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Photo from the Andreas Rink collection, slide kindly provided for scanning by Florian Weiß.
München-Riem
Spring 1987
SE-IEY "Ada of Gothenburg"
Convair 580
372
ScanBee
Parked out in the Westpilz parking area. Almost precisely ten years before this shot, ScanBees Convair 340 SE-GTE had visited Riem in practically the same colour scheme. Note the TWA B747 and a British Airtours TriStar in the background.
Information from flickr - thanks to Kerry Taylor:
Built in 1957 as a Convair 440-90 and registered to Convair as N8466H. Delivered to General Dynamics Corp as N440J on 20Mar57. To the Gulf Oil Co as N108G in Jan62. Converted to a Convair 580 on 28Mar62. Reregistered to N108GL in Mar71. To N114M in Apr71. To N114ML in Feb77. To Sweden and ScanBee as SE-IEY in Dec80. Next to Canada with Kelowna Flightcraft on 20Jan87. On to New Zealand as ZK-KFL with Air Freight NZ in Feb90. Transferred to Air Chathams on 29Nov16 and still current in 2021.
Registration details for this airframe:
www.planelogger.com/Aircraft/Registration/SE-IEY/764509
This airframe as N114ML ca. late 1970s:
www.flickr.com/photos/191692050@N04/52117521898
This airframe as ZK-KFL with Air Freight NZ at AKL in September 1992:
www.airhistory.net/photo/234034/ZK-KFL
ZK-KFL with Air Freight NZ at CHC in December 2002 (later colours):
www.flickr.com/photos/146301829@N08/29341592765
ZK-KFL with Air Freight NZ at AKL in October 2011 (later colours):
www.flickr.com/photos/vj_bhana/7112039753
ZK-KFL with Air Chathams at WLG in October 2017 (all white):
www.flickr.com/photos/154880822@N02/39570367711
ZK-KFL with Air Chathams at AKL in September 2018
(wearing a depiction of the Chatham Island mollyhawk bird head and feathers on the tail):
www.flickr.com/photos/ryanhothersall/31347670258
ZK-KFL with Air Chathams in May 2020 (detail of mollyhawk bird head):
www.flickr.com/photos/zk-ngj/50797835313
ZK-KFL with Air Chathams at AKL in October 2021 (wings and engines removed):
imgproc.airliners.net/photos/airliners/1/7/5/6602571.jpg
Scan from Kodachrome slide.
Precisely when the clouds were darkest, a little robin showed up to spread her joy.
~ Silver Terrace Cemetery, Virginia City.
Photographer: Liz Huntington
Did a lot of cropping and cautious sharpening to this, but here is Legend in all his German shepherd glory. He will be precisely 10 months old on Tuesday. <3 I love him so much. When I worked with my group of dogs today I focused mainly on him. I think he finally understands the concept of agility. He really seems to enjoy it now and will even try to push the other dogs out of the way when I try to run someone else on the course, lol!
With obedience he has a nasty habit of getting really "footsy" or "slappy". He knows how to shake but thinks that anything I ask him to do requires him to shake, so he ends up slapping my legs a lot or even jumping up and hitting me elsewhere. It's weird. I have no idea what's up with that but when he competes this summer he'll be docked points for it. So I'm attempting to break him out of it. Otherwise he is very solid on his sits, downs, swings, heels, and stays once he stops hitting me. He's too big of a boy at this point to be doing that, especially jumping up and doing it because he's knocked me over more than once. He's going to top out at 100+ pounds so he's gotta break the habit soon here.
I didn't get lost, precisely - I almost always have an idea where I am and where I'm going - but the intervening docks meant I couldn't just walk back to where I started. Thankfully, this skyline view drew me towards a pontoon bridge that connected back to the heart of the area, so I didn't have to detour too far.
I'm very much enjoying deforming these wide images in postprocessing - you can obtain perspectives that wouldn't otherwise be possible (and I think it looks better). Cities and ultrawides go well together.
Canon EOS 5D mark III, Samyang 14mm f/2.8 ED AS IF UMC.
14mm, f/11?, 1/160, ISO 100.
