View allAll Photos Tagged precise
Pu'er, Yunnan, China
The precise silken pattern prelaid by the prepupal caterpillar on the exposed leaf is reminiscent of an orb-weaver spider's visibility enhancing stabilimentum. Perhaps it plays a similar role by making the pupa look larger than it is, breaking up its outline or, is indeed outright orb-weaver mimicry.
see comments for additional view...
There are, or to be more precise, there were, three castles on different islands within Loch Awe. The castles, although now ruined, are all still there, but only two of them now stand on islands. The Campbell castle of Kilchurn (visible in the distance on the right side of the far end of the loch, above the left end of the left island), is now on a headland, due to people fiddling around with the loch's outlet, which resulted in a lowering of the loch's water level. Innis Chonnell, also a Campbell castle, stands towards the southern end of the loch and the third stands among the trees of the right-hand of these two islands - Fraoch Eilean, sometimes abbreviated to Frechelan. Given the success I had yesterday flying out over Loch Ard, this was the first of four 'over water' excursions I made today!
There are two explanations for the island's name:
The first is that it is Gaelic for Heather Island.
The second is that the name relates back to the name of a hero from Celtic mythology. A young man named Fraoch heard that fruit, capable of restoring youth and curing hunger, grew on a Rowan tree on the island, so he went out to the island to get some for Mengo, the love of his life. He found the tree guarded by a serpant or dragon which was wrapped around its trunk, but succeeded in stealing some and returning to Mengo. He was then sent back to get the tree itself (which goes to show that 'enough was never enough' for women even back in those far-off days), but this time the dragon pursued him and in the ensuing battle, both Fraoch and the dragon were killed. (And presumably, and more importantly, the tree!) A cairn was raised on the spot where Fraoch fell and the island named in his honour.
Personally, I lean towards the second explanation!
This one is from a couple grids ago, February's to be precise. This grid, H5, straddled Hwy 30 just east of the St. Johns Bridge. It was an odd grid, with off-limits natural gas plants in one part, Forest Park in another, and a small patch of residential neighborhood tucked away like an afterthought. I am not sure what it must be like to live on Hwy 30. It seems like it would be noisy and dirty and backing out of your driveway must require a specific sort of nerve, but there are a few dozen homes found along this stretch. Many of them are a block or so off of the highway itself, but several are right up on it, like this one. I am not sure what story of action and violence this splattered mud is a remainder of, but it caught my eye as I walked along the short stretch of highway that enjoys a sidewalk. I was testing out a Canon AF35M from the shop that day and had loaded it with some Lomochrome Metropolis film. The camera was potentially faulty and the film has not proven a favorite of mine, so I was allowing myself plenty of liberty in snapping off shots and not taking my usual slow, methodical, careful approach. It is nice to change it up now and then, just as the Grid Project has been nice in getting me off my beaten paths and into some other areas of Portland I do not explore much.
Canon AF35M
Lomochrome Metropolis
Grid H5 - Portland Grid Project
This is a shot of the precise spot where the Byzantine Cathedral of the Taxiarchs (of St. Michael the Archangel) once stood in Ioannina, Greece, within the South-Eastern citadel (aka Iç-Kale) of the Castle. The church was deliberately demolished in c.1430, then on the exactly same spot the “FETHİYE Câmii” (Turkish for “mosque of the Conquest”) was erected by the Ottoman Turks.
It was in writing that the latter had promised certain privileges (such as the freedom of worship with no conversion of churches into mosques etc.) to the people living in Ioannina as conditions of the surrender agreement reached (“Sinan Paşa's designation”, ratified by imperial decree of Sultan Murad II).
This shows how much Mars' slightly longer day affects a precise 24 hour rotation. Mars shares several things in common with the Earth, it is tilted in its axis so has four seasons same as Earth (they are just twice as long as Mars takes twice as long to travel round the Sun for its year) and its rotation period is about 37 minutes slower in 24 hours than Earth. Mars has visible ice around whichever pole (North or South) is having its winter. That though is largely where the similarities end! Mars lacks the molten core and strong magnetic field of Earth and consequently can't prevent damage from solar wind and cosmic rays due to its thin atmosphere being unable to absorb incoming radiation and lack of a strong magnetic field to deflect incoming particles or prevent atmosphere being lost to space. One strange consequence is that even a strong dust storm on Mars would feel like a gentle breeze to us despite their widespread nature when Mars is closest to the Sun in its orbit.
In the above images there is a tiny ice region around the South pole and signs of iciness around the North polar region that isn't thick enough to hide the underlying surface features.
Peter
Brooks Saddles to be precise.
Protecting peoples derrière since 1866 ;)
Beautifully Comfortable and Long Lasting Bicycle Saddles.
The renowned quality of the saddles has made Brooks England a household name in the world of cycling. The slogan 'The Best For Riding’ describes exactly why their popularity has endured. The're committed to providing the very best in design and comfort by way of proven designs and contemporary technologies.
--
Seen at The Vintage Retreat, Northampton.
A Kodak Bantam Special, to be precise. From the moment I first set eyes on a photo of one of these cameras I fell in love with it, so I'm delighted to have one in my collection. This particular one was made some time between 1936 and 1940. It was designed by Walter Dorwin Teague in the modernist style. I've seen it described as perhaps 'one of the most uniquely beautiful cameras of all time'. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, of course, and I understand that it won't be to everyone's taste, but I have definitely fallen under its elegant spell.
«Être homme, c'est précisément être responsable. C'est connaître la honte en face d'une misère qui ne semblait pas dépendre de soi. C'est être fier d'une victoire que les camarades ont remportée. C'est sentir, en posant sa pierre, que l'on contribue à bâtir le monde.»
(Antoine de Saint-Exupéry "Terre des hommes")
«To be a human is, precisely, to be responsible. It is to feel shame at the sight of what seems to be unmerited misery. It is to take pride in a victory won by one's comrades. It is to feel, when setting one's stone, that one is contributing to the building of the world»
(Antoine de Saint-Exupéry "Wind, Sand and Stars")
«Να είσαι άνθρωπος, σημαίνει ακριβώς να είσαι υπεύθυνος. Να γνωρίσεις την ντροπή απέναντι σε μια δυστυχία που δε μοιάζει να έρχεται από σένα. Να νιώθεις περηφάνια για μια νίκη που πέτυχαν οι συνάδελφοί σου. Να αισθάνεσαι, βάζοντας κι εσύ το λιθαράκι σου, πως συντελείς στο κτίσιμο του κόσμου»
(Antoine de Saint-Exupéry "Γη των ανθρώπων")
"Talvez você só precise (re)organizar as coisas por dentro, rearrumar os sentimentos, refazer as prioridades.
Tira a poeira desse sorriso, desengaveta teus sonhos.
Joga fora o que pesa na alma, o que te desassossega.
Manda embora o que tira teu sorriso frouxo.
Faz uma faxina e deixa aí só o que for bonito."
[Monalisa Macedo]
falso-íris, lírio-roxo, lírio-roxo-das-pedras, lírio-roxo-das-pedreiras, pseudo-íris-azul, alho-do-mato, maricá, doze-apóstolos, íris-da-praia-azul, Apostle plant, marica, twelve apostles, walking íris.
Nome Científico: Neomarica caerulea
Família (Cronquist (APG2): Iridaceae
Gênero: Neomarica
San Lorenzo Maggiore is a church in Naples, Italy. It is located at the precise geographic center of the historic center of the ancient Greek-Roman city, at the intersection of via San Gregorio Armeno and via dei Tribunali. The name "San Lorenzo" may also refer to the new museum now opened on the premises, as well as to the ancient Roman market beneath the church itself, the Macellum of Naples.
The church's origins derive from the presence of the Franciscan order in Naples during the lifetime of St Francis of Assisi, himself. The site of the present church was to compensate the order for the loss of their earlier church on the grounds where Charles I of Anjou decided to build his new fortress, the Maschio Angioino in the late 13th century.
San Lorenzo actually is a church plus monastery. The new museum takes up the three floors above the courtyard and is given over to the entire history of the area that centers on San Lorenzo, beginning with classical archaeology and progressing to a chart display of historical shipping routes from Naples throughout Magna Grecia and the Roman Empire. The museum provides a detailed account of the local "city hall" that was demolished in order to put up the church in the 13th century and continues up past the Angevin period and into more recent history.
Beneath San Lorenzo, about half of an original Roman market has been excavated.The site has been open since 1992, the result of 25 years of painstaking excavation. The market place is the only large-scale Greek-Roman site excavated in the downtown area.
