they did aright;

As, supperless to bed they must retire,

And couch supine their beauties, lily white;

Nor look behind, nor sideways, but require

Of Heaven with upward eyes for all that they desire.

John Keats, Eve of St Agnes, 1820

Upper Ufford is a pleasant place, and known well enough in Suffolk. Pretty much an extension northwards of Woodbridge and Melton, it is a prosperous community, convenient without being suburban. Ufford Park Hotel is an enjoyable venue in to attend professional courses and conferences, and the former St Audrey's mental hospital grounds across the road are now picturesque with luxury flats and houses. And I am told that the Ufford Park golf course is good, too, for those who like that kind of thing.

But as I say, that Ufford is really just an extension of Melton. In fact, there is another Ufford. It is in the valley below, more than a mile away along narrow lanes and set in deep countryside beside the Deben, sits Lower Ufford. To reach it, you follow ways so rarely used that grass grows up the middle. You pass old Melton church, redundant since the 19th century, but still in use for occasional exhibitions and performances, and once home to the seven sacrament font that is now in the plain 19th century building up in the main village. Eventually, the lane widens, and you come into the single street of a pretty, tiny hamlet, the church tower hidden from you by old cottages and houses. In one direction, the lane to Bromeswell takes you past Lower Ufford's delicious little pub, the White Lion. A stalwart survivor among fast disappearing English country pubs, the beer still comes out of barrels and the bar is like a kitchen. I cannot think that a visit to Ufford should be undertaken without at least a pint there. And, at the other end of the street, set back in a close between cottages, sits the Assumption, its 14th century tower facing the street, a classic Suffolk moment.

The dedication was once that of hundreds of East Anglian churches, transformed to 'St Mary' by the Reformation and centuries of disuse before the 19th century revival, but revived both here and at Haughley near Stowmarket. In late medieval times, it coincided with the height of the harvest, and in those days East Anglia was Our Lady's Dowry, intensely Catholic, intimately Marian.

The Assumption was almost certainly not the original dedication of this church. There was a church here for centuries before the late middle ages, and although there are no traces of any pre-Conquest building, the apse of an early-Norman church has been discovered under the floor of the north side of the chancel. The current chancel has a late Norman doorway, although it has been substantially rebuilt since, and in any case the great glories of Ufford are all 15th century. Perhaps the most dramatic is the porch, one of Suffolk's best, covered in flushwork and intriguing carvings.

Ufford's graveyard is beautiful; wild and ancient. I wandered around for a while, spotting the curious blue crucifix to the east of the church, and reading old gravestones. One, to an early 19th century gardener at Ufford Hall, has his gardening equipment carved at the top. The church is secretive, hidden on all sides by venerable trees, difficult to photograph but lovely anyway. I stopped to look at it from the unfamiliar north-east; the Victorian schoolroom, now a vestry, juts out like a small cottage. I walked back around to the south side, where the gorgeous porch is like a small palace against the body of the church. I knew the church would be open, because it is every day. And then, through the porch, and down into the north aisle, into the cool, dim, creamy light.

On the afternoon of Wednesday, 21st August 1644, Ufford had a famous visitor, a man who entered the church in exactly the same way, a man who recorded the events of that day in his journal. There were several differences between his visit and the one that I was making, one of them crucial; he found the church locked. He was the Commissioner to the Earl of Manchester for the Imposition in the Eastern Association of the Parliamentary Ordinance for the Demolishing of Monuments of Idolatry, and his name was William Dowsing.

Dowsing was a kind of 17th century political commissar, travelling the eastern counties and enforcing government legislation. He was checking that local officials had carried out what they were meant to do, and that they believed in what they were doing. In effect, he was getting them to work and think in the new ways that the central government required. It wasn't really a witch hunt, although God knows such things did exist in abundance at that time. It was more as if an arm of the state extended and worked its fingers into even the tiniest and most remote parishes. Anyone working in the public sector in Britain in the early years of the 21st century will have come across people like Dowsing.