I'm struggling to locate this viewpoint precisely (from memory, about six years after I took the photo!), but I think it's on the embankment of the disused Milnthorpe-Arnside railway line, ~1½ km north-east of the latter's station on the still-open Cumbrian coastal line.
The main channel of the River Kent crosses right-to-left, ~250 m away; it's not clear from the photo that the tidal Milnthorpe Sands beyond are over a kilometre wide, before a levée protects an expanse of reclaimed farmland near Meathop.
The hill behind must be Newton Fell, reaching 178 m asl north of Lindale; it's rather unlikely to be White Scar, at the southern end of Whitbarrow, as I'd thought when I began typing this caption – before noting the position of the sun, which rarely sets due north of Arnside....
Blackrock covers a large but not precisely defined area, rising from sea level on the coast to 90 metres (300 ft) at White's Cross on the N11 national primary road. Blackrock is bordered by Booterstown, Mount Merrion, Stillorgan, Foxrock, Deansgrange and Monkstown.
Blackrock is a large commercial centre with cafes, restaurants, boutiques, hairdressers and barbers, a tattoo and piercing studio, pharmacies, supermarkets, art galleries, antiques and home improvements outlets as well as bars such as The Breffni, Jack O'Rourkes, O'Donohues, Flash Harrys, Conways, The Wicked Wolf and the Ten Tun Tavern.
The Blackrock Shopping Centre was built in 1984 by Superquinn who managed the development and are the anchor store. Superquinn has now become Supervalu.
There are many high street finance branches for AIB, Bank of Ireland, EBS, National Irish Bank, Ulster Bank and the Blackrock Credit Union. Permanent TSB closed their Blackrock branch in March 2010 but retain their administrative offices on Carysfort Avenue.
There are many office buildings that house large corporations such as Zurich Financial Services and AIG, and car dealers such as Carroll & Kinsella Motors, Maxwell Motors (generally BMW) and Eco Aer (eco electric vehicles).
Salton City Beach and Westmorland.
I cant remember exactly where this is precisely except that it is in what is left of what never was Salton City; a ghost city which appears on google maps but is in fact not there save for graded gravel driveways which would have been streets and skeletal framework of telephone poles which hold aloft wires that are functionless and power or communicate nothing.
There is a section if the city which was once populated by trailer homes and has since been eviscerated by weather and salt from the dying lake on which the city is named. Being there, the places is eerily silent and is reminiscent of of the opening scenes in Robert Wise's film depiction of Micheal Chrichton's 'The Andromeda Strain' where a small town is wiped out by an alien contaminant.
--I dont understand why so many people are asking me to delete this picture? Whats the problem? The image is part of a documentary about the area, this particular image is one of three taken in close proximity to eachother, i dont have the time to physically scan and put them all up at one time, but asking me to delete my images is just fucking obnoxious. You should be ashamed of yourselves.
Tom Waits - Telephone call from Istanbul
All night long on the broken glass
livin' in a medicine chest
mediteromanian hotel back
sprawled across a roll top desk
the monkey rode the blade on an
overhead fan
they paint the donkey blue if you pay
I got a telephone call from Istanbul
my baby's coming home today
will you sell me one of those if I shave my head
get me out of town is what fireball said
never trust a man in a blue trench coat
never drive a car when you're dead
Saturday's a festival
Friday's a gem
dye your hair yellow
and raise your hem
follow me to beulah's on
dry creek road
I got to wear the hat that my baby done sewed
take me down to buy a tux
on red rose bear
got to cut a hole in the day
I got a telephone call from Istanbul
my baby's coming home today
Photograph taken in the magic of The Golden Hour around Sunrise (Sunrise was at precisely 07:46am), at an altitude of One metres, at 07:52am on Tuesday December 9th 2014 off Botany Road and Marine Drive, on the sandy shoreline of Botany Bay in Broadstairs, Kent, England.
I have come to Botany Bay ever since I was a child, and I love the fact that every visit is different, with the tide depositing and collecting chalk stones, debris and seaweed to offer a new experience each time. The cave is a favourite place, big enough to sit and watch the world go by, and often featuring a plethora of items, driftwood and stones that the tide has a care to offer.