In this church Boccaccio met his beloved Fiammetta (1338) (Wikipedia)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmalade
Marmalade generally refers to a fruit preserve made from the juice and peel of citrus fruits boiled with sugar and water. It can be produced from kumquats, lemons, limes, grapefruits, mandarins, sweet oranges, bergamots, and other citrus fruits, or any combination of them.
For many decades now, the preferred citrus fruit for marmalade production in Britain has been the Spanish Seville orange, Citrus aurantium var. aurantium, prized for its high pectin content, which gives a good set.[clarification needed] The peel imparts a lively bitter taste to the marmalade.
The term "marmalade" is not precise, universal, nor definitive, but unless otherwise stated, marmalade is generally distinguished from jam by its fruit peel. However, it also may be distinguished from jam by the choice of fruit. Historically, the term was more often used in senses other than just citrus conserves.[1]
Contents [hide]
1Origins
2Etymology
2.1International usage
3Dundee Marmalade
3.1Scots legend
4In children's books
5See also
6References
7Further reading
Origins
The Romans learned from the Greeks that quinces slowly cooked with honey would "set" when cool (though they did not know about fruit pectin). Greek μελίμηλον (melimēlon, "honey fruit") transformed into Portuguese "marmelo"— from the Greek μῆλον (mēlon, "apple") stood for all globular fruits, and most quinces are too astringent to be used without honey. A Roman cookbook attributed to Apicius gives a recipe for preserving whole quinces, stems and leaves attached, in a bath of honey diluted with defrutum—Roman marmalade. Preserves of quince and lemon appear—along with rose, apple, plum and pear—in the Book of ceremonies of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos, "a book that is not only a treatise on the etiquette of imperial banquetting in the ninth century, but a catalogue of the foods available and dishes made from them."[1]
Medieval quince preserves, which went by the French name cotignac, produced in a clear version and a fruit pulp version, began to lose their medieval seasoning of spices in the 16th century. In the 17th century, La Varenne provided recipes for both thick and clear cotignac.[2]
In 1524, Henry VIII received a "box of marmalade" from Mr Hull of Exeter.[3] As it was in a box, this was probably marmelada, a solid quince paste from Portugal, still made and sold in southern Europe. Its Portuguese origins can be detected in the remarks in letters to Lord Lisle, from William Grett, 12 May 1534, "I have sent to your lordship a box of marmaladoo, and another unto my good lady your wife" and from Richard Lee, 14 December 1536, "He most heartily thanketh her Ladyship for her marmalado".[2]
The English recipe book of Eliza Cholmondeley, dated from 1677 and held at the Chester Record Office in the Cheshire county archivists, has one of the earliest marmalade recipes ("Marmelet of Oranges") which produced a firm, thick dark paste. The Scots are credited with developing marmalade as a spread, with Scottish recipes in the 18th century using more water to produce a less solid preserve.[4]
The first printed recipe for orange marmalade, though without the chunks typically used now, was in Mary Kettilby's 1714 cookery book, A Collection of above Three Hundred Receipts (pages 78–79).[5][6][7] Kettilby called for whole oranges, lemon juice and sugar, with the acid in the lemon juice helping to create the pectin set of marmalade, by boiling the lemon and orange juice with the pulp.[4][7] Kettilby then directs: "boil the whole pretty fast 'till it will jelly" – the first known use of the word "jelly" in marmalade making. Kettilby then instructs that the mixture is then poured into glasses, covered and left until set. As the acid would create a jelly, this meant that the mixture could be pulled from the heat before it had turned to a paste, keeping the marmalade much brighter and the appearance more translucent, as in modern-day marmalade.[4]
The Scots moved marmalade to the breakfast table, and in the 19th century the English followed the Scottish example and abandoned the eating of marmalade in the evening. Marmalade's place in British life appears in literature. James Boswell remarks that he and Samuel Johnson were offered it at breakfast in Scotland in 1773. When American writer Louisa May Alcott visited Britain in the 1800s, she described "a choice pot of marmalade and a slice of cold ham" as "essentials of English table comfort".[7]
Etymology
Antique marmalade cutter, used to cut citrus fruit peel into thin slices
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "marmalade" appeared in the English language in 1480, borrowed from French marmelade which, in turn, came from the Portuguese language marmelada. According to José Pedro Machado’s Dicionário Etimológico da Língua Portuguesa,[8] the oldest known document where this Portuguese word is to be found is Gil Vicente’s play Comédia de Rubena, written in 1521:
Temos tanta marmelada
Que a minha mãe vai me dar um pouco[9]
The extension of "marmalade" in the English language to refer to a preserve made from citrus fruits occurred in the 17th century, when citrus first began to be plentiful enough in England for the usage to become common.
In Portuguese, according to the root of the word, which is marmelo, "quince", marmelada is a preserve made from quinces, quince cheese. Marmelo in turn derives from Latin melimelum, "honey apple",[10] which in turn comes from the earlier Greek μελίμηλον (melímēlon),[11] from "μέλι" (meli), "honey"[11] + "μήλον" (mēlon), "apple".[11]
There is an apocryphal story that Mary, Queen of Scots, ate it when she had a headache, and that the name is derived from her maids' whisper of "Marie est malade" (Mary is ill). In reality, the word's origin has nothing to do with Mary.[12]
International usage[edit]
Marmalade spread on bread
In much of Europe, the term "marmalade" and its variations are still used as a generic term for preserves of all fruits, whereas in Britain it refers solely to a citrus preserve.[4] The name originates in Portuguese, where marmelada applies exclusively to quince jam.[13][14] In Spanish the term usually refers to what in English is called jam (and jalea — used in Mexico and Central America — is similar to the American English jelly). In Italian too, marmellata means every jam and marmalade.
Dundee Marmalade[edit]
Jars of homemade marmalade
The Scottish city of Dundee has a long association with marmalade.[15][16] James Keiller and his wife Janet ran a small sweet and preserves shop in the Seagate section of Dundee.[16] In 1797, they opened a factory to produce "Dundee Marmalade",[17] a preserve distinguished by thick chunks of bitter Seville orange rind. The business prospered, and remains a signature marmalade producer today.[18]
Scots legend[edit]
According to a Scottish legend, the creation of orange marmalade in Britain occurred by accident. The legend tells of a ship carrying a cargo of oranges that broke down in the port of Dundee, resulting in some ingenious locals making marmalade out of the cargo.[16][19]
In children's books[edit]
Paddington Bear, a fictional character in children's books, is renowned for his liking for marmalade, particularly in sandwiches, and kept it in his briefcase wherever he went.[20] He is now used on the label of Robertson's Golden Shred marmalade.
Sepia, to be precise - version of the previous shot.
Note the spelling of cinema and coiffeur - modern Turkish is full of French words, phonetically spelled (as pronounced in French, e.g. 'oto' for auto and 'spor' for sport).. Makes navigation around town easier :)
The Hubble Space Telescope has spotted a UFO — well, the UFO Galaxy, to be precise. NGC 2683 is a spiral galaxy seen almost edge-on, giving it the shape of a classic science fiction spaceship. This is why the astronomers at the Astronaut Memorial Planetarium and Observatory gave it this attention-grabbing nickname. While a bird’s eye view lets us see the detailed structure of a galaxy (such as this Hubble image of a barred spiral), a side-on view has its own perks. In particular, it gives astronomers a great opportunity to see the delicate dusty lanes of the spiral arms silhouetted against the golden haze of the galaxy’s core. In addition, brilliant clusters of young blue stars shine scattered throughout the disc, mapping the galaxy’s star-forming regions. Perhaps surprisingly, side-on views of galaxies like this one do not prevent astronomers from deducing their structures. Studies of the properties of the light coming from NGC 2683 suggest that this is a barred spiral galaxy, even though the angle we see it at does not let us see this directly. NGC 2683, discovered on 5 February 1788 by the famous astronomer William Herschel, lies in the Northern constellation of Lynx. A constellation named not because of its resemblance to the feline animal, but because it is fairly faint, requiring the “sensitive eyes of a cat” to discern it. And when you manage to get a look at it, you’ll find treasures like this, making it well worth the effort. This image is produced from two adjacent fields observed in visible and infrared light by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys. A narrow strip which appears slightly blurred and crosses most the image horizontally is a result of a gap between Hubble’s detectors. This strip has been patched using images from observations of the galaxy made by ground-based telescopes, which show significantly less detail. The field of view is approximately 6.5 by 3.3 arcminutes.
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.
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Kryžių kalnas, or the Hill of Crosses, (Lithuanian: Kryžių kalnas) is a site of pilgrimage about 12 km north of the city of Šiauliai in northern Lithuania. The precise origin of the practice of leaving crosses on the hill is uncertain, but it is believed that the first crosses were placed on the former hill fort after the 1831 Uprising in Poland, Lithuania, and other western regions of the Tsarist Empire. Over the generations, not only crosses and crucifixes, but statues of the Virgin Mary, carvings of Lithuanian patriots and thousands of tiny effigies and rosaries have been brought here by pilgrims. The exact number of crosses is unknown, but estimates put it at about 100,000 at present.
