The last ever Montego to roll down the factory line at Longbridge in 1995, signed by the production team to mark the historic occasion.

 

For some reason I always had a bit of an affinity towards these cars, largely due to the fact that they seemed to be smiling with those light clusters. But much like the Maestro, it had purpose, it was innovative, and it was a car that refused to die!

 

The Austin Montego first started development life way back in 1977 under project code LC10 (Leyland Cars 10), as an intended replacement for the Morris Marina and the Princess. However, like many of the company's promising projects, such as the Maestro and the Metro, it was shelved for years on account of the fact that British Leyland ran out of money! After a corporate bailout by the British Government, the company chose instead to prolong the development of these cars and instead simply give the existing Marina and Princess a facelift, resulting in the Morris Ital and Austin Ambassador, both cars notable for being unimpressively bland masterpieces.

 

However, this delay did give British Leyland a chance to tie up with Honda, and in 1980 launched the Triumph Acclaim as both the first Japanese/British hybrid car, but also British Leyland's first consistently reliable product! The result was that both the simultaneously developed Austin Maestro and Montego could take some leaves out of Honda's book and therefore improve the reliability. Styling came from David Bache, who had previously had a hand in penning the Rover P4, the Rover SD1 and the Range Rover, and Roy Axe, who would later go on to style the Rover 800 and the Rolls Royce Silver Seraph. The lengthy development time of the car however clearly showed as the first sketches of the car were done back in 1975. Apparently when Roy Axe, who took over as Director of Design in 1982, saw the first prototype with the original design, he was so horrified that he suggested they scrap the whole thing and start over!

 

However, their combined design talent truly shows through with the Montego as in essence these are very handsome cars, with a long smooth body, a pleasing frontal alignment and design, and internally very capable and comfortable. Some novel features included were the colour coordinated bumpers that matched the rest of the car, and the wiper spindles hiding under the bonnet when parked.

 

Although many consider the Maestro just to be a hatchback version of the Montego, there were many features the Montego had that made it an all around better car. These included a new S-Series engine in place of the A-Series engine that dated back to the 1950's, and a more practical and robust dashboard. Variations of the car included the stylish and luxury Vanden Plas, which was styled internally by the world renowned coachbuilder with lavish wood veneer and seating (thankfully not given a chrome nose, that would have been insane!), the sporty MG Montego which featured a higher performance O-Series Turob Engine and a revolutionary synthesised computer voice that announced problems and warnings, and finally the Estate versions which were by far the most popular and received almost unanimous acclaim for their spacious interior.

 

The Montego was launched on April 25th 1984, being available at first as a 4-door saloon to replace the standard Morris Ital, but the Ital in estate form continued on until August, bringing an end to the 11 year old Morris Marina family. In October the Estate version was launched at the British International Motor Show. Initially things were looking up for the Montego, as mentioned the Estate version was lauded for its practicality, the MG Montego became the fastest MG ever built with 115hp to rocket it up to a top speed of 126mph at a rate of 0-60 in 7.1 seconds, and the Vanden Plas was a modest success for the business executive, as well as finding a home in the company car market.

 

Promotion for the car also helped to seal the deal with a fantastically choreographed advert where professional stunt driver Russ Swift, pretty much danced around a crowded car park in a Montego, doing reverse 180's in gaps only a few feet wide, and driving the car on two wheels through a gap only a ruler's length apart! Jeremy Clarkson would attempt to do the same thing 14 years later on one of his DVD's in another Montego, again with the help of Russ Swift, which went well the first time, but not so well the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth or seventh time. Eventually the Montego was smashed in half by a large truck in a fiery explosion.

 

Sadly though, the honeymoon like with all good British Leyland cars was short lived, and soon afterwards the various faults and build quality problems became once again apparent. Although many of the features fitted to these cars such as the synthesised voice, the computer engine management and the redesigned dashboard were endearing, the main fault that these cars had were in the electrics, which would frequently go wrong. Some examples I've heard from early Montego owners have included the car failing to start, pressing the indicator switch only to blow the horn, or the synthesised talking lady never, ever, ever shutting up! Because of these problems the cars built up a very quick and poor reputation, added to by the poor construction of the actual car, with the colour coded bumpers being particularly problematic as they'd crack in cold weather.

 

But British Leyland didn't give up on the Montego, and in the background designers continued to tinker with the idea of further additions and changes to the car. Throughout the period following its introduction, British Leyland began to be broken up by the Thatcher Government, with Jaguar being made independent, the various parts manufacturers such as UNIPART being sold off, Leyland Trucks and Buses being sold to Volvo and DAF, and eventually the whole outfit being reduced to just MG and Rover. The Montego has been credited with being the last car to carry the Austin name, the badge being dropped in 1988 with future cars simply being dubbed the Montego. This coincided with a facelift in 1989 and the re-engineering of the car to be fitted with a Perkins Diesel. In 1989 a new seven-seater estate model was created called the Montego Countryman, built to combat the rising trend of People-Carriers such as the Renault Espace, but still being able to perform as well as a regular car. This, much like the original estate, proved immensely popular, especially in France for some reason, which went on to be one of the Montego's major markets.

 

In the early 90's the Montego did start getting back some reputation, winning the CAR Magazine's 'Giant Test' (all technical names I'm sure) when competing against the likes of the Citroen BX and the Audi 80. In fact the Rover Montego Turbo became a favourite with the RAF, and was used to whisk Officers across airfields as a personal transport. The Montego may have failed to outdo the Volkswagen Passat, but as for the British mob such as the Ford Sierra and the Vauxhall Cavalier, it was able competition. In fact when I was young in the 90's a lot of kids I'd see dropped off to school would be in then new Montego's because by this point the reliability issues had been ironed out following Rover Group's return to private ownership under British Aerospace.

 

But by 1992 the car was very much looking its age and was in desperate need of a replacement. In 1993 the Rover 600 was launched which pretty much ended the Montego for mass-production then and there, but special orders for the car continued until 1995. The machines continued to be a favourite among Company Car firms, and a lot of the developments made in the Montego lived on in later Rover cars, primarily the 600 and the 75, which inherited its rear suspension which was often held in high regard. But the curtain did eventually fall for the official Montego production in 1995 as new owners BMW desired nothing more than to be out with the old and in with the new, with facelifts all around including a new Rover 25 to replace the 200, a new Rover 45 to replace the 400, and a new Rover 75 to replace the 800, and the original Range Rover was revamped into the absolutely magnificent Range Rover P38 in 1995. The Maestro too was axed and the Metro followed not long afterwards in 1999, with the classic Mini being killed off in 2000, only to be brought back to life the same year under BMW management after the breakup of Rover that year.

 

But like the Maestro, the Montego simply wouldn't die, but unlike the Maestro, attempts to revive the car under bootlegged brands weren't as prosperous. In India, the company Sipani Automobiles, notable for attempting to recreate British cars such as the Reliant Kitten but instead consistently turning out garbage, attempted to built a few, but folded soon afterwards. In Trinidad & Tobago, a small firm attempted to sell their own copycat versions of the Montego, which were notable for their exceptional poor quality. But most famously was the attempt to recreate the car in China with the Lubao CA 6410, which yoked the nose of a Montego onto the back of a Maestro using a Maestro platform. Today that car is technically still in production as the Jiefang CA 6440 UA Van, but owes more to the Maestro than the Montego.

 

Today the Montego is a very rare car to find. Of the 571,000 cars built, only 296 remain, making it Britain's 8th most scrapped car. Contributing to this, areas of the bodywork that were to be covered by plastic trim (such as the front and rear bumpers) were left unpainted and thus unprotected. In addition, pre-1989 models cannot run on unleaded petrol without the cylinder head being converted or needing fuel additives.

 

However, as mentioned, the Montego estate was a huge hit in France, and chances are you'll find a fair number ambling about the countryside there. Malta too was another popular locale for the Montego, as well as many other British Leyland cars, including Marina's, Allegros and even Princesses!

 

My opinion on the Montego? Like most British Leyland cars it had prospects and purpose, but lacked the desire to build good, honest cars. It was comfortable, it was handsome, it performed as well as a family saloon car should, it was spacious and very well equipped, and like many British Leyland cars, such as the Princess with its Hydragas suspension, it was innovative. If these cars had been built better and had some of the teething problems ironed out with the electrical systems, then British Leyland could have easily gone on to make the family car of the 1980's. But like all pathfinders in the world of technology, they will suffer the full brunt of the problems they are most likely to experience.

 

People rarely remember the originals, only the one's that perfected it...

Long story, but let's just put it this way. I decided I needed to sell my Boxster, and I kind of wanted to update my daily driver BMW 325xiT (wagon). I basically tried to combine the practicality of my wagon with the fun of the Boxster.

 

This was my solution. Certified pre-owned purchase of a 2013 S4 with 25k miles. This thing is just crazy fast, and fun to drive. And has so much tech it makes my head spin (and this car isn't really that up-to-date WRT tech).

Citroen Cactus Feel Puretech

 

Probably the most interesting one of this lot. The Cactus seems to be a bit of a Marmite car, but personally I welcome Citroen's return to doing something slightly more innovative/eccentric/different/mad.

 

Not much to fault in terms of practicality, it's pretty big for the price and well packaged to maximise space. All good.

 

Driving-wise, it could be a bit more entertaining (although was far better than the C4 Picasso a few pics back), but was a lot quicker than I was expecting the 1.2 turbo to be.

 

Overall I liked it for being a bit different, very practical and with an injection of fun touches (glovebox is a treasure chest for example!).

APPROXIMATE RELEASE DATE: 2005-2011

MISSING ITEMS: 2 pairs earrings

 

PERSONAL FUN FACT: I am actually missing the pearl drop earrings and the gemstone earrings which go with this set. They were supposed to slide over the earrings posts which I do have. No worries though, I love making doll jewelry, and Elizabeth is the first American Girl doll I ever got to experiment making jewelry for! Perhaps Ivy, who is my only other doll with pierced ears, can benefit from this too! Elizabeth's little cap doesn't have bobby pins, or any other way to hold it to her head. I'm not sure if it is supposed to, or if perhaps my cap is missing the attachment pieces. So sadly, it doesn't stay on her head when I take her out of the cabinet, but for display purposes it works just fine. Her necklace is beautiful--I like it even more than Lissie's red pearls!!! It matches all of her outfits, plus it has a magnetic closure which makes it a breeze to take on and off. Bitsy's set also came with a really cool fan...I'm not sure of it's practicality, but it's really lovely to look at.

For some reason I always had a bit of an affinity towards these cars, largely due to the fact that they seemed to be smiling with those light clusters. But much like the Maestro, it had purpose, it was innovative, and it was a car that refused to die!

 

The Austin Montego first started development life way back in 1977 under project code LC10 (Leyland Cars 10), as an intended replacement for the Morris Marina and the Princess. However, like many of the company's promising projects, such as the Maestro and the Metro, it was shelved for years on account of the fact that British Leyland ran out of money! After a corporate bailout by the British Government, the company chose instead to prolong the development of these cars and instead simply give the existing Marina and Princess a facelift, resulting in the Morris Ital and Austin Ambassador, both cars notable for being unimpressively bland masterpieces.

 

However, this delay did give British Leyland a chance to tie up with Honda, and in 1980 launched the Triumph Acclaim as both the first Japanese/British hybrid car, but also British Leyland's first consistently reliable product! The result was that both the simultaneously developed Austin Maestro and Montego could take some leaves out of Honda's book and therefore improve the reliability. Styling came from David Bache, who had previously had a hand in penning the Rover P4, the Rover SD1 and the Range Rover, and Roy Axe, who would later go on to style the Rover 800 and the Rolls Royce Silver Seraph. The lengthy development time of the car however clearly showed as the first sketches of the car were done back in 1975. Apparently when Roy Axe, who took over as Director of Design in 1982, saw the first prototype with the original design, he was so horrified that he suggested they scrap the whole thing and start over!

 

However, their combined design talent truly shows through with the Montego as in essence these are very handsome cars, with a long smooth body, a pleasing frontal alignment and design, and internally very capable and comfortable. Some novel features included were the colour coordinated bumpers that matched the rest of the car, and the wiper spindles hiding under the bonnet when parked.

 

Although many consider the Maestro just to be a hatchback version of the Montego, there were many features the Montego had that made it an all around better car. These included a new S-Series engine in place of the A-Series engine that dated back to the 1950's, and a more practical and robust dashboard. Variations of the car included the stylish and luxury Vanden Plas, which was styled internally by the world renowned coachbuilder with lavish wood veneer and seating (thankfully not given a chrome nose, that would have been insane!), the sporty MG Montego which featured a higher performance O-Series Turob Engine and a revolutionary synthesised computer voice that announced problems and warnings, and finally the Estate versions which were by far the most popular and received almost unanimous acclaim for their spacious interior.

 

The Montego was launched on April 25th 1984, being available at first as a 4-door saloon to replace the standard Morris Ital, but the Ital in estate form continued on until August, bringing an end to the 11 year old Morris Marina family. In October the Estate version was launched at the British International Motor Show. Initially things were looking up for the Montego, as mentioned the Estate version was lauded for its practicality, the MG Montego became the fastest MG ever built with 115hp to rocket it up to a top speed of 126mph at a rate of 0-60 in 7.1 seconds, and the Vanden Plas was a modest success for the business executive, as well as finding a home in the company car market.

 

Promotion for the car also helped to seal the deal with a fantastically choreographed advert where professional stunt driver Russ Swift, pretty much danced around a crowded car park in a Montego, doing reverse 180's in gaps only a few feet wide, and driving the car on two wheels through a gap only a ruler's length apart! Jeremy Clarkson would attempt to do the same thing 14 years later on one of his DVD's in another Montego, again with the help of Russ Swift, which went well the first time, but not so well the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth or seventh time. Eventually the Montego was smashed in half by a large truck in a fiery explosion.

 

Sadly though, the honeymoon like with all good British Leyland cars was short lived, and soon afterwards the various faults and build quality problems became once again apparent. Although many of the features fitted to these cars such as the synthesised voice, the computer engine management and the redesigned dashboard were endearing, the main fault that these cars had were in the electrics, which would frequently go wrong. Some examples I've heard from early Montego owners have included the car failing to start, pressing the indicator switch only to blow the horn, or the synthesised talking lady never, ever, ever shutting up! Because of these problems the cars built up a very quick and poor reputation, added to by the poor construction of the actual car, with the colour coded bumpers being particularly problematic as they'd crack in cold weather.

 

But British Leyland didn't give up on the Montego, and in the background designers continued to tinker with the idea of further additions and changes to the car. Throughout the period following its introduction, British Leyland began to be broken up by the Thatcher Government, with Jaguar being made independent, the various parts manufacturers such as UNIPART being sold off, Leyland Trucks and Buses being sold to Volvo and DAF, and eventually the whole outfit being reduced to just MG and Rover. The Montego has been credited with being the last car to carry the Austin name, the badge being dropped in 1988 with future cars simply being dubbed the Montego. This coincided with a facelift in 1989 and the re-engineering of the car to be fitted with a Perkins Diesel. In 1989 a new seven-seater estate model was created called the Montego Countryman, built to combat the rising trend of People-Carriers such as the Renault Espace, but still being able to perform as well as a regular car. This, much like the original estate, proved immensely popular, especially in France for some reason, which went on to be one of the Montego's major markets.

 

In the early 90's the Montego did start getting back some reputation, winning the CAR Magazine's 'Giant Test' (all technical names I'm sure) when competing against the likes of the Citroen BX and the Audi 80. In fact the Rover Montego Turbo became a favourite with the RAF, and was used to whisk Officers across airfields as a personal transport. The Montego may have failed to outdo the Volkswagen Passat, but as for the British mob such as the Ford Sierra and the Vauxhall Cavalier, it was able competition. In fact when I was young in the 90's a lot of kids I'd see dropped off to school would be in then new Montego's because by this point the reliability issues had been ironed out following Rover Group's return to private ownership under British Aerospace.

 

But by 1992 the car was very much looking its age and was in desperate need of a replacement. In 1993 the Rover 600 was launched which pretty much ended the Montego for mass-production then and there, but special orders for the car continued until 1995. The machines continued to be a favourite among Company Car firms, and a lot of the developments made in the Montego lived on in later Rover cars, primarily the 600 and the 75, which inherited its rear suspension which was often held in high regard. But the curtain did eventually fall for the official Montego production in 1995 as new owners BMW desired nothing more than to be out with the old and in with the new, with facelifts all around including a new Rover 25 to replace the 200, a new Rover 45 to replace the 400, and a new Rover 75 to replace the 800, and the original Range Rover was revamped into the absolutely magnificent Range Rover P38 in 1995. The Maestro too was axed and the Metro followed not long afterwards in 1999, with the classic Mini being killed off in 2000, only to be brought back to life the same year under BMW management after the breakup of Rover that year.

 

But like the Maestro, the Montego simply wouldn't die, but unlike the Maestro, attempts to revive the car under bootlegged brands weren't as prosperous. In India, the company Sipani Automobiles, notable for attempting to recreate British cars such as the Reliant Kitten but instead consistently turning out garbage, attempted to built a few, but folded soon afterwards. In Trinidad & Tobago, a small firm attempted to sell their own copycat versions of the Montego, which were notable for their exceptional poor quality. But most famously was the attempt to recreate the car in China with the Lubao CA 6410, which yoked the nose of a Montego onto the back of a Maestro using a Maestro platform. Today that car is technically still in production as the Jiefang CA 6440 UA Van, but owes more to the Maestro than the Montego.

 

Today the Montego is a very rare car to find. Of the 571,000 cars built, only 296 remain, making it Britain's 8th most scrapped car. Contributing to this, areas of the bodywork that were to be covered by plastic trim (such as the front and rear bumpers) were left unpainted and thus unprotected. In addition, pre-1989 models cannot run on unleaded petrol without the cylinder head being converted or needing fuel additives.

 

However, as mentioned, the Montego estate was a huge hit in France, and chances are you'll find a fair number ambling about the countryside there. Malta too was another popular locale for the Montego, as well as many other British Leyland cars, including Marina's, Allegros and even Princesses!

 

My opinion on the Montego? Like most British Leyland cars it had prospects and purpose, but lacked the desire to build good, honest cars. It was comfortable, it was handsome, it performed as well as a family saloon car should, it was spacious and very well equipped, and like many British Leyland cars, such as the Princess with its Hydragas suspension, it was innovative. If these cars had been built better and had some of the teething problems ironed out with the electrical systems, then British Leyland could have easily gone on to make the family car of the 1980's. But like all pathfinders in the world of technology, they will suffer the full brunt of the problems they are most likely to experience.

 

People rarely remember the originals, only the one's that perfected it...

I've been kicking this idea around for a couple weeks. When it comes to making the Reno Races more cinematic, if I could disregard safety and practicality, where would I park a camera drone?

 

These doodles are the result of that thought experiment.

 

First I took the screenshot in the bottom right corner and, using that as my background, overlaid 3D models of the planes until the scale, position, and orientation all matched.

 

From there I could rotate the whole scene 360 degrees until I found an angle that "looked cool". I took screenshots of each of those angles and recolored them in Photoshop. That was a lot of work though, so next time I'll probably use the in-software coloring and rendering controls instead.

 

Still a fun little art project.

Anywhere in Dubai, it's not hard to find over-the-top displays of opulence. But here in the world's only (allegedly) self-proclaimed 7-star hotel, built on its own island in the Arabian Gulf, the Burj al Arab stands out among the crowd. Amid the Disneyland-like resorts, malls and other attractions popping up around Dubai, designed to woo tourists with the appearance of wealth and luxury, the Burj al Arab is one place where this appearance is more than just a facade. Here, what appears golden is... actually gold. This is the real deal.

 

I enjoyed a breakfast here on my last full day of almost two months of travelling - and realized that exception service is not so much a factor of what is offered, but is about anticipation - being one step ahead of your guests to respond to their needs before they even realize it's what they want.

 

Without a doubt, the hotel's reputation owes a great deal to the exclusive environment it propagates. Accessible only for guests or visitors with a reservation, a group of tourists can often be found at the foot of the pier, craning heads for a glimpse and snapshot of the hotel from outside the gate. The almost unbelievable myths help too... yes, you can arrive here by helicopter, and yes some guests are provided with a Rolls Royce and driver to shop and see the city.

 

Some comments and critiques (from wikipedia):

 

"both the hotel and the city, after all, are monuments to the triumph of money over practicality. Both elevate style over substance."

 

"Emulating the quality of palatial interiors, in an expression of wealth for the mainstream, a theater of opulence is created in Burj Al Arab … The result is a baroque effect"

Visit to the General Motors Heritage Center in Sterling Heights, Michigan on January 24, 2015. GM Heritage Center

 

This sharp concept was introduced at the 2004 North American International Auto Show. It is not a sedan, wagon, SUV or any other kind of vehicle, but simultaneously conveys presence and practicality. The Nomad is based on GM's Kappa architecture, which also served as the foundation for the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky.

 

All of my classic car photos can be found here: Car Collections

 

Press "L" for a larger image on black.

Miss Russia, born on the last day of summer, according to the zodiac - Virgo. Representatives of this sign are characterized by an analytical mindset, accuracy, practicality, attentiveness, prudence, exactingness. Virgo is sensitive to the energy of others and rarely makes mistakes. Due to the perfectionism inherent in Virgos, she strives for perfection in everything. Her penchant for innovation and experimentation led her to create a style inspired by the avant-garde fashion of one of Japan's leading designers, Rei Kawakubo, which brought the unfinished garment philosophy to fashion.

