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The Tasman Motor Motor Festival as Sydney Motorsport Park.
Minis, competing in the Group N Class.
(1/6) Not sure who the owner/driver of the #1 getting a little air at the rear is.
(2/6) Daniel Berry, #19, 1963 Morris Cooper S.
(3/6) Chris Collett, #62, 1964 Morris Cooper S.
(4/6) , Ben Tebbutt Cooper S, #8.
(5/6) Nathan Goulding, #43, 1963 Morris Cooper S.
(6/6) Francis Meier, #188, 1964 Morris Cooper S.
Eastern Creek, New South Wales, Australia.
I just couldn't stop taking pictures of N&W 611 during it's visit to the Strasburg Railroad. Every angle you see this engine from is a good one. I really love how this shot looks in B&W. What do you think?
Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
Shot on Kodak Trix film, ISO 400, with a Canon A1, 50mm 1.4 lens. Developed with Kodak D76 and scanned with a Minolta Dimage Multi II.
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LM TO FLOURISH EVENT: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Enchanted%20Clarity/98/216...
On a damp day around Crewe Gresty Bridge, I was instantly inspired by the intelligent positioning of DRS's new locomotive 68002 'Intrepid' along side Ffestiniog Railway's 'Prince'.
This is one of few of my photos that was not photo-bombed by the masses of people at the Open Day. I also fancied doing something different to the inevitable identical photos many of you will see of this event.
@ChrisRailPics
19/07/14
There is so much to see in this previously posted photo ( new edit ) that it's difficult to know where to start.
Of particular note are the 4, yes 4 workmen taking a ride on the steelwork and Walter Woolfenden's pick-up.
I will leave the rest for you to find and marvel at, i think the date was about 1965-6
A German position showing a young lieutenant with binoculars, an alarm bell and what seems to be a sketch of the trench system in that area.
I move down the stairwell another level. The second floor is a lot more heavily damaged than the previous; an entire section looking like it had collapsed into the street. I crouch down and try to stay out of sight as I go along the side of the wall. I stop just short from where the floor drops away, kneel down and keep a low profile behind the crumbling wall, and slowly mount my rifle on top of the blasted concrete for stability. The gunner and one of the other rangers are pulling a tarp over the open cab and another ranger stands in front of the truck; keeping watch I'm assuming.
Cristy is going for the gunner, so I decide to take aim at the other ranger with the tarp. Then the last can be taken out between the two of us. She's not gonna shoot until I do, so I straighten out, take aim, and...
With Locomotive #108 positioned just short of the the wooden trestle at the north end of the Hill City Yard, Black Hills Central Engineer Cesar and his fireman open the blow-down valves on #108 to rid the mud-ring section of the firebox of any loose sediment and contaminants. Instantly, super-heated water is ejected out of both sides of the locomotive at boiler pressure (about 190 PSI), and instantly flashes to steam. The process is loud and typically attracts spectators, some of whom will get a bit wet if they're standing downwind. This blow-down procedure is executed before the first run every day, and is repeated at least once during each run, typically in a secluded section of the line. With the procedure complete, the crew will back the locomotive up to the water tank near the station to fill the big saddle tank, before coupling on to their train.
I was exploring abandoned railroad tracks near my home, when I looked over and saw this nicely textured tree, dead for decades, with a pole through its trunk. Walking railroad tracks, for Midwesterners, is like "beach-combing," an opportunity to explore, because you never know what you'll find!
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Title: Sydney Harbour Bridge Test load assembled in position 1
Dated: 10/02/1932
Digital ID:
Series: NRS 12685 Sydney Harbour Bridge Photographic Albums
Rights: No known copyright restrictions www.records.nsw.gov.au/about-us/rights-and-permissions
We'd love to hear from you if you use our photos/documents.
Many other photos in our collection are available to view and browse on our website.
Name: Château de Valençay.
Location: Valençay, Indre, in central France.
Map: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Indre-Position.svg
Built: in 1540-1770s.