Over the generations, the place has come to signify the peaceful endurance of Lithuanian Catholicism despite the threats it faced throughout history. After the Third Partition of Poland in 1795, Lithuania became part of the Russian Empire. Poles and Lithuanians unsuccessfully rebelled against Russian authorities in 1831 and 1863. These two uprisings are connected with the beginnings of the hill: as families could not locate bodies of perished rebels, they started putting up symbolic crosses in their memory.
When the old political structure of Eastern Europe fell apart in 1918, Lithuania once again declared its independence. Throughout this time, the Hill of Crosses was used as a place for Lithuanians to pray for peace, for their country, and for the loved ones they had lost during the Wars of Independence.
The site took on a special significance during the years 1944–1990, when Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union. Continuing to travel to the hill and leave their tributes, Lithuanians used it to demonstrate their allegiance to their original identity, religion and heritage. It was a venue of peaceful resistance, although the Soviets worked hard to remove new crosses, and bulldozed the site at least three times (including attempts in 1963 and 1973). There were even rumors that the authorities planned to build a dam on the nearby Kulvė River, a tributary to Mūša, so that the hill would end up underwater.
On September 7, 1993, Pope John Paul II visited the Hill of Crosses, declaring it a place for hope, peace, love and sacrifice. In 2000 a Franciscan hermitage was opened nearby. The interior decoration draws links with La Verna, the mountain where St. Francis is said to have received his stigmata. The hill remains under nobody’s jurisdiction; therefore people are free to build crosses as they see fit.
Occasionally, significant parts of the site burn down in accidental fires. The site attracts pilgrims from across Europe, but especially Lithuania and Poland.
This description incorporates text from the English Wikipedia.
Excerpt from Wikipedia:
The Church of Our Lady is a historical building in Kalundborg, northwestern Zealand, Denmark. The precise date of construction is not known with any certainty, though its architecture indicates the early part of the 13th century. With its five distinctive towers, it stands on a hill above the harbour, making it the town's most imposing landmark.
The church is built of red brick, indicating that it was constructed no earlier than 1170 when brick was first used in Denmark.
At the time when the church was built, a small medieval town stood on the hill. It was originally fortified by Snare's castle but this was replaced in the 14th century by Kalundborg Castle, now in ruins, with its ring walls and ditches. Much of this has now disappeared but the old churchyard walls are still intact. Two brick houses from 1500 form part of the boundary walls and a few brick houses near the church are evidence of the prosperity the town enjoyed in the 15th century.
The central tower of the church collapsed in 1827 due to structural flaws and incautious repairs inside the church. Collapse did not cause any injuries but many medieval furnishings were destroyed .
As the church had fallen into a state of disrepair by the beginning of the 19th century, restoration work was carried out first from 1867 to 1871 under the leadership of Vilhelm Tvedes when the central tower was rebuilt, and later from 1917 to 1921 when the three entrances and the windows were reconstructed under architects Andreas and Mogens Clemmensen. From the square nave, four arms of equal length stretch out to a polygon terminal. These proportions have been compared to the description of the New Jerusalem in the Book of Revelation. While the original barrel vaults of the transepts are still in place, the columns in the nave and the vaults have been reconstructed.
The medieval sacristy (1400) along the north wall of the chancel is well preserved. In about 1500 it was given an upper storey.
The plan is in the form of a Greek cross with four arms of equal length. The window arches as well as the pilasters and sunken columns inside the church suggest the involvement of Lombard builders from northern Italy. It is said to be Denmark's most important contribution to architecture during the Middle Ages.
The church's central tower, known as Mary's tower (after the Virgin Mary), is 44 m tall and square-shaped while the four lateral towers, each 34 m tall, are octagonal. The other towers are also named after saints: St. Anne's to the east, St. Gertrude's to the west, St. Mary Magdalene's to the south and St. Catherine's to the north. The four columns supporting the central tower are made of granite, providing additional strength. With five towers in all, the church is unique.
The architecture reveals similarities with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, as well as with grouped towers in the great churches of France and the Rhineland. In particular, both the church's age and its architectural style have much in common with Tournai Cathedral in the south of Belgium. The masonry, on the other hand, is comparable to that of other early brick buildings in the area such as St. Bendt's Church in Ringsted.
Don't have a more precise date than February 1968 for this one and the location is Welwyn Garden City thanks to the Gents below.
The class 15's hauling the train of coal wagons are D8233 in green and the one with the double arrows was given as D8231 but I can not make out the number. They were both allocated to Finsbury Park at this time.
D8233 was new to Stratford in August 1960 and withdrawn in February 1969, it then moved into departmental service which happily lead to it now being preserved. D8231 was not so lucky, being withdrawn in March 1971 and cut up at Crewe within a year.
Image from a slide in my collection by an unknown photographer.
Thai dragon peppers, to be precise. These babies are about 50k-100k Scoville units (compare to habaneros at 100k-350k), and have a unique pain profile that is sharp and pulsing. They also have a pleasant fruity taste. They are good in anything spicy, but best when soaked in fish sauce, allowing the heat, salt, fruitiness and umami to complement each other.
I've seen then classified as both Capsicum frutescens and Capsicum annuum.
AKAs include Thai volcano pepper, facing-heaven pepper.
Usually they are green, ripening to red, but these also go through a purple phase, where they express anthocyanin (the same pigment as blueberries). Unfortunately, like many purple fruit and vegetables (like purple beans and purple asparagus), the purple turns green when cooked.
One thing to remember for those who are not fire eaters, if you get too much heat, drinking something usually won't help, unless it has sugar (this is why many commercial hot sauces add fruit or carrots).
Water helps while it's in your mouth, but when you swallow, the pain comes back. Capsaicin is a fat soluble molecule, so alcohol just spreads it around your mouth. Carbonation hits the same pain receptors as the capsaicin, so beer is probably the worst choice.
Milk is supposed to be a good cure, but I hate milk. Luckily, I have rarely had anything that was too hot for me.
Our Hoverfly was first described by that indefatigable Swedo-Dutch industrialist and entomologist Baron Charles de Geer (1720-1798). He amassed his fortune through his iron-works industry and was thought to be the richest man in the Sweden of his day. So he had lots of money to pursue his hobby of entomology and to carry on his feud about nomenclature with great Carolus Linnaeus as well. Enormously productive, he published extensively on the taxonomy of insects. He gave this Hoverfly the name Musca balteata in 1776. 'Balteata' is from the Latin and means something like 'girdled' or 'belted'.
The history of entomology continued of course, and classifications became more precise. In 1917 the scientific name by which we know Marmalade Hoverfly was established by two Japanese entomologists, Shônen Matsumura (1872-1960) and Tusmanitsu Adachi (1901-1981) in 1917. Matsumura worked on the Great Northern Island of Japan, Hokkaido, as an agricultural entomologist. No doubt he would have been delighted that Beautiful Marmalade was also very useful. Its larvae feed on plant pests such as aphids... This Hoverlady herself seems to be after the pollen of Dwarf Morning Glory. Soon there'll be her larval offspring to keep the plants of the Botanical Garden free of aphid pests.
Yes! It was a very bright morning!
I did a precise measurement and approximately 59 seconds out of every minute was spent visualizing myself slipping and falling into the water, then washed over the waterfall forever. The other 1 second was spent partially slipping and feeling intense panic that everything visualized in the previous 59 seconds was about to come true.
The summer solstice represents a precise moment, the one in which the Sun in its apparent motion reaches the highest point with respect to the horizon. In practice, it occurs when the Sun is at its maximum height above the horizon at noon, thus giving us the maximum number of hours of light possible in the space of a day. This year the solstice falls at 12.07 in the morning on June 21st.
In Italy we will have a day of 15 hours and 14 minutes.
The period of the Summer Solstice is a particularly interesting time to visit the Cathedral (Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore) and the Basilica of San Miniato al Monte.
The Cathedral offers a singular spectacle in which the sun's rays align, thanks to an ancient and ingenious gnomon, with a solstice sundial identified several centuries ago with astonishing precision. One of the windows of the Dome contains a small "perforated shelf", through which the sun's rays pass during the summer solstice. The circular beam of light is thus projected onto the floor of one of the side chapels of the cathedral, and precisely the so-called "chapel of the cross", at a time between 12 and 13.
During this period of time, the light beam projected through the gnomon coincides with a circular marble slab, which denotes the moment in which the sun reaches its zenith during its celestial journey and has been in this location since 1510.