Miss Russia emphasized her image with beautiful maidens circling to the sounds of enchanting music in a round dance - an ancient folk ritual dance of the Eastern Slavs in Rus'.

Miss Russia's gown features an impressive range of white, silver and violet blue, bringing hope and an omen of a brighter future through a mysterious star-studded night sky.

The 1st Series (1963-1966) was the fastest saloon of its time and was groundbreaking, opening a new segment in the automotive market. Adolfo and Omar Orsi conceived th Quattroporte, a car that combined the brand's racing heritage with the practicality and sophistication of a saloon. Giulio Alfieri, a key figure in Maserati's success, was entrusted with engineering, while Pietro Frua penned the design. The clean, elegant lines exuded understated sophistication while incorporating aerodynamics principles to enhance performance. It proved that a car could be a high-performance, luxurious, practical saloon. Its success inspired competitors like Mercedes, Jaguar and BMW to develop their own high-performance sedans, setting the stage for an entirely new class of automobiles.

 

4.187 cc

V8

260 hp

 

Maserati 110 Years

19/12/2024 - 23/02/2025

 

Autoworld

www.autoworld.be

Brussels - Belgium

July 2024

I'm attracted to details. In clothing and accessories its zipper pull tabs. I also like heels (what girl doesn't even if its secretly), specifically the d'Orsay. While this sky high - approximately 4.5" - pair of Rock & Republics are pushing that definition, it does come with other details like studs, chains (!!), multiple straps, a metal stiletto and an awesome teardrop spike for a zipper tab. The strappy number has a pewter finish with a small platform to lend support while sauntering through the night (when the weather's warmer of course). Yes ladies, they are quite comfortable (I'm all about practicality here. What's the point of getting great looking shoes if you can't walk, dance or run (to a point) in them or if you don't look great trying to?) Talk about fun!

 

Did I fail to mention the great zipper tab?

In April 1925, Scranton Free Press editor and manager Edward L. Lynett acquired frontage on Penn Avenue and Spruce Street to erect new offices for the newspaper he had bought thirty years earlier, the Scranton Times. As the journal's sixth publisher, Lynett brought success to the publishing venture and circulation rivaled the Republican and Scranton Truth. An increased staff and more presses undoubtedly necessitated the more spacious building, but the 1922 acquisition of WEJL-AM radio station encouraged expansion as well. Architects Davis and Lewis designed a steel-frame and concrete building four stories tall with 55,000 square feet of space. The building embodied functionality and practicality. The classic-style white terracotta exterior was designed with large street-level windows that invited passers-by to view newspaper-making first hand. The building has fine touches of ornate designs that were common in structures built in Scranton during the prosperous 1920s. Above each of the two entrances on Penn Avenue stands a bronze owl whose green eyes once lit up at night— keeping a watchful eye on the news around town. These specialties were made exclusively for the Times Building at Louis C. Tiffany's Studios in New York City. With the advent of television and FM broadcasting, the Scranton Times created FM radio station WQAN. George Lewis designed a fifthfloor addition to the Times building for broadcasting studios and a transmitting tower in 1950.

 

from scrantonpa.gov

It's Better To Own A Little And See The World, Than To Own The World And See Little

By Lauren Martin

Sept 19 2014

 

Life’s a paradox. We want to be rich, but we don’t want to spend our lives working for it. We want to have money, but want to live like we don’t need it. We want the world, but won’t make the leap to see it.

It’s this perpetual conversion of our wild, heartfelt ambitions into money-making practicalities that keep us in a perpetual state of unrest. It’s this tug-of-war between our desire to be rich and our desire to be free.

You can’t be both. You can’t possibly do what you want -- whenever you want -- without money. You can’t see the world without being imprisoned by it first. You can’t leave for greener pastures without mowing them first.

No life comes for free. Every person must pay his way. Every person must first add to society what he plans to take out later. How you decide to pay your way, however, is what defines you.

There are those who pay their way to get to something better, and those who do it and forget why they are doing it. There are the ones who get caught in the race, chaining themselves so tightly to the hamster wheel that they forget they can get off any time.

They get distracted by the stuff -- by all the stuff -- and that innate yearning for something more, something greater, becomes stifled below all the things they try and buy to make them happy. So because they can’t be doing what they want, they buy things to fill the emptiness.

It’s easy to get caught up in it all. It’s easy to forget what you’re working for and let your work become your life. It’s easy to forget what the point of it is; to forget why you’re working in the first place.

 

You need to remember why you were working so hard to make this money to begin with: to live. You want to see the world, taste every opportunity and try everything there is to offer.

You want to live a full life, one that's worth talking about; one that's worth remembering. You want to be free, completely unshackled from anyone telling you what to do and where to do it. Money isn’t your salvage, money is only a step to freedom.

Your true purpose in this world is to see it. It’s to use that money to see the world, to live life in it’s most basic form. It’s to experience everything that’s out there and understand what it truly means to live.

It means dying with the comfort of knowing that you led a full life, one worthy of the opportunity to experience it.

It’s not about the stuff you collected or the money you saved, but how you lived without those things.

There are no greater chains than that of things

What you collect, consume and hoard weighs you down. It keeps you shackled to your spot. It keeps you thinking that your happiness lies in inanimate objects rather than in the experiences; moments that could never fit on a shelf.

It’s these insignificant things that keep you imprisoned. It’s this desire to have more that keeps you from getting everything.

Because the greatest thing you can strive for is contentment. Living your life knowing you don’t need anything besides what you have and what’s in front of you is the ultimate “thing". It’s those insignificant things that eat away at your money and your freedom.

Having things means leaving them. It means adding unnecessary weight to your load, making getting up and leaving that much harder. Suddenly, you’re thinking about all you’re leaving behind rather than looking at everything that could be in front of you.

Your eulogy won’t include how much money you saved

People may remember that you were rich, but they won’t love you for it. They won’t smile when they think about all the money you had in the bank. They won’t cry over your forgotten belongings or empty estates. They will cry for who you were and what you did.

They will recall the kind of person you were, everything you experienced, everything you saw. They will talk about the things you loved and the people you touched. They will recall all the places you visited that changed you, those funny stories you told them and the experiences you shared together.

Being rich happens in years, but being a well-rounded person takes a lifetime.

Experiences never get lost or ruined

Anything that has a price-tag -- that can be bought and sold -- isn't something that’s going to stay with you. Things break, they get ruined, they are lost. Placing any amount of happiness in inanimate objects is setting yourself up for the chance to lose those things, and in return, to lose happiness.

The only things that will stay with you are feelings, memories and good times. No amount of money or objects will shelter you.

You can pay for fancy homes and fancy cars, but they'll never keep you safe or help you weather the emotional storms of life. Because things are just things; they never last.

Which the happiness attached to them about as temporary as a momentary high. The more you collect, however, the higher your tolerance becomes, and like an addict, eventually you will have bought everything and feel nothing.

Happiness is a state of being. It’s never going to be something that you can trade, barter or consume. It's a conscious realization that no amount of things will make you happy. It's learning that the absence of them is where happiness lies.

  

The Christian Science Pavilion offers a colorful presentation of the teachings of this denomination. The exhibits make use of photographs, films, and contemporary discussion of the meaning of God in the modern world, the possibilities of man, and the practicality of healing by spiritual means.

 

Copyright 1961-1963 New York World's Fair 1964-65 Corporation

CAPA-018369

This studio portrait depicts an unidentified captain serving with the Großherzoglich-Mecklenburgisches Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr. 60 (Schwerin). He is shown wearing his Litewka, the distinctive service tunic favored for its practicality and comfort.

 

The photograph offers a rare glimpse into the uniform and bearing of an officer from this historic regiment, which was part of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg’s military contingent within the Imperial German Army.

 

Despite his anonymous status, the captain’s formal pose and meticulously arranged attire reflect the pride and professionalism characteristic of German officers of the era.

3.285 cc

4 in-line

40 pk @ 2.200 rpm

 

Bonhams : Den Hartogh Sale

Ford Museum

Hillegom

Netherlands

June 2018

 

Estimated : € 20.000 - 25.000

Sold for € 14.950

 

The rarest of all Ford Model A body styles, the town car delivery holds a particular mystique in collector circles. Style 295-A was intended for urban commercial use as a light delivery vehicle likely for baked goods or floral use. The style is charming and charismatic but clearly did not find favor among buyers in period. Today, it is coveted by collectors.

 

Meant as a "halo model" for the successful Ford Light Commercial line up, the high cost of this model and somewhat limited practicality likely stifled its sales potential. This Ford is similar in looks to the sedan delivery model but with an open driver's area and a division behind the driver. The rear door was also distinct to this model. This style was often equipped with elaborate formal coach lamps emphasizing its higher end nature.

 

Extremely rare in the market place, a Town Car Delivery has consistently been the rarest and most coveted. It is the "Holy Grail" of the Ford Model A collecting world.

RM Sotheby's

Place Vauban

Parijs - Paris

Frankrijk - France

February 2019

 

Estimated : € 40.000 - 50.000

Sold for € 77.625

 

Bringing the benefits of four-wheel drive to a passenger car, rather than larger trucks and off-roaders, the quattro helped turn Audi into a household name and continues to influence their products to this day. In European specification, the quattro’s initial 2.1-litre inline five-cylinder turbocharged engine turned out nearly 200 hp, combining performance and practicality in a wonderful package.

 

The accompanying service book shows that this quattro was delivered new to Madrid in October of 1984, having been built earlier that month. The only service stamp shows it was serviced at the same dealer in October of 1989 with approximately 25.000 km on its odometer. Passing through the Netherlands, it was purchased by its current owner in 2017 and subsequently imported to Switzerland. Currently showing just over 42.000 km from new, an oil change was carried out in September of 2018, and the car has remained in storage since as the only quattro within the Youngtimer Collection.

 

Widely celebrated for their links to the Sport quattros that enjoyed so much success in Group B rallying, the quattro has become an icon for a generation of enthusiast and this example would be best enjoyed on open (or dirt) roads.

 

The Kawasaki Ninja 300 is a sport bike made by Kawasaki in 2012, for the 2013 model year. It is sold in Europe, North America, Australia and elsewhere. The bike has a 296 cc (18.1 cu in) straight-twin engine.

 

The new 2013 Ninja 300 thoroughly dominates its lightweight sportbike competition on the performance front, while significantly upping the ante for refinement, ease of use and overall practicality. Thanks to a new digital fuel injection system, a new F.C.C. clutch with assist and slipper functions, and the world’s smallest and lightest motorcycle ABS brake system, this new 300 is the best lightweight sportbike, by far, when it comes to street riding and overall usability.

 

The new Ninja 300 sportbike is powered by a larger 296cc liquid-cooled, parallel twin that’s tuned to deliver smooth and predictable power around town, plus excellent high-rpm performance on the highway. This upgraded engine offers significantly more performance than the old 250, while its new digital fuel injection (DFI®) system provides improved cold starting, crisper throttle response and better fuel economy than last year’s bike.

 

This new engine has nearly 50% of its parts upgraded from the previous model. In addition to its new long-stroke 296cc displacement, other engine upgrades include: new intake ports that taper from 1mm wider at the throttle body to .5mm wider at the valve seat, new 23.6mm intake valves that are 1mm larger than last year, a new cam chain that offers reduced friction, a revised 10.6:1 compression ratio that allows the use of regular gasoline and lowers operating temperatures, and new lighter pistons that feature a hard anodized coating for reduced friction and increased performance at all rpms. The underside of the pistons was also revised to more efficiently route cooling oil across their surface. Further highlighting changes for this model, it features new, lighter piston pins to further reduce reciprocating weight and help preserve a high redline, new shorter connecting rods to offset new longer crank throws, and new sleeveless “open-deck” die-cast aluminum cylinders that are 800 grams lighter and feature a friction-reducing “T-treatment” plating. Additional improvements include new thicker crankshaft balancer webs to offset the new longer crank throws, new crank journal bearings made from a stronger alloy for increased durability, new crank cases that feature improved oil passages, a new large-volume 2.4 liter oil pan with cooling fins and more ground clearance than the previous model. Topping-off the changes, a new easy-to-access cartridge type spin-on oil filter helps simplify maintenance.

 

A revised six-speed transmission features thicker gears to help cope with the extra torque from the 300’s new engine. The transmission also features Kawasaki’s positive neutral finder to make finding neutral a cinch when stopped. This efficient engine and transmission help the Ninja 300 provide plenty of enjoyment from the initial learning curve, all the way through advanced sport riding, track days, and club racing.

 

Operating that transmission is now easier than ever, thanks to a new F.C.C. clutch with assist and slipper functions. This new clutch reduces lever effort by up to 25%, while increasing the clutch’s ability to handle the extra torque generated by the 300’s more powerful engine. The new clutch’s slipper design also helps reduce rear wheel-hop that can be caused by aggressive downshifting.

 

The Ninja 300’s extra “go” is complimented by the extra stopping power offered by its anti-lock front and rear disc brakes equipped with a lightweight Nissin ABS system for extra piece of mind when road conditions are questionable. This new system uses the smallest ABS unit of any production motorcycle in the world! Its 290mm front and 220mm petal-type rear brake rotors are gripped by powerful two-piston hydraulic calipers. Like all Kawasaki Ninjas, the new 300 is equipped with high-quality components and was tuned using feedback from professional riders at Kawasaki’s incredible Autopolis race circuit, to help ensure class-leading performance and an entertaining ride for even the most advanced riders.

 

The Ninja 250 was always known as one of the best handling sportbikes on the market. To uphold the family honor, the 2013 Ninja 300 features a new frame that uses new high-tensile steel main tubes that are 150% more rigid than the tubes in last year’s model. Revised tube shapes and additional gusseting also help provide better longitudinal stiffness for better feel during extreme sport riding. Though the main frame is more rigid for better handling, not all rigidity is positive; that’s why Kawasaki engineers designed new rubber front engine mounts that help make this model noticeably smoother, despite the extra power produced by its new 296cc engine.

 

Front and rear suspension tuning has been adjusted to compliment the new, more-rigid frame. Softer spring rates provide a more comfortable ride on rough city streets, without compromising sport handling characteristics.

 

Aggressive new bodywork features a sharp-edged design. It also offers effective heat management and superb aerodynamics. The Ninja 300 not only looks great, but also features a new floating windscreen design to help minimize buffeting and provide smooth airflow around the rider’s helmet.

 

The Ninja 300’s all-new instrument panel features a large easy-to-read analog tachometer and a digital multifunction display with speedometer, odometer, dual trip meters, fuel gauge, and digital clock functions. The new instrument panel also features indicator lights, while the digital screen incorporates a handy economical riding indicator (ECO) that illuminates to alert riders when they are operating the Ninja 300 in a manner that will maximize fuel economy.

 

A natural riding position and comfortable ergonomics combine with lightweight handling and nimble response to deliver pure pleasure everywhere from city streets and highways, to twisty backroads and even racetracks. Contributing to this great handling package are the new full-size, 17-inch, 10-spoke wheels.

  

Museo Nautico en San Giovanni di Bellagio - Como

________________________________________

 

twin barrel box ( marine ) chronometer

 

Museo degli Strumenti per la navigazione

se ve reforzada por el Museo de los equipos de navegación.

En una casa antigua torre configurado correctamente, ahora se exponen más de 200 objetos preciosos que en los siglos pasados ​​han permitido a la humanidad para navegar en el mar y la vela a nuevos mundos ...

 

www.bellagiomuseo.com/museo.html

______________________________

 

Metal marine chronometer

supported by wooden / glass / brass case. Suspended in centre of case by two brass pins and secured by fastening latch. Case has brass handles and inlay details.

 

Rectangular "mother of pearl" plaque attached to front of case above keyhole

 

John Poole

Maker to the Admiralty

57 Fenchurch St, London ####"

 

( same engraved on face of chronometer )

 

seven day "Up-Down" indicator, second's bit, gold hands and eight-day split plate movement

with chain drive fusee, helical hairspring, split balance with adjustment screws and brass weights, spring detent escapement

 

John Poole 1818 - 1867

Royal Navy - Royal Australian Navy

______________________________

 

Marine chronometer

 

A marine chronometer is a clock that is precise and accurate enough to be used as a portable time standard; it can therefore be used to determine longitude by means of celestial navigation. When first developed in the eighteenth century it was a major technical achievement, as accurate knowledge of the time over a long sea voyage is necessary for navigation, lacking electronic or communications aids. The first true chronometer was the life work of one man, John Harrison, spanning 31 years of persistent trial and error that revolutionized naval ( and later aerial ) navigation as the Age of Discovery and Colonialism hit a new gear.

 

The term chronometer ( apparently coined in 1714 by Jeremy Thacker, an early competitor for the prize set by the Longitude Act in the same year ) is used more recently to describe wristwatches tested and certified to meet certain precision standards.

 

History

( For further details on discovering longitude, see History of longitude. )

To determine a position on the Earth's surface, it is necessary and sufficient to know the latitude, longitude and altitude. Altitude considerations can of course be ignored for vessels operating at sea level. Until the mid 1750s accurate navigation at sea out of sight of land was an unsolved problem due to the difficulty in calculating longitude. Navigators could determine their latitude by measuring the sun's angle at noon ( i.e., when it reached its highest point in the sky, or culmination ). To find their longitude, however, they needed a time standard that would work aboard a ship. Observation of regular celestial motions, such as Galileo's method based on observing Jupiter's natural satellites, was usually not possible at sea due to the ship's motion. The Lunar Distance Method, initially proposed by Johannes Werner in 1514, was developed in parallel with the marine chronometer. The Dutch scientist Gemma Frisius was the first to propose the use of a chronometer to determine longitude in 1530.

 

The purpose of a chronometer is to measure accurately the time of a known fixed location, for example Greenwich Mean Time ( GMT ). This is particularly important for navigation. Knowing GMT at local noon allows a navigator to use the time difference between the ship's position and the Greenwich Meridian to determine the ship's longitude. As the Earth rotates at a regular rate, the time difference between the chronometer and the ship's local time can be used to calculate the longitude of the ship relative to the Greenwich Meridian ( defined as 0° ) using spherical trigonometry. In modern practice, a navigational almanac and trigonometric sight-reduction tables permit navigators to measure the Sun, Moon, visible planets, or any of 57 navigational stars at any time that the horizon is visible.

 

The creation of a timepiece which would work reliably at sea was difficult. Until the 20th century the best timekeepers were pendulum clocks, but the rolling of a ship at sea made a simple gravity-based pendulum useless.

 

First marine chronometers

Christiaan Huygens, following his invention of the pendulum clock in 1656, made the first attempt at a marine chronometer in 1673 in France, under the sponsorship of Jean-Baptiste Colbert. In 1675, Huygens, who was receiving a pension from Louis XIV, invented a chronometer that employed a balance wheel and a spiral spring for regulation, instead of a pendulum, opening the way to marine chronometers and modern pocket watches and wristwatches. He obtained a patent for his invention from Colbert, but his clock remained imprecise at sea.

 

More attempts were made by Jeremy Thacker in England in 1714, and Henry Sully in France in 1716, who published his work in 1726 with Une Horloge inventée et executée par M. Sulli, but these inventions remained unable to resist the rolling of the high seas and keep time precisely enough.

Drawings of Harrison's H4 chronometer of 1761, in The principles of Mr Harrison's time-keeper, 1767.

Ferdinand Berthoud marine chronometer no.3, 1763.

 

In 1714, the British government offered a longitude prize for a method of determining longitude at sea, with the awards ranging from £10,000 to £20,000 ( several million pounds in modern terms ) depending on accuracy. John Harrison, a Yorkshire carpenter, submitted a project in 1730, and in 1735 completed a clock based on a pair of counter-oscillating weighted beams connected by springs whose motion was not influenced by gravity or the motion of a ship. His first two sea timepieces H1 and H2 ( completed in 1741 ) used this system, but he realised that they had a fundamental sensitivity to centrifugal force, which meant that they could never be accurate enough at sea. Construction of his third machine, designated H3, in 1759 included novel circular balances and the invention of the bi-metallic strip and caged roller bearings, inventions which are still widely used. However, H3's circular balances proved too inaccurate and he eventually abandoned the large machines.

 

Harrison solved the precision problems with his much smaller H4 chronometer design in 1761. H4 looked much like a large five-inch ( 12 cm ) diameter pocket watch. In 1761, Harrison submitted H4 for the £20,000 longitude prize. His design used a fast-beating balance wheel controlled by a temperature-compensated spiral spring. This general layout remained in use until stable electronic oscillators allowed very accurate portable timepieces to be made at affordable cost. Harrison then published his work with Principles of Mr. Harrison's time-keeper in 1767.

 

The modern chronometer

About the same time in France, Pierre Le Roy invented in 1748 the detent escapement characteristic of modern chronometers. In 1766, Pierre Le Roy created a revolutionary chronometer that incorporated a detent escapement, the temperature-compensated balance and the isochronous balance spring: Harrison showed the possibility of having a reliable chronometer at sea, but these developments by Le Roy are considered as the foundation of the modern chronometer. The innovations of Le Roy made the chronometer a much more accurate piece than had been anticipated.

 

Ferdinand Berthoud in France, as well as Thomas Mudge in Britain also successfully produced marine timekeepers. Although none was simple, they proved that Harrison's design was not the only answer to the problem. The greatest strides toward practicality came at the hands of Thomas Earnshaw and John Arnold, who in 1780 developed and patented simplified, detached, "spring detent" escapements, moved the temperature compensation to the balance, and improved the design and manufacturing of balance springs. This combination of innovations served as the basis of marine chronometers until the electronic era.