As a part of his job, Dowsing was an iconoclast, charged with ensuring that idolatrous images were excised from the churches of the region. He is a man blamed for a lot. In fact, virtually all the Catholic imagery in English churches had been destroyed by the Anglican reformers almost a hundred years before Dowsing came along. All that survived was that which was difficult to destroy - angels in the roofs, gable crosses, and the like - and that which was inconvenient to replace - primarily, stained glass. Otherwise, in the late 1540s the statues had been burnt, the bench ends smashed, the wallpaintings whitewashed, the roods hauled down and the fonts plastered over. I have lost count of the times I have been told by churchwardens, or read in church guides, that the hatchet job on the bench ends or the font in their church was the work of 'William Dowsing' or 'Oliver Cromwell'. In fact, this destruction was from a century earlier than William Dowsing. Sometimes, I have even been told this at churches which Dowsing demonstrably did not visit.

Dowsing's main targets included stained glass, which the pragmatic Anglican reformers had left alone because of the expense of replacing it, and crosses and angels, and chancel steps. We can deduce from Dowsing's journal which medieval imagery had survived for him to see, and that which had already been hidden - not, I hasten to add, because people wanted to 'save' Catholic images, but rather because this was an expedient way of getting rid of them. So, for example, Dowsing visited three churches during his progress through Suffolk which today have seven sacrament fonts, but Dowsing does not mention a single one of them in his journal; they had all been plastered over long ago.

In fact, Dowsing was not worried so much about medieval survivals. What concerned him more was overturning the reforms put in place by the ritualist Archbishop Laud in the 1630s. Laud had tried to restore the sacramental nature of the Church, primarily by putting the altar back in the chancel and building it up on raised steps. Laud had since been beheaded thanks to puritan popular opinion, but the evidence of his wickedness still filled the parish churches of England. The single order that Dowsing gave during his progress more than any other was that chancel steps should be levelled.

The 21st of August was a hot day, and Dowsing had much work to do. He had already visited the two Trimley churches, as well as Brightwell and Levington, that morning, and he had plans to reach Baylham on the other side of Ipswich before nightfall. Much to his frustration, he was delayed at Ufford for two hours by a dispute between the church wardens over whether or not to allow him access.

The thing was, he had been here before. Eight months earlier, as part of a routine visit, he had destroyed some Catholic images that were in stained glass, and prayer clauses in brass inscriptions, but had trusted the churchwardens to deal with a multitude of other sins, images that were beyond his reach without a ladder, or which would be too time-consuming. This was common practice - after all, the churchwardens of Suffolk were generally equally as puritan as Dowsing. It was assumed that people in such a position were supporters of the New Puritan project, especially in East Anglia. Dowsing rarely revisited churches. But, for some reason, he felt he had to come back here to make sure that his orders had been carried out.

Why was this? In retrospect, we can see that Ufford was one of less than half a dozen churches where the churchwardens were uncooperative. Elsewhere, at hundreds of other churches, the wardens welcomed Dowsing with open arms. And Dowsing only visited churches in the first place if it was thought there might be a problem, parishes with notorious 'scandalous ministers' - which is to say, theological liberals. Richard Lovekin, the Rector of Ufford, had been turned out of his living the previous year, although he survived to return when the Church of England was restored in 1660. But that was in the future. Something about his January visit told Dowsing that he needed to come back to Ufford.

Standing in the nave of the Assumption today, you can still see something that Dowsing saw, something which he must have seen in January, but which he doesn't mention until his second visit, in the entry in his journal for August 21st, which appears to be written in a passion. This is Ufford's most famous treasure, the great 15th century font cover.

It rises, six metres high, magnificent and stately, into the clerestory, enormous in its scale and presence. In all England, only the font cover at Southwold is taller. The cover is telescopic, and crocketting and arcading dances around it like waterfalls and forests. There are tiny niches, filled today with 19th century statues. At the top is a gilt pelican, plucking its breast.

Dowsing describes the font cover as glorious... like a pope's triple crown... but this is just anti-Catholic innuendo. The word glorious in the 17th century meant about the same as the word 'pretentious' means to us now - Dowsing was scoffing. But there was no reason for him to be offended by it. The Anglicans had destroyed all the statues in the niches a century before, and all that remained was the pelican at the top, pecking its breast to feed its chicks. Dowsing would have known that this was a Catholic image of the Sacrifice of the Mass, and would have disapproved. But he did not order the font cover to be destroyed. After all, the rest of the cover was harmless enough, apart from being a waste of good firewood, and the awkwardness of the Ufford churchwardens seems to have put him off following through. He never went back.