The precise moment that the guy in the turban and the woman with the camera engaged. Priceless encounter for the woman. India.
Parliament Of Worms.
Compréhension consciente impressions précises précisions luttes,
Conceptualized engagierte Prozesse Betrunkenen Allwissenheit unerreichbar sensorischen Extremen,
nodau tystiolaeth cyfarwyddo merwino anymwybodol gwybodaeth eirfa continwwm integreiddio deddfau,
lactentes conceitos discriminatórios objetivismo realidade pensamento olhos borrada foco mental lascada língua,
волевое переменного разведки неявные бормотание внимательные факты принципы свободы топали,
Pro rationis identitatis inaestimandus consilium data facultate sciendi phantasiae cognitiones radices,
concettualizzazioni coinvolgenti cruciali prospettive fatti meccanismo di riduzioni inammissibili errori umani,
التشابه تطفو على السطح ألسنة بلاغة الفلاسفة الشريط الحدودي الخلافات خيارات مبررات التناقضات,
antecedente nonaxiomatic essências ilógicas imitações proposições oponentes construindo polêmicas sociais egoístas,
虚偽の書類の引用の残りの部分を伝える引用する文おなじみの階層基本法則.
Steve.D.Hammond.
San Lorenzo Maggiore is a church in Naples, Italy. It is located at the precise geographic center of the historic center of the ancient Greek-Roman city, at the intersection of via San Gregorio Armeno and via dei Tribunali. The name "San Lorenzo" may also refer to the new museum now opened on the premises, as well as to the ancient Roman market beneath the church itself, the Macellum of Naples.
The church's origins derive from the presence of the Franciscan order in Naples during the lifetime of St Francis of Assisi, himself. The site of the present church was to compensate the order for the loss of their earlier church on the grounds where Charles I of Anjou decided to build his new fortress, the Maschio Angioino in the late 13th century.
San Lorenzo actually is a church plus monastery. The new museum takes up the three floors above the courtyard and is given over to the entire history of the area that centers on San Lorenzo, beginning with classical archaeology and progressing to a chart display of historical shipping routes from Naples throughout Magna Grecia and the Roman Empire. The museum provides a detailed account of the local "city hall" that was demolished in order to put up the church in the 13th century and continues up past the Angevin period and into more recent history.
Beneath San Lorenzo, about half of an original Roman market has been excavated.The site has been open since 1992, the result of 25 years of painstaking excavation. The market place is the only large-scale Greek-Roman site excavated in the downtown area.
In this church Boccaccio met his beloved Fiammetta (1338) (Wikipedia)
Life is the eternal thirst of entity soul
desires for a pervasive blooming life
to dwell in life life long
to enjoy fantasy of life
precisive allurement mingle the life
makes to dwell in despite of thousand perplexities
encounters trouble
gets rid of troubles
At this precise moment in time, a family member is laying on a hospital bed knowing there is not long left..
During times like these people get sad, people cry, people ask questions, people get angry..with me...it sort of stays inside..I dont bottle it up.. I just deal with quietly.
Its times like these that make you take a step back and think..
This family memeber... said words that I will never forget.. Ever. As she lay there on the bed she asked my mother..."why is this happening to me ?, I have never done nobody any harm. I have been nothing but kind."
Hearing my mum tell me those words.. really hit me.. I never get emotional at sad times.. I show it in the bucket loads during fun times..but sad times I hide it.. But at that moment,, It hit me.. and I cried.
How do you deal with knowing you are going to die..in days ?
It makes me wonder.. sometimes....what is the whole point of it all..
We all know that every single one of us has the same destiny.. we can not change that..
Whoever decided that this is the way is was to be....needs to re-think.. because this way is shit.
I wish I was I was in charge of all this.. I wouldn't know what to do, or the right way to make it all better.. but I know it should not have to be this way.
"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment. Or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around."
All to often, when we go through these tough times..we are given advice or get told things to help make good of what we have.
Here are a few litte quotes that spring to mind..
Laugh when you can,
Apologise when you should,
Let go of what you can not change,
Kiss slowly,
Forgive quickly,
Play hard,
Take chances,
Give everything and have no regrets,
Life is too short to be anything else but happy..
Edit: Explored !! Thank You !!
Highest position: #220 on Wednesday, July 7, 2010
One of my favorite female Northern Harriers making a very precise approach to her postal perch in the coastal wetland.
“We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over; so in a series of kindnesses there is at last one which makes the heart run over.” [Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451]
It was momentous to leave North Saanich this time, knowing what we do. The beauty of friendship is often tinged with sadness. And that in itself is a far more beautiful thing than indifference.
looking at the back of Evelyn and Andrew's house
No matter how precise the manufacture of a mechanical instrument, proper servicing and regular use is necessary to keep it running smoothly. This is certainly the case with my vintage Leica IIf from 1952.
It is more than likely that this old camera has not been used to take photographs in decades. So what could go wrong?
Recently our fully mechanical Dugena clock manufactured in East Germany in 1960 simply stopped working. It is now undergoing a proper service. It appears the problem is simply one of lubrication. Over time the lubricants wear out and need to be replaced. Mechanically the clock is fine.
There are two problems with the camera that you can see in these samples: (1) One of the shutter curtains appears to be closing fractionally late and shows up "ghosting" in the sky. (2) Those little spots of light on the dark wood panels are telltale signs of pinholes that have formed in the cloth shutter curtains allowing light leaks onto the negative.
Tyvek (yes that building stuff) quilt blocks by Andre Mowbray currently on exhibit at Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, Massachusetts
121 in 2021
#73 - Precision
Thank you in advance for your views, comments, and faves. They are much appreciated!
Bluff Rock sits beside the New England Highway ten kilometres south of Tenterfield. The precise details of what happened here on October 17, 1844 remain somewhat clouded but the general contours of the story are well known and stand as an example of what took place across Australia in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as white settlement expanded into Aboriginal homelands. By 1840 pastoralists, including one Edward Irby, had begun to take up runs on the northern tablelands of New South Wales. Local Aborigines fiercely resisted this incursion into their country. With justification the settlers were regarded as foreign invaders, and in the course of the Aboriginal resistance shepherds were attacked and sheep were speared.
As a hedge against possible prosecution, contemporary reports of reprisals by white settlers were often guarded and there are conflicting stories of what transpired at Bluff Rock. A second hand account from a later date relates how, in response to Aboriginal attacks on shepherds and sheep, men from Irby’s station set out in pursuit. It was said that when they caught up with the “culprits” at Pyes Creek, the Aborigines retreated across country to Bluff Rock where they were thrown from the top onto the rocks below. According to this report, most were killed and many were injured.
Somewhat more circumspectly, Irby himself describes how one of his shepherds, Robinson by name, was killed and how he and three others set out to find those responsible. In his journal he records the dark deeds of that day:
The blacks saw us coming and hid themselves among the rocks, One, in his haste, dropped poor Robinson’s coat so we knew we were onto the right tribe. If they had taken to their heels they might have got away, instead of doing so, they got their fighting men to attack us. So we punished them severely and proved our superiority to them.
Like many of his time, Irby seems not to have questioned his natural right to mete out punishment to those he saw as murders and thieves. Among pioneering pastoralists there was little recognition of the fact that they, the white settlers, were the intruders and that the Aborigines were legitimately defending their land and their way of life. The incident at Bluff Rock is but one small event in what historians such as Henry Reynolds refer to as the Aboriginal Wars. In this series of frontier skirmishes that followed the expansion of white settlement, it is estimated that some 2,500 whites lost their lives and at least 30,000 Aborigines were killed.
© Irwin Reynolds, all rights reserved. If you are interested in using one of my images or would like a high quality fine art print, please send me an email (irwinreynolds@me.com)
Oh my little précises baby …..So you had to find out the hard way…..Love hurts ….So very much…..And now look at you with your heart all broken……But now sweetheart, Mother is by your side ….Now Come ….. Let me wipe away you’re heartbroken tears …. And ease your mind Billie Jean…… I too have had my heart broken, and like you….I thought it would never heal …..But soon …pretty soon…You will start to feel better…..As I did……. And yes there will be other favourite toys that you will have……that heads don’t fall off when you are playing with them…..Now…. will look and see what Di has done ….Why she has darned teddy head right back on..<3 <3 <3 …..So let’s see the BJ smile again …..xxxx
Ulak Tartysh is team riding horse game. It consist in a wrestle for possession of the headless carcass of a goat. The two teams of riders attempt to deliver it across the opposition s goal line, or into the opposition s goal, made with a big tub or a circle marked on the ground.
The goat is 35 kilogs, and the men on the horses carry it with 1 hand!