 

The new technology was initially so expensive that not all ships carried chronometers, as illustrated by the fateful last journey of the East Indiaman Arniston. However by 1825, the Royal Navy had begun routinely supplying its vessels with chronometers.

 

It was common for ships at the time to observe a time ball, such as the one at Greenwich, to check their chronometers before departing on a long voyage. Every day, ships would anchor briefly in the River Thames at Greenwich, waiting for the ball at the observatory to drop at precisely 1pm. This practice was responsible for the subsequent adoption of Greenwich Mean Time as an international standard. ( Time balls became redundant around 1920 with the introduction of radio time signals, which have themselves largely been superseded by GPS time. ) In addition to setting their time before departing on a voyage, ship chronometers were also routinely checked for accuracy while at sea by carrying out lunar or solar observations.

 

Although industrial production methods began revolutionizing watchmaking in the middle of the 19th century, chronometer manufacture remained craft-based much longer. Around the turn of the 20th century, Swiss makers such as Ulysse Nardin made great strides toward incorporating modern production methods and using fully interchangeable parts, but it was only with the onset of World War II that the Hamilton Watch Company in the US perfected the process of mass production, which enabled them to produce thousands of their superb Model 21 & Hamilton Model 22 chronometers of World War Two for the United States Navy & Army and other Allied navies. Despite Hamilton's success, chronometers made in the old way never disappeared from the marketplace during the era of mechanical timekeepers. Mercer of St. Albans in Britain, for instance, continued to produce high-quality chronometers by traditional production methods well into the 1970s.

 

Without their accuracy and the accuracy of the feats of navigation that marine chronometers enabled, it is quite likely the ascendancy of the Royal Navy, and by extension that of the British Empire, would not have occurred; the formation of the empire by wars and conquests of colonies abroad took place in a period in which British vessels had reliable navigation due to the chronometer, while their Portuguese, Dutch, and French opponents did not. For example: the French were well established in India and other places before Britain, but were defeated by naval forces in the Seven Years' War.

 

The most complete international collection of marine chronometers, including Harrison's H1 to H4, is at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, Britain.

 

Mechanical chronometers

The crucial problem was to find a resonator that remained unaffected by the changing conditions met by a ship at sea. The balance wheel harnessed to a spring solved most of the problems associated with the ship's motion. Unfortunately, the elasticity of most balance spring materials changes relative to temperature. To compensate for ever-changing spring strength, the majority of chronometer balances used bi-metallic strips to move small weights toward and away from the centre of oscillation, thus altering the period of the balance to match the changing force of the spring. The balance spring problem was solved with a nickel-steel alloy named Elinvar for its invariable elasticity at normal temperatures. The inventor was Charles Edouard Guillaume, who won the 1920 Nobel Prize for physics in recognition for his metallurgical work ( the only Nobel that has been granted for work related to horology ).

 

The escapement serves two purposes. First, it allows the train to advance fractionally and record the balance's oscillations. At the same time, it supplies minute amounts of energy to counter tiny losses from friction, thus maintaining the equilibrium of the oscillating balance. The escapement is the part that ticks. Since the natural resonance of an oscillating balance serves as the heart of a chronometer, chronometer escapements are designed to interfere with the balance as little as possible. There are many constant force and detached escapement designs, but the most common are the spring detent and pivoted detent. In both of these, a small detent locks the escape wheel and allows the balance to swing completely free of interference except for a brief moment at the centre of oscillation, when it is least susceptible to outside influences. At the centre of oscillation, a roller on the balance staff momentarily displaces the detent, allowing one tooth of the escape wheel to pass. The escape wheel tooth then imparts its energy on a second roller on the balance staff. Since the escape wheel turns in only one direction, the balance receives impulse in only one direction. On the return oscillation, a passing spring on the tip of the detent allows the unlocking roller on the staff to move by without displacing the detent.

 

Chronometers often included other innovations to increase their efficiency and precision. Hard stones such as ruby and sapphire were often used as jewel bearings to decrease friction and wear of the pivots and escapement. Until the end of mechanical chronometer production in the third quarter of the 20th century, makers continued to experiment with things like ball bearings and chrome-plated pivots.

 

Marine chronometers always contain a maintaining power which keeps the chronometer going while it is being wound, and a power reserve to indicate how long the chronometer will continue to run without being wound. Marine chronometers are the most accurate portable mechanical clocks ever made, achieving a precision of around a tenth of a second per day. This is accurate enough to locate a ship's position within 4,600 feet ( 1,400 m ) after a month's sea voyage.

.

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.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_chronometer

For the top pics group - landscapes.

 

I had to get up earlier than usual today because I’ve an appointment to check the dressings on my knee. I was up at a time when the sun was playing with the Snowdonia clouds. There were some gorgeous pinks and reds forming on and flowing around the morning clouds. Made me wish I could get out there.

 

[View on Black] to get the most out of the sky.

 

The Photographer speaks 1: After setting up on an early-morning shoot and before the first ‘click’, I will ‘chill’ for a short time. Time to slow my breathing and ‘get into’ my surroundings. I will take off my cap and let my face cool. It’s a delicious feeling. I’ll gaze off into the middle distance and let my peripheral vision take over – is there anything moving that deserves my attention? Turning slowly, I listen, really listen for sounds that seem to be amplified at that time of morning; wing beats; streams gurgling; a distant car; waves breaking; birds calling; even low-flying bats whirring over. It’s worth having a good look at the ground around my feet – various shells and pieces of washed up porcelain have been bought home from beaches before today.

After sunrise, time to move and make the most of that early light :)

 

The Photographer speaks 2 : When I get up early to shoot, I like to get to a location knowing roughly what I’d like my first photo to be. I try to get there about half an hour before sunrise and this might involve quite a brisk walk where I’ve parked! After arriving, I’ll set up and check the composition for the first image. The 7D has an internal spirit level which displays on the lcd which I have found to be very useful. This year’s Christmas present was a Manfrotto tripod with ball and socket head. I have not had much chance to use it yet, but it seems that this head, coupled with the 7D’s ‘liveview’ function might even surpass the practicality of the spirit level. ‘Liveview’ displays the scene with a ‘thirds’ grid included which makes minor adjustment of the picture extremely easy.

 

This post is a re-working of an image I took last August. I have the time to do so at the moment and I am quite happy with the way this turned out. I’m happy with what I get from Elements, but I probably need to start using more of the software’s functions. Perhaps some indoor shots next week will provide the catalyst for that :)

My MGB offers fun, practicality and low-cost ownership. Recently I have decided to let someone else enjoy it. An original late 1979 MGB in great condition and with all the desirable options as overdrive, tonneaucover, wire wheels, three wipers, indoor carcover and black interior with reclining seats.

 

However, I have wanted a Porsche 911 ever since I was a very young lad. I would always think that someday, I would have a Porsche of my own. Lately I started focusing on attracting a Porsche. I started by looking at Porsches for sale weekly and then daily. At first, they seemed so expensive! After a while though, the outrageous price tag seemed reasonable to me. I really believe, that I will have a Porsche 911. Next, I mustered up the courage to go test-drive one. After all, you have to do whatever it takes to visualize your dream (me behind the wheel of a Porsche 911). So, I test-drove an approved 911 (997) Carrera S (50.000 km/ 261 kW = 355 pk/price € 60.000,00) and then a new one (294 kW = 400 pk/price over € 150.000,-). At this point, I knew what it felt like to be behind the wheel of a Porsche and could visualize myself driving my very own Porsche 911. It should be a 911 (991) Carrera S with very low miles and in pristine condition for a fair price. It will be so perfect! It is the believing that I will receive what I have asked for. This will be the key to my dream sports car.

 

So I am off to buy my dream Porsche 991, eh? Step one is to get rid of my first car! I bought a pre-owned MGB Roadster in 1987 and I sold this approved MG today after owning it for 25 years.

 

I accomplished step one!

 

HDRtist HDR - www.ohanaware.com/hdrtist/

The last ever Montego to roll down the factory line at Longbridge in 1995, signed by the production team to mark the historic occasion.

 

For some reason I always had a bit of an affinity towards these cars, largely due to the fact that they seemed to be smiling with those light clusters. But much like the Maestro, it had purpose, it was innovative, and it was a car that refused to die!

 

The Austin Montego first started development life way back in 1977 under project code LC10 (Leyland Cars 10), as an intended replacement for the Morris Marina and the Princess. However, like many of the company's promising projects, such as the Maestro and the Metro, it was shelved for years on account of the fact that British Leyland ran out of money! After a corporate bailout by the British Government, the company chose instead to prolong the development of these cars and instead simply give the existing Marina and Princess a facelift, resulting in the Morris Ital and Austin Ambassador, both cars notable for being unimpressively bland masterpieces.

 

However, this delay did give British Leyland a chance to tie up with Honda, and in 1980 launched the Triumph Acclaim as both the first Japanese/British hybrid car, but also British Leyland's first consistently reliable product! The result was that both the simultaneously developed Austin Maestro and Montego could take some leaves out of Honda's book and therefore improve the reliability. Styling came from David Bache, who had previously had a hand in penning the Rover P4, the Rover SD1 and the Range Rover, and Roy Axe, who would later go on to style the Rover 800 and the Rolls Royce Silver Seraph. The lengthy development time of the car however clearly showed as the first sketches of the car were done back in 1975. Apparently when Roy Axe, who took over as Director of Design in 1982, saw the first prototype with the original design, he was so horrified that he suggested they scrap the whole thing and start over!

 

However, their combined design talent truly shows through with the Montego as in essence these are very handsome cars, with a long smooth body, a pleasing frontal alignment and design, and internally very capable and comfortable. Some novel features included were the colour coordinated bumpers that matched the rest of the car, and the wiper spindles hiding under the bonnet when parked.

 

Although many consider the Maestro just to be a hatchback version of the Montego, there were many features the Montego had that made it an all around better car. These included a new S-Series engine in place of the A-Series engine that dated back to the 1950's, and a more practical and robust dashboard. Variations of the car included the stylish and luxury Vanden Plas, which was styled internally by the world renowned coachbuilder with lavish wood veneer and seating (thankfully not given a chrome nose, that would have been insane!), the sporty MG Montego which featured a higher performance O-Series Turob Engine and a revolutionary synthesised computer voice that announced problems and warnings, and finally the Estate versions which were by far the most popular and received almost unanimous acclaim for their spacious interior.

 

The Montego was launched on April 25th 1984, being available at first as a 4-door saloon to replace the standard Morris Ital, but the Ital in estate form continued on until August, bringing an end to the 11 year old Morris Marina family. In October the Estate version was launched at the British International Motor Show. Initially things were looking up for the Montego, as mentioned the Estate version was lauded for its practicality, the MG Montego became the fastest MG ever built with 115hp to rocket it up to a top speed of 126mph at a rate of 0-60 in 7.1 seconds, and the Vanden Plas was a modest success for the business executive, as well as finding a home in the company car market.

 

Promotion for the car also helped to seal the deal with a fantastically choreographed advert where professional stunt driver Russ Swift, pretty much danced around a crowded car park in a Montego, doing reverse 180's in gaps only a few feet wide, and driving the car on two wheels through a gap only a ruler's length apart! Jeremy Clarkson would attempt to do the same thing 14 years later on one of his DVD's in another Montego, again with the help of Russ Swift, which went well the first time, but not so well the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth or seventh time. Eventually the Montego was smashed in half by a large truck in a fiery explosion.

 

Sadly though, the honeymoon like with all good British Leyland cars was short lived, and soon afterwards the various faults and build quality problems became once again apparent. Although many of the features fitted to these cars such as the synthesised voice, the computer engine management and the redesigned dashboard were endearing, the main fault that these cars had were in the electrics, which would frequently go wrong. Some examples I've heard from early Montego owners have included the car failing to start, pressing the indicator switch only to blow the horn, or the synthesised talking lady never, ever, ever shutting up! Because of these problems the cars built up a very quick and poor reputation, added to by the poor construction of the actual car, with the colour coded bumpers being particularly problematic as they'd crack in cold weather.

 

But British Leyland didn't give up on the Montego, and in the background designers continued to tinker with the idea of further additions and changes to the car. Throughout the period following its introduction, British Leyland began to be broken up by the Thatcher Government, with Jaguar being made independent, the various parts manufacturers such as UNIPART being sold off, Leyland Trucks and Buses being sold to Volvo and DAF, and eventually the whole outfit being reduced to just MG and Rover. The Montego has been credited with being the last car to carry the Austin name, the badge being dropped in 1988 with future cars simply being dubbed the Montego. This coincided with a facelift in 1989 and the re-engineering of the car to be fitted with a Perkins Diesel. In 1989 a new seven-seater estate model was created called the Montego Countryman, built to combat the rising trend of People-Carriers such as the Renault Espace, but still being able to perform as well as a regular car. This, much like the original estate, proved immensely popular, especially in France for some reason, which went on to be one of the Montego's major markets.

 

In the early 90's the Montego did start getting back some reputation, winning the CAR Magazine's 'Giant Test' (all technical names I'm sure) when competing against the likes of the Citroen BX and the Audi 80. In fact the Rover Montego Turbo became a favourite with the RAF, and was used to whisk Officers across airfields as a personal transport. The Montego may have failed to outdo the Volkswagen Passat, but as for the British mob such as the Ford Sierra and the Vauxhall Cavalier, it was able competition. In fact when I was young in the 90's a lot of kids I'd see dropped off to school would be in then new Montego's because by this point the reliability issues had been ironed out following Rover Group's return to private ownership under British Aerospace.

 

But by 1992 the car was very much looking its age and was in desperate need of a replacement. In 1993 the Rover 600 was launched which pretty much ended the Montego for mass-production then and there, but special orders for the car continued until 1995. The machines continued to be a favourite among Company Car firms, and a lot of the developments made in the Montego lived on in later Rover cars, primarily the 600 and the 75, which inherited its rear suspension which was often held in high regard. But the curtain did eventually fall for the official Montego production in 1995 as new owners BMW desired nothing more than to be out with the old and in with the new, with facelifts all around including a new Rover 25 to replace the 200, a new Rover 45 to replace the 400, and a new Rover 75 to replace the 800, and the original Range Rover was revamped into the absolutely magnificent Range Rover P38 in 1995. The Maestro too was axed and the Metro followed not long afterwards in 1999, with the classic Mini being killed off in 2000, only to be brought back to life the same year under BMW management after the breakup of Rover that year.

 

But like the Maestro, the Montego simply wouldn't die, but unlike the Maestro, attempts to revive the car under bootlegged brands weren't as prosperous. In India, the company Sipani Automobiles, notable for attempting to recreate British cars such as the Reliant Kitten but instead consistently turning out garbage, attempted to built a few, but folded soon afterwards. In Trinidad & Tobago, a small firm attempted to sell their own copycat versions of the Montego, which were notable for their exceptional poor quality. But most famously was the attempt to recreate the car in China with the Lubao CA 6410, which yoked the nose of a Montego onto the back of a Maestro using a Maestro platform. Today that car is technically still in production as the Jiefang CA 6440 UA Van, but owes more to the Maestro than the Montego.

 

Today the Montego is a very rare car to find. Of the 571,000 cars built, only 296 remain, making it Britain's 8th most scrapped car. Contributing to this, areas of the bodywork that were to be covered by plastic trim (such as the front and rear bumpers) were left unpainted and thus unprotected. In addition, pre-1989 models cannot run on unleaded petrol without the cylinder head being converted or needing fuel additives.

 

However, as mentioned, the Montego estate was a huge hit in France, and chances are you'll find a fair number ambling about the countryside there. Malta too was another popular locale for the Montego, as well as many other British Leyland cars, including Marina's, Allegros and even Princesses!

 

My opinion on the Montego? Like most British Leyland cars it had prospects and purpose, but lacked the desire to build good, honest cars. It was comfortable, it was handsome, it performed as well as a family saloon car should, it was spacious and very well equipped, and like many British Leyland cars, such as the Princess with its Hydragas suspension, it was innovative. If these cars had been built better and had some of the teething problems ironed out with the electrical systems, then British Leyland could have easily gone on to make the family car of the 1980's. But like all pathfinders in the world of technology, they will suffer the full brunt of the problems they are most likely to experience.

 

People rarely remember the originals, only the one's that perfected it...

Yes, believe it or not, the origin of the mighty Range Rover goes back to the communistic clumsiness of British Leyland, where, in one of their rare moments of genius, they realised the dream that a contemporary 4x4 could be married with the luxuries and styling of a regular saloon car!

 

The original concept of the Range Rover can be traced back to the groundbreaking original Land Rover of the 1940's, where upon its introduction in 1948 as an extended development of the American Willy's Jeep, the Land Rover had taken the world by storm and become the most desired 4x4 in the world. Light, practical, endlessly tunable and easy to maintain, the Land Rover was a hit across the globe, primarily in the colonies of the British Empire, taking people to remote regions that had once been only within the reach of a Horse or a Camel. Initially, a plan was made to create a saloon style version of the Land Rover in 1949 with the help of coachbuilder Tickford, dubbed the 'Land Rover Station-Wagon', but this was not exactly a success and sold only 700 examples before the car was withdrawn from production in 1951. The main features of the Station-Wagon were a wooden-framed body, seven seats, floor carpets, a heater, a one-piece windscreen and other car-like features, its hand-built nature kept prices high.

In 1954 Land Rover took another stab at the Station Wagon concept, only this time it was built in-house rather than outsourced to a different company. This version's primary market was for those who required an off-road vehicle with greater capacity, such as ambulances or even small buses in remote regions such as the Scottish Highlands. But even though this second incarnation of the Station Wagon was available with features such as an interior light, heater, door and floor trims and upgraded seats, the basic Land Rover roots of this car meant it was still tough and capable, but the firm suspension made its road performance somewhat mediocre.

 

In 1958, Land Rover took yet another stab with the Road Rover, a development of combining the Land Rover chassis and running gear with the internal furnishings and body of a regular saloon car. The intended audience of the Road Rover was again in the remote British Colonies of Africa and the Australian Outback, where the firm suspension would be useful on the long, uneven roads. By the 1960's however, developments across the pond in the United States were starting to rock Rover's boat, as the newly coined Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) began to make progress. International Harvester released the Scout, and Ford the Bronco, offering a different blend of off and on-road ability from existing utility 4x4s such as the Land Rover and the Jeep, proving capable of good on-road comfort and speed while retaining more than adequate off-road ability for most private users. The Jeep Wagoneer proved the concept further, being both spacious and practical, but still with the raunchy off-road abilities to conquer the harsh American terrain.

 

Being frontline observers to this, Rover dealers in the United States looked on in horror as the American motor industry cornered the market for the SUV, and through frustration the president of Rover's USA division sent head office a Land Rover Series II 88 fitted with a Buick V8, designed for contemporary American pickup trucks, which offered far greater on-road performance and refinement than any Land Rover then in production.

 

Things came full circle though thanks to a man named Charles Spencer King, a former apprentice at Rolls Royce and one of the most prominent figures in the ownership of Rover and its transition to British Leyland. Taking over the development, he began the development program with the 100-inch Station Wagon project, taking the original concepts of the previous Road Rover and fitting it with coil springs after coming to the conclusion that only long-travel coil springs could provide the required blend of luxury car comfort and Land Rover's established off-road ability. His realisation of this apparently came when he drove a Rover P6 across rough scrubland adjacent to Land Rover's Solihull Factory, but was also helped by the fact that Land Rover purchased the coil springs from a Ford Bronco and began developing from those. Permanent 4WD was also necessary so as to provide both adequate handling and to reliably absorb the power that would be required by the vehicle if it was to be competitive, which came through in the form of a new transmission known as the Land Rover 101 Forward Control. The final piece to the puzzle though was the use of the Buick derived Rover V8, a strong, reliable, lightweight and endlessly tunable engine. In addition to the regular V8, the car was fitted with both a starting handle for emergencies, and carburettors to help continue to supply fuel at extreme angles.

 

The final design, launched in 1970 with bodywork styled largely by the engineering team rather than David Bache's styling division, was marketed as 'A Car For All Reasons'. In its original guise, the Range Rover was more capable off-road than the Land Rover but was much more comfortable, offering a top speed in excess of 100mph, a towing capacity of 3.5 tons, spacious accommodation for five people and groundbreaking features such as a four-speed, dual-range, permanent four-wheel-drive gearbox and hydraulic disc brakes on all wheels. The body was constructed, in keeping with other Rover products, of lightweight aluminium, and in its first incarnation was only available as a two-door utilitarian runabout, rather than the five-door luxury car we know today. This was rectified in 1981 when a 4-door version was made available, but this doesn't mean that the Range Rover wasn't a success before this change.

 

Upon its launch in June 1970, the Range Rover was lauded with critical acclaim, and Rover was praised for succeeding in marrying the practicalities of a modern 4x4 with the luxury capabilities of a standard road car. With a top speed of 95mph and a 0-60 acceleration of less than 15 seconds, performance was stated as being better than many family saloon cars of its era, and off-road performance was good, owing to its long suspension travel and high ground clearance. The bulky but practical design was also praised, with many considering it a piece of artwork, with one example being put on display in the Louvre in Paris! Early celebrity ownership also helped the sales quota, but not in the same way you'd expect today. Instead of Musicians and Movie Stars buying up stashes of Range Rovers like they do nowadays, people of established wealth such as Princess Diana and Government bodies became proud custodians of these mighty machines.

 

Problems however were quick to occur, as let's not forget, this was a British Leyland product. Reliability was a major issue, with strike cars being especially poor as many would leave the factory with vital components missing or not installed properly. To save costs, many pieces of the cars were carried over from other Leyland products, with switches and dials being donated from Austin Allegros, and the door handles coming direct from Morris Marinas. Name any of the faults endemic to British Leyland products of the time, and the Range Rover suffered from the same curse, be they mechanical, electric, cosmetic, or, worst of all, the demon rust!