Certainly, there can have been no theological reason for the churchwardens to protect their font cover. I like to think that they looked after it simply because they knew it to be beautiful, and that they also knew it had been constructed by ordinary workmen of their parish two hundred years before, under the direction of some European master designer. They protected it because of local pride, and amen to that. The contemporary font beneath is of a type more familiar in Norfolk than Suffolk, with quatrefoils alternating with shields, and heads beneath the bowl.

While the font cover is extraordinary, and of national importance, it is one of just several medieval survivals in the nave of the Assumption. All around it are 15th century benches, with superbly characterful and imaginative images on their ends. The best is the bench with St Margaret and St Catherine on it. This was recently on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum as part of the Gothic exhibition. Other bench end figures include a long haired, haloed woman seated on a throne, which may well be a representation of the Mother of God Enthroned, and another which may be the Coronation of the Queen of Heaven. There is also a praying woman in a butterfly headdress, once one of a pair, and a man wearing what appears to be a bowler hat, although I expect it is a helmet of some kind. His beard is magnificent. There are also a number of finely carved animals.

High up in the chancel arch is an unusual survival, the crocketted rood beam that once supported the crucifix, flanked by the grieving Mary and John, with perhaps a tympanum behind depicting the last judgement. These are now all gone, of course, as is the rood loft that once stood in front of the beam and allowed access to it. But below, the dado of the screen survives, with twelve panels. Figures survive on the south side. They have not worn well. They are six female Saints: St Agnes, St Cecilia, St Agatha, St Faith, St Bridget and, uniquely in England, St Florence. Curiously, the head of this last has been, in recent years, surrounded by stars, in imitation of the later Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. Presumably this was done in a fit of Anglo-catholic enthusiasm about a century ago.

The arrangement is similar to the south side of the screen at Westhall, and it may even be that the artist was the same. While there is no liturgical reason for having the female Saints on one side and, presumably, male Saints on the other, a similar arrangement exists on several Norfolk screens in the Dereham area.

Much of the character of the church today comes from it embracing, in the early years of the 20th century, Anglo-catholicism in full flood. As at Great Ryburgh in Norfolk, patronage ensured that this work was carried out to the very highest specification under the eye of the young Ninian Comper. Comper is an enthusiast's enthusiast, but I think he is at his best on a small scale like here and Ryburgh. His is the extraordinary war memorial window in the south aisle chapel, dedicated to St Leonard. It depicts Christ carrying his cross on the via dolorosa, but he is aided by a soldier in WWI uniform and, behind him, a sailor. The use of blues is very striking, as is the grain on the wood of the cross which, incidentally, can also be seen to the same effect on Comper's reredos at Ryburgh.

Comper's other major window here is on the north side of the nave. This is a depiction of the Annunciation, although it is the figures above which are most extraordinary. They are two of the Ancient Greek sibyls, Erythrea and Cumana, who are associated with the foretelling of Christ. At the top is a stunning Holy Trinity in the East Anglian style. There are angels at the bottom, and all in all this window shows Comper at the height of his powers.

Stepping into the chancel, there is older glass - or, at least, what at first sight appears to be. Certainly, there are some curious roundels which are probably continental 17th century work, ironically from about the same time that Dowsing was here. They were probably acquired by collectors in the 19th century, and installed here by Victorians. The image of a woman seated among goats is curious, as though she might represent the season of spring or be an allegory of fertility, but she is usually identified as St Agnes. It is a pity this roundel has been spoiled by dripping cement or plaster. Another roundel depicts St Sebastian shot with arrows, and a third St Anthony praying to a cross in the desert. However, the images in 'medieval' glass in the east window are entirely modern, though done so well you might not know. A clue, of course, is that the main figures, St Mary Salome with the infants St James and St John on the left, and St Anne with the infant Virgin on the right, are wholly un-East Anglian in style. In fact, they are 19th century copies by Clayton & Bell of images at All Souls College, Oxford, installed here in the 1970s. I also think that the images of heads below may be modern, but the angel below St Anne is 15th century, and obviously East Anglian, as is St Stephen to the north.