© Eric Lafforgue
To be precise, under the awning covering the side of the bridge, looking at the rows of rivets, holding it together! Processed to deliberately emphasise the grungy textures of the hidden area.
...Have you ever tried to force a flower of magnolia to open its petals?
It is wonderful in early morning, when its sweetness is stronger.
Do not cut the flower, it is strong on the plant, but if you cut it away, it will die in a little time.
By the way: try to open its heart: a strong fragrance of lemon will be everywhere; close your eyes and touch those petals with a soft caress and the lemon sweetness will remain on your fingers as the most sensual sensation of freshness and beauty.
Now, open your eyes: look at the flower... its magic shape, its magic pure and simple shape: only few petals giving us all Love of Nature....
From a travelling English woman's vacations diary
IT WAS CAPTURED AS IT WAS ON THE PLANT
NO PHOTOSHOP; NO DIGITALLY CORRECTED: OBLIQUE NATURAL LIGHTED.
SEE ON BLACK, PLEASE, IT WOULD BE EVEN BETTER
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_District
The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or (particularly as an adjective) Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes, forests and mountains (or fells), but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth and the other Lake Poets.
Historically shared by the counties of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire, the Lake District now lies entirely within the modern county of Cumbria. All the land in England higher than three thousand feet above sea level lies within the National Park, including Scafell Pike, the highest mountain in England. It also contains the deepest and longest lakes in England, Wastwater and Windermere, respectively.
Lake District National Park
Lake District National Park (shown as number 2) in a map of National Parks in England and Wales.
The Lake District National Park includes nearly all of the Lake District, though the town of Kendal and the Lakeland Peninsulas are currently outside the Park boundary.
The area, which was designated a National Park on 9 May 1951 (less than a month after the first UK National Park designation — the Peak District), is the most visited national park in the United Kingdom with 15.8 million annual visitors and more than 23 million annual day visits,[1] the largest of the thirteen National Parks in England and Wales, and the second largest in the UK after the Cairngorms.[2] Its aim is to protect the landscape by restricting unwelcome change by industry or commerce. Most of the land in the Park is in private ownership. The National Trust owns about a quarter of the total area (including some lakes and land of significant landscape value), United Utilities owns eight per cent and 3.9% belongs to the Lake District National Park Authority. The National Park Authority is based at offices in Kendal. It runs a visitor centre on Windermere at a former country house called Brockhole,[3] Coniston Boating Centre and Information Centres.
In common with all other National Parks in England, there is no restriction on entry to, or movement within the park along public routes, but access to cultivated land is usually restricted to public footpaths.
The lakes and mountains combine to form impressive scenery. Farmland and settlement add aesthetic value to the natural scenery with an ecology modified by human influence for millennia and including important wildlife habitats. The Lake District has failed to be approved as a natural World Heritage Site, because of human activities, such as commercial forestry, which have adversely impacted the park's assessment. Another bid is being prepared for World Heritage Status, this time in the category of cultural landscape.
Proposed extension to National Park
In December 2009, Natural England proposed extending the National Park in the direction of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.[5] This would include land of high landscape value in the Lune Valley. The proposal was opposed by Cumbria County Council who said it would lead to less democratic control and would make local housing less affordable.[6] A public inquiry is being held into the proposals which will require a decision by the Secretary of State.
Human geography
General
The precise extent of the Lake District was not defined traditionally, but is slightly larger than that of the National Park, the total area of which is about 885 square miles (2,292 km2). The Park extends just over 32 miles (52 km) from east to west and nearly 40 miles (64 km) from north to south,[8] with areas such as the Lake District Peninsulas to the south lying outside the National Park.
Settlement
The Lake District is one of the most highly populated national parks. There are, however, only a handful of major settlements within this mountainous area, the towns of Keswick, Windermere, Ambleside, and Bowness-on-Windermere being the four largest. Significant towns immediately outside the boundary of the national park include Barrow-in-Furness, Kendal, Ulverston, Cockermouth, Penrith, and Grange-over-Sands; each of these has important economic links with the area. Villages such as Coniston, Threlkeld, Glenridding, Pooley Bridge, Broughton-in-Furness, Grasmere, Newby Bridge, Staveley, Lindale, Gosforth and Hawkshead act as more local centres. The economies of almost all are intimately linked with tourism. Beyond these are a scatter of hamlets and innumerable isolated farmsteads, some of which are still tied to agriculture, others now function as part of the tourist economy.
Communications
Roads
The Lake District National Park is almost contained within a box of trunk routes. It is flanked to the east by the A6 road which runs from Kendal to Penrith). The A590 which connects the M6 to Cumbria's largest town, Barrow-in-Furness, and the A5092 trunk roads cut across its southern fringes and the A66 trunk road between Penrith and Workington cuts across its northern edge. Finally the A595 trunk road runs through the coastal plains to the west of the area linking the A66 with the A5092.
Besides these, a few A roads penetrate the area itself, notably the A591 which runs northwestwards from Kendal to Windermere and then on to Keswick. It continues up the east side of Bassenthwaite Lake. "The A591, Grasmere, Lake District" was short-listed in the 2011 Google Street View awards in the Most Romantic Street category. The A593 and A5084 link the Ambleside and Coniston areas with the A590 to the south whilst the A592 and A5074 similarly link Windermere with the A590. The A592 also continues northwards from Windermere to Ullswater and Penrith by way of the Kirkstone Pass.
Some of those valleys which are not penetrated by A roads are served by B roads. The B5289 serves Lorton Vale and Buttermere and links via the Honister Pass with Borrowdale. The B5292 ascends the Whinlatter Pass from Lorton Vale before dropping down to Braithwaite near Keswick. The B5322 serves the valley of St John's in the Vale whilst Great Langdale is served by the B5343. Other valleys such as Little Langdale, Eskdale and Dunnerdale are served by minor roads. The latter connects with the former two by way of the Wrynose and Hardknott passes respectively - both of these passes are known for their steep gradients and are one of the most popular climbs in the United Kingdom for cycling enthusiasts.[11] A minor road through the Newlands Valley connects via Newlands Hause with the B5289 at Buttermere. Wasdale is served by a cul-de-sac minor road as is Longsleddale and the valleys at Haweswater and Kentmere. There are intricate networks of minor roads in the lower-lying southern part of the area connecting numerous communities between Kendal, Windermere and Coniston.
Railways and ferries
The West Coast Main Line skirts the eastern edge of the Lake District and the Cumbrian Coast Line passes through the southern and western fringes of the area. A single line, the Windermere Branch Line, penetrates from Kendal to Windermere via Staveley. Lines once served Broughton-in-Furness and Coniston and another ran from Penrith to Cockermouth via Keswick but each of these was abandoned in the 1960s. The track of the latter has been adopted in part for use by the improved A66 trunk road.
The narrow gauge Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway runs from Ravenglass on the west coast up Eskdale as far as Dalegarth Station near the hamlet of Boot, catering for tourists. Another heritage railway, the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway runs between the two villages encompassed within its name, tourists being able to connect with the Windermere passenger ferry at Lakeside.
A vehicle-carrying cable ferry, the Windermere Ferry runs frequent services across Windermere. There are also seasonal passenger ferries on Coniston Water, Derwent Water and Ullswater.
Physical geography
As the highest ground in England, Scafell Pike naturally has a very extensive view, ranging from the Mourne Mountains in Northern Ireland to Snowdonia in Wales. The Lake District takes the form of a roughly circular upland massif deeply dissected by a broadly radial pattern of major valleys whose character is largely the product of repeated glaciations over the last 2 million years. Most of these valleys display the U-shape cross-section, characteristic of glacial origin and often contain elongate lakes occupying sizeable bedrock hollows often with tracts of relatively flat ground at their heads. Smaller lakes known as tarns occupy glacial cirques at higher elevations. It is the abundance of both which has led to the area becoming known as the Lake District.
The mountains of the Lake District are also known as the "Cumbrian Mountains", although this name is less frequently used than terms like "the Lake District" or "the Lakeland Fells". Many of the higher fells are rocky in character, whilst moorland predominates at lower altitude. Vegetation cover across better drained areas includes bracken and heather though much of the land is boggy, due to the high rainfall. Deciduous native woodland occurs on many steeper slopes below the tree line but with native oak supplemented by extensive conifer plantations in many areas, particularly Grisedale Forest in the generally lower southern part of the area.
Valleys
The principal radial valleys are (clockwise from the south) those of Dunnerdale, Eskdale, Wasdale, Ennerdale, Lorton Vale and the Buttermere valley, the Derwent Valley and Borrowdale, the valleys containing Ullswater and Haweswater, Longsleddale, the Kentmere valley and those radiating from the head of Windermere including Great Langdale. The valleys serve to break the mountains up into separate blocks which have been described by various authors in different ways. The most frequently encountered approach is that made popular by Alfred Wainwright who published seven separate area guides to the Lakeland Fells.