A very chilly morning on the beach, around One degree, and a bracing wind that pounded flesh and bones, but well worth the one and a half hour journey there to enjoy a lovely sunrise. The seven bays in Broadstairs consist of: (From south to north) Dumpton Gap, Louisa Bay, Viking Bay, Stone Bay, Joss Bay, Kingsgate Bay and Botany Bay.
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Nikon D800 14mm 1/15s f/6.3 iso100 RAW (14Bit) Manual focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance.
Nikkor AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G ED IF. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.
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LATITUDE: N 51d 23m 15.49s
LONGITUDE: E 1d 26m 29.95s
ALTITUDE: 1.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE SIZE: 103.00MB
PROCESSED (JPeg) SIZE: 16.51MB
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Processing power:
HP Pavillion P6-2388EA Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. AMD Radeon HD 7570 graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.10.0 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit
"It is not known precisely where angels dwell - whether in the air, the void, or the planets. It has not been God's pleasure that we should be informed of their abode."
Voltaire
"Angels descending, bring from above,
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love."
Fanny J. Crosby
"Have you ever seen a flower down
Sometimes angels skip around
And in their blissful state of glee
Bump into a daisy or sweet pea."
Jessi Lane Adams
The Blue Moment in Paris had been promising all day and the potential views from each side of the Pont Alexander III simply breathtaking, but then a large bank of dark cloud came in very fast, at precisely the wrong moment.
What to do? Well I could collapse in hysterics at the sheer unfairness of it all, or I could switch to Bulb Mode, calculate the maximum shutter speed possible for the available light while still giving a correct exposure (60 seconds), and hope the long shutter speed would blur the clouds just enough to take away the edge.
I think it worked, but only just!
Or more precisely, “Red Hot Chicag”.
I must have sneezed or something right as I snapped the photo. Oh well
This is a bit long winded, but it has a valid point to make at the end:
I hate shopping. My type of shopping requires me to know precisely what I want, and where to get it at an acceptable price, to go directly to that point of sale, collect and pay and disappear quickly to that place from whence I came. Unfortunately I have to do the shopping for work. We have a major client who requires us to buy large quantities of washing products for consumer testing trials. It means buying say 600 examples of one product, and 600 of another, often less, but sometimes more. One day I had to order £13,000 of one item from a supermarket. You would think it easy. I pay the going price. I’m not buying up discounted stock to sell on a corner shop at full price. I just want the stuff at the standard price. But all major supermarkets have a company policy forbidding bulk buying. Believe it or not most do not want my business. OK, you say, go to the bulk buy specialists like Makro or Costco, but no, there is a problem there too. They only sell the large size packs, the 5 kilo box of soap powder, not the 1 kilo box, and our client wants lots of separate samples to give to lots of separate testers. They only want the small pack sizes.
Each order from this client comes as a race against time. By today I needed 115 tubes of "L’Oreal Men Expert Shave Revolution non-foaming shave gel, ice effect" in 125ml tubes to send for product testing in the USA. In my home town I tried Boots and Tesco. None available. From work I went to Sainsbury’s, Boots and Tesco’s superstore in Altrincham. None. Resorting to online stocks I ordered the whole stock available of 61 from Boots Online and the balance of 54 from Ocado. Ocado only delivered 12, as all they had in stock. We managed to order a further 17 from Superdrug, and 8 from ChemistDirect. The only other sources we could find online were a handful of tubes from Amazon and a supplier in Germany.
The prices varied. Those at Tesco, Boots and Superdrug were £ 3.99 each, Ocado £ 3.49 each and ChemistDirect £ 3.39 each
But we still had 17 still to find. I started ringing stores around the region, finding that more than half the stores I called had absolutely none in stock, but I did track down 4 at Superdrug in Stockport, 2 in a nearby Tesco, 7 at Boots in Manchester’s Trafford Centre and 5 at Superdrug near Manchester University.