High above, the ancient roofs with their sacred monograms are the ones that Dowsing saw, the ones that the 15th century builders gilt and painted to be beautiful to the glory of God - and, of course, to the glory of their patrons. Rich patronage survived the Reformation, and at the west end of the south aisle is the massive memorial to Sir Henry Wood, who died in 1671, eleven years after the end of the Commonwealth. It is monumental, the wreathed ox heads a severely classical motif. Wood, Mortlock tells us, was Treasurer to the Household of Queen Henrietta Maria.

There is so much to see in this wonderful church that, even visiting time and time again, there is always something new to see, or something old to see in a new way. It is, above all, a beautiful space, and although it no longer maintains its high Anglo-catholic worship tradition, it is is still kept in high liturgical style. It is at once a beautiful art object and a hallowed space, an organic touchstone, precious and powerful.

Oxford, England

The steam engine is only used for special orders whereas the modern diesel engines are for the regular daily operation.

- Retoucher. Accept orders for retouching your photos.- Education photo processing. Live and video tutorials my retouching techniques in Photoshop and Lightroom.

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Another pub gone.

Hawk gives Flint orders to take a few men to find a new path for the tanks to continue on.

[Forza Horizon 4 || PMC Week 38]

The landlord's dog in my local just made it for last orders :)

June 26th 2021 saw the end of several routes in North Dublin as their long known, with the implimentation of Busconnects resulting in a change of numbers.

Dublin Bus (Clontarf Depot) Enviro 400/Volco B9TL EV16 heads down Carrickbrack Road heading for Shielmartin on the final working of Route 31A.This route has now been somewhat subsumed at this end into Route 6.

June 2021

90 040 with 90 018 in multiple behind sit in Eden Valley Loop for a booked pathing stop on the West Coast Mainline. Despite being a 75mph class 4 freight these days the line is increasing filling up with passenger trains so more freights get relegated to overnight. This pair are working 4M25 06.06 Mossend Euro Terminal to Daventry and will soon have the standing start up the 1/125 gradient which is noticeable as the train recedes into the distance on the curve. The loop here being a little over a mile into this seven mile continuous rising gradient before it eases at Shap village before the final ascent to Shap Summit at 916ft.

Series: Last Orders.

From a site of two derelict buildings in the dOKUMENTA city of Kassel that over 40 years ago housed BIER GROSSHANDLUNG NEUENHAGEN, a wholesale German beer distribution company.

A dear flickr contact who runs a construction company in the process of clearing out and renovating this site generously provided me access to photograph on August 16, 2012.

"Last Orders" is what pub owners call out to their customers, a few minutes before closing time.

The Reading heritage unit leads IAIS CBBI east past the depot at La Salle, IL. This unique depot, complete with a still standing train order signal, is a must shoot given the chance.

via Instagram ift.tt/2j1j9lL

The wall on the 23rd floor of the Mandarin Oriental at City Center

Ave Maria Lane, City Of London

Abandoned Pub Ruby Tuesdays

Irvine Scotland

Head end brakeman Mike R catches the orders from Operator Gary M at 3 am on a cold winter morning at Frater Statiion.

The train was No. 11 running early as an Extra North.

I took this photo on Tri-X film with the flash on auto. This image was scanned from a print...if and when I can find the negative I'll scan it and repost.

© Todos os direitos reservados.

Angra do Heroísmo

Ilha Terceira

Açores

" IN MY SECRET LIFE

Leonard Cohen

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRoAuEiZBNA

I saw you this morning.

You were moving so fast.

Can't seem to loosen my grip

On the past.

And I miss you so much

There's no one in sight.

And we're still making love

In my secret life...

I smile when I'm angry.

I cheat and I lie.

I do what I have to do

To get by.

But I know what is wrong.

And I know what is right.

And I'd die for the truth

In my secret life...

Hold on, hold on, my brother.

My sister, hold on tight.

I finally got my orders.

I'll be marching through the morning,

Marching through the night,

Moving cross the borders

Of my secret life...

Looked through the paper.

Makes you want to cry.

Nobody cares if the people

Live or die.

And the dealer wants you thinking

That it's either black or white.

Thank God it's not that simple

In my secret life..."

The old train order signals stand out above the cab of 4108 as it shoves three Arrow IIIs past Bernardsville station on the Gladstohje Line.