 

But the Range Rover survived to see the 1980's despite its faults, and after the introduction of an extra set of doors it started to gain a true identity as the luxury motor of choice for the new money. With the additional 5-door layout, new variants such as the long wheelbase Vogue and the SE (Special Equipment) versions took many of the luxury items of the Jaguar XJ series such as leather seats and hazelnut wooden trim and placed them into the Range Rover. In the 1980s as well, special utility versions began to be developed, including a 6x6 Fire Tender for airfields and small airports, Ambulances for military bases and remote regions, and one special variant for his holiness the Pope, affectionately dubbed the Popemobile!

 

However, towards the late 1980's the Range Rover in its original incarnation was starting to look very much its age. The angular design was looking tired, and internally its utilitarian roots were in evidence. The dashboard was not much like that of a regular saloon car, but more a bus or a truck, with a huge steering wheel like that from a tractor, and was not particularly well equipped. Land Rover however intended to narrow the Range Rover's portfolio to the truly luxury market rather than having the low end versions which didn't sell as well due to their expense. In 1989 Land Rover launched the Discovery, which was similar in size to the Range Rover but cheaper and given a more family layout with seats and furnishings being carried over from the Austin Montego. To bring the Range Rover back into the front line of luxury motors for the 1990's, Rover Group (the descendant of British Leyland) put together a plan to design a new car under the chassis codenumber P38A (or just P38 for short). Four years of development and £300 million later, the car was launched to a whirlwind of critical acclaim. With a beautifully equipped interior, a more car-like design of dashboard and with a wider variety of luxury trim levels, including the personalised Autobiography editions, the P38 was the first of the mighty Range Rovers to appeal to the bling-bling generation.

 

This, however, left the original Range Rover out in the cold, and even though it was still a much loved part of the British motoring scene, the time had come for the original, dubbed the Range Rover Classic after launch of the P38. The last of the original Range Rovers slunk silently of the production line at Solihull in 1996, with production now fully based on the new P38, as well as to future developments such as the Freelander of 1997 and ongoing Discovery and Defender. Today original Range Rovers are somewhat easy to come by depending on where you look. In London you'll find a fair few (after all, these were the original Chelsea Tractors), but even in the country you'll bump into these things, especially around my home of Devon where the Range Rover/Land Rover products were perfect for the rugged Moorland terrain. Early British Leyland ones you'd be hard pressed to find, most rusting away in the 1980's, but the Rover Group ones of the 80's and 90's are by no means rare.

 

But even so, 45 years after the first Range Rover left the factory in Solihull, Range Rovers continue to be produced today, now in it's 4th Generation and available in more variations than ever before! Although British Leyland has long since died together with their many woeful products such as the Morris Marina and the Austin Allegro, the Range Rover is very much their legacy, the last of their original products to survive the strikes and bankruptcy, fighting off the fuel crisis and privatisation by the Thatcher Government, and then being split in 2000 by BMW and juggled between owners Ford and TATA Steel, and still being the luxury motorised toy of the modern day rich! :)

Milngavie depot closed in 1987. The plot of land remains a contentious issue within the local community, as developers plan to turn it into a housing development. Locals are concerned as to the practicalities of such a development on a main road. Who would have thought twenty six years later ex London tridents would be roaring past the gates. Ironically, some ex London routemasters were based at Milngavie for at time during its years of operation!

Mitsukejima Island is an uninhabited island in Suzu, Ishikawa, Japan. Because of its shape, it is also known as Gunkanjima (軍艦島, "Battleship Island").

 

' Movement Field ' is the installation art by Xu Zhen（China) for Okunoto Triennale 2023.

 

White gravel stones form a yard where paths intricately intersect in a pine woods. These walkways guide visitors on zigzagging courses, allowing them to enjoy the surrounding scenery. They are also actual routes of demonstrations held at different times around the world. The work evokes connections between the past and the present. At the same time, there are real histories concealed behind superficial appearances of peace, practicality, and beauty. “Movement Field” stirs thoughts about the meanings hidden within it as you walk down its white paths.

 

At Suzu, Japan.

  

For some reason I always had a bit of an affinity towards these cars, largely due to the fact that they seemed to be smiling with those light clusters. But much like the Maestro, it had purpose, it was innovative, and it was a car that refused to die!

 

The Austin Montego first started development life way back in 1977 under project code LC10 (Leyland Cars 10), as an intended replacement for the Morris Marina and the Princess. However, like many of the company's promising projects, such as the Maestro and the Metro, it was shelved for years on account of the fact that British Leyland ran out of money! After a corporate bailout by the British Government, the company chose instead to prolong the development of these cars and instead simply give the existing Marina and Princess a facelift, resulting in the Morris Ital and Austin Ambassador, both cars notable for being unimpressively bland masterpieces.

 

However, this delay did give British Leyland a chance to tie up with Honda, and in 1980 launched the Triumph Acclaim as both the first Japanese/British hybrid car, but also British Leyland's first consistently reliable product! The result was that both the simultaneously developed Austin Maestro and Montego could take some leaves out of Honda's book and therefore improve the reliability. Styling came from David Bache, who had previously had a hand in penning the Rover P4, the Rover SD1 and the Range Rover, and Roy Axe, who would later go on to style the Rover 800 and the Rolls Royce Silver Seraph. The lengthy development time of the car however clearly showed as the first sketches of the car were done back in 1975. Apparently when Roy Axe, who took over as Director of Design in 1982, saw the first prototype with the original design, he was so horrified that he suggested they scrap the whole thing and start over!

 

However, their combined design talent truly shows through with the Montego as in essence these are very handsome cars, with a long smooth body, a pleasing frontal alignment and design, and internally very capable and comfortable. Some novel features included were the colour coordinated bumpers that matched the rest of the car, and the wiper spindles hiding under the bonnet when parked.

 

Although many consider the Maestro just to be a hatchback version of the Montego, there were many features the Montego had that made it an all around better car. These included a new S-Series engine in place of the A-Series engine that dated back to the 1950's, and a more practical and robust dashboard. Variations of the car included the stylish and luxury Vanden Plas, which was styled internally by the world renowned coachbuilder with lavish wood veneer and seating (thankfully not given a chrome nose, that would have been insane!), the sporty MG Montego which featured a higher performance O-Series Turob Engine and a revolutionary synthesised computer voice that announced problems and warnings, and finally the Estate versions which were by far the most popular and received almost unanimous acclaim for their spacious interior.

 

The Montego was launched on April 25th 1984, being available at first as a 4-door saloon to replace the standard Morris Ital, but the Ital in estate form continued on until August, bringing an end to the 11 year old Morris Marina family. In October the Estate version was launched at the British International Motor Show. Initially things were looking up for the Montego, as mentioned the Estate version was lauded for its practicality, the MG Montego became the fastest MG ever built with 115hp to rocket it up to a top speed of 126mph at a rate of 0-60 in 7.1 seconds, and the Vanden Plas was a modest success for the business executive, as well as finding a home in the company car market.

 

Promotion for the car also helped to seal the deal with a fantastically choreographed advert where professional stunt driver Russ Swift, pretty much danced around a crowded car park in a Montego, doing reverse 180's in gaps only a few feet wide, and driving the car on two wheels through a gap only a ruler's length apart! Jeremy Clarkson would attempt to do the same thing 14 years later on one of his DVD's in another Montego, again with the help of Russ Swift, which went well the first time, but not so well the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth or seventh time. Eventually the Montego was smashed in half by a large truck in a fiery explosion.

 

Sadly though, the honeymoon like with all good British Leyland cars was short lived, and soon afterwards the various faults and build quality problems became once again apparent. Although many of the features fitted to these cars such as the synthesised voice, the computer engine management and the redesigned dashboard were endearing, the main fault that these cars had were in the electrics, which would frequently go wrong. Some examples I've heard from early Montego owners have included the car failing to start, pressing the indicator switch only to blow the horn, or the synthesised talking lady never, ever, ever shutting up! Because of these problems the cars built up a very quick and poor reputation, added to by the poor construction of the actual car, with the colour coded bumpers being particularly problematic as they'd crack in cold weather.

 

But British Leyland didn't give up on the Montego, and in the background designers continued to tinker with the idea of further additions and changes to the car. Throughout the period following its introduction, British Leyland began to be broken up by the Thatcher Government, with Jaguar being made independent, the various parts manufacturers such as UNIPART being sold off, Leyland Trucks and Buses being sold to Volvo and DAF, and eventually the whole outfit being reduced to just MG and Rover. The Montego has been credited with being the last car to carry the Austin name, the badge being dropped in 1988 with future cars simply being dubbed the Montego. This coincided with a facelift in 1989 and the re-engineering of the car to be fitted with a Perkins Diesel. In 1989 a new seven-seater estate model was created called the Montego Countryman, built to combat the rising trend of People-Carriers such as the Renault Espace, but still being able to perform as well as a regular car. This, much like the original estate, proved immensely popular, especially in France for some reason, which went on to be one of the Montego's major markets.

 

In the early 90's the Montego did start getting back some reputation, winning the CAR Magazine's 'Giant Test' (all technical names I'm sure) when competing against the likes of the Citroen BX and the Audi 80. In fact the Rover Montego Turbo became a favourite with the RAF, and was used to whisk Officers across airfields as a personal transport. The Montego may have failed to outdo the Volkswagen Passat, but as for the British mob such as the Ford Sierra and the Vauxhall Cavalier, it was able competition. In fact when I was young in the 90's a lot of kids I'd see dropped off to school would be in then new Montego's because by this point the reliability issues had been ironed out following Rover Group's return to private ownership under British Aerospace.

 

But by 1992 the car was very much looking its age and was in desperate need of a replacement. In 1993 the Rover 600 was launched which pretty much ended the Montego for mass-production then and there, but special orders for the car continued until 1995. The machines continued to be a favourite among Company Car firms, and a lot of the developments made in the Montego lived on in later Rover cars, primarily the 600 and the 75, which inherited its rear suspension which was often held in high regard. But the curtain did eventually fall for the official Montego production in 1995 as new owners BMW desired nothing more than to be out with the old and in with the new, with facelifts all around including a new Rover 25 to replace the 200, a new Rover 45 to replace the 400, and a new Rover 75 to replace the 800, and the original Range Rover was revamped into the absolutely magnificent Range Rover P38 in 1995. The Maestro too was axed and the Metro followed not long afterwards in 1999, with the classic Mini being killed off in 2000, only to be brought back to life the same year under BMW management after the breakup of Rover that year.

 

But like the Maestro, the Montego simply wouldn't die, but unlike the Maestro, attempts to revive the car under bootlegged brands weren't as prosperous. In India, the company Sipani Automobiles, notable for attempting to recreate British cars such as the Reliant Kitten but instead consistently turning out garbage, attempted to built a few, but folded soon afterwards. In Trinidad & Tobago, a small firm attempted to sell their own copycat versions of the Montego, which were notable for their exceptional poor quality. But most famously was the attempt to recreate the car in China with the Lubao CA 6410, which yoked the nose of a Montego onto the back of a Maestro using a Maestro platform. Today that car is technically still in production as the Jiefang CA 6440 UA Van, but owes more to the Maestro than the Montego.

 

Today the Montego is a very rare car to find. Of the 571,000 cars built, only 296 remain, making it Britain's 8th most scrapped car. Contributing to this, areas of the bodywork that were to be covered by plastic trim (such as the front and rear bumpers) were left unpainted and thus unprotected. In addition, pre-1989 models cannot run on unleaded petrol without the cylinder head being converted or needing fuel additives.

 

However, as mentioned, the Montego estate was a huge hit in France, and chances are you'll find a fair number ambling about the countryside there. Malta too was another popular locale for the Montego, as well as many other British Leyland cars, including Marina's, Allegros and even Princesses!

 

My opinion on the Montego? Like most British Leyland cars it had prospects and purpose, but lacked the desire to build good, honest cars. It was comfortable, it was handsome, it performed as well as a family saloon car should, it was spacious and very well equipped, and like many British Leyland cars, such as the Princess with its Hydragas suspension, it was innovative. If these cars had been built better and had some of the teething problems ironed out with the electrical systems, then British Leyland could have easily gone on to make the family car of the 1980's. But like all pathfinders in the world of technology, they will suffer the full brunt of the problems they are most likely to experience.

 

People rarely remember the originals, only the one's that perfected it...

I revisited Dunnottar Castle today Wednesday 24th April 2019, unfortunately a sea harr cloacked Stonehaven, blurring the view of the castle from the cliff top that leads down to the stairs accessing the castle, undeterred I decided enter the castle grounds, it was a good decision, posting a few of my shots from todays visit to this fine castle ruin.

 

Dunnottar Castle.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

History

Early Middle Ages

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

 

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

 

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

 

Later Middle Ages

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

16th century rebuilding

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Civil wars

Further information: Scotland in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms

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

 

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

 

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

 

The Honours of Scotland

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

  

Whigs and Jacobites

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Later history

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

  

Description

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

 

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

 

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

 

Defences

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Tower house and surrounding buildings

The tower house of Dunnottar, viewed from the west

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

The palace

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

Miss Russia, born on the last day of summer, according to the zodiac - Virgo. Representatives of this sign are characterized by an analytical mindset, accuracy, practicality, attentiveness, prudence, exactingness. Virgo is sensitive to the energy of others and rarely makes mistakes. Due to the perfectionism inherent in Virgos, she strives for perfection in everything. Her penchant for innovation and experimentation led her to create a style inspired by the avant-garde fashion of one of Japan's leading designers, Rei Kawakubo, which brought the unfinished garment philosophy to fashion.

Miss Russia emphasized her image with beautiful maidens circling to the sounds of enchanting music in a round dance - an ancient folk ritual dance of the Eastern Slavs in Rus'.

Miss Russia's gown features an impressive range of white, silver and violet blue, bringing hope and an omen of a brighter future through a mysterious star-studded night sky.

First of July 2017 I made my way to Stonehaven, a small fishing town a few miles from Aberdeen, while there the sun shone high in the blue sky making it a perfect day to capture the scenery and landscape surrounding me, hence I packed my Nikon D750 and made full use of it, I left Stonehaven around 16pm and drove the few miles to this wonderful location Dunnottar Castle, absolutely breathtaking , I post a few of the photos I have taken along with a brief history of castles heritage .

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

History

Early Middle Ages

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

 

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

 

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

 

Later Middle Ages

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

16th century rebuilding

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Civil wars

Further information: Scotland in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms

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

 

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

 

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

 

The Honours of Scotland

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

  

Whigs and Jacobites

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Later history

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

  

Description

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

 

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

 

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

 

Defences

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Tower house and surrounding buildings

The tower house of Dunnottar, viewed from the west

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

The palace

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

I revisited Dunnottar Castle today Wednesday 24th April 2019, unfortunately a sea harr cloacked Stonehaven, blurring the view of the castle from the cliff top that leads down to the stairs accessing the castle, undeterred I decided enter the castle grounds, it was a good decision, posting a few of my shots from todays visit to this fine castle ruin.

 

Dunnottar Castle.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

History

Early Middle Ages

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

 

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

 

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

 

Later Middle Ages

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

16th century rebuilding

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Civil wars

Further information: Scotland in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms

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

 

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

 

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

 

The Honours of Scotland

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

  

Whigs and Jacobites

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Later history

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

  

Description

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

 

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

 

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

 

Defences

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Tower house and surrounding buildings

The tower house of Dunnottar, viewed from the west

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

The palace

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

Public toilets in the open can seem like a quirky concept, but they actually serve a purpose. In some cases, it's a matter of practicality and accessibility. Imagine you're at a bustling street festival, and nature calls. You'd be grateful for an open-air loo rather than sprinting blocks to find a hidden restroom, right? Plus, in rural areas or places where infrastructure is limited, open toilets can be a more feasible solution. They're like the minimalist art of the sanitation world: less is more, and open is better than none! And let's not forget, they offer a breath of fresh air and, on rare occasions, a scenic view that indoor facilities just can't match. So next time you come across one, just think of it as a loo with a view! 🚽✨

 

AI Generated Text

Hundreds of African Refugees from Eritrea and Ethiopia make a pilgrimage to Bethlehem to visit Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity for a Coptic Christmas. Bethlehem, Palestine, 6th January 2012.

 

Shortly about me:

 

It’s my passion to create stories and bring back pictures of events, people and places that are rarely seen. It’s a combination of exploration, exposition and artistry that together create a life of adventure and excitement.

 

In my work it is imperative for me that information be accurate and the images must be respectful of the subject and viewer. My goal is to combine creativity with practicality to capture the best possible images to document events, tell a story, meet the picture editor's deadlines.

 

If you would like to know more, or even just pick my brains to discuss your project with me, please visit my homepage documentary photography or send me an Email.

Heritage beasts in 57305 and 37611 sandwich newbie 710117 whilst on transfer from Crewe to Old Dalby, via Bletchley and the Marston line. Practicality puzzles me why the route via Nuneaton and Leicester was not the preferred plan. Not complaining as photo'd them passing Wolverton in glorious sunshine before heading home and seeing again on the MML here at Kangaroo Spinney, just south of Wellingborough Station! Some days it just works out well and makes up for those other days!

This was my final full-day in Britain. Dan has relatives in Wales and he was staying with them for a few more days, whereas I was to take the train from Cardiff Central back to London Victoria, before returning to Toronto the following day.

 

Cloevelly was the last planned stop enroute from St. Ives, Cornwall to Cardiff, Wales.

 

Partial and edited quote from Wikipedia:

 

Clovelly (/kləˈvɛli/) is a small village in the Torridge district of Devon, England. It has a harbour and is a tourist attraction notable for its steep pedestrianised cobbled main street, donkeys and views over the Bristol Channel. At the 2011 census, the parish population was 443, which was 50 fewer than ten years previously. The ward of Clovelly Bay includes the island of Lundy.

 

There is a road leading to the harbour but the village main street is not accessible by motor vehicle. The lack of vehicular access to the main street has led to deliveries being made by sledge. This is not done as a tourist attraction, but as a matter of practicality. Goods are delivered by being pulled down on a sledge from the upper car park.

SAAB (of Sweden) had always made some oddball cars. This was not always a good way of returning profits to development. By the mid-1980s, it was clear that the luxury market, to which SAAB aspired, had consolidated to the 3-box sedan.

 

The 9000 was part of the Type Four program, a pooled platform which yielded large cars for Alfa Romeo (164), FIAT (Croma), Lancia (Thema), and the SAAB 9000. By the time all the cars had been launched, all but SAAB were now part of the wider FIAT combine. An approach was made in the 1990s for SAAB to also be purchased, but this was rejected.

 

The SAAB 9000, which had originally been launched as a large 5-door in 1984, was updated to include a second body design - a conventional saloon, in late 1988. The car was called the 9000 CD, and the chief market was the US.

 

On endearing feature of SAABs was their practicality and utility, and though the 9000 CD was more useful than most sedans, SAAB buyers actually preferred their cars as 5-doors. The 9000 CD continued until 1998, when the car was replaced by the SAAB 9.5, a second attempt at a GM-derived platform project. GM's ownership of SAAB came to a conclusion with the remnants of SAAB sold first to Dutch boutique manufacturer Spyker, after GM's bankruptcy in 2009. SAAB was declared insolvent in 2012, and the remaining assets purchased by Chinese owned NEVS.

When you think of poor cars and the worst era of British Industry, most will cite the Austin Allegro, a car that truly is a staple of its time, and those times were pretty grim to say the least! It has become a symbol of failure, a monument to catastrophic engineering, a beacon of impracticality and a terrible tribute to an age we Brits would sooner forget.

 

Bit is the Austin Allegro really deserving of such maligned opinions? Should we really hate it as much as we do?

 

The story of the Allegro goes back to the previous model of its range, the Austin 1100, a car that had become symbolic of the British family motor industry, with crisp smooth lines, round peeking headlights and a good blend of space and practicality, it sold by the millions and could have almost been described as a family equivalent of the Mini, novelty that you can use everyday. Trouble was that the 1100 was starting to look very much its age in 1971, and thus British Leyland, the new owners of Austin, took it upon themselves to design a new car that would be sheek and European, something that could win both the British and the International markets.

 

For this they enlisted the help of Chief BL Designer Harris Mann, famous for many great BL products such as the Marina, the Ital, the Princess and the Triumph TR7. Today many people blame him for the poor designs that the company spewed out onto the roads of Britain, but I personally feel sorry for him, especially with cars such as the Allegro. His original design for the car was an angular and very streamlined looking piece of kit, a hatchback and with two fins on the rear to compliment the long smooth waistband, making it look almost reminiscent of an Aston Martin DB5 crossed with a 1969 DBS. However, his promising designs were sadly watered down by British Leyland, tinkered, altered, and, quite frankly, ruined his idea to become what it is, with its bathtub curves, long sloping back and piggy headlights. I will say, it's not the ugliest car in the world, far from it, I've seen much worse like the Pontiac Aztek which looks like a cross between a Bug and a mutant Rhino, but when you compare it to Harris Mann's original sketches, then, and only then, do you understand how far down the Allegro design came.