Picking up the 2 at Tesco, and with a colleague getting the 7 at Boots in the Trafford Centre, I headed to Stockport. On my way to Superdrug to pick up 4 tubes, I passed a big Boots. None in stock . Arriving in Superdrug I grabbed the 4 tubes off the shelf and went to the till. Asking the lady behind the till if they might have any more stock in the back she checked and confirmed there were none but helpfully suggested I try their other Superdrug store a short distance away or go to Savers, a discount store which she said is owned by Superdrug. The other Superdrug had no stock, and my heart fell when I found Savers. It was a rather ‘poor’ looking shop in a rather tatty back street, and the people in its door way were enough to make me wonder if I could get in or out without being mugged. Inside was not alot better with narrow aisles, and an irritating smell of soap powder that caused me to cough, as I squeezed past those I assumed were at the lower end of the social scale. Forcing my way past buggies, young men in hoodies and browsing women with young children I eventually came to the stack of Men’s shaving products where my eyes fell on a whole line of L’Oreal Men Expert. All that I needed. And the price?
£ 1.49 each……………..£ 1.49 each. Not £ 3.49 or £ 3.99 each. £ 1.49 each. Exactly the same product. And how does Superdrug justify selling an item at £ 3.99 in it’s main stores but sells exactly the same item in its subsidiary Savers branch at £ 1.49?
I had been mugged.
Because I don’t do the shopping I do tend to notice how the pricing on a small range of (soap) products go up and down in our supermarkets. It’s obvious the mark up is huge. This is why Aldi, Lidl and the other discount stores are doing so well in attracting new customers. The main supermarkets have been conning us, varying prices and deals to make us think we are getting a bargain. No doubt when you go out to do your Christmas food shop your eyes will be attracted by ‘special’ deals on booze and other treats you might buy to make the festive season just that. But as you stock up on the routine essential household items like washing powder, pay attention. Have you been dazzled by the booze bargains and failed to notice that the price of the soap powder has mysteriously gone up by £ 1.00 a box?
Don’t get mugged on Black Friday.
75 year old woman waiting for better treatment in Leprosy hospital in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.
36 acres Leprosy hospital a picture of neglect
The agony of Gregor Samsa in Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis of being rejected by his loved ones for no fault of his own, but due to a deformity that suddenly emerged out of nowhere, touched the hearts of many. The misery of being an outcast is traumatic in itself and is precisely what many lepers, admitted to the only city government-run leprosy hospital in Manghopir, feel. But their despair has multiplied owing to the dilapidated condition of the hospital building and inefficient management.
Leprosy is a contagious disease. According to the annual report of the Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre, there are 700 new cases of the disease found annually in Pakistan. “Furthermore, those infected with the bacteria called Mycobacterium leprae, develop signs and symptoms of the disease in 3 to 40 years. It is transmitted from an infected and untreated patient through droplets (mucus), from the nose and mouth,” says a World Health Organisation (WHO) report.
Located in a far-flung area of the city, the leprosy hospital was built in 1896 by a philanthropist, Dr B.L. Roy. However, after being run by various NGOs it was handed over to the now defunct Karachi Municipal Corporation in 1960. There is no prize for guessing what happened to the facility afterwards.
According to the Medical Superintendent (MS), Dr Mohammad Abbasi, 180 patients are under treatment in this healthcare unit. However, this scribe could see not more than 80 to 100 patients at the time of the visit. Currently there are six doctors working at the hospital, out of which two work in the OPD till 1.30pm. The other doctors visit the hospital occasionally but are basically called when there is an emergency. The same is the case with the nurses and ward boys, (there are only two of each) and although they live on the premises, they too leave at 1.30pm.
The statements of the MS about the state of the hospital are quite quizzical. He says that most of the in-house patients have been cured and are staying there as they have no other place to go. He also claims that the majority of the lepers came when MDT was not introduced (before 1985) by the WHO, as earlier the disease was considered incurable. Nonetheless, when this reporter mentioned that a patient had been living there for not more than six years, he had no answer.
Thirty-six acres of the hospice’s land have been encroached upon and the administration says that they cannot do much about it. The hospital, which appears quite presentable whenever high-ups of the government have to visit it, in reality has a suffocating environment.
Walls in the ward have cracks running through them and paint flakes off due to dampness. When there is an electricity breakdown patients are seen lying on the floor to beat the heat. Bed sheets and pillows are stained and it seems that they haven’t been changed in ages. In addition to this, the patients have to wash their clothes themselves, while they have no access to recreation facilities.