4108 was shoving a set of Arrow IIIs from Gladstone, NJ to the MMC after one unit of a married pair suffered truck damage in a derailment within Gladstone Yard several days prior. The pair was severed, with the other half able to make a shop move earlier. This move required the use of a dolly on one axle, which required restricted speed for the entire eastward move.

NJTR 4108 GP40PH-2

Cody Torso & Legs, 11th Doctor Torso, Cody Torso (w/ Arms) & Legs, and Full Bow set.

Chris, You're lucky. That Bow is the best figure I've ever created. No joke :)

Rea Towing steam tugs Greygarth, Yorkgarth and Carlgarth await their next duty in the south eastern corner of Birkenhead Alfred Basin, on a Sunday afternoon sometime in the mid to late 1950's.

This image was presented to me as a print which originated from a trade calendar in the mid-eighties. It was subsequently framed and has hung in our kitchen for a good few years!

This is one of my all-time favourite tug photographs which I thought was worthy of retaining in a more useable format and that it should be available to a wider audience, so I had the image scanned and here it is.

Local observers from the Wirral will note the numerous changes between the scene presented here and how it looks now!

Sadly, I don't know who took the original photograph, but I am glad that on that particular Sunday, he chose to take this excellent composition and in doing so, recorded a slice of history for posterity.

To give some idea of these tugs longevity - Graygarth was built in 1915 and scrapped in 1961, Yorkgarth was built in 1923 and scrapped in 1962. Typical dimensions (Yorkgarth in this instance) 96ft 6in length, 22ft 8in beam, 11ft 2in draught. 178gt, powered by a 3-cyclinder triple expansion surface condensing steam engine driving a 10ft diameter propellor, giving a bollard pull of 10 tons.

I am beginning to appreciate these robust vessels more and more now that I have started to research them more.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=e--vY6wSQzk

So this is what i built but havn't uploaded it in a long time, why because i was to lazy. :p

Also as you can see i got some new 2012 sets! :D

Number: CT-1807

Rank: ARC Captian Grade II

Nickname: Scout

3rd Regiment of the 253rd Legion

///Log Entry\\\

"New orders came arrived instructing us to pursue the Jabiimi troops further into the city, this was met with the mixed reactions of excitement and dread among my men, but never the less, we were all eager to end this battle and repay the Jabiimi for the heavy casualties which they inflicted on the 253rd many battles ago. Our intel showed that the Jabiimi were falling back to a final staging point at the spaceport's main pad, whether or not they were preparing for a counter-attack or to leave the planet was both unclear and irrelevant, either way, we had to catch them and bring them to justice for their crimes against the Republic. As we approached the hangar area I broke off from the group, leaving Lucky in charge of the company and scaled the hanger's outer walls. Giving Lucky the go ahead I began to fire down upon the cluster of Jabiimi and droids scattered around the loading area, as the rest of Item Company stormed through the hanger's front door. As I was about to eliminate a droid manning a turret, new orders came in to capture a Separatist VIP who was attempting to leave the planet via a shuttle located on one of the landing pads towards the tail end of the hangar. Ignoring my previous target I brought my rifle around just in time to see a Separatist shuttle take off through my rifle's scope, it was too late to apprehend them...

Or, maybe not, I'd simply have to drag their sorry sep ass from the wreckage. Switching to my rifle's grenade launcher, I fired a single round, which exploded directly above to the fleeing shuttle damaging it enough to send it spinning into the platform below. I only had a second to admire my work before a massive fireball erupted from the crash site sending me flying from my perch and immobilizing the combatants below..."

-

Aye, mission 9.3!

If you want to join the 253rd please create 16x16 vig with at least one Clone trooper in it and tag me/ other group staff, thanks!

Anyway thank you guys for viewing and have a good one, C&C is most appreciated!

Good day boys!!!

You know it's not a good idea to suggest having another round when the arms are folded...

A B&W take on the previous shot. I came across this sad little scene today and I can't deny it really tugs at my heartstrings. This tired, dirty and abandoned stuffed toy with chunks of its lost stuffing piled around it, left behind on the beaten up patio of a recently closed-down bar on West Broadway - soon to become just another new generic building no one can afford to live in. Such a melancholy atmosphere and I confess I seriously debated whether to rescue this little kitty-cat from its sad demise.

(Snapped with iPhone 6)