Château de Valençay was a residence of the d'Estampes and Talleyrand-Périgord families in the commune of Valençay in central France. The Château de Valençay presents two styles of architecture, Renaissance and Classical. The manor is surrounded by magnificent French-style gardens and an English landscape park. The manor was praised as one of the most beautiful on earth by Amantine Aurore Lucile Dupin (1804-1876), who also noted that no king had owned a more picturesque park. Amantine Aurore Lucile Dupin, best known by her pseudonym George Sand, was a French novelist and memoirist.
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History
The Château de Valençay, sited at the edge of a plateau that overlooks the little Nahon river, was built on a royal scale by the d'Estampes family over a period of some 230 years. Construction started in 1540 at the behest of Jacques d'Estampes in place of a demolished 12th century castle and was not completed until the 1770s, when the south tower was added. The 18th century saw a rapid succession of owners. In 1803, Napoleon ordered his foreign minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand to acquire the property as a place particularly appropriate for reception of foreign dignitaries, notably Ferdinand VII of Spain, who would spend six years in Napoleonic captivity at the Château de Valençay in 1808-1814. Ferdinand VII was King of Spain in 1808-1808 and in 1813-1833. Emperor Napoleon agreed to acknowledge Ferdinand VII as king of Spain in 1813 and signed the Treaty of Valençay, so that the king could return to Spain. This, however, did not happen until Napoleon was nearly defeated by the allied powers several months later in 1814.
The period of Talleyrand's occupancy was the golden age in the history of Valençay, with twenty-three communes reportedly administrated by the ruling prince. Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, prince de Bénévent, then prince de Talleyrand, was a French diplomat. He is known since the turn of the 19th century simply by the name Talleyrand. He worked successfully from the regime of Louis XVI, through the French Revolution and then under Napoleon I, Louis XVIII, Charles X and Louis-Philippe. Some regard him as one of the most versatile, skilled and influential diplomats in European history.
When Napoleon was succeeded by Louis XVIII in April 1814, Talleyrand was one of the key agents of the restoration of the House of Bourbon, while opposing the new legislation of Louis rule. Talleyrand was the chief French negotiator at the Congress of Vienna and, in that same year, he signed the Treaty of Paris. It was due in part to his skills that the terms of the treaty were remarkably lenient towards France. As the Congress opened, the right to make decisions was restricted to four countries: Austria, the United Kingdom, Prussia, and Russia. France and other European countries were invited to attend, but were not allowed to influence the process. Talleyrand promptly became the champion of the small countries and demanded admission into the ranks of the decision-making process. The four powers admitted France and Spain to the decision making backrooms of the conference after a good deal of diplomatic maneuvering by Talleyrand, who had the support of the Spanish representative, Pedro Gómez Labrador, Marquis of Labrador. Spain was excluded after a while, but France (Talleyrand) was allowed to participate until the end. Russia and Prussia sought to enlarge their territory at the Congress. Russia demanded annexation of Poland (already occupied by Russian troops), and this demand was finally satisfied, despite protests by France, Austria and the United Kingdom. Austria was afraid of future conflicts with Russia or Prussia and the United Kingdom was opposed to their expansion as well – and Talleyrand managed to take advantage of these contradictions within the former anti-French coalition. On 3 January 1815, a secret treaty was signed by France's Talleyrand, Austria's Metternich and Britain's Castlereagh. By this tract, officially a secret treaty of defensive alliance, the three powers agreed to use force if necessary to repulse aggression (of Russia and Prussia) and to protect the state of security and independence. This agreement effectively spelled the end of the anti-France coalition.
Undoubtedly the most celebrated of Talleyrand's servants employed at Château de Valençay was his chef, Marie-Antoine Carême. Talleyrand actively encouraged Carême in the development of a new refined food style using herbs and fresh vegetable, simplified sauces with few ingredients. Carême was an early practitioner and exponent of the elaborate style of cooking known as grande cuisine, the high art of French cooking: a grandiose style of cookery favoured by both international royalty and by the newly rich of Paris. Carême is often considered as one of the first internationally renowned celebrity chefs.