Proper medicines are not visible on the bedside table. Instead, one can see cooking utensils as the patients have to cook their own food, as there are no cooks in the hospital. It is simply horrific to even imagine what will happen if any of the patients injures or burns themselves while cooking.
But the management seems to be in no particular hurry to appoint cooks. The MS maintains two reasons for this. “The old cooks have retired and the city government has to allow (us) to appoint new ones,” he says, adding that the other reason is that “no one wishes to work among lepers.”
The city government has sanctioned 100 employees, but the administration says they only have 80 people working for them. Forty patients are also employed as gardeners, gatekeepers, watchman etc. Though 30 of them draw their salary from the city government, the remainder are paid by some NGOs.
It is worth pondering whether these men and women, who have lost parts of their hands and feet to leprosy, can perform the job, for example, of a watchman satisfactorily? A recent incident quite clearly illustrates the pathetic situation.
A few men from the nearby colony entered the hospital, as there is no significant boundary wall to stop anyone, and proceeded to beat and rob one of the patients. The watchman tried, to the best of his ability, to stop the intruders but couldn’t do much. Dr Abbasi himself admits that he was helpless to prevent the incident.
On one hand the authorities claim they have no money to improve the conditions of the hospital. However, the administration has spent millions on the construction of a molecular laboratory, tuberculosis centre and dental healthcare unit. Then why are funds not being allocated for the uplift of this facility?
It is not difficult to understand why these patients are forced to live there. Abandoned by their families, they have no other place to go. Some of the women even have their children with them in the hospital. Male patients voice their concerns about food. It seems that they want to complain about other things as well, but the presence of the MS prevents them from doing so. However, the female patients are more careful in this respect and say that they do not have any complaints.
Talking to these patients, one senses an air of melancholy about them. Not being accepted by society they are confined to the hospital, while the attitude of their relatives has shattered them. Thirty-eight-year-old Najibur Rehman has been living in the hospital since he was a young boy. His family found out about him being infected with the disease when he was 9. They tried to have him treated by various hakims and doctors, but it was all in vain. His mother, brother and family visit him once in a while.
On the other hand Anwer Hussain says that he hates his family. When asked why, he says that “when I was diagnosed with leprosy, my mother did not come close to me.” He adds that “not even my dad or brothers bothered to come and see me.” He also criticises the hospital administration for not taking care of the patients. All the patients agree when he says that the hospital gives one piece of bread per meal, which is not enough for them.
Hailing from Chitral, Mirsawat, 70, sits on the floor of the hospital. He lost half of his foot and both of his eyes due to this bacterium. He doesn’t know what has happened to his family as he has not been in touch with them for ages. In fact, he has also lost track of the time when he first came here. He used to work as a street vendor in a nearby area and when he was diagnosed with leprosy, he moved to the hospital.
The situation in the female ward is no different. Bibi Khatoon, 70, sitting on the edge of her bed complains about the poor provision of electricity to the hospital. She reveals that she had to come here as most of her family lives in India. “After my husband died some years ago, I was left with no option,” she says. As she has no children of her own, her brother-in-law’s kids, living in Karachi, visit her. She very innocently says that her nieces and nephews do love her, “but they never take me home and therefore, I no longer insist.”
Sara, 30, had to leave her infant girl in Afghanistan seven years ago. She still remembers how her daughter looked like then. She says that the clothes she and the others wear are donated by charities. She thinks it is best for her to stay in the hospital so as to not infect any others with the disease.
It seems extremely unfair for these patients to suffer further due to the incompetence and neglect of the hospital staff. The city government should try to improve the living standard of these people. If they are cured, they should be shifted to a place where they can settle down and rejoin the fabric of society.
Bergh Apton
*******************************************************************
Former Bergh Apton parish councillors John Ling and Chris Johnson have done a great amount of research on the memorial, and through their diligent efforts have succeeded in adding additional names to the memorial. Much of their work is recorded at the Roll of Honour site for this village, the current page of which predates some of the latest additions to the memorial.