 

But styling wasn't what BL expected to win the market with, but instead with the car's practicality, starting with the new Hydragas suspension to replace the previous Hydrolastic suspension of the 1100. With this suspension, The Allegro intended to lock horns with the likes of the outgoing Citroën DS and its replacement the CX. Hydragas uses displaced spheres of Nitrogen gas to replace the conventional steel springs of a regular suspension design. The means for pressurising the gas in the displacers is done by pre-pressurising a hydraulic fluid, and then connecting the displacer to its neighbour on the other axle. This is unlike the Citroën system, which uses hydraulic fluid continuously pressurised by an engine-driven pump and regulated by a central pressure vessel. However, the attempt at being an outstanding motor ended at Hydragas because there was nothing else particularly endearing about the Allegro. The interior was cheap, nasty and very cramped, especially in the back where you couldn't even fit a bag of shopping let alone your children! Rather than taking the sensible approach of the competition by fitting the car with a hatchback for more boot space, the car was just fitted with a tiny little trunk that you couldn't fit a bag of shopping into either! The engine, the BMC A-Series, was carried over from the 1100, which was a fine little engine, perky and fairly reliable if maintained properly, as well as the heater being carried over from the Morris Marina, but I'm no judge of heaters so I won't say if that was for good or for ill. Most jarring however was when the car was fitted with a square steering wheel! Probably the most memorable part of the Allegro is the fact that it was given a quartic steering wheel, which BL claimed was for ease of access to the front seat and so that the instruments could be seen, which leaves one asking whether you couldn't see them with a round steering wheel! In the end even Harris Mann disowned the car with disappointment, claiming it was nothing like his original idea, which is pretty bad when even the Chief Designer disowns it!

 

Either way, in spite of Mr. Mann's space-age design being watered down to something unrecognisable and with only Hydragas suspension to make it any different from anything else on the market, the Allegro was launched in 1973 with a promotional trip to Marbella in the south of Spain, and early reviews, despite there being a unanimous dislike to the car's shape and styling, were quite warm, many praising the comfort of the Hydragas suspension. However, reviews of the drive quality, such as the car's heavy steering and cheap, plastic interior, were less favourable.

 

Nevertheless, initial sales of the Allegro were promising and it was in 1973 one of the best selling cars of the year, but things truly went for the plunge soon afterwards, and the car never fully recovered. The flaws of the design became prominent, followed by British Leyland's infamous low quality builds. Roofs, panels and boots leaked, rear wheels flew off, and rumour has it that these cars were banned from the Mersey Tunnel in Liverpool because they couldn't be towed after a breakdown without the chassis bending in the middle! Engines failed to start, wiring was abysmal, rear windows popped out, the paint colours were dreary and dismal, the car would rust before you got it home and many commented that the car had a better drag co-efficiency going backwards!

 

The Allegro did come in a selection of variants, including an estate, a sporty coupé known as the Equipe, and a very strange luxury variant known as the Vanden Plas 1500, a peculiar which was fitted with luxury items carried over from the Jaguar XJ range and had a big chrome nose yoked onto the front to try and make it look reminiscent of a Rolls Royce or a Bentley. Only problem is that Rolls Royce's and Bentley's have their front ends designed around the chrome nose, and thus the result was that it looked something like a pig! Also, another thing about Rollers and Bentleys is that they're much, much bigger than a tiny Allegro, which had absolutely no legroom in the back which made the concept entirely pointless! The car was also sold in Italy as the Innocenti Regent, nothing particularly different apart from different badges.

 

In 1975 the Allegro II was launched to try and redress some of the issues with the original car, including a slightly altered front-end and some minor changes internally, but overall it was very much the same. These changes however weren't enough to save the car's dwindling reputation, and even though the BL advertisers continued to lay on the imaginative promotion, the car was still losing heavily to the likes of the Ford Cortina.

 

The final variant, the Allegro III, had the most changes upon its launch in 1979, including a new version of the A-Series engine and quad round headlights to make it look a bit more modern. Apart from that the car was still very much the same as it was in 1973, and it was truly showing its age. British Leyland, recovering from the bankruptcy of 1977, attempted to rationalise the company by pulling out of the sports car range as well as some of their older products. The MG sportsters were killed off in 1980 and their factory closed whilst production of the Allegro and the Mini were slowed down as they prepared to discontinue to both of them in favour of the Austin Metro. The Morris Marina and Princess were replaced by the mostly identical Morris Ital and the Austin Ambassador, and Triumph was now being used to pioneer a tie up with Japan to create good and reliable cars in the form of the Triumph Acclaim.

 

The hammer eventually fell on the Allegro after 9 years of production in 1982 when the Austin Maestro was launched after 5 years of development. In all, 642,000 Allegros left the factory during its lifetime, but today less than 250 are known to exist, with many rusting away or being part exchanged for a plant pot by the time 1990 hit. The reputation of these cars is still very much maligned by both critics and motoring enthusiasts alike, with it topping many people's worst car in history lists, and becoming Britain's worst car of all time followed closely by the Morris Marina. Top Gear were always quick to bash the Allegro, with two of the ambiguous Vaden Plas 1500's meeting their maker, one being smashed with a suspended Morris Marina in a giant game of Bar Skittles, whilst another was driven in reverse off a ramp and smashed into a pile of scrapyard cars.

 

Me personally? I feel that the Allegro was a car with promise and premise, but the abilities of British Leyland fell far short of their ambitions, not helped by their incompetence and desire to commit corporate suicide. If the car had been built as Harris Mann had designed, been given a hatchback, and had been created with the slightest semblance of sense, then it could have truly been a winner. As it is, the car is now a sorry marker in the world of broken dreams, one that we simply choose to forget and never forgive.

by and large, i was hardly impressed with the art on exhibition at the brewery art walk. most of it was one dimensional, schlocky, gimmicky, or simply cheaply made (in terms of materials, effort and creativity).

 

if it were only up to the recently produced art work, then there was not a single piece that i experienced which made me want to come back, and were it not for the fact that we only covered one third of all the galleries, i wouldn't return.

 

however, a few pieces did stand out.

 

while taking into account an opportunity to see an original slim aarons, what stood out most of all were the fantastic living spaces at the brewery that were home to many of the artists. it was indeed a pleasure to roam around in various lofts and studios, which were, for the most part, put together much more creatively than the art on display in the same spaces. some of the homes had inspiring views of downtown los angeles, but most of the spaces were the products of practicality and whim, and i wish i could have spent more time here - and some of the ideas that i saw will stick around in my mind much longer than the art that i experienced.

 

more info on the art walk can be found here: www.breweryartwalk.com

 

part of the amusement of attending the brewery art walk was on opportunity to check out the many los angeles hipsters strutting around. there were second rate prima donnas with exploding lips and zombie expressions, aging rockers with straight bangs hanging low over their eyes and tight tight leather jeans; art school types in scarves and converse all-stars; thin-limbed euros in tastefully reserved coats; goths, punkers, skaters, mods, bohemians, the occasional cholos, and several wrinkled hippies with the next generation in tow. quite a bunch and i'm sure i missed a few.

The familiar octagonal Colgate clock, facing Manhattan, dates back to 1924 and is a reminder of the time when factories dominated the city's waterfront. Its design was inspired by Colgate's Octagon Soap. The surface of the clock is 1,963.5 square feet and 50 feet in diameter. The minute hand is 25 feet, 10 inches long; the hour hand is 20 feet long. The timepiece can be adjusted and is maintained to stay within one minute of accurate time. There was a small master clock in the Colgate building that was checked against the US Naval Observatory in Washington, DC The clock's mechanism is like that of a traditional wall clock with weights and wheels but is powered by twenty-eight large-volt batteries that are recharged.

 

The octagonal clock replaced an earlier smaller clock designed by Colgate engineer Warren Day and built by the Seth Thomas Company for the centennial of the Colgate Company in 1906. The clock, thirty-eight feet in diameter, was made of structural steel and its face of stainless steel slats. It was part of a sign set on the roof of an eight-story warehouse at the southeast corner of York and Hudson Streets also built for the anniversary. Engineer William P. Field designed the sign reading "COLGATE'S SOAPS AND PERFUMES" in 20-foot-high letters. The 200-foot-long, 40-foot-high sign was illuminated at night by 1,607 bulbs and was visible from 20 miles away from the Jersey City waterfront to Staten Island and the Bronx. It received acclaim as an identifying symbol of the company along with its practicality. When removed for the new clock, it was retired to Jeffersonville, Indiana.

 

The Colgate's Soap and Perfumery Works, later Colgate-Palmolive Peet, was founded by William Colgate in New York in 1806. When he moved his company to Paulus Hook (Jersey City) from New York, it was referred to as "Colgate's Folly." The Colgate-Palmolvie factory complex was completed in 1847; it made chemically produced soap and perfume but eventually gave up perfume production. The Colgate-Palmolive Company became a very successful and modern plant for its time and expanded over a six-block site by the 1950s.

 

With the clock overlooking the Hudson River, the Colgate structure and signage had become a Jersey City landmark. The signage was altered in 1983. A toothpaste tube, noting one of Colgate's best selling products, replaced the lettering for soap and perfume.

 

In 1985, Colgate decided to leave Jersey City, and the complex, excepting the clock, was razed. The site is part of the redevelopment of the Jersey City waterfront at Exchange Place that began in the early 1990s. The clock remains on a soon-to-be developed lot awaiting a decision whether it will be made a part of the frontage of a new building or replaced by a new clock as part of new building on the lot. Time will tell!

 

source: Jersey City past and present,

www.njcu.edu/programs/jchistory/Pages/C_Pages/Colgate_Clo...

The emergency services throughout Winston-Salem, North Carolina, likely got calls about a UFO flying low over the city this past Saturday… it was an early evening fly-by of a U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bomber at the airshow. Having grown up in a military family and enjoying my own service with the Air Force, I had seen nearly everything that flies in the U.S. arsenal, but not this critter. With only 20 B-2s in existence, this was a rare sight.

 

The B-2 drifted down from a high altitude like a falling leaf over Winston-Salem and made three low passes before returning to Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. I was unprepared for how well the thing flew. Often in engineering machines there are trade-offs, fuel efficiency for speed or aesthetics for practicality for instance… there appeared to be no such trade-offs for stealth in this machine. With a maximum speed of 0.95 Mach (95% of the speed of sound), this aircraft moved quietly and as gracefully as a manta ray. The first two passes ended in tight 180-degree turns… the pilot stood the plane up on its wingtips and yanked the stick back in a high-g turn, exactly as a fighter pilot would. Unlike fighter pilots, however, this crew of 2 regularly endures missions of 40-plus hours nonstop… both a remarkable machine and crew. Perhaps that's the reason for "yanking and banking"... to break the monotony of a long flight.

 

While you may think that I am extolling the virtues of a war machine, please give this some thought: as a Christian, I am a proponent for peace, but not for pacifism (peace at any cost), because the two do not equate… how can I be at peace when others suffer from unjust brutality? I think G. K. Chesterton said it best when he stated, “Unless a man become the enemy of evil, he will not even become its slave but rather its champion. God Himself will not help us to ignore it, but only to defy and defeat it.” In other words, if a defenseless child was being beaten to death and I raised no hand to stop it because of pacifist proclivity, then I would be just as guilty of the crime as the one who actually did it. The B-2 is definitely a “big stick” that I support… a deterrent in the war on terrorism. The aircraft and crew of the 509th are Air Force at its best.

 

If you look closely, you can see the beautiful evening sky reflected in the cockpit windows. Warbird, or

not, it's hard too overlook how technology can merge so elegantly into this machine... I suppose this perspective would change radically if you were its target. Those who earn that distinction do not earn it lightly.

SMS Group Logistics are conducting a "Road-Train" trial with the Department for Transport and VOSA to assess pulling six HGV trailers behind one high powered tractor unit.

 

With immense benfits as regards fuel efficiency, and the ability to dispense with five drivers, the trial is looking at the practicalities of negotiating UK motorways and A-roads with a road train 295ft (90m) long and weighing 180 tonnes.

 

Seen here parked up during the day in Sellindge (Kent, England) the trials take place between midnight and 5am, with full Police escort. A common sight in Australia, will it also become one on UK motorways?

 

Link with more details: www.smstempcritical.com/road_train_trial

On the floor it is. What is it, a parking space? Or people in wheelchairs can only be in this one spot? Or maybe I should'nt be so cynical, it might actualy come down to practicality......Manchester 2 2015.

THERE’S A SPECIAL place in the custom motorcycle scene for motorcycles that eschew practicality, in order to push boundaries. This BMW R nineT from Zillers Garage in Russia is hardly the ideal grocery getter or tourer, but the level of craftsmanship at play here is on another level. And that’s why we love it.

 

Zillers Garage is run by Dmitry Golubchikov—an AMD Championship winner who wowed us with his custom Vincent a few months ago. He mostly works alone, but occasionally calls in reinforcements on bigger projects. The commission for this R nineT came from BMW Motorrad Russia, but the inspiration came from the world of aviation.

 

Dmitry started out with a 2016-model R nineT, but all that’s really left now is the motor, final drive arm and part of the frame. Just about everything else was created in-house, with the bike taking a full ten months to complete.

 

The R nineT’s most striking feature is undoubtedly its retro-futuristic bodywork. With the exception of the boxer cylinder heads still poking out, the entire bike is wrapped in hand-formed aluminum sections. And the lines are inspired—from the robotic visage up front, right through to the classically styled tail section.

Rear-engined revolution

 

Jack Brabham raised some eyebrows when he took sixth place at the 1957 Monaco Grand Prix in a rear-engined Formula 2 Cooper. When Stirling Moss won the 1958 Argentine Grand Prix in Rob Walker's privately-entered Cooper and Maurice Trintignant duplicated the feat in the next race at Monaco, the racing world was stunned and a rear-engined revolution had begun. The next year, 1959, Brabham and the Cooper works team became the first to win the Formula One World Championship in a rear-engined car. Both team and driver repeated the feat in 1960, and every World Champion since has been sitting in front of his engine.

 

Brabham took one of the Championship-winning Cooper T53 "Lowline" to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a test in 1960, then entered the famous 500-mile race in a larger, longer and offset car based on the 1960 F1 design. Arriving at the Speedway May 5, 1961, the "funny" little car from Europe was mocked by the other teams, but it ran as high as third and finished ninth. It took a few years, but the Indianapolis establishment gradually realized the writing was on the wall and the days of their front-engined roadsters were numbered. Beginning with Jim Clark, who drove a rear-engined Lotus in 1965, every winner of the Indianapolis 500 has had the engine in the back. The revolution begun by the little chain-driven Cooper 500 was complete.

 

Once every Formula car manufacturer began building rear-engined racers, the practicality and intelligent construction of Cooper's single-seaters was overtaken by more sophisticated technology from Lola, Lotus, BRM and Ferrari. The Cooper team's decline was accelerated when John Cooper was seriously injured in a road accident in 1963 driving a twin engined Mini and Charles Cooper died in 1964.

 

After the death of his father, John Cooper sold the Cooper Formula One team to the Chipstead Motor Group in April, 1965. Their final Formula One victory was achieved by Mexican driver Pedro Rodríguez at the 1967 South African Grand Prix in a Cooper T81. In all, Coopers participated in 129 Formula One World Championship events in nine years, winning 16 races.

 

Besides Formula One cars, Cooper offered a series of Formula Junior cars. These were the T52, T56, T59 and T67 models. Ken Tyrrell ran a very successful team with John Love and Tony Maggs as his drivers. Following the demise of Formula Junior, Ken Tyrrell tested Jackie Stewart in a Formula Three car, a Cooper T72. This test at the Goodwood Circuit marked the start of partnership which dominated motorsport later on. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooper_Car_Company]

Kālī, also known as Kālikā (Sanskrit: कालिका), is the Hindu goddess associated with empowerment, shakti. She is the fierce aspect of the goddess Durga (Parvati). The name Kali comes from kāla, which means black, time, death, lord of death: Shiva. Since Shiva is called Kāla— the eternal time — the name of Kālī, his consort, also means "Time" or "Death" (as in "time has come"). Hence, Kāli is the Goddess of Time and Change. Although sometimes presented as dark and violent, her earliest incarnation as a figure of annihilation of evil forces still has some influence. Various Shakta Hindu cosmologies, as well as Shākta Tantric beliefs, worship her as the ultimate reality or Brahman. Comparatively recent devotional movements largely conceive Kāli as a benevolent mother goddess. Kālī is represented as the consort of Lord Shiva, on whose body she is often seen standing. Shiva lies in the path of Kali, whose foot on Shiva subdues her anger.

 

ETYMOLOGY

Kālī is the feminine form of kālam ("black, dark coloured"). Kāla primarily means "time" but also means "black" in honor of being the first creation before light itself. Kālī means "the black one" and refers to her being the entity of "time" or "beyond time." Kāli is strongly associated with Shiva, and Shaivas derive the masculine Kāla (an epithet of Shiva) to come from her feminine name. A nineteenth-century Sanskrit dictionary, the Shabdakalpadrum, states: कालः शिवः। तस्य पत्नीति - काली। kālaḥ śivaḥ। tasya patnīti kālī - "Shiva is Kāla, thus, his consort is Kāli" referring to Devi Parvathi being a manifestation of Devi MahaKali.

 

Other names include Kālarātri ("black night"), as described above, and Kālikā ("relating to time"). Coburn notes that the name Kālī can be used as a proper name, or as a description of color.

 

Kāli's association with darkness stands in contrast to her consort, Shiva, who manifested after her in creation, and who symbolises the rest of creation after Time is created. In his supreme awareness of Maya, his body is covered by the white ashes of the cremation ground (Sanskrit: śmaśāna) where he meditates, and with which Kāli is also associated, as śmaśāna-kālī.

 

ORIGINS

Hugh Urban notes that although the word Kālī appears as early as the Atharva Veda, the first use of it as a proper name is in the Kathaka Grhya Sutra (19.7). Kali is the name of one of the seven tongues of Agni, the [Rigvedic] God of Fire, in the Mundaka Upanishad (2:4), but it is unlikely that this refers to the goddess. The first appearance of Kāli in her present form is in the Sauptika Parvan of the Mahabharata (10.8.64). She is called Kālarātri (literally, "black night") and appears to the Pandava soldiers in dreams, until finally she appears amidst the fighting during an attack by Drona's son Ashwatthama. She most famously appears in the sixth century Devi Mahatmyam as one of the shaktis of Mahadevi, and defeats the demon Raktabija ("Bloodseed"). The tenth-century Kalika Purana venerates Kāli as the ultimate reality.

 

According to David Kinsley, Kāli is first mentioned in Hinduism as a distinct goddess around 600 CE, and these texts "usually place her on the periphery of Hindu society or on the battlefield." She is often regarded as the Shakti of Shiva, and is closely associated with him in various Puranas. The Kalika Purana depicts her as the "Adi Shakti" (Fundamental Power) and "Para Prakriti" or beyond nature.

 

WORSHIP & MANTRA

Kali could be considered a general concept, like Durga, and is mostly worshiped in the Kali Kula sect of worship. The closest way of direct worship is Maha Kali or Bhadra Kali (Bhadra in Sanskrit means 'gentle'). Kali is worshiped as one of the 10 Mahavidya forms of Adi Parashakti (Goddess Durga) or Bhagavathy according to the region. The mantra for worship is called Devi Argala Stotram.

Sanskrit: सर्वमङ्गलमाङ्गल्ये शिवे सर्वार्थसाधिके । शरण्ये त्र्यम्बके गौरि नारायणि नमोऽस्तु ते ॥

 

ॐ जयंती मंगल काली भद्रकाली कपालिनी । दुर्गा क्षमा शिवा धात्री स्वाहा स्वधा नमोऽस्तु‍ते ॥

(Sarvamaṅgalamāṅgalyē śivē sarvārthasādhikē . śaraṇyē tryambakē gauri nārāyaṇi namō'stu tē.

Oṃ jayantī mangala kālī bhadrakālī kapālinī . durgā kṣamā śivā dhātrī svāhā svadhā namō'stu‍tē.)

 

TANTRA

Goddesses play an important role in the study and practice of Tantra Yoga, and are affirmed to be as central to discerning the nature of reality as are the male deities. Although Parvati is often said to be the recipient and student of Shiva's wisdom in the form of Tantras, it is Kāli who seems to dominate much of the Tantric iconography, texts, and rituals. In many sources Kāli is praised as the highest reality or greatest of all deities. The Nirvana-tantra says the gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva all arise from her like bubbles in the sea, ceaselessly arising and passing away, leaving their original source unchanged. The Niruttara-tantra and the Picchila-tantra declare all of Kāli's mantras to be the greatest and the Yogini-tantra, Kamakhya-tantra and the Niruttara-tantra all proclaim Kāli vidyas (manifestations of Mahadevi, or "divinity itself"). They declare her to be an essence of her own form (svarupa) of the Mahadevi.

 

In the Mahanirvana-tantra, Kāli is one of the epithets for the primordial sakti, and in one passage Shiva praises her:

 

At the dissolution of things, it is Kāla [Time] Who will devour all, and by reason of this He is called Mahākāla [an epithet of Lord Shiva], and since Thou devourest Mahākāla Himself, it is Thou who art the Supreme Primordial Kālika. Because Thou devourest Kāla, Thou art Kāli, the original form of all things, and because Thou art the Origin of and devourest all things Thou art called the Adya [the Primordial One]. Re-assuming after Dissolution Thine own form, dark and formless, Thou alone remainest as One ineffable and inconceivable. Though having a form, yet art Thou formless; though Thyself without beginning, multiform by the power of Maya, Thou art the Beginning of all, Creatrix, Protectress, and Destructress that Thou art.