After Talleyrand's death in 1838, the great statesman was buried in a small mortuary chapel in the park. His descendants retained the ownership of the estate until 1952, when the male line ended. The Princes of Talleyrand-Périgord ranked among the mediatized German nobility, by virtue of their nominal control of the duchy of Sagan in Prussian Silesia, now in Poland. On this technicality, the Château de Valençay was spared the German occupation during the Second World War. Having established his personal neutrality, the Duke of Sagan saw treasures from the Louvre, like the Winged Victory of Samothrace and the Venus de Milo, safely sheltered at Valençay. The last prince bequeathed the property to his stepson who sold the Château de Valençay to an association of historic chateaux in 1979, which included the department of Indre and the municipality Valençay.
Today
Talleyrand's château boasts one of the most advanced interiors of the Empire style anywhere. There are a hundred rooms, of which a quarter comprise Talleyrand's apartments. A room of King Ferdinand is also shown to tourists. The western wing contains the Talleyrand Museum, formerly housed in outbuildings. The formal French gardens, dating from the early 20th century, cover about forty hectares, not counting the area of Talleyrand's vineyards. Llamas, peacocks and other exotic animals kept in the park provide amusement for tourists.
Other images:
1. pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficheiro:Valencay01.jpg
2. pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficheiro:Valencay02.jpg
3. By night, a nice image: www.valencay.fr/stockage/espace_telechargement/Chateau%20...
4. By night, another nice image: www.valencay.fr/stockage/espace_telechargement/Chateau%20...
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Sources:
www.chateau-valencay.fr/index.php/en
www.chateau-valencay.fr/index.php/en/the-chateau/history
loire-valley.us/19-Chateaux/Chateau-Of-Valencay.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Valen%C3%A7ay
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_VII_of_Spain
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Maurice_de_Talleyrand
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie-Antoine_Car%C3%AAme
The owner of the image above is Jean-Christophe BENOIST.
Link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Valencay-chateau-1.jpg
The image above is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
Link: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en
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Positioned facing the sea along the seafront at Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex. The statue was unveiled on 1st August 2014.
Herbert George Columbine was born in Penge during 1893. There is also a memorial in Penge. On 22nd March 1918 Private Columbine of the 9th Squadron Machine Gun Corps was in charge of a Vickers machine gun at Hervilly Wood. In the face of overwhelming enemy action Private Columbine told his comrades to escape whilst he continued to single handed hold the enemy at bay. He did this for several hours until his position was bombed by German aircraft, killing him.
Private Columbine's medals are in the Essex Regiment Museum in the City of Chelmsford. I have been there but will return at some point to check out the medals. Although photography is not allowed within the Essex Regiment Museum.
Once the sun moved into a favorable angle, we all took up position outside Missionary Ridge tunnel for a runby. (Actually, a bunch of them.)
And yes, there was more than one Dad Joke made about it being the missionary position...
A brief history of the U.S.S. COD
by Paul Farace, curator
U.S.S. Cod (SS 224), named after the world's most important food fish, is a World War II era GATO class fleet submarine. The 312-ft, (95-m) 1,525-ton submarine began her life on July 21, 1942 when her keel was laid at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, Connecticut. Cod was launched on March 21, 1943 under the sponsorship of Mrs. Grace M. Mahoney, wife of a veteran shipyard employee, and was placed in commission on June 21, 1943, under the command of CDR James C. Dempsey, USN. Dempsey had already won fame by sinking the first Japanese destroyer lost in the war while in command of a tiny, World War I-era submarine.