I apologise for both shamelessly cribbing from the Roll of Honour and not ensuring that all the names were captured.
www.roll-of-honour.com/Norfolk/Berghapton.html
*******************************************************************
Ernest Albert Leeder
Roll of Honour
Private 11th Battalion, Australian Infantry.
Ernest had emigrated to Australia in 1912 and enlisted in the Australian infantry on 24 January 1916 in Bunberry. He died on 16 April 1917 but his body was never recovered. He is remembered on the impressive Australian Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux near Amiens.
We have no record of precisely how he died but many men in his battalion died that day in a fierce fight at the village of Lagnicourt in which they ran out of ammunition, and where Lieutenant Charles Pope was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.
His enlistment papers tell us that his brother farmed at Town Farm and his mother Sophia Maria Leeder farmed at the neighbouring Valley Farm on Welbeck Road. She had lost her husband Edmund only the year before she lost this son.
As well as being remembered on Bergh Apton’s own memorial Ernest’s name is included on the memorial in the park at Donnybrook in Western Australia, and on the Roll of Honour in the town’s Memorial Hall.
www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=1455671
No match on Norlink
A digital copy of Ernest’s enlistment papers and military records can be seen here
naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/imagine.asp?B=8195302&I=1&am...
*******************************************************************
Sidney Herbert Marks
Roll of Honour
probably Sidney Herbert Marks, Private 1st Bn, The Essex Regiment
It is not yet proven, but we are confident that this is the man recorded on our Memorial. He was killed on 8 October 1917 and that date fits with an entry in Bergh Apton parish church’s Register of Services that records a memorial service held for Private S Marks on 2 December 1917. The very fact that a memorial service was held for him also suggests that he had a close connection in some way with the village.The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records that his wife lived in Norwich, only six miles away, so the next step in research will begin there.
The CWGC record also says that he was ‘employed by the late Captain Lord Richard Wellesley of the Grenadier Guards’ (who had died on 29 October 1914). This intriguing note may give us something else to go on in further researches into Sidney, one of only two people who remain a complete mystery to us.
www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=1634456
Son of Mr. R. I. Marks, (Journalist), of Clapham Junction, London; husband of Rhoda Marks, of 68, Edinburgh Rd., Norwich. Employed by the late Captain Lord Richard Wellesley (Grenadier Guards).
No match on Norlink
*******************************************************************
Harry Samuel Mayes
Roll of Honour
Private 7th Battalion the Norfolk Regiment.
Harry was killed 1 October 1915 but his body was never found. His name is on the Loos Memorial at Lens in the Pas de Calais (the spot known as ‘Dud Corner’). Army records have only one soldier of this name killed so we are confident that this is the man on our Memorial, but we have yet to find detail of his particular part of the widespread Mayes family that lived in the village.
By sad co-incidence, when researching his details in the Records Office, we noticed that his birth was recorded on the same page of the Registry of Births as that of Walter Wilfred Bracey (q.v.) who had been killed in 1914.
There are actually numerous H Mayes on the CWGC website, but no Harry Samuel.
There is a Harry Stanley Mayes who comes from Norwich
Son of the late William Mayes; husband of Beatrix Mayes, of 277, Armistice Terrace, Sprowston Rd., Norwich.
www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=780834
There are no additional details for the Harry Mayes who was killed on the 1st October 1915.
www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=736015
No match on Norlink
*******************************************************************
Albert William Parker
Roll of Honour
Pioneer, 392 Road Construction Company, Royal Engineers.
Albert was killed on 9 February 1917 and is buried in St Pol Communal Cemetery Extension at St Pol sur Ternoise in the Pas de Calais.
He was the husband of Rose Parker and lived at Hellington Corner in Bergh Apton. There is an interesting footnote here in that the Unknown Warrior who is buried in Westminster Abbey to represent all the dead of the First World War was taken from this Cemetery.
www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=591156
No match on Norlink
1901 Census has a William Parker, born 1876 Bergh Apton and still resident there, working as a Jobbing Gardener
*******************************************************************
Leonard Godfrey Rope
Roll of Honour
Private 31st Battalion, Canadian Infantry (the Alberta Regiment).