Woodlands
Below the tree line are wooded areas, including British and European native oak woodlands and introduced softwood plantations. The woodlands provide habitats for native English wildlife. The native red squirrel is found in the Lake District and in a few other parts of England. In parts of the Lake District the rainfall is higher than in any other part of England. This gives Atlantic mosses, ferns, lichen, and liverworts the chance to grow. There is some ancient woodland in the National Park. Management of the woodlands varies: some are coppiced, some pollarded, some left to grow naturally, and some provide grazing and shelter.
Hills (Fells)
The four highest mountains in the Lake District exceed 3000 ft (914m). These are;
Scafell Pike, 978 m (3,210 ft),
Scafell, 965 m (3,162 ft),
Helvellyn, 951 m (3,118 ft) and
Skiddaw, 931 m (3,054 ft).
Northern Fells
The Northern Fells are a readily defined range of hills contained within a 13 km diameter circle between Keswick in the southwest and Caldbeck in the northeast. They culminate in the 931 m (3054 ft) peak of Skiddaw. Other notable peaks are those of Blencathra (also known as Saddleback) (868m / 2848 ft) and Carrock Fell. Bassenthwaite Lake occupies the valley between this massif and the North Western Fells.
North Western Fells
The North Western Fells lie between Borrowdale and Bassenthwaite Lake to the east and Buttermere and Lorton Vale to the west. Their southernmost point is at Honister Pass. This area includes the Derwent Fells above the Newlands Valley and hills to the north amongst which are Dale Head, Robinson. To the north stand Grasmoor - highest in the range at 852 m (2795 ft), Grisedale Pike and the hills around the valley of Coledale, and in the far north-west is Thornthwaite Forest and Lord's Seat. The fells in this area are rounded Skiddaw Slate, with few tarns and relatively few rock faces.
Western Fells
The Western Fells lie between Buttermere and Wasdale, with Sty Head forming the apex of a large triangle. Ennerdale bisects the area, which consists of the High Stile ridge north of Ennerdale, the Loweswater Fells in the far north west, the Pillar group in the south west, and Great Gable (2,949 feet or 899 metres) near Sty Head. Other tops include Seatallan, Haystacks and Kirk Fell. This area is craggy and steep, with the impressive pinnacle of Pillar Rock its showpiece. Wastwater, located in this part, is England's deepest lake.
Central Fells
The Central Fells are lower in elevation than surrounding areas of fell, peaking at 762 m (2500 ft) at High Raise. They take the form of a ridge running between Derwent Water in the west and Thirlmere in the east, from Keswick in the north to Langdale Pikes in the south. A spur extends southeast to Loughrigg Fell above Ambleside. The central ridge running north over High Seat is exceptionally boggy.
Eastern Fells
The Eastern Fells consist of a long north-to-south ridge—the Helvellyn range, running from Clough Head to Seat Sandal with the 3,118-foot (950 m) Helvellyn at its highest point. The western slopes of these summits tend to be grassy, with rocky corries and crags on the eastern side. The Fairfield group lies to the south of the range, and forms a similar pattern with towering rock faces and hidden valleys spilling into the Patterdale valley. It culminates in the height of Red Screes overlooking the Kirkstone Pass.
Far Eastern Fells
The Far Eastern Fells refer to all of the Lakeland fells to the east of Ullswater and the A592 road running south to Windermere. At 828 m (2,717 ft), the peak known as High Street is the highest point on a complex ridge which runs broadly north-south and overlooks the hidden valley of Haweswater to its east. In the north of this region are the lower fells of Martindale Common and Bampton Common whilst in the south are the fells overlooking the Kentmere valley. Further to the east, beyond Mardale and Longsleddale is Shap Fell, an extensive area consisting of high moorland, more rolling and Pennine in nature than the mountains to the west.
Southern Fells
The Southern Fells occupy the southwestern quarter of the Lake District. They can be regarded as comprising a northern grouping between Wasdale, Eskdale and the two Langdale valleys, a southeastern group east of Dunnerdale and south of Little Langdale and a southwestern group bounded by Eskdale to the north and Dunnerdale to the east.
The first group includes England's highest mountains; Scafell Pike in the centre, at 3,209 feet (978 m) and Scafell one mile (1.6 km) to the south-west. Though it is slightly lower it has a 700-foot (210 m) rockface, Scafell Crag on its northern side. It also includes the Wastwater Screes overlooking Wasdale, the Glaramara ridge overlooking Borrowdale, the three tops of Crinkle Crags, Bowfell and Esk Pike. The core of the area is drained by the infant River Esk. Collectively these are some of the Lake District's most rugged hillsides.
The second group, otherwise known as the Furness Fells or Coniston Fells, have as their northern boundary the steep and narrow Hardknott and Wrynose Passes.
The third group to the west of the Duddon includes Harter Fell and the long ridge leading over Whitfell to Black Combe and the sea. The south of this region consists of lower forests and knolls, with Kirkby Moor on the southern boundary. The south-western Lake District ends near the Furness peninsula and Barrow-in-Furness, a town which many Lake District residents rely on for basic amenities.
South Eastern area
The south-eastern area is the territory between Coniston Water and Windermere and east of Windermere towards Kendal and south to Lindale. There are no high summits in this area which is mainly low hills, knolls and limestone cuestas such as Gummer's How and Whitbarrow. Indeed it rises only as high as 333m at Top o' Selside east of Coniston Water; The wide expanse of Grizedale Forest stands between the two lakes. Kendal and Morecambe Bay stand at the eastern and southern edges of the area.
Lakes
Only one of the lakes in the Lake District is called by that name, Bassenthwaite Lake. All the others such as Windermere, Coniston Water, Ullswater and Buttermere are meres, tarns and waters, with mere being the least common and water being the most common. The major lakes and reservoirs in the National Park are given below.
Bassenthwaite Lake
Brotherswater
Buttermere
Coniston Water
Crummock Water
Derwent Water
Devoke Water
Elter Water
Ennerdale Water
Esthwaite Water
Grasmere
Haweswater Reservoir
Hayeswater
Loweswater
Rydal Water
Thirlmere
Ullswater
Wast Water
Windermere
Geology
The Lake District's geology is very complex but well-studied.[12] A granite batholith beneath the area is responsible for this upland massif, its relatively low density causing the area to be 'buoyed up'. The granite can be seen at the surface as the Ennerdale, Skiddaw, Carrock Fell, Eskdale and Shap granites.
Broadly speaking the area can be divided into three bands, the divisions between which run southwest to northeast. Generally speaking the rocks become younger from northwest to southeast. The northwestern band is composed of early to mid Ordovician sedimentary rocks – largely mudstones and siltstones of marine origin. Together they comprise the Skiddaw Group and include the rocks traditionally known as the Skiddaw Slates. Their friability generally leads to mountains with relatively smooth slopes such as Skiddaw itself.
The central band is a mix of volcanic and sedimentary rocks of mid to late Ordovician age comprising the lavas and tuffs of the Borrowdale Volcanic Group, erupted as the former Iapetus ocean was subducted beneath what is now the Scottish border during the Caledonian orogeny. The northern central peaks, such as Great Rigg, were produced by considerable lava flows. These lava eruptions were followed by a series of pyroclastic eruptions which produced a series of calderas, one of which includes present-day Scafell Pike. These pyroclastic rocks give rise to the craggy landscapes typical of the central fells.[13]'
The southeastern band comprises the mudstones and wackes of the Windermere Supergroup and which includes (successively) the rocks of the Dent, Stockdale, Tranearth, Coniston and Kendal Groups. These are generally a little less resistant to erosion than the rocks sequence to the north and underlie much of the lower landscapes around Coniston and Windermere.
Later intrusions have formed individual outcrops of igneous rock in each of these groups. Around the edges of these Ordovician and Silurian rocks on the northern, eastern and southern fringes of the area is a semi-continuous outcrop of Carboniferous Limestone seen most spectacularly at places like Whitbarrow Scar and Scout Scar.
Climate
The Lake District's location on the north west coast of England, coupled with its mountainous geography, makes it the dampest part of England. The UK Met Office reports average annual precipitation of more than 2,000 millimetres (80 in), but with very large local variation. Although the entire region receives above average rainfall, there is a wide disparity between the amount of rainfall in the western and eastern lakes, as the Lake District experiences relief rainfall. Seathwaite in Borrowdale is the wettest inhabited place in England with an average of 3,300 millimetres (130 in) of rain a year,[16] while nearby Sprinkling Tarn is even wetter, recording over 5,000 millimetres (200 in) per year; by contrast, Keswick, at the end of Borrowdale receives 1,470 millimetres (60 in) every year, and Penrith (just outside the Lake District) only 870 millimetres (30 in). March to June tend to be the driest months, with October to January the wettest, but at low levels there is relatively little difference between months.