It was on Cod's third patrol, Dempsey's last in command, that Cod fought her biggest battle. Tracking a massive Japanese convoy heading for Subic Bay in the Philippines on the night of May 10, 1944, Cod maneuvered into firing position just after sunrise. Cod fired three of her four stern tubes at the Japanese destroyer Karukaya before unloading all six of her bow tubes at two columns of cargo ships and troop transports. Dempsey watched as the first torpedo exploded under the destroyer's bridge after a short, 26 second run. Both smoke stacks collapsed and dozens of enemy sailors (watching for submarines) were tossed high into the air. The enemy ship started to sag in the middle, with both bow and stern rising, just as the second torpedo hit near the main mast causing the whole rear half of the Karukaya to disintegrate.
A minute later, all six of Cod's bow shots hit targets among the columns of enemy ships. Cod submerged to her 300-foot test depth and ran at her top underwater speed of 8.5 knots for 10 minutes to clear the firing point, which was clearly marked by the white wakes of Cod's steam-powered torpedoes. The high-speed run had to be kept to 10 minutes to preserve as much of the submarine's electric battery as possible for later evasive maneuvers. The firing point was quickly saturated with aircraft bombs and depth charges dropped by enemy escort ships. Between the explosions of enemy depth charges, Cod's sonar operators could hear the sounds of several Japanese ships breaking up and the distinct firecracker sound of an ammunition ship's cargo exploding. Cod's own firecracker show soon followed: a barrage of more than 70 Japanese depth charges shook Cod in less than 15 minutes. After 12 hours submerged Cod surfaced 25 miles away from the attack area in the midst of a heavy night thunderstorm.
It was on Cod's seventh and final war patrol that she would carve a unique niche for herself, not for destroying enemy ships, but for performing the only international submarine-to-submarine rescue in history. On the morning of July 8, 1945 Cod arrived at Ladd Reef in the South China Sea to aid the Dutch Submarine O-19 which had grounded on the coral outcropping. After two days of attempts at pulling O-19 free, the captains of both vessels agreed that there was no hope of freeing the Dutch sub from the grip of the reef. After removing the 56 Dutch sailors to safety, Cod destroyed the O-19 with two scuttling charges, two torpedoes, and 16 rounds from Cod's 5-inch deck gun. The Cod was home to 153 men for the two and a half-day run to the recently liberated Subic Bay naval base.
After delivering the O-19 crew, Cod returned to her patrol area off the coast of Vietnam where she resumed boarding and sinking Junks carrying enemy supplies. During one of these "pirate-like" operations, a five-man boarding party was stranded on a junk after Cod was strafed by a Japanese plane and forced to crash dive. It was several hours before Cod could surface to retrieve her boarding party. When she did, the horizon was littered with Junks.
After a two-day search involving several U.S. submarines, the lost crewmen were recovered by the submarine Blenny. Highlights of the patrol, including the O-19 rescue and return of the lost boarding party, were recorded in color movies made by Norman Jensen, a Navy photographer, who was assigned to film Cod's war patrol. The films were discovered in the National Archives in 1992.
Cod returned to her Perth, Australia base on August 13, 1945, and was met at the dock by the men of the O-19 who invited their rescuers to a thank-you party. It was during the party that word of the Japanese surrender was received. Today, Cod's battleflag and conning tower both carry a cocktail glass above the name "O-19" to commemorate the rescue and the party.
Mothballed in 1946, Cod was recommissioned in 1951 to participate in NATO anti-submarine training exercises. Her Cold War voyages took Cod to St. John's Newfoundland, as well as ports in Cuba and South America. During LANTFLEX' 52 fleet exercise, Cod was credited with "sinking" a U.S. aircraft carrier.
Cod was decommissioned in 1954 and placed in reserve. In 1959 she was towed through the newly opened St. Lawrence Seaway to serve as a naval reserve training vessel in Cleveland, Ohio. The veteran submarine was an instant hit with school children who visited her on field trips. In 1971, no longer useful as a training ship, Cod was stricken from the register of Navy ships.
A handful of Clevelanders formed the Cleveland Coordinating Committee to Save Cod, Inc., to preserve her as a memorial on the city's lakefront. In January, 1976, the Navy gave guardianship of the submarine to the group. Cod began her career as a floating memorial in May of 1976 when she opened for public tours and quickly established herself as a popular tourist attraction. In 1986, the U.S. Department of the Interior designated Cod a National Historic Landmark.