Alfred Rope’s brother Leonard was killed at St Eloi aged 27 on 7 April 1916 but his body was never found. He is remembered on the Menin Gate at Ypres in Belgium.
His parents Aaron and Ellen Alice Rope farmed at Holly Farm on Loddon Road. He enlisted as a volunteer in Calgary Alberta on 8 April 1915 - his 27th birthday but we have few details of his travels between Bergh Apton and western Canada except that he left this village in about 1912.
He joined the 31st Battalion (Alberta Regiment), part of the Canadian Army’s 5th Brigade that became known as the “Iron Fifth” for its exploits under the command of Lt Colonel (later Brigadier General) Ketchen.
His death may well have occurred in an event recorded by G E Hewitt in his book ‘History of 28th Battalion’ (Charles and Son, London) that records the war of one of the the 31st’s sister battalions:
‘April 7, 1916. An attack was made during the night of April 6 - 7 on craters 4 & 5 by bombing parties from 25th, 28th and 31st Battalions led by Lt Murphy of 25th Battalion. They reported that, despite heavy rain and shellfire, they got quite close to the craters before being repulsed. In fact, they lost their way in the dark and occupied a group of craters north of crater 4 and, though they captured several small German patrols, they had failed to even identify their objective correctly’.
Hewitt goes on to say ‘The following night, April 7 - 8, the 6th Brigade was relieved after suffering 617 casualties in the preceding four days of fighting’.
It is probable that Leonard was amongst the 617 men who died in the fighting in one of those raiding parties. It had been the eve of his twenty-eighth birthday.
www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=1595690
No match on Norlink
Leonard’s enlistment papers can be seen here
collectionscanada.ca/databases/cef/001042-119.02-e.php?im...
collectionscanada.ca/databases/cef/001042-119.02-e.php?im...
What reads like the Battalions’ Medical Officers report can be seen here:
data2.collectionscanada.ca/e/e039/e000974916.jpg
data2.collectionscanada.ca/e/e039/e000974917.jpg
In a separate letter the medical officer explains that the R.A.P (for Emergency treatment) at VOORMEZEELE was shared with the 28th and 29th battalions, and was manned by the medical officers from those battalions. Most of the wounded from the 31st battalion were in the trench sector adjoining those battalions, and so went to Voormezeele rather than through his post.
“6th April 1916.
2-k All wounded in Aid Post cleared.
3-30k A most terrific concentrated enemy bombardment is taking place on our position in front of and about ST ELOI, using trench torpedoes and shells of all kinds and sizes. Hundreds of shells must be bursting every minute. We must expect heavy casualties, especially by way of VOORMEZEELE. Bombardment contiues all day from both sides. Wounded coming in tell of German Infantry attack being repulsed on our battalion front, but enemy is reported to be in crater to right of our front.
We dress and send out wounded all morning and afternoon, practicaly all walking cases.
Stretcher bearer Avery comes in with Shell wound in back. Avery dressed wounded continuously for forty eight hours under shell fire and carried on for some time after being hit.
Capt MacPherson is wounded by bomb and is sent out.
Cases of shattered nerves are coming in. The worst of these I send to Field Ambulance, but the majority I allow to lie down in an adjoining dugout. There are only half dozen cases. Some men that have been buried by shells I also keep at R.A.P dugout.
18-k Bombardment has died down. Many dead and wounded are reported from front line.
70 bearers from No.6 Field Ambulance are to help clear wounded from right section towards Voormezeele after dark.
“C” Coy, holding centre of our Battalion front reports several badly wounded men.
20-k I leave Battalion Headquarters, with Major Hewgill and Corporal Bright and a party of men, for the front line, to bring out wounded.
21-k to 24 - k. I redress a number of wounded men in front line, among them Sergeant Proven with a bad compound fracture of the thigh.
Front trenches here are pretty well battered to pieces. Raining hard.
7th April 1916.
5k Last wounded men just cleared to Field Ambulance.
11-k Morning has been fairly quiet after uproar of yesterday, but there is still considerable artillery firing.
A number are coming in with chilled, sodden feet. They are chiefly men of “A” Company who were in mud and water for