Although sheltered valleys experience gales on an average of only five days a year, the Lake District is generally very windy with the coastal areas having 20 days of gales, and the fell tops around 100 days of gales per year. The maritime climate means that the Lake District experiences relatively moderate temperature variations through the year. Mean temperature in the valleys ranges from about 3 °C (37 °F) in January to around 15 °C (59 °F) in July. (By comparison, Moscow, at the same latitude, ranges from −10 °C to 19 °C/14 °F to 66 °F).
The relatively low height of most of the fells means that, while snow is expected during the winter, they can be free of snow at any time of the year. Normally, significant snow fall only occurs between November and April. On average, snow falls on Helvellyn 67 days per year. During the year, valleys typically experience 20 days with snow falling, a further 200 wet days, and 145 dry days. Hill fog is common at any time of year, and the fells average only around 2.5 hours of sunshine per day, increasing to around 4.1 hours per day on the coastal plains.
Wildlife
The Lake District is one of the few places in England where red squirrels have a sizeable population.[18]
The Lake District is home to a plethora of wildlife, due to its range of varied topography, lakes and forests. It provides a home for the red squirrel and colonies of sundew and butterwort, two of the few carnivorous plants native to Britain. The Lake District is a major sanctuary for the red squirrel and has the largest population in England. It is estimated there are 140,000 red squirrels in the United Kingdom, but are approximately 2.5 million gray squirrels who have displaced the indigenous red population since their introduction to the British Isles.[19]
The Lake District is home to a range of bird species,[20] and the RSPB maintain a reserve in Haweswater.[21] England's only nesting pair of Golden Eagles can be found in the Lake District. The female Golden Eagle has not been seen since 2004 although the male still remains.[22] Conservationists believe he is now the only resident golden eagle in England.[23] Following recolonisation attempts, a pair of ospreys nested in the Lake District for the time in over 150 years near Bassenthwaite Lake during 2001. Osprey's now frequently migrate north from Africa in the spring to nest in the Lake District and a total of 23 chicks have fledged in The Lakes since 2001.[24] Another bird species to have had recolonisation attempts is the Red Kite who have a population approximately 90 in the dense forest areas near Grizedale as of 2012.[25] Conservationists hope the re-introduction will create a large Red Kite population in the Lake District and in North West England where the Red Kite population is low.[26] Other bird species resident to the Lake District include the buzzard, dipper, peregrine and raven.[27] Seasonal birds include the ring ouzel and the redstart.[28]
The lakes of the Lake District support three rare and endangered species of fish: the vendace, which can be found only in Derwent Water and until 2008 in Bassenthwaite Lake.[29] Vendace have struggled in recent years with naturally-occurring algae becoming a threat and the lakes gradually getting warmer in temperature.[30] Vendace have been moved to higher lakes on a number of occasions to preserve the species, notably in 2005 and 2011.[31][32] The Lakes are also home to two other rare species: the schelly, which lives in Brothers Water, Haweswater, Red Tarn and Ullswater, and the Arctic charr, which can be found in Buttermere, Coniston Water, Crummock Water, Ennerdale Water, Haweswater, Loweswater, Thirlmere, Wast Water, and Windermere.
The vendace (Coregonus vandesius) is England's rarest species of fish, and is only found in the Lake District.
In recent years, some important changes have been made to fisheries byelaws covering the north-west region of England, to help protect some of the rarest fish species. In 2002, the Environment Agency introduced a new fisheries byelaw, banning the use of all freshwater fish as live or dead bait in 14 of the lakes in the Lake District. Anglers not complying with the new byelaw can face fines of up to £2,500. There are 14 lakes in the Lake District which are affected. These are: Bassenthwaite Lake, Brothers Water, Buttermere, Coniston Water, Crummock Water, Derwent Water, Ennerdale Water, Haweswater, Loweswater, Red Tarn, Thirlmere, Ullswater, Wast Water and Windermere.
The lakes and waters of the Lake District do not naturally support as many species of fish as other similar habitats in the south of the country and elsewhere in Europe. Some fish that do thrive there are particularly at risk from introduction of new species.
The introduction of non-native fish can lead to the predation of the native fish fauna or competition for food. There is also the risk of disease being introduced, which can further threaten native populations. In some cases, the introduced species can disturb the environment so much that it becomes unsuitable for particular fish. For example, a major problem has been found with ruffe. This non-native fish has now been introduced into a number of lakes in recent years. It is known that ruffe eat the eggs of vendace, which are particularly vulnerable because of their long incubation period. This means that they are susceptible to predators for up to 120 days. The eggs of other fish, for example roach, are only at risk for as little as three days.
Economy
Agriculture and forestry
Farming, and in particular sheep farming, has been the major industry in the region since Roman times. The breed most closely associated with the area is the tough Herdwick, with Rough Fell and Swaledale sheep also common. Sheep farming remains important both for the economy of the region and for preserving the landscape which visitors want to see. Features such as dry stone walls, for example, are there as a result of sheep farming. Some land is also used for silage and dairy farming.
The area was badly affected by the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease across the United Kingdom in 2001. The outbreak started in Surrey in February, but had spread to Cumbria by end of March.[33] Thousands of sheep, include the native Herdwick which graze on the fellsides across the District, were destroyed. In replacing the sheep, one problem to overcome was that many of the lost sheep were heafed, that is, they knew their part of the unfenced fell and did not stray, with this knowledge being passed between generations. With all the sheep lost at once, this knowledge has to be re-learnt and some of the fells have had discreet electric fences strung across them for a period of five years, to allow the sheep to "re-heaf".[34] At the time of the outbreak, worries existed about the future of certain species of sheep such as Ryeland and Herdwick in the District,[35] however these fears have been allayed and sheep now occupy the District in abundance.[36]
Forestry has also assumed greater importance over the course of the last century with the establishment of extensive conifer plantations around Whinlatter Pass, in Ennerdale and at Grizedale Forest amongst other places. There are extensive plantations of non-native pine trees.
Industry
With its wealth of rock types and their abundance in the landscape, mining and quarrying have long been significant activities in the Lake District economy. In Neolithic times, the Lake District was a major source of stone axes, examples of which have been found all over Britain. The primary site, on the slopes of the Langdale Pikes, is sometimes described as a "stone axe factory" of the Langdale axe industry. Some of the earliest stone circles in Britain are connected with this industry.
Mining, particularly of copper, lead (often associated with quantities of silver), baryte, graphite and slate, was historically a major Lakeland industry, mainly from the 16th century to the 19th century. Coppiced woodland was used extensively to provide charcoal for smelting. Some mining still takes place today; for example, slate mining continues at the Honister Mines, at the top of Honister Pass. Abandoned mine-workings can be found on fell-sides throughout the district. The locally mined graphite led to the development of the pencil industry, especially around Keswick.
In the middle of the 19th century, half the world textile industry's bobbin supply came from the Lake District area. Over the past century, however, tourism has grown rapidly to become the area's primary source of income.
Development of tourism
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Early visitors to the Lake District, who travelled for the education and pleasure of the journey, include Celia Fiennes who in 1698 undertook a journey the length of England, including riding through Kendal and over Kirkstone Pass into Patterdale. Her experiences and impressions were published in her book Great Journey to Newcastle and Cornwall:
As I walked down at this place I was walled on both sides by those inaccessible high rocky barren hills which hang over one’s head in some places and appear very terrible; and from them springs many little currents of water from the sides and clefts which trickle down to some lower part where it runs swiftly over the stones and shelves in the way, which makes a pleasant rush and murmuring noise and like a snowball is increased by each spring trickling down on either side of those hills, and so descends into the bottoms which are a Moorish ground in which in many places the waters stand, and so form some of those Lakes as it did here.[37]
In 1724, Daniel Defoe published the first volume of A Tour Thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain. He commented on Westmorland that it was:
the wildest, most barren and frightful of any that I have passed over in England, or even Wales itself; the west side, which borders on Cumberland, is indeed bounded by a chain of almost unpassable mountains which, in the language of the country, are called fells.
Towards the end of the 18th century, the area was becoming more popular with travellers. This was partly a result of wars in Continental Europe, restricting the possibility of travel there. In 1778 Father Thomas West produced A Guide to the Lakes, which began the era of modern tourism.
West listed "stations"—viewpoints where tourists could enjoy the best views of the landscape, being encouraged to appreciated the formal qualities of the landscape and to apply aesthetic values. At some of these stations, buildings were erected to help this process. The remains of Claife Station (on the western shore Windermere below Claife Heights) can be visited today.