Today, Cod is one of the finest restored submarines on display and is the only U.S. submarine that has not had stairways and doors cut into her pressure hull for public access. Visitors to this proud ship use the same vertical ladders and hatches that were used by her crew. Cleveland can claim partial credit as Cod's birthplace, since the submarine's five massive diesel engines were built by General Motors' Cleveland Diesel plant on Cleveland's west side.
Cod is credited with sinking more than 12 enemy vessels totalling more than 37,000 tons, and damaging another 36,000 tons of enemy shipping. All seven of her war patrols were considered successful and Cod was awarded seven battle stars. Patrols 1, 2, and 3 were under the command of CDR James C. Dempsey, USN; patrols 4, 5, and 6 were under the command of CDR James "Caddy" Adkins, USN; and patrol 7 was under the command of LCDR Edwin M. Westbrook, Jr., USN. When recommissioned in 1951, Cod was under the command of CAPT. Francis E. Rich, USN, and was placed out of commission by CAPT. Joseph Adelman, USN.
During WW II, U.S. submarines sank more than 55% of the Japanese ships lost, including more than 70% of her merchant fleet and more than 220 warships. They also conducted secret intelligence gathering missions and rescued more than 550 aviators who were forced to ditch at sea in enemy waters, including former President George Bush. The U.S. Navy lost 52 submarines with a loss of more than 3,500 men, or 22% of the submarine force.
Cod is now docked in Lake Erie at Cleveland, Ohio and is maintained and operated as a memorial to the more than 3900 submariners who lost their lives during the 100 year history of the United States Navy Submarine Force.
An old John Deere tractor sits in the powerful sun while on display at the Washington County Ag Center.
Illustration Sex (Photo: Johan Fatzry)
The position of the preferred sex by men, likened the taste of coffee that always wanted to be enjoyed from the first to the last drop. Everyone always likes something similar, but have different ways to mengungkapannya. Especially in the case of this...
www.world.zorhea.com/the-mens-chatter-about-favorite-sex-...
Lincoln Castle a Grade I Listed Building constructed by William the Conqueror in the 11th Century. In Lincoln, Lincolnshire.
Lincoln Castle was during the late 11th century by William the Conqueror on the site of a pre-existing Roman fortress. The castle is unusual in that it has two mottes. It is only one of two such castles in the country, the other being at Lewes in Sussex.
When William the Conqueror defeated Harold Godwinson and the English at The Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, he continued to face resistance to his rule in the north of England. For a number of years, William's position was very insecure. In order to project his influence northwards to control the people of the Danelaw (an area traditionally under the control of Scandinavian settlers), he constructed a number of major castles in the north and midlands of England. It was at this time that the new king built major castles at Warwick, Nottingham and York. After gaining control of York, the Conqueror turned southwards and arrived at the Roman and Viking city of Lincoln.
When William reached Lincoln (one of the country's major settlements), he found a Viking commercial and trading centre with a population of 6,000 to 8,000. The remains of the old Roman walled fortress located 60 metres (200 ft) above the countryside to the south and west, proved an ideal strategic position to construct a new castle. Also, Lincoln represented a vital strategic crossroads of the following routes (largely the same routes which influenced the siting of the Roman fort):
Ermine Street - a major Roman road and the Kingdom's principal north-south route connecting London and York.
Fosse Way - another important Roman route connecting Lincoln with the city of Leicester and the south-west of England
The Valley of the River Trent (to the west and southwest) - a major river affording access to the River Ouse, and thus the major city of York.
The River Witham - a waterway that afforded access to both the Rivers Trent (via the Fossdyke Roman canal at Torksey) and the North Sea via The Wash.
The Lincolnshire Wolds - an upland area to the northeast of Lincoln, which overlooks the Lincolnshire Marsh beyond.
A castle here could guard several of the main strategic routes and form part of a network of strongholds of the Norman kingdom, in Danish Mercia, roughly the area of the country that is today referred to as the East Midlands, to control the country internally. Also (in the case of the Wolds) it could form a center from which troops could be sent to repel Scandinavian landings anywhere on the coast from the Trent to the Welland, to a large extent, by using the roads which the Romans had constructed for the same purpose.
The Domesday Survey of 1086 directly records 48 castles in England, with two in Lincolnshire including one in the county town. Building a castle within an existing settlement sometimes meant existing structures had to be removed, and of the castles noted in the Domesday Book, thirteen included references to property being destroyed to make way for the castle. In Lincoln's case 166 "unoccupied residences" were pulled down to clear the area on which the castle would be built.
Work on the new fortification was completed in 1068. It is probable that at first a wooden keep was constructed which was later replaced with a much stronger stone one. Lincoln Castle is very unusual in having two mottes, the only other surviving example of such a design being at Lewes. To the south, where the Roman wall stands on the edge of a steep slope, it was retained partially as a curtain wall and partially as a revetment retaining the mottes. In the west, where the ground is more level, the Roman wall was buried within an earth rampart and extended upward to form the Norman castle wall. The Roman west gate (on the same site as the castle's westgate) was excavated in the 19th century but began to collapse on exposure, and so was re-buried.
The castle was the focus of attention during the First Battle of Lincoln which occurred on 2 February 1141, during the struggle between King Stephen and Empress Maud over who should be monarch in England. It was held but damaged, and a new tower, called the Lucy Tower, was built.
Lincoln Castle was again the site of a siege followed by the Second Battle of Lincoln, on 20 May 1217, during the reign of King John in the course of the First Barons' War. This was the period of political struggle which led to the signing of Magna Carta on 15 June 1215. After this, a new barbican was built onto the west and east gates.
As in Norwich and other places, the castle was used as a secure site in which to establish a prison. At Lincoln, the prison Gaol was built in 1787 and extended in 1847. Imprisoned debtors were allowed some social contact but the regime for criminals was designed to be one of isolation, according to the separate system. Consequently, the seating in the prison chapel is designed to enclose each prisoner individually so that the preacher could see everyone but each could see only him. By 1878 the system was discredited and the inmates were transferred to the new jail in the eastern outskirts of Lincoln. The prison in the castle was left without a use until the Lincolnshire Archives were housed in its cells.
The castle is now owned by Lincolnshire County Council and is a scheduled ancient monument. In 2012, a three-year programme of renovation began at the castle. Work involved creating a new exhibition centre in which to display Magna Carta, building visitor facilities, and opening sections of the prison within the castle to the public. The scheme was completed in April 2015, to coincide with the 800th anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta.
I once had a boss who talked about how some organizations 'get tied up in their own underwear', meaning their own rules and bureaucracy can work against their better interests. This might be the first time I've been literally tied up in my own underwear, or at least hooked by it.
What to do about this situation? Google is no help - there are no youtube videos about how to unhook ones self from their own underwear. So, here I lay, indefinitely.
Details
Year Established
1816
Engineer
Robert Stevenson
Position
Latitude
56° 11.139'N
Longitude
002° 33.457'W
Character
Flashing (2) White every 15 secs
Elevation
73 metres
Nominal Range
22 nautical miles
Structure
Square gothic tower on stone dwelling, 24 metres high The lighthouse building is listed as a building of Architectural/Historic interest.
The island lies at the mouth of the Firth of Forth, 5 miles from the Fife mainland and 11 miles from East Lothian. The island's coastline is rocky; its surface covers 140 acres and slopes gradually from vertical 150ft cliffs on the west side to sea level on the east. Its history dates back to the early custom of founding Monastic settlements on small islands and it was manifest in the choice of St Adrian, when, in the ninth century, he and his brother monks established their retreat on the Isle of May. Later, in the twelfth century, King David I founded a monastery on the island which he granted to the Benedictine Abbey of Reading in Berkshire. This was on the condition that nine priests be placed there to celebrate divine service for the souls of the founder, his predecessors, and successors, the Kings of Scotland.