 

The figure of Kāli conveys death, destruction, and the consuming aspects of reality. As such, she is also a "forbidden thing", or even death itself. In the Pancatattva ritual, the sadhaka boldly seeks to confront Kali, and thereby assimilates and transforms her into a vehicle of salvation. This is clear in the work of the Karpuradi-stotra, a short praise of Kāli describing the Pancatattva ritual unto her, performed on cremation grounds. (Samahana-sadhana)

 

He, O Mahākāli who in the cremation-ground, naked, and with dishevelled hair, intently meditates upon Thee and recites Thy mantra, and with each recitation makes offering to Thee of a thousand Akanda flowers with seed, becomes without any effort a Lord of the earth. Oh Kāli, whoever on Tuesday at midnight, having uttered Thy mantra, makes offering even but once with devotion to Thee of a hair of his Shakti [his energy/female companion] in the cremation-ground, becomes a great poet, a Lord of the earth, and ever goes mounted upon an elephant.

 

The Karpuradi-stotra clearly indicates that Kāli is more than a terrible, vicious, slayer of demons who serves Durga or Shiva. Here, she is identified as the supreme mistress of the universe, associated with the five elements. In union with Lord Shiva, she creates and destroys worlds. Her appearance also takes a different turn, befitting her role as ruler of the world and object of meditation. In contrast to her terrible aspects, she takes on hints of a more benign dimension. She is described as young and beautiful, has a gentle smile, and makes gestures with her two right hands to dispel any fear and offer boons. The more positive features exposed offer the distillation of divine wrath into a goddess of salvation, who rids the sadhaka of fear. Here, Kali appears as a symbol of triumph over death.

 

BENGALI TRADITION

Kali is also a central figure in late medieval Bengali devotional literature, with such devotees as Ramprasad Sen (1718–75). With the exception of being associated with Parvati as Shiva's consort, Kāli is rarely pictured in Hindu legends and iconography as a motherly figure until Bengali devotions beginning in the early eighteenth century. Even in Bengāli tradition her appearance and habits change little, if at all.

 

The Tantric approach to Kāli is to display courage by confronting her on cremation grounds in the dead of night, despite her terrible appearance. In contrast, the Bengali devotee appropriates Kāli's teachings adopting the attitude of a child, coming to love her unreservedly. In both cases, the goal of the devotee is to become reconciled with death and to learn acceptance of the way that things are. These themes are well addressed in Rāmprasād's work. Rāmprasād comments in many of his other songs that Kāli is indifferent to his wellbeing, causes him to suffer, brings his worldly desires to nothing and his worldly goods to ruin. He also states that she does not behave like a mother should and that she ignores his pleas:

 

Can mercy be found in the heart of her who was born of the stone? [a reference to Kali as the daughter of Himalaya]

Were she not merciless, would she kick the breast of her lord?

Men call you merciful, but there is no trace of mercy in you, Mother.

You have cut off the heads of the children of others, and these you wear as a garland around your neck.

It matters not how much I call you "Mother, Mother." You hear me, but you will not listen.

 

To be a child of Kāli, Rāmprasād asserts, is to be denied of earthly delights and pleasures. Kāli is said to refrain from giving that which is expected. To the devotee, it is perhaps her very refusal to do so that enables her devotees to reflect on dimensions of themselves and of reality that go beyond the material world.

 

A significant portion of Bengali devotional music features Kāli as its central theme and is known as Shyama Sangeet ("Music of the Night"). Mostly sung by male vocalists, today even women have taken to this form of music. One of the finest singers of Shyāma Sāngeet is Pannalal Bhattacharya.

 

In Bengal, Kāli is venerated in the festival Kali Puja, the new moon day of Ashwin month which coincides with Diwali festival.

 

In a unique form of Kāli worship, Shantipur worships Kāli in the form of a hand painted image of the deity known as Poteshwari (meaning the deity drawn on a piece of cloth).

 

LEGENDS

SLAYER OF RAKTABIJA

In Kāli's most famous legend, Devi Durga (Adi Parashakti) and her assistants, the Matrikas, wound the demon Raktabija, in various ways and with a variety of weapons in an attempt to destroy him. They soon find that they have worsened the situation for with every drop of blood that is dripped from Raktabija he reproduces a clone of himself. The battlefield becomes increasingly filled with his duplicates. Durga, in need of help, summons Kāli to combat the demons. It is said, in some versions, that Goddess Durga actually assumes the form of Goddess Kāli at this time. The Devi Mahatmyam describes:

 

Out of the surface of her (Durga's) forehead, fierce with frown, issued suddenly Kali of terrible countenance, armed with a sword and noose. Bearing the strange khatvanga (skull-topped staff ), decorated with a garland of skulls, clad in a tiger's skin, very appalling owing to her emaciated flesh, with gaping mouth, fearful with her tongue lolling out, having deep reddish eyes, filling the regions of the sky with her roars, falling upon impetuously and slaughtering the great asuras in that army, she devoured those hordes of the foes of the devas.

 

Kali destroys Raktabija by sucking the blood from his body and putting the many Raktabija duplicates in her gaping mouth. Pleased with her victory, Kali then dances on the field of battle, stepping on the corpses of the slain. In the Devi Mahatmya version of this story, Kali is also described as a Matrika and as a Shakti or power of Devi. She is given the epithet Cāṃuṇḍā (Chamunda), i.e. the slayer of the demons Chanda and Munda. Chamunda is very often identified with Kali and is very much like her in appearance and habit.

 

DAKSHINA KALI

In her most famous pose as Daksinakali, popular legends say that Kali, becoming drunk on the blood of her victims on the battlefield, dances with destructive frenzy. She is about to destroy the whole universe when, urged by all the gods, Shiva lies in her way to stop her. In her fury, she fails to see the body of Shiva lying amongst the corpses on the battlefield and steps upon his chest. Realizing Shiva lies beneath her feet, her anger is pacified and she calms her fury. Though not included in any of the puranas, popular legends state that Kali was ashamed at the prospect of keeping her husband beneath her feet and thus stuck her tongue out in shame. The Devi-Bhagavata Purana, which goes into great depths about the goddess Kali, reveals the tongue's actual symbolism.

 

The characteristic icons that depict Kali are the following; unbridled matted hair, open blood shot eyes, open mouth and a drooping tongue; in her hands, she holds a Khadga (bent sword or scimitar) and a human head; she has a girdle of human hands across her waist and an enchanted Shiva lies beneath her feet. Each of these icons represent a deep philosophical epithet. The drooping out-stuck tongue represents her blood-thirst. Lord Shiva beneath her feet represents matter, as Kali is undoubtedly the primeval energy. The depiction of Kali on Shiva shows that without energy, matter lies "dead". This concept has been simplified to a folk-tale depicting a wife placing her foot on her husband and sticking her tongue out in shame. In tantric contexts, the tongue is seen to denote the element (guna) of rajas (energy and action) controlled by sattva.

 

If Kali steps on Shiva with her right foot and holds the sword in her left hand, she is considered to be Dakshina Kali. The Dakshina Kali Temple has important religious associations with the Jagannath Temple and it is believed that Daksinakali is the guardian of the kitchen of the Lord Jagannath Temple. Puranic tradition says that in Puri, Lord Jagannath is regarded as Daksinakalika. Goddess Dakshinakali plays an important role in the 'Niti' of Saptapuri Amavasya.

 

One South Indian tradition tells of a dance contest between Shiva and Kali. After defeating the two demons Sumbha and Nisumbha, Kali takes up residence in the forest of Thiruvalankadu or Thiruvalangadu. She terrorizes the surrounding area with her fierce, disruptive nature. One of Shiva's devotees becomes distracted while performing austerities, and asks Shiva to rid the forest of the destructive goddess. When Shiva arrives, Kali threatens him, claiming the territory as her own. Shiva challenges Kali to a dance contest; both of them dance and Kali matches Shiva in every step that he takes until Shiva takes the "Urdhvatandava" step, by vertically raising his right leg. Kali refuses to perform this step, which would not befit her as a woman, and became pacified.

 

SMASHAN KALI

If the Kali steps out with the left foot and holds the sword in her right hand, she is the terrible form of Mother, the Smashan Kali of the cremation ground. She is worshiped by tantrics, the followers of Tantra, who believe that one's spiritual discipline practiced in a smashan (cremation ground) brings success quickly. Sarda Devi, the consort of Ramakrishna Paramhansa, worshipped Smashan Kali at Dakshineshwar.

 

MATERNAL KALI

Another legend depicts the infant Shiva calming Kali. In this similar story, Kali has defeated her enemies on the battlefield and begun to dance out of control, drunk on the blood of the slain. To calm her down and to protect the stability of the world, Shiva is sent to the battlefield, as an infant, crying aloud. Seeing the child's distress, Kali ceases dancing to care for the helpless infant. She picks him up, kisses his head, and proceeds to breast feed the infant Shiva. This legend is notable because it shows Kali in her benevolent, maternal aspect, with which she is not usually identified.

 

MAHAKALI

Mahakali (Sanskrit: Mahākālī, Devanagari: महाकाली), literally translated as Great Kali, is sometimes considered as a greater form of Kali, identified with the Ultimate reality of Brahman. It can also be used as an honorific of the Goddess Kali, signifying her greatness by the prefix "Mahā-". Mahakali, in Sanskrit, is etymologically the feminized variant of Mahakala or Great Time (which is interpreted also as Death), an epithet of the God Shiva in Hinduism. Mahakali is the presiding Goddess of the first episode of the Devi Mahatmya. Here she is depicted as Devi in her universal form as Shakti. Here Devi serves as the agent who allows the cosmic order to be restored.

 

Kali is depicted in the Mahakali form as having ten heads, ten arms, and ten legs. Each of her ten hands is carrying a various implement which vary in different accounts, but each of these represent the power of one of the Devas or Hindu Gods and are often the identifying weapon or ritual item of a given Deva. The implication is that Mahakali subsumes and is responsible for the powers that these deities possess and this is in line with the interpretation that Mahakali is identical with Brahman. While not displaying ten heads, an "ekamukhi" or one headed image may be displayed with ten arms, signifying the same concept: the powers of the various Gods come only through Her grace.

 

ICONOGRAPHY

Kali is portrayed mostly in two forms: the popular four-armed form and the ten-armed Mahakali form. In both of her forms, she is described as being black in color but is most often depicted as blue in popular Indian art. Her eyes are described as red with intoxication, and in absolute rage, her hair is shown disheveled, small fangs sometimes protrude out of her mouth, and her tongue is lolling. She is often shown naked or just wearing a skirt made of human arms and a garland of human heads. She is also accompanied by serpents and a jackal while standing on a seemingly dead Shiva, usually right foot forward to symbolize the more popular Dakshinamarga or right-handed path, as opposed to the more infamous and transgressive Vamamarga or left-handed path.

 

In the ten-armed form of Mahakali she is depicted as shining like a blue stone. She has ten faces and ten feet and three eyes. She has ornaments decked on all her limbs. There is no association with Shiva.

 

The Kalika Purana describes Kali as possessing a soothing dark complexion, as perfectly beautiful, riding a lion, four-armed, holding a sword and blue lotuses, her hair unrestrained, body firm and youthful.

 

In spite of her seemingly terrible form, Kali Ma is often considered the kindest and most loving of all the Hindu goddesses, as she is regarded by her devotees as the Mother of the whole Universe. And because of her terrible form, she is also often seen as a great protector. When the Bengali saint Ramakrishna once asked a devotee why one would prefer to worship Mother over him, this devotee rhetorically replied, "Maharaj, when they are in trouble your devotees come running to you. But, where do you run when you are in trouble?"

 

According to Ramakrishna, darkness is the Ultimate Mother, or Kali:

 

My Mother is the principle of consciousness. She is Akhanda Satchidananda; indivisible Reality, Awareness, and Bliss. The night sky between the stars is perfectly black. The waters of the ocean depths are the same; The infinite is always mysteriously dark. This inebriating darkness is my beloved Kali.

 

SRI RAMAKRISHNA

This is clear in the works of such contemporary artists as Charles Wish, and Tyeb Mehta, who sometimes take great liberties with the traditional, accepted symbolism, but still demonstrate a true reverence for the Shakta sect.

 

POPULAR FORM

Classic depictions of Kali share several features, as follows:

 

Kali's most common four armed iconographic image shows each hand carrying variously a sword, a trishul (trident), a severed head and a bowl or skull-cup (kapala) catching the blood of the severed head.

 

Two of these hands (usually the left) are holding a sword and a severed head. The Sword signifies Divine Knowledge and the Human Head signifies human Ego which must be slain by Divine Knowledge in order to attain Moksha. The other two hands (usually the right) are in the abhaya (fearlessness) and varada (blessing) mudras, which means her initiated devotees (or anyone worshipping her with a true heart) will be saved as she will guide them here and in the hereafter.

 

She has a garland consisting of human heads, variously enumerated at 108 (an auspicious number in Hinduism and the number of countable beads on a Japa Mala or rosary for repetition of Mantras) or 51, which represents Varnamala or the Garland of letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, Devanagari. Hindus believe Sanskrit is a language of dynamism, and each of these letters represents a form of energy, or a form of Kali. Therefore she is generally seen as the mother of language, and all mantras.

 

She is often depicted naked which symbolizes her being beyond the covering of Maya since she is pure (nirguna) being-consciousness-bliss and far above prakriti. She is shown as very dark as she is brahman in its supreme unmanifest state. She has no permanent qualities - she will continue to exist even when the universe ends. It is therefore believed that the concepts of color, light, good, bad do not apply to her - she is the pure, un-manifested energy, the Adi-shakti.

 

SHIVA IN KALI ICONOGRAPHY

In both these images she is shown standing on the prone, inert or dead body of Shiva. There is a legend for the reason behind her standing on what appears to be Shiva's corpse, which translates as follows:

 

Once Kali had destroyed all the demons in battle, she began a terrific dance out of the sheer joy of victory. All the worlds or lokas began to tremble and sway under the impact of her dance. So, at the request of all the Gods, Shiva himself asked her to desist from this behavior. However, she was too intoxicated to listen. Hence, Shiva lay like a corpse among the slain demons in order to absorb the shock of the dance into himself. When Kali eventually stepped upon Shiva, she realized she was trampling and hurting her husband and bit her tongue in shame.

 

The story described here is a popular folk tale and not described or hinted in any of the puranas. The puranic interpretation is as follows:

 

Once, Parvati asks Shiva to chose the one form among her 10 forms which he likes most. To her surprise, Shiva reveals that he is most comfortable with her Kali form, in which she is bereft of her jewellery, her human-form, her clothes, her emotions and where she is only raw, chaotic energy, where she is as terrible as time itself and even greater than time. As Parvati takes the form of Kali, Shiva lies at her feet and requests her to place her foot on his chest, upon his heart. Once in this form, Shiva requests her to have this place, below her feet in her iconic image which would be worshiped throughout.

 

This idea has been explored in the Devi-Bhagavata Purana and is most popular in the Shyama Sangeet, devotional songs to Kali from the 12th to 15th centuries.

 

The Tantric interpretation of Kali standing on top of her husband is as follows:

 

The Shiv tattava (Divine Consciousness as Shiva) is inactive, while the Shakti tattava (Divine Energy as Kali) is active. Shiva and Kali represent Brahman, the Absolute pure consciousness which is beyond all names, forms and activities. Kali, on the other hand, represents the potential (and manifested) energy responsible for all names, forms and activities. She is his Shakti, or creative power, and is seen as the substance behind the entire content of all consciousness. She can never exist apart from Shiva or act independently of him, just as Shiva remains a mere corpse without Kali i.e., Shakti, all the matter/energy of the universe, is not distinct from Shiva, or Brahman, but is rather the dynamic power of Brahman. Hence, Kali is Para Brahman in the feminine and dynamic aspect while Shiva is the male aspect and static. She stands as the absolute basis for all life, energy and beneath her feet lies, Shiva, a metaphor for mass, which cannot retain its form without energy.

 

While this is an advanced concept in monistic Shaktism, it also agrees with the Nondual Trika philosophy of Kashmir, popularly known as Kashmir Shaivism and associated most famously with Abhinavagupta. There is a colloquial saying that "Shiva without Shakti is Shava" which means that without the power of action (Shakti) that is Mahakali (represented as the short "i" in Devanagari) Shiva (or consciousness itself) is inactive; Shava means corpse in Sanskrit and the play on words is that all Sanskrit consonants are assumed to be followed by a short letter "a" unless otherwise noted. The short letter "i" represents the female power or Shakti that activates Creation. This is often the explanation for why She is standing on Shiva, who is either Her husband and complement in Shaktism or the Supreme Godhead in Shaivism.

 

To properly understand this complex Tantric symbolism it is important to remember that the meaning behind Shiva and Kali does not stray from the non-dualistic parlance of Shankara or the Upanisads. According to both the Mahanirvana and Kularnava Tantras, there are two distinct ways of perceiving the same absolute reality. The first is a transcendental plane which is often described as static, yet infinite. It is here that there is no matter, there is no universe and only consciousness exists. This form of reality is known as Shiva, the absolute Sat-Chit-Ananda - existence, knowledge and bliss. The second is an active plane, an immanent plane, the plane of matter, of Maya, i.e., where the illusion of space-time and the appearance of an actual universe does exist. This form of reality is known as Kali or Shakti, and (in its entirety) is still specified as the same Absolute Sat-Chit-Ananda. It is here in this second plane that the universe (as we commonly know it) is experienced and is described by the Tantric seer as the play of Shakti, or God as Mother Kali.

 

From a Tantric perspective, when one meditates on reality at rest, as absolute pure consciousness (without the activities of creation, preservation or dissolution) one refers to this as Shiva or Brahman. When one meditates on reality as dynamic and creative, as the Absolute content of pure consciousness (with all the activities of creation, preservation or dissolution) one refers to it as Kali or Shakti. However, in either case the yogini or yogi is interested in one and the same reality - the only difference being in name and fluctuating aspects of appearance. It is this which is generally accepted as the meaning of Kali standing on the chest of Shiva.

 

Although there is often controversy surrounding the images of divine copulation, the general consensus is benign and free from any carnal impurities in its substance. In Tantra the human body is a symbol for the microcosm of the universe; therefore sexual process is responsible for the creation of the world. Although theoretically Shiva and Kali (or Shakti) are inseparable, like fire and its power to burn, in the case of creation they are often seen as having separate roles. With Shiva as male and Kali as female it is only by their union that creation may transpire. This reminds us of the prakrti and purusa doctrine of Samkhya wherein prakāśa- vimarśa has no practical value, just as without prakrti, purusa is quite inactive. This (once again) stresses the interdependencies of Shiva and Shakti and the vitality of their union.

 

Gopi Krishna proposed that Kali standing on the dead Shiva or Shava (Sanskrit for dead body) symbolised the helplessness of a person undergoing the changing process (psychologically and physiologically) in the body conducted by the Kundalini Shakti.

 

DEVELOPMENT

In the later traditions, Kali has become inextricably linked with Shiva. The unleashed form of Kali often becomes wild and uncontrollable, and only Shiva is able to tame her just as only Kali can tame Shiva. This is both because she is often a transformed version of one of his consorts and because he is able to match her wildness.

 

The ancient text of Kali Kautuvam describes her competition with Shiva in dance, from which the sacred 108 Karanas appeared. Shiva won the competition by acting the urdva tandava, one of the Karanas, by raising his feet to his head. Other texts describe Shiva appearing as a crying infant and appealing to her maternal instincts. While Shiva is said to be able to tame her, the iconography often presents her dancing on his fallen body, and there are accounts of the two of them dancing together, and driving each other to such wildness that the world comes close to unravelling.

 

Shiva's involvement with Tantra and Kali's dark nature have led to her becoming an important Tantric figure. To the Tantric worshippers, it was essential to face her Curse, the terror of death, as willingly as they accepted Blessings from her beautiful, nurturing, maternal aspect. For them, wisdom meant learning that no coin has only one side: as death cannot exist without life, so life cannot exist without death. Kali's role sometimes grew beyond that of a chaos - which could be confronted - to that of one who could bring wisdom, and she is given great metaphysical significance by some Tantric texts. The Nirvāna-tantra clearly presents her uncontrolled nature as the Ultimate Reality, claiming that the trimurti of Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra arise and disappear from her like bubbles from the sea. Although this is an extreme case, the Yogini-tantra, Kamakhya-tantra and the Niruttara-tantra declare her the svarupa (own-being) of the Mahadevi (the great Goddess, who is in this case seen as the combination of all devis).

 

The final stage of development is the worshipping of Kali as the Great Mother, devoid of her usual violence. This practice is a break from the more traditional depictions. The pioneers of this tradition are the 18th century Shakta poets such as Ramprasad Sen, who show an awareness of Kali's ambivalent nature. Ramakrishna, the 19th century Bengali saint, was also a great devotee of Kali; the western popularity of whom may have contributed to the more modern, equivocal interpretations of this Goddess. Rachel McDermott's work, however, suggests that for the common, modern worshipper, Kali is not seen as fearful, and only those educated in old traditions see her as having a wrathful component. Some credit to the development of Devi must also be given to Samkhya. Commonly referred to as the Devi of delusion, Mahamaya or Durga, acting in the confines of (but not being bound by) the nature of the three gunas, takes three forms: Maha-Kali, Maha-Lakshmi and Maha-Saraswati, being her tamas-ika, rajas-ika and sattva-ika forms. In this sense, Kali is simply part of a larger whole.

 

Like Sir John Woodroffe and Georg Feuerstein, many Tantric scholars (as well as sincere practitioners) agree that, no matter how propitious or appalling you describe them, Shiva and Devi are simply recognizable symbols for everyday, abstract (yet tangible) concepts such as perception, knowledge, space-time, causation and the process of liberating oneself from the confines of such things. Shiva, symbolizing pure, absolute consciousness, and Devi, symbolizing the entire content of that consciousness, are ultimately one and the same - totality incarnate, a micro-macro-cosmic amalgamation of all subjects, all objects and all phenomenal relations between the "two." Like man and woman who both share many common, human traits yet at the same time they are still different and, therefore, may also be seen as complementary.