William Wordsworth published his Guide to the Lakes in 1810, and by 1835 it had reached its fifth edition, now called A Guide through the District of the Lakes in the North of England. This book was particularly influential in popularising the region. Wordsworth's favourite valley was Dunnerdale or the Duddon Valley nestling in the south-west of the Lake District.
The railways led to another expansion in tourism. The Kendal and Windermere Railway was the first to penetrate the Lake District, reaching Kendal in 1846 and Windermere in 1847. The line to Coniston opened in 1848 (although until 1857 this was only linked to the national network with ferries between Fleetwood and Barrow-in-Furness); the line from Penrith through Keswick to Cockermouth in 1865; and the line to Lakeside at the foot of Windermere in 1869. The railways, built with traditional industry in mind, brought with them a huge increase in the number of visitors, thus contributing to the growth of the tourism industry. Railway services were supplemented by steamer boats on the major lakes of Ullswater, Windermere, Coniston Water, and Derwent Water.
A steamer on Ullswater
The growth in tourist numbers continued into the age of the motor car, when railways began to be closed or run down. The formation of the Lake District National Park in 1951 recognised the need to protect the Lake District environment from excessive commercial or industrial exploitation, preserving that which visitors come to see, without any restriction on the movement of people into and around the district. The M6 Motorway helped bring traffic to the Lakes, passing up its eastern flank. The narrow roads present a challenge for traffic flow and, from the 1960s, certain areas have been very congested.
Whilst the roads and railways provided easier access to the area, many people were drawn to the Lakes by the publication of the Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells by Alfred Wainwright. First published between 1952 and 1965, these books provided detailed information on 214 peaks across the region, with carefully hand-drawn maps and panoramas, and also stories and asides which add to the colour of the area. They are still used by many visitors to the area as guides for walking excursions, with the ultimate goal of bagging the complete list of Wainwrights. The famous guides are being revised by Chris Jesty to reflect changes, mainly in valley access and paths.[38]
Since the early 1960s, the National Park Authority has employed rangers to help cope with increasing tourism and development, the first being John Wyatt, who has since written a number of guide books. He was joined two years later by a second, and since then the number of rangers has been rising.
The area has also become associated with writer Beatrix Potter. A number of tourists visit to see her family home, with particularly large numbers coming from Japan.
Tourism has now become the park's major industry, with about 12 million visitors each year, mainly from the UK's larger settlements, China, Japan, Spain, Germany and the US.[39] Windermere Lake Steamers are Cumbria's most popular charging tourist attraction with about 1.35 million paying customers each year, and the local economy is dependent upon tourists. The negative impact of tourism has been seen, however. Soil erosion, caused by walking, is now a significant problem, with millions of pounds being spent to protect over-used paths. In 2006, two Tourist Information Centres in the National Park were closed.
Cultural tourism is becoming an increasingly important part of the wider tourist industry. The Lake District's links with a wealth of artists and writers and its strong history of providing summer theatre performances in the old Blue Box of Century Theatre are strong attractions for visiting tourists. The tradition of theatre is carried on by venues such as Theatre by the Lake in Keswick with its summer season of six plays in repertoire, Christmas and Easter productions, and the many literature, film, mountaineering, jazz and creative arts festivals, such as the Kendal Mountain Festival and the Keswick Mountain Festival.
Gastronomy
The Lake District has been regarded as one of the best places to eat in Britain.[40] The region has four Michelin Star Restaurants including L'Enclume, Sharrow Bay, Holbeck Ghyll and The Samling in Ambleside. In addition, Cumbria has more microbreweries than any other county in Britain and together with Jennings Brewery supply a variety of ales to pubs and restaurants throughout the region.
Literature and art
The Lake District is intimately associated with English literature in the 18th and 19th centuries. Thomas Gray was the first to bring the region to attention, when he wrote a journal of his Grand Tour in 1769, but it was William Wordsworth whose poems were most famous and influential. Wordsworth's poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud", inspired by the sight of daffodils on the shores of Ullswater, remains one of the most famous in the English language. Out of his long life of eighty years, sixty were spent amid its lakes and mountains, first as a schoolboy at Hawkshead, and afterwards living in Grasmere (1799–1813) and Rydal Mount (1813–50). Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey became known as the Lake Poets.
The poet and his wife lie buried in the churchyard of Grasmere and very near to them are the remains of Hartley Coleridge (son of the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge), who himself lived for many years in Keswick, Ambleside and Grasmere. Robert Southey, the Poet Laureate and friend of Wordsworth (who would succeed Southey as Laureate in 1843), was a resident of Keswick for forty years (1803–43), and was buried in Crosthwaite churchyard. Samuel Taylor Coleridge lived for some time in Keswick, and also with the Wordsworths at Grasmere. From 1807 to 1815 John Wilson lived at Windermere. Thomas de Quincey spent the greater part of the years 1809 to 1828 at Grasmere, in the first cottage which Wordsworth had inhabited. Ambleside, or its environs, was also the place of residence both of Thomas Arnold, who spent there the vacations of the last ten years of his life and of Harriet Martineau, who built herself a house there in 1845. At Keswick, Mrs Lynn Linton (wife of William James Linton) was born, in 1822. Brantwood, a house beside Coniston Water, was the home of John Ruskin during the last years of his life. His assistant W. G. Collingwood the author, artist and antiquarian lived nearby, and wrote Thorstein of the Mere, set in the Norse period.
In addition to these residents or natives of the Lake District, a variety of other poets and writers made visits to the Lake District or were bound by ties of friendship with those already mentioned above. These include Percy Bysshe Shelley, Sir Walter Scott, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Arthur Hugh Clough, Henry Crabb Robinson, "Conversation" Sharp, Thomas Carlyle, John Keats, Lord Tennyson, Matthew Arnold, Felicia Hemans, and Gerald Massey.
During the early 20th century, the children's author Beatrix Potter was in residence at Hill Top Farm, setting many of her famous Peter Rabbit books in the Lake District. Her life was made into a biopic film, starring Renée Zellweger and Ewan McGregor. Arthur Ransome lived in several areas of the Lake District, and set five of his Swallows and Amazons series of books, published between 1930 and 1947, in a fictionalised Lake District setting. So did Geoffrey Trease with his five Black Banner school stories (1949–56), starting with No Boats on Bannermere.
The novelist Sir Hugh Walpole lived at "Brackenburn" on the lower slopes of Catbells overlooking Derwent Water from 1924 until his death in 1941. Whilst living at "Brackenburn" he wrote The Herries Chronicle detailing the history of a fictional Cumbrian family over two centuries. The noted author and poet Norman Nicholson came from the south-west Lakes, living and writing about Millom in the twentieth century – he was known as the last of the Lake Poets and came close to becoming the Poet Laureate.
Writer and author Melvyn Bragg was brought up in the region and has used it as the setting for some of his work, such as his novel A Time to Dance, later turned into a television drama.
The Lake District has been the setting for crime novels by Reginald Hill, Val McDermid and Martin Edwards. The region is also a recurring theme in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novella The Torrents of Spring and features prominently in Ian McEwan's Amsterdam, which won the 1998 Booker Prize.
The Lake District is mentioned in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice; Elizabeth Bennet looks forward to a holiday there with her aunt and uncle and is "excessively disappointed" upon learning they cannot travel that far.
Film director Ken Russell lived in the Keswick/Borrowdale area until 2007[41] and used it in films such as Tommy and Mahler.
The Lake District is the setting for the 1977 Richard Adams novel The Plague Dogs. Adams' knowledge of the area offers the reader a precise view of the natural beauty of the Lake District .
Some students of Arthurian lore identify the Lake District with the Grail kingdom of Listeneise.
The former Keswick School of Industrial Art at Keswick was started by Canon Rawnsley, a friend of John Ruskin.
Nomenclature
A number of words and phrases are local to the Lake District and are part of the Cumbrian dialect, though many are shared by other northern dialects. These include:
fell – from Old Norse fjallr, brought to England by Viking invaders and close to modern Norwegian fjell and Swedish fjäll meaning mountain
howe – place name from the Old Norse haugr meaning hill, knoll, or mound
tarn – a word that has been taken to mean a small lake situated in a corrie (the local name for which is cove), a local phrase for any small pool of water. The word is derived from the Old Norse, Norwegian and Swedish word tjern/tjärn, meaning small lake
Yan Tan Tethera – the name for a system of sheep counting which was traditionally used in the Lake District. Though now rare, it is still used by some and taught in local schools.
Heaf (a variant of heft), the "home territory" of a flock of sheep.