The Benedictine monks continued in peaceful occupation until the fifteenth century when the monastery was possessed by the sea of St Andrew. This act saw the disbanding of the settlement, and with the ravages of marauding invaders and the passage of time the buildings gradually fell into disrepair.
Today the only remaining evidence of the island's religious past is the fragmented remains of the chapel built in the twelfth century and dedicated to St Adrian.
The island is perhaps best known among naturalists for its bird observatory which was launched in 1934 under the auspices of the then newly formed British Trust for Ornithology. It was on similar lines to the famous German Observatory at Heligoland and was the first in Scotland and only the second in the British Isles, the other being on Skokholm Island off South Wales. The studies of bird migration, varied seabird breeding populations, the island's own breed of mice and the island plant communities are all added attractions for visitors, in addition to the geology, the history and the lighthouses.
The ledges of the West and South Cliffs carry a large breeding population of guillemots, shags, kittiwakes, razorbills and a few fulmars. Hundreds of puffins nest in burrows on the east and north of the island; the flatter areas of the island's surface are almost entirely occupied by herring and lesser black-backed gulls. The island was declared a National Nature Reserve in 1956. A lighthouse has been operating on the Isle of May since 1635 in which year King Charles 1st granted a patent to James Maxwell of Innerwick and John and Alexander Cunningham of Barnes to erect a beacon on that island and to collect dues from shipping for its maintenance. This light, however, was a crude affair and consisted of a stone structure, surmounted by an iron chauffeur in which there burned a coal fire to serve as the illuminant. The coals were hoisted to the fire by means of a box and pulley and three men were employed the whole year round attending to the fire which consumed about 400 tons of coal a year. In 1790 a lightkeepers' entire family was suffocated by fumes, except for an infant daughter, who was found alive 3 days later.
Despite the fact that the light was regarded in its time as one of the finest in existence, its value as an aid to navigation, judged by today's standards, must have been decidedly limited. The character of the light would naturally vary considerably with almost every change in weather conditions; One minute it might be belching forth great volumes of smoke and the next blazing up in clear high flames, while changes in wind directions would tend to alter its appearance. An easterly wind for instance would have the effect of blowing the flames away from the sea so that the light could scarcely be seen where it was most wanted. An instance of this occurred on the night of 19 December 1810 when two of HM Ships NYMPHE and PALLAS were wrecked near Dunbar because the light of a lime kiln on the coast had been mistaken for the navigation light on the Isle of May. In 1814 the Commissioners purchased from the Duke and Duchess of Partland the Isle of May, together with the old coal lighthouse which was built in 1816. It was converted to a Rock Station on 9 August 1972 and looks a bit like a small castle with its protective battlements.
About a quarter of a mile from the lighthouse and on the east side of the island stands the tower and domestic buildings of the "Low Light". A light was first exhibited from this small lighthouse in April 1844 to act, in conjunction with the main lighthouse, as a lights in line so that the mariner could avoid the treacherous North Carr Rock some seven miles north of the Island. However, when the NORTH CARR LIGHTSHIP was established in position in 1887, there was no longer a need for the Low Light and it was, therefore, permanently discontinued. The buildings are now occupied by members of the Ornithological fraternity.
There have been many improvements to the light since 1816. One September 1836 the light was changed to the first British dioptric fixed light, with an improved form of refractor made by Messrs Cookson of Newcastle.
Work began in June 1885 on the station on a elaborate scale. The ornate tower built in 1816 with its extra rooms for visiting officials, had accommodation for only three lightkeepers and their families. Dwellings were needed for three more, and an engine house, boiler house chimney stalk, workshop and coal store. These were built in a small valley containing a freshwater loch, 270 yards from the light and 175 feet below it, and the current led up to the tower by conductors. The two generators, each weighing about 4½ tons, the largest so far made, has a capacity of 8,800 watts, which could be controlled so that the whole or only part of the current was used.