 

Worshippers prescribe various benign and horrific qualities to Devi simply out of practicality. They do this so they may have a variety of symbols to choose from, symbols which they can identify and relate with from the perspective of their own, ever-changing time, place and personal level of unfolding. Just like modern chemists or physicists use a variety of molecular and atomic models to describe what is unperceivable through rudimentary, sensory input, the scientists of ontology and epistemology must do the same. One of the underlying distinctions of Tantra, in comparison to other religions, is that it allows the devotee the liberty to choose from a vast array of complementary symbols and rhetoric which suit one's evolving needs and tastes. From an aesthetic standpoint, nothing is interdict and nothing is orthodox. In this sense, the projection of some of Devi's more gentle qualities onto Kali is not sacrilege and the development of Kali really lies in the practitioner, not the murthi.

 

A TIME magazine article of October 27, 1947, used Kali as a symbol and metaphor for the human suffering in British India during its partition that year.

 

Swami Vivekananda wrote his favorite poem Kali the Mother in 1898.

 

IN NEW AGE & NEOPAGANISM

An academic study of Western Kali enthusiasts noted that, "as shown in the histories of all cross-cultural religious transplants, Kali devotionalism in the West must take on its own indigenous forms if it is to adapt to its new environment." The adoption of Kali by the West has raised accusations of cultural appropriation:

 

A variety of writers and thinkers have found Kali an exciting figure for reflection and exploration, notably feminists and participants in New Age spirituality who are attracted to goddess worship. Kali is a symbol of wholeness and healing, associated especially with repressed female power and sexuality. [However, such interpretations often exhibit] confusion and misrepresentation, stemming from a lack of knowledge of Hindu history among these authors, draw upon materials written by scholars of the Hindu religious tradition. The majority instead rely chiefly on other popular feminist sources, almost none of which base their interpretations on a close reading of Kali's Indian background. The most important issue arising from this discussion - even more important than the question of 'correct' interpretation - concerns the adoption of other people's religious symbols. It is hard to import the worship of a goddess from another culture: religious associations and connotations have to be learned, imagined or intuited when the deep symbolic meanings embedded in the native culture are not available.

 

WIKIPEDIA

This wrecker is very tastefully revamped, the owner has obviously given great consideration to both practicalities and aesthetics.

During my career in design at London Underground one of the more fraught subjects for discussion was the pull between architectural design and "purity" versus commercial revenue from advertising and we went to great lengths to ensure that valuable campaigns did not stray into problematic issues such as safety or being visually 'overwhelming' or distracting to passengers. Needless to say the latter was the one theat advertisers most notably wanted, unsurprisingly, to achieve! It was often recalled that this debate had been present in the Underground Group nealry a century before as this article from Advertising Display in August 1927 shows.

 

When Piccadilly Circus station's redevelopment was opened in 1928 the area above the escalators was decorated by a vast fresco by in oil paintings by artist Stephen Bone. The philosopical 'tussle' that Frank Pick and Charles Holden, amongst others, went through was often with regard to applied art rather than art being an inherent part of the architectural design - as in the scultpures carved in-situ on the façade of 55 Broadway in 1929. Quite what was the intention of the Bone frescos, or the outcome of the debate, is a subject for some discussion but by the early 1930s they were replaced by a vast advert for Ovaltine; perhaps a sign that even in London Underground revenue overcame artisitic scruples. I have heard that the Bone frescos failed rapidly due to damp and water ingress and that, if I am honest, would not surprise me.

 

The other 'well-known' advertiisng murals, of which pictures are seen, are of the ones at Bank Station (Central line) around the head of the esclators. These, for Remington typewriters and Ripolin Paint, are discussed int his article and the paintings by Mary Adshead are shown. Perhaps Ripolin provided better paint as these seem to have had great longevity. Quite when they 'went' I do not know; the contract may have expired and required 'removal' as would be the case now but besides that this area at Bank was completely lost in the WW2 bombing during the Blitz with consequent loss of life.

 

The others shown here, and less frequently seen, are the "Golden Glory" friezes over the escalators at the newly reconstructed Bond Street station where they replaced the original lifts. These adverts were for Pears Soap. Oddly the artist is not given here. Of equal interest are the views of no less than four contemporary poster artists and designers all of whom are regarded as 'masters' in their field and who produced posters for the Underground Group at the time; Edward McKnight Kauffer, Austin Cooper, Charles Paine and Gregory Brown. The views of the latter, Gregory Brown, are most vehement of the group and I wonder how the discussions went between him and Frank Pick the next time he was called in to talk about poster commissions!

 

That aside it is interetsing to see the debate that was had at the time in terms of the desirabilty and practicality of such schemes and the fact that a hundred years on, other than the introduction of vinyl and digital screens, the debate is still much the same.

 

One of the most famous and highly manufactured vans in the world, but an unfortunate rarity over here in the UK, the Ford E-Series have been in production since 1961, starting out as a bulky van like the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo, before gradually evolving into the more streamlined style it adopts today.

 

Based on the compact Ford Falcon, the first Ford Econoline was introduced for the 1961 model year. Sized roughly to compete with the Chevrolet Corvair 95 and Volkswagen Type 2. It was originally offered as a cargo van, an eight-passenger van with three rows of seats (which carried the Ford Falcon name) and as a pickup truck. The original E-Series was a cab-forward design, where the engine was positioned at the rear and the driving position was located above the front axle. The body styling borrowed heavily from the, smaller, UK produced, Thames 400E which had been in production since 1957 and the 1956-64 Jeep Forward Control.

 

The next generation E-Series was given a delayed release in 1968 due to strike action, and had undergone a major redesign from the original. The redesigned Econoline would mark a major change for van design in North America, with the original cab-forward design being replaced by a front axle repositioning at the front end of the van, and "Twin I-Beam" front suspension being brought over from the F-Series trucks. Shedding its Falcon roots, the Econoline moved the engine forward of the driver, allowing for the use of heavier-duty powertrains, including the first V8 engines.

 

The first E-Series to truly take the world by storm was the 3rd Generation of 1975. The Econoline was given a ground-up redesign using an all-new platform, with improved interior room and engine access over both its predecessor and its competition, including the engine being moved further forward and the hood lengthened and flattened. A higher degree of parts commonality with the F-Series made itself known in the bodystyling, in the form of the vent windows, taillights, and wheels In 1978, much of the Econoline's front end design would appear on the Transit MkII, one of Britain's most iconic commercial vehicles.

 

In 1992, the E-Series underwent its first major change for 17 years, with a far more aerodynamic exterior was used over the same platform architecture. As before, the powertrain consisted of a 4.9L inline six, 5.0, 5.8, and 7.5L V8 engines, or a 7.3L diesel V8. Inside, an all-new drivers' compartment allowed for more room for drivers and improved ergonomics. On all models except the Econoline 350, the steering wheel was now equipped with an airbag; this was a first for a full-size van. The consumer-oriented Chateau Club Wagon version was Motor Trend magazine's Truck of the Year for 1992. While all 1992/1993 model year Econoline vans equipped with air-conditioning used R-12 Freon, Ford began using CFC-free R134a refrigerant in 1994 models beginning in late summer or early fall of 1993. The Econoline received a CFC-free air-conditioning system in September 1993, or earlier. The same is true for all 1994 Ford trucks and SUVs, including the Bronco, F-series, Ranger, and Explorer.

 

I fondly remember this generation of the E-Series as it was often the basis for Hotel Transfer and Terminal Transfer buses at airports in the United States, often being my ferry to either the Holiday Inn across the way or the Alamo Car Rental adjacent to the airport. They always struck me as very sturdy, very comfortable machines, and I often asked myself why American cars and trucks never caught on here in the UK as they had just as much space and practicality as our European equivalents.

 

2007 saw the final variation of the E-Series introduced, with the van receiving a completely redesigned front end similar to that of the 2008 Ford Super Duty trucks. It has been overhauled with better handling and more payload. Updates to the front end of the van include larger headlights, a larger grille, and a longer hood than previously used on E-Series and Econoline vans. The 6.0L turbo diesel was retained on the E-Series, while Super Duty received the new 6.4L twin turbo diesel. A series of upgrades to the braking, suspension and steering systems also resulted in improvements in ride and handling, braking performance and load carrying capability, although the Twin-I-Beam front suspension remained. Four-wheel drive was available through Ford Fleet Truck using current model year Super Duty parts.

 

The E-Series however came to the end of its 48 year production run in 2014, being replaced by a larger version of the Ford Transit, probably one of the few instances where a European variant of an American truck has replaced its American parent. In all, the best part of 175,000 of these trucks were sold between 1980 and cessation of production in 2014, with 95% of all sales being to fleets and half of those being cargo variants. The E-Series has often been credited as one of the best selling trucks in America, and, like many great Western cars, continues to have spiritual production in China by the Jiangling Motors company.

A couple of years ago, I owned a small sailboat. It wasn't too different from the one pictured here, maybe a little older and less equipped but similar in all of the ways that matter.

 

I miss it! ..or.. maybe I miss the idea of it...

 

I had a couple of software deals mature into some pretty decent deals for me and I had just buried both of my parents. I decided it was time to do something unpractical and selfish: like the Jimmy Buffet lyric suggested, "I bought a boat and sailed off on it.."

 

Problem is, I didn't sail too far.

 

We used the 30ft sailboat for some weekend getaways at first but it ended up spending more time in the Marina than being dragged by the wind across our Bays.

 

During my ownership of the boat, I tried to make some improvements. Among which was to try to give it a proper name. The boat's previous name, which I won't print, was a silly French New Orleans saying about not having two pennies to rub together. I thought that a more appropriate name would be, Stargazer. So we went with that.

 

Being a Stargazer myself, the name was also inspired from Star Trek, The Next Generation, Captain Picard's characterization of the first ship he ever captained:

 

He described that ship, also called Stargazer, as an

"overworked, underpowered vessel, always on the verge of flying apart at the seams."

 

Besides, the whole point was to spend time on the water, under the stars with nothing but the sound of the wind and the waves. Stargazer was a far more fitting name, I thought.

 

What I learned along the way is that renaming a boat is seriously frowned upon in maritime circles, it is considered terribly bad luck for the boat and the crew. Still, there is a generally-agreed-upon ceremony and procedure that one can employ to rename a vessel and keep the bad mojo away. After our Christianized version of the ceremony we removed anything from the boat that had the old name, as is the procedure. The superstition states that once you rename a vessel anything with the old name should not be returned to the vessel.

 

We put all of the old maintenance logs, manuals and documentation into a sealed bin and removed them from the boat.

 

After a while, sailboat ownership wasn't going as I'd planned. The family didn't exhibit a patience for the amount of time it took to travel by sail. I had bought the boat hoping to escape with my family, not escape from them. I spent far more time either 'working from' the boat or 'working on' the boat than I did enjoying it under sail.

 

Eventually my practicality caught back up with me and we sold the boat.

 

The person who bought it had all sorts of big ideas for it, too. After a haul-out, sea trial and comprehensive survey he started to make some improvements of his own prior to sailing it home to Texas. He made a couple road trips back and fourth from his home in Texas and the Marina on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay. When the day came for him to sail it home with a friend, I was a little surprised to see he brought the sealed box of documents with the old vessel name on board for the journey.

 

Evidently, that voyage home didn't go as expected. The 30 year old gasoline engine started to act up around Mississippi. I tend to believe this was related to an exhaust back-pressure issue they created by making changes to the exhaust system, rather than some vengeful seafaring deity that was pissed about the boat having been renamed.

 

Then, as they entered the waters coming into Texas, a near disaster struck. Strong storms shredded the sails, ripped off a spreader and started to bend the mast. They were rescued by the Coast Guard and the boat was hauled in to be repaired.

 

www.dvidshub.net/image/891993/coast-guard-members-rescue-...

 

www.dvidshub.net/image/891994/coast-guard-members-rescue-...

 

When I last talked to the new owner, that was enough sailing adventure for him, he planned to have the insurance repair the boat and sale it.

 

This all came back to me when I saw this sailboat moored comfortably in the waters around Nassau in The Bahamas. It was a bit of a knife of defeat into my gut. Stargazer's USGC stamps and captain's logs showed she had made the trip before and it was my intention to make the sail trip from Mobile, AL to the Bahamas. It was an adventure I didn't get the opportunity to undertake during my brief years of ownership.

 

With kids in school and a demanding work schedule, right now that adventure feels as far away as the Bahamas themselves but I'm hopeful to be able to pick that adventure up again in the coming years and finally get to make the journey, this time under sail and instead of from the comfort of a Cruise Line. :)

Kālī, also known as Kālikā (Sanskrit: कालिका), is the Hindu goddess associated with empowerment, shakti. She is the fierce aspect of the goddess Durga (Parvati). The name Kali comes from kāla, which means black, time, death, lord of death: Shiva. Since Shiva is called Kāla — the eternal time — the name of Kālī, his consort, also means "Time" or "Death" (as in "time has come"). Hence, Kāli is the Goddess of Time and Change. Although sometimes presented as dark and violent, her earliest incarnation as a figure of annihilation of evil forces still has some influence. Various Shakta Hindu cosmologies, as well as Shākta Tantric beliefs, worship her as the ultimate reality or Brahman. Comparatively recent devotional movements largely conceive Kāli as a benevolent mother goddess. Kālī is represented as the consort of Lord Shiva, on whose body she is often seen standing. Shiva lies in the path of Kali, whose foot on Shiva subdues her anger.

 

ETYMOLOGY

Kālī is the feminine form of kālam ("black, dark coloured"). Kāla primarily means "time" but also means "black" in honor of being the first creation before light itself. Kālī means "the black one" and refers to her being the entity of "time" or "beyond time." Kāli is strongly associated with Shiva, and Shaivas derive the masculine Kāla (an epithet of Shiva) to come from her feminine name. A nineteenth-century Sanskrit dictionary, the Shabdakalpadrum, states: कालः शिवः। तस्य पत्नीति - काली। kālaḥ śivaḥ। tasya patnīti kālī - "Shiva is Kāla, thus, his consort is Kāli" referring to Devi Parvathi being a manifestation of Devi MahaKali.

 

Other names include Kālarātri ("black night"), as described above, and Kālikā ("relating to time"). Coburn notes that the name Kālī can be used as a proper name, or as a description of color.

 

Kāli's association with darkness stands in contrast to her consort, Shiva, who manifested after her in creation, and who symbolises the rest of creation after Time is created. In his supreme awareness of Maya, his body is covered by the white ashes of the cremation ground (Sanskrit: śmaśāna) where he meditates, and with which Kāli is also associated, as śmaśāna-kālī.

 

ORIGINS

Hugh Urban notes that although the word Kālī appears as early as the Atharva Veda, the first use of it as a proper name is in the Kathaka Grhya Sutra (19.7). Kali is the name of one of the seven tongues of Agni, the [Rigvedic] God of Fire, in the Mundaka Upanishad (2:4), but it is unlikely that this refers to the goddess. The first appearance of Kāli in her present form is in the Sauptika Parvan of the Mahabharata (10.8.64). She is called Kālarātri (literally, "black night") and appears to the Pandava soldiers in dreams, until finally she appears amidst the fighting during an attack by Drona's son Ashwatthama. She most famously appears in the sixth century Devi Mahatmyam as one of the shaktis of Mahadevi, and defeats the demon Raktabija ("Bloodseed"). The tenth-century Kalika Purana venerates Kāli as the ultimate reality.

 

According to David Kinsley, Kāli is first mentioned in Hinduism as a distinct goddess around 600 CE, and these texts "usually place her on the periphery of Hindu society or on the battlefield." She is often regarded as the Shakti of Shiva, and is closely associated with him in various Puranas. The Kalika Purana depicts her as the "Adi Shakti" (Fundamental Power) and "Para Prakriti" or beyond nature.

 

WORSHIP & MANTRA

Kali could be considered a general concept, like Durga, and is mostly worshiped in the Kali Kula sect of worship. The closest way of direct worship is Maha Kali or Bhadra Kali (Bhadra in Sanskrit means 'gentle'). Kali is worshiped as one of the 10 Mahavidya forms of Adi Parashakti (Goddess Durga) or Bhagavathy according to the region. The mantra for worship is called Devi Argala Stotram.

Sanskrit: सर्वमङ्गलमाङ्गल्ये शिवे सर्वार्थसाधिके । शरण्ये त्र्यम्बके गौरि नारायणि नमोऽस्तु ते ॥

 

ॐ जयंती मंगल काली भद्रकाली कपालिनी । दुर्गा क्षमा शिवा धात्री स्वाहा स्वधा नमोऽस्तु‍ते ॥

(Sarvamaṅgalamāṅgalyē śivē sarvārthasādhikē . śaraṇyē tryambakē gauri nārāyaṇi namō'stu tē.

Oṃ jayantī mangala kālī bhadrakālī kapālinī . durgā kṣamā śivā dhātrī svāhā svadhā namō'stu‍tē.)

 

TANTRA

Goddesses play an important role in the study and practice of Tantra Yoga, and are affirmed to be as central to discerning the nature of reality as are the male deities. Although Parvati is often said to be the recipient and student of Shiva's wisdom in the form of Tantras, it is Kāli who seems to dominate much of the Tantric iconography, texts, and rituals. In many sources Kāli is praised as the highest reality or greatest of all deities. The Nirvana-tantra says the gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva all arise from her like bubbles in the sea, ceaselessly arising and passing away, leaving their original source unchanged. The Niruttara-tantra and the Picchila-tantra declare all of Kāli's mantras to be the greatest and the Yogini-tantra, Kamakhya-tantra and the Niruttara-tantra all proclaim Kāli vidyas (manifestations of Mahadevi, or "divinity itself"). They declare her to be an essence of her own form (svarupa) of the Mahadevi.

 

In the Mahanirvana-tantra, Kāli is one of the epithets for the primordial sakti, and in one passage Shiva praises her:

 

At the dissolution of things, it is Kāla [Time] Who will devour all, and by reason of this He is called Mahākāla [an epithet of Lord Shiva], and since Thou devourest Mahākāla Himself, it is Thou who art the Supreme Primordial Kālika. Because Thou devourest Kāla, Thou art Kāli, the original form of all things, and because Thou art the Origin of and devourest all things Thou art called the Adya [the Primordial One]. Re-assuming after Dissolution Thine own form, dark and formless, Thou alone remainest as One ineffable and inconceivable. Though having a form, yet art Thou formless; though Thyself without beginning, multiform by the power of Maya, Thou art the Beginning of all, Creatrix, Protectress, and Destructress that Thou art.

 

The figure of Kāli conveys death, destruction, and the consuming aspects of reality. As such, she is also a "forbidden thing", or even death itself. In the Pancatattva ritual, the sadhaka boldly seeks to confront Kali, and thereby assimilates and transforms her into a vehicle of salvation. This is clear in the work of the Karpuradi-stotra, a short praise of Kāli describing the Pancatattva ritual unto her, performed on cremation grounds. (Samahana-sadhana)

 

He, O Mahākāli who in the cremation-ground, naked, and with dishevelled hair, intently meditates upon Thee and recites Thy mantra, and with each recitation makes offering to Thee of a thousand Akanda flowers with seed, becomes without any effort a Lord of the earth. Oh Kāli, whoever on Tuesday at midnight, having uttered Thy mantra, makes offering even but once with devotion to Thee of a hair of his Shakti [his energy/female companion] in the cremation-ground, becomes a great poet, a Lord of the earth, and ever goes mounted upon an elephant.

 

The Karpuradi-stotra clearly indicates that Kāli is more than a terrible, vicious, slayer of demons who serves Durga or Shiva. Here, she is identified as the supreme mistress of the universe, associated with the five elements. In union with Lord Shiva, she creates and destroys worlds. Her appearance also takes a different turn, befitting her role as ruler of the world and object of meditation. In contrast to her terrible aspects, she takes on hints of a more benign dimension. She is described as young and beautiful, has a gentle smile, and makes gestures with her two right hands to dispel any fear and offer boons. The more positive features exposed offer the distillation of divine wrath into a goddess of salvation, who rids the sadhaka of fear. Here, Kali appears as a symbol of triumph over death.

 

BENGALI TRADITION

Kali is also a central figure in late medieval Bengali devotional literature, with such devotees as Ramprasad Sen (1718–75). With the exception of being associated with Parvati as Shiva's consort, Kāli is rarely pictured in Hindu legends and iconography as a motherly figure until Bengali devotions beginning in the early eighteenth century. Even in Bengāli tradition her appearance and habits change little, if at all.

 

The Tantric approach to Kāli is to display courage by confronting her on cremation grounds in the dead of night, despite her terrible appearance. In contrast, the Bengali devotee appropriates Kāli's teachings adopting the attitude of a child, coming to love her unreservedly. In both cases, the goal of the devotee is to become reconciled with death and to learn acceptance of the way that things are. These themes are well addressed in Rāmprasād's work. Rāmprasād comments in many of his other songs that Kāli is indifferent to his wellbeing, causes him to suffer, brings his worldly desires to nothing and his worldly goods to ruin. He also states that she does not behave like a mother should and that she ignores his pleas:

 

Can mercy be found in the heart of her who was born of the stone? [a reference to Kali as the daughter of Himalaya]

Were she not merciless, would she kick the breast of her lord?