The single automatically-fed arc lamp, with two spares in reserve used carbons 1½ inches in diameter. A core of soft pure graphite made these burn with great steadiness, and an average of 440 feet per annum was used.
The single automatically-fed arc lamp, with two spares in reserve used carbons 1½ inches in diameter. A core of soft pure graphite made these burn with great steadiness, and an average of 440 feet per annum was used. The tremendous current bridging the arc startled a stranger entering the lightroom by a sound like a circular was passing through exceedingly knotty timber, according to one visiting lightkeeper. A three-wick paraffin oil lamp, kept trimmed and ready for use in case the electric current failed, could be lighted and put in focus in about three minutes.
The new light, which was shown from December 1st 1886, gave four flashes in quick succession every half minute, It had an elaborate dioptric apparatus which enabled Thomas Stevenson's dipping plan to be adopted so that the strongest beam of light could be directed much nearer the shore in hazy or foggy weather. The light as about three million candlepower when on machine was in use, and double that with two, or about 300 and 600 times more powerful than the old fixed oil light. he geographical range was 22 miles, but the light was picked up and recognised by sailors at 40 and 50 miles off by the flashes lighting up the clouds overhead.
To ensure efficient working, the whole establishment required the services of a Principal Lightkeeper with technical experience as Engineer-in-Charge, four Assistant with no special training - two for lightroom duty and two to attend the engines and boilers - and an auxiliary whose main responsibility was looking after the station horse and the carting of supplies, which was no light task, with a special supply of 150 tons of steam coke for the engines 1888 - 1889. The total cost of the installation was about £22,000 including the lighthouse buildings already in use. Maintenance at not more than £1,050 per annum was about three time that for an oil light, but it was reckoned that the cost per candlepower produced was relatively small. Electrical power indeed proved to be the most penetrating form of light, although its superiority was much reduced in hazy weather. In really dense fog even the powerful light on the Isle of May could not be seen from the foot of the tower owing to the heavy cost of maintaining the generating plant and the greatly increased power of oil lights made possible by the incandescent mantle. The electric light was therefore discontinued at the Isle of May in 1924. The station then cost about £2,884 per annum to maintain compared with £1,031 for an oil light the original equipment had become unsafe, and then the question of renewal was raised by D A Stevenson who proposed reverting to an oil light, for which the Commissioners obtained Board of Trade sanction.
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution rewarded the lightkeepers on the Isle of May for saving lives when the MATAGORDA was wrecked in 1872 and the German Government sent a binocular field glass each to Robert Grierson and Laurence Anderson who helped the crew of the PAUL lost on Inchkeith in 1888.
In 1930 two young lightkeepers rescued four men by swimming off to the Aberdeen trawler GEORGE AUNGER wrecked on the North Ness and helping them ashore. In 1972 the lighthouse became a "rock" station which meant that the keepers' families no longer lived at the lighthouse but at the shore station in Granton.
The Isle of May was demanned on the 31 March 1989. The operation of the light is controlled by a photo electric cell which determines when darkness has fallen, and the light, which has a range of 22 miles, is automatically turned on. Monitoring of the light is by UHF Radio monitor to Fife Ness Lighthouse then by PSTN to NLB Headquarters in George Street Edinburgh.
Taken from the same position as the previous photo, but looking in the opposite direction, this is the half-timbered gatehouse of Frocester Court, which is a largely medieval manor house, of great antiquity, which was granted to the monks of St Peters Abbey, Gloucester, in 823 AD.
This building however, is much later, and seems to have been built towards the end of the 16th century, and although not quite in the Cotswolds, it has the typical steeply pitched gabled roofs and mullioned windows with prominent drip moulds, that are characteristics of the genre. Another cold, windswept day in July !!
Taken with a 1960 Kodak 66 Model III, f4.5/75mm Anaston lens, x2 yellow filter. Fomapan Ultra 400 in Thornton's Two Bath, 5+5 mins @21C, & scanned @1200dpi on an Epson V500