Men call you merciful, but there is no trace of mercy in you, Mother.

You have cut off the heads of the children of others, and these you wear as a garland around your neck.

It matters not how much I call you "Mother, Mother." You hear me, but you will not listen.

 

To be a child of Kāli, Rāmprasād asserts, is to be denied of earthly delights and pleasures. Kāli is said to refrain from giving that which is expected. To the devotee, it is perhaps her very refusal to do so that enables her devotees to reflect on dimensions of themselves and of reality that go beyond the material world.

 

A significant portion of Bengali devotional music features Kāli as its central theme and is known as Shyama Sangeet ("Music of the Night"). Mostly sung by male vocalists, today even women have taken to this form of music. One of the finest singers of Shyāma Sāngeet is Pannalal Bhattacharya.

 

In Bengal, Kāli is venerated in the festival Kali Puja, the new moon day of Ashwin month which coincides with Diwali festival.

 

In a unique form of Kāli worship, Shantipur worships Kāli in the form of a hand painted image of the deity known as Poteshwari (meaning the deity drawn on a piece of cloth).

 

LEGENDS

SLAYER OF RAKTABIJA

In Kāli's most famous legend, Devi Durga (Adi Parashakti) and her assistants, the Matrikas, wound the demon Raktabija, in various ways and with a variety of weapons in an attempt to destroy him. They soon find that they have worsened the situation for with every drop of blood that is dripped from Raktabija he reproduces a clone of himself. The battlefield becomes increasingly filled with his duplicates. Durga, in need of help, summons Kāli to combat the demons. It is said, in some versions, that Goddess Durga actually assumes the form of Goddess Kāli at this time. The Devi Mahatmyam describes:

 

Out of the surface of her (Durga's) forehead, fierce with frown, issued suddenly Kali of terrible countenance, armed with a sword and noose. Bearing the strange khatvanga (skull-topped staff ), decorated with a garland of skulls, clad in a tiger's skin, very appalling owing to her emaciated flesh, with gaping mouth, fearful with her tongue lolling out, having deep reddish eyes, filling the regions of the sky with her roars, falling upon impetuously and slaughtering the great asuras in that army, she devoured those hordes of the foes of the devas.

 

Kali destroys Raktabija by sucking the blood from his body and putting the many Raktabija duplicates in her gaping mouth. Pleased with her victory, Kali then dances on the field of battle, stepping on the corpses of the slain. In the Devi Mahatmya version of this story, Kali is also described as a Matrika and as a Shakti or power of Devi. She is given the epithet Cāṃuṇḍā (Chamunda), i.e. the slayer of the demons Chanda and Munda. Chamunda is very often identified with Kali and is very much like her in appearance and habit.

 

DAKSHINA KALI

In her most famous pose as Daksinakali, popular legends say that Kali, becoming drunk on the blood of her victims on the battlefield, dances with destructive frenzy. She is about to destroy the whole universe when, urged by all the gods, Shiva lies in her way to stop her. In her fury, she fails to see the body of Shiva lying amongst the corpses on the battlefield and steps upon his chest. Realizing Shiva lies beneath her feet, her anger is pacified and she calms her fury. Though not included in any of the puranas, popular legends state that Kali was ashamed at the prospect of keeping her husband beneath her feet and thus stuck her tongue out in shame. The Devi-Bhagavata Purana, which goes into great depths about the goddess Kali, reveals the tongue's actual symbolism.

 

The characteristic icons that depict Kali are the following; unbridled matted hair, open blood shot eyes, open mouth and a drooping tongue; in her hands, she holds a Khadga (bent sword or scimitar) and a human head; she has a girdle of human hands across her waist and an enchanted Shiva lies beneath her feet. Each of these icons represent a deep philosophical epithet. The drooping out-stuck tongue represents her blood-thirst. Lord Shiva beneath her feet represents matter, as Kali is undoubtedly the primeval energy. The depiction of Kali on Shiva shows that without energy, matter lies "dead". This concept has been simplified to a folk-tale depicting a wife placing her foot on her husband and sticking her tongue out in shame. In tantric contexts, the tongue is seen to denote the element (guna) of rajas (energy and action) controlled by sattva.

 

If Kali steps on Shiva with her right foot and holds the sword in her left hand, she is considered to be Dakshina Kali. The Dakshina Kali Temple has important religious associations with the Jagannath Temple and it is believed that Daksinakali is the guardian of the kitchen of the Lord Jagannath Temple. Puranic tradition says that in Puri, Lord Jagannath is regarded as Daksinakalika. Goddess Dakshinakali plays an important role in the 'Niti' of Saptapuri Amavasya.

 

One South Indian tradition tells of a dance contest between Shiva and Kali. After defeating the two demons Sumbha and Nisumbha, Kali takes up residence in the forest of Thiruvalankadu or Thiruvalangadu. She terrorizes the surrounding area with her fierce, disruptive nature. One of Shiva's devotees becomes distracted while performing austerities, and asks Shiva to rid the forest of the destructive goddess. When Shiva arrives, Kali threatens him, claiming the territory as her own. Shiva challenges Kali to a dance contest; both of them dance and Kali matches Shiva in every step that he takes until Shiva takes the "Urdhvatandava" step, by vertically raising his right leg. Kali refuses to perform this step, which would not befit her as a woman, and became pacified.

 

SMASHAN KALI

If the Kali steps out with the left foot and holds the sword in her right hand, she is the terrible form of Mother, the Smashan Kali of the cremation ground. She is worshiped by tantrics, the followers of Tantra, who believe that one's spiritual discipline practiced in a smashan (cremation ground) brings success quickly. Sarda Devi, the consort of Ramakrishna Paramhansa, worshipped Smashan Kali at Dakshineshwar.

 

MATERNAL KALI

Another legend depicts the infant Shiva calming Kali. In this similar story, Kali has defeated her enemies on the battlefield and begun to dance out of control, drunk on the blood of the slain. To calm her down and to protect the stability of the world, Shiva is sent to the battlefield, as an infant, crying aloud. Seeing the child's distress, Kali ceases dancing to care for the helpless infant. She picks him up, kisses his head, and proceeds to breast feed the infant Shiva. This legend is notable because it shows Kali in her benevolent, maternal aspect, with which she is not usually identified.

 

MAHAKALI

Mahakali (Sanskrit: Mahākālī, Devanagari: महाकाली), literally translated as Great Kali, is sometimes considered as a greater form of Kali, identified with the Ultimate reality of Brahman. It can also be used as an honorific of the Goddess Kali, signifying her greatness by the prefix "Mahā-". Mahakali, in Sanskrit, is etymologically the feminized variant of Mahakala or Great Time (which is interpreted also as Death), an epithet of the God Shiva in Hinduism. Mahakali is the presiding Goddess of the first episode of the Devi Mahatmya. Here she is depicted as Devi in her universal form as Shakti. Here Devi serves as the agent who allows the cosmic order to be restored.

 

Kali is depicted in the Mahakali form as having ten heads, ten arms, and ten legs. Each of her ten hands is carrying a various implement which vary in different accounts, but each of these represent the power of one of the Devas or Hindu Gods and are often the identifying weapon or ritual item of a given Deva. The implication is that Mahakali subsumes and is responsible for the powers that these deities possess and this is in line with the interpretation that Mahakali is identical with Brahman. While not displaying ten heads, an "ekamukhi" or one headed image may be displayed with ten arms, signifying the same concept: the powers of the various Gods come only through Her grace.

 

ICONOGRAPHY

Kali is portrayed mostly in two forms: the popular four-armed form and the ten-armed Mahakali form. In both of her forms, she is described as being black in color but is most often depicted as blue in popular Indian art. Her eyes are described as red with intoxication, and in absolute rage, her hair is shown disheveled, small fangs sometimes protrude out of her mouth, and her tongue is lolling. She is often shown naked or just wearing a skirt made of human arms and a garland of human heads. She is also accompanied by serpents and a jackal while standing on a seemingly dead Shiva, usually right foot forward to symbolize the more popular Dakshinamarga or right-handed path, as opposed to the more infamous and transgressive Vamamarga or left-handed path.

 

In the ten-armed form of Mahakali she is depicted as shining like a blue stone. She has ten faces and ten feet and three eyes. She has ornaments decked on all her limbs. There is no association with Shiva.

 

The Kalika Purana describes Kali as possessing a soothing dark complexion, as perfectly beautiful, riding a lion, four-armed, holding a sword and blue lotuses, her hair unrestrained, body firm and youthful.

 

In spite of her seemingly terrible form, Kali Ma is often considered the kindest and most loving of all the Hindu goddesses, as she is regarded by her devotees as the Mother of the whole Universe. And because of her terrible form, she is also often seen as a great protector. When the Bengali saint Ramakrishna once asked a devotee why one would prefer to worship Mother over him, this devotee rhetorically replied, "Maharaj, when they are in trouble your devotees come running to you. But, where do you run when you are in trouble?"

 

According to Ramakrishna, darkness is the Ultimate Mother, or Kali:

 

My Mother is the principle of consciousness. She is Akhanda Satchidananda; indivisible Reality, Awareness, and Bliss. The night sky between the stars is perfectly black. The waters of the ocean depths are the same; The infinite is always mysteriously dark. This inebriating darkness is my beloved Kali.

 

SRI RAMAKRISHNA

This is clear in the works of such contemporary artists as Charles Wish, and Tyeb Mehta, who sometimes take great liberties with the traditional, accepted symbolism, but still demonstrate a true reverence for the Shakta sect.

 

POPULAR FORM

Classic depictions of Kali share several features, as follows:

 

Kali's most common four armed iconographic image shows each hand carrying variously a sword, a trishul (trident), a severed head and a bowl or skull-cup (kapala) catching the blood of the severed head.

 

Two of these hands (usually the left) are holding a sword and a severed head. The Sword signifies Divine Knowledge and the Human Head signifies human Ego which must be slain by Divine Knowledge in order to attain Moksha. The other two hands (usually the right) are in the abhaya (fearlessness) and varada (blessing) mudras, which means her initiated devotees (or anyone worshipping her with a true heart) will be saved as she will guide them here and in the hereafter.

 

She has a garland consisting of human heads, variously enumerated at 108 (an auspicious number in Hinduism and the number of countable beads on a Japa Mala or rosary for repetition of Mantras) or 51, which represents Varnamala or the Garland of letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, Devanagari. Hindus believe Sanskrit is a language of dynamism, and each of these letters represents a form of energy, or a form of Kali. Therefore she is generally seen as the mother of language, and all mantras.

 

She is often depicted naked which symbolizes her being beyond the covering of Maya since she is pure (nirguna) being-consciousness-bliss and far above prakriti. She is shown as very dark as she is brahman in its supreme unmanifest state. She has no permanent qualities - she will continue to exist even when the universe ends. It is therefore believed that the concepts of color, light, good, bad do not apply to her - she is the pure, un-manifested energy, the Adi-shakti.

 

SHIVA IN KALI ICONOGRAPHY

In both these images she is shown standing on the prone, inert or dead body of Shiva. There is a legend for the reason behind her standing on what appears to be Shiva's corpse, which translates as follows:

 

Once Kali had destroyed all the demons in battle, she began a terrific dance out of the sheer joy of victory. All the worlds or lokas began to tremble and sway under the impact of her dance. So, at the request of all the Gods, Shiva himself asked her to desist from this behavior. However, she was too intoxicated to listen. Hence, Shiva lay like a corpse among the slain demons in order to absorb the shock of the dance into himself. When Kali eventually stepped upon Shiva, she realized she was trampling and hurting her husband and bit her tongue in shame.

 

The story described here is a popular folk tale and not described or hinted in any of the puranas. The puranic interpretation is as follows:

 

Once, Parvati asks Shiva to chose the one form among her 10 forms which he likes most. To her surprise, Shiva reveals that he is most comfortable with her Kali form, in which she is bereft of her jewellery, her human-form, her clothes, her emotions and where she is only raw, chaotic energy, where she is as terrible as time itself and even greater than time. As Parvati takes the form of Kali, Shiva lies at her feet and requests her to place her foot on his chest, upon his heart. Once in this form, Shiva requests her to have this place, below her feet in her iconic image which would be worshiped throughout.

 

This idea has been explored in the Devi-Bhagavata Purana and is most popular in the Shyama Sangeet, devotional songs to Kali from the 12th to 15th centuries.

 

The Tantric interpretation of Kali standing on top of her husband is as follows:

 

The Shiv tattava (Divine Consciousness as Shiva) is inactive, while the Shakti tattava (Divine Energy as Kali) is active. Shiva and Kali represent Brahman, the Absolute pure consciousness which is beyond all names, forms and activities. Kali, on the other hand, represents the potential (and manifested) energy responsible for all names, forms and activities. She is his Shakti, or creative power, and is seen as the substance behind the entire content of all consciousness. She can never exist apart from Shiva or act independently of him, just as Shiva remains a mere corpse without Kali i.e., Shakti, all the matter/energy of the universe, is not distinct from Shiva, or Brahman, but is rather the dynamic power of Brahman. Hence, Kali is Para Brahman in the feminine and dynamic aspect while Shiva is the male aspect and static. She stands as the absolute basis for all life, energy and beneath her feet lies, Shiva, a metaphor for mass, which cannot retain its form without energy.

 

While this is an advanced concept in monistic Shaktism, it also agrees with the Nondual Trika philosophy of Kashmir, popularly known as Kashmir Shaivism and associated most famously with Abhinavagupta. There is a colloquial saying that "Shiva without Shakti is Shava" which means that without the power of action (Shakti) that is Mahakali (represented as the short "i" in Devanagari) Shiva (or consciousness itself) is inactive; Shava means corpse in Sanskrit and the play on words is that all Sanskrit consonants are assumed to be followed by a short letter "a" unless otherwise noted. The short letter "i" represents the female power or Shakti that activates Creation. This is often the explanation for why She is standing on Shiva, who is either Her husband and complement in Shaktism or the Supreme Godhead in Shaivism.

 

To properly understand this complex Tantric symbolism it is important to remember that the meaning behind Shiva and Kali does not stray from the non-dualistic parlance of Shankara or the Upanisads. According to both the Mahanirvana and Kularnava Tantras, there are two distinct ways of perceiving the same absolute reality. The first is a transcendental plane which is often described as static, yet infinite. It is here that there is no matter, there is no universe and only consciousness exists. This form of reality is known as Shiva, the absolute Sat-Chit-Ananda - existence, knowledge and bliss. The second is an active plane, an immanent plane, the plane of matter, of Maya, i.e., where the illusion of space-time and the appearance of an actual universe does exist. This form of reality is known as Kali or Shakti, and (in its entirety) is still specified as the same Absolute Sat-Chit-Ananda. It is here in this second plane that the universe (as we commonly know it) is experienced and is described by the Tantric seer as the play of Shakti, or God as Mother Kali.

 

From a Tantric perspective, when one meditates on reality at rest, as absolute pure consciousness (without the activities of creation, preservation or dissolution) one refers to this as Shiva or Brahman. When one meditates on reality as dynamic and creative, as the Absolute content of pure consciousness (with all the activities of creation, preservation or dissolution) one refers to it as Kali or Shakti. However, in either case the yogini or yogi is interested in one and the same reality - the only difference being in name and fluctuating aspects of appearance. It is this which is generally accepted as the meaning of Kali standing on the chest of Shiva.

 

Although there is often controversy surrounding the images of divine copulation, the general consensus is benign and free from any carnal impurities in its substance. In Tantra the human body is a symbol for the microcosm of the universe; therefore sexual process is responsible for the creation of the world. Although theoretically Shiva and Kali (or Shakti) are inseparable, like fire and its power to burn, in the case of creation they are often seen as having separate roles. With Shiva as male and Kali as female it is only by their union that creation may transpire. This reminds us of the prakrti and purusa doctrine of Samkhya wherein prakāśa- vimarśa has no practical value, just as without prakrti, purusa is quite inactive. This (once again) stresses the interdependencies of Shiva and Shakti and the vitality of their union.

 

Gopi Krishna proposed that Kali standing on the dead Shiva or Shava (Sanskrit for dead body) symbolised the helplessness of a person undergoing the changing process (psychologically and physiologically) in the body conducted by the Kundalini Shakti.

 

DEVELOPMENT

In the later traditions, Kali has become inextricably linked with Shiva. The unleashed form of Kali often becomes wild and uncontrollable, and only Shiva is able to tame her just as only Kali can tame Shiva. This is both because she is often a transformed version of one of his consorts and because he is able to match her wildness.

 

The ancient text of Kali Kautuvam describes her competition with Shiva in dance, from which the sacred 108 Karanas appeared. Shiva won the competition by acting the urdva tandava, one of the Karanas, by raising his feet to his head. Other texts describe Shiva appearing as a crying infant and appealing to her maternal instincts. While Shiva is said to be able to tame her, the iconography often presents her dancing on his fallen body, and there are accounts of the two of them dancing together, and driving each other to such wildness that the world comes close to unravelling.

 

Shiva's involvement with Tantra and Kali's dark nature have led to her becoming an important Tantric figure. To the Tantric worshippers, it was essential to face her Curse, the terror of death, as willingly as they accepted Blessings from her beautiful, nurturing, maternal aspect. For them, wisdom meant learning that no coin has only one side: as death cannot exist without life, so life cannot exist without death. Kali's role sometimes grew beyond that of a chaos - which could be confronted - to that of one who could bring wisdom, and she is given great metaphysical significance by some Tantric texts. The Nirvāna-tantra clearly presents her uncontrolled nature as the Ultimate Reality, claiming that the trimurti of Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra arise and disappear from her like bubbles from the sea. Although this is an extreme case, the Yogini-tantra, Kamakhya-tantra and the Niruttara-tantra declare her the svarupa (own-being) of the Mahadevi (the great Goddess, who is in this case seen as the combination of all devis).

 

The final stage of development is the worshipping of Kali as the Great Mother, devoid of her usual violence. This practice is a break from the more traditional depictions. The pioneers of this tradition are the 18th century Shakta poets such as Ramprasad Sen, who show an awareness of Kali's ambivalent nature. Ramakrishna, the 19th century Bengali saint, was also a great devotee of Kali; the western popularity of whom may have contributed to the more modern, equivocal interpretations of this Goddess. Rachel McDermott's work, however, suggests that for the common, modern worshipper, Kali is not seen as fearful, and only those educated in old traditions see her as having a wrathful component. Some credit to the development of Devi must also be given to Samkhya. Commonly referred to as the Devi of delusion, Mahamaya or Durga, acting in the confines of (but not being bound by) the nature of the three gunas, takes three forms: Maha-Kali, Maha-Lakshmi and Maha-Saraswati, being her tamas-ika, rajas-ika and sattva-ika forms. In this sense, Kali is simply part of a larger whole.

 

Like Sir John Woodroffe and Georg Feuerstein, many Tantric scholars (as well as sincere practitioners) agree that, no matter how propitious or appalling you describe them, Shiva and Devi are simply recognizable symbols for everyday, abstract (yet tangible) concepts such as perception, knowledge, space-time, causation and the process of liberating oneself from the confines of such things. Shiva, symbolizing pure, absolute consciousness, and Devi, symbolizing the entire content of that consciousness, are ultimately one and the same - totality incarnate, a micro-macro-cosmic amalgamation of all subjects, all objects and all phenomenal relations between the "two." Like man and woman who both share many common, human traits yet at the same time they are still different and, therefore, may also be seen as complementary.

 

Worshippers prescribe various benign and horrific qualities to Devi simply out of practicality. They do this so they may have a variety of symbols to choose from, symbols which they can identify and relate with from the perspective of their own, ever-changing time, place and personal level of unfolding. Just like modern chemists or physicists use a variety of molecular and atomic models to describe what is unperceivable through rudimentary, sensory input, the scientists of ontology and epistemology must do the same. One of the underlying distinctions of Tantra, in comparison to other religions, is that it allows the devotee the liberty to choose from a vast array of complementary symbols and rhetoric which suit one's evolving needs and tastes. From an aesthetic standpoint, nothing is interdict and nothing is orthodox. In this sense, the projection of some of Devi's more gentle qualities onto Kali is not sacrilege and the development of Kali really lies in the practitioner, not the murthi.

 

A TIME magazine article of October 27, 1947, used Kali as a symbol and metaphor for the human suffering in British India during its partition that year.

 

Swami Vivekananda wrote his favorite poem Kali the Mother in 1898.

 

IN NEW AGE & NEOPAGANISM

An academic study of Western Kali enthusiasts noted that, "as shown in the histories of all cross-cultural religious transplants, Kali devotionalism in the West must take on its own indigenous forms if it is to adapt to its new environment." The adoption of Kali by the West has raised accusations of cultural appropriation:

 

A variety of writers and thinkers have found Kali an exciting figure for reflection and exploration, notably feminists and participants in New Age spirituality who are attracted to goddess worship. Kali is a symbol of wholeness and healing, associated especially with repressed female power and sexuality. [However, such interpretations often exhibit] confusion and misrepresentation, stemming from a lack of knowledge of Hindu history among these authors, draw upon materials written by scholars of the Hindu religious tradition. The majority instead rely chiefly on other popular feminist sources, almost none of which base their interpretations on a close reading of Kali's Indian background. The most important issue arising from this discussion - even more important than the question of 'correct' interpretation - concerns the adoption of other people's religious symbols. It is hard to import the worship of a goddess from another culture: religious associations and connotations have to be learned, imagined or intuited when the deep symbolic meanings embedded in the native culture are not available.

 

WIKIPEDIA

The Type 57 was first and foremost a passenger car that kept the excitement of Bugatti's race cars but maintained everyday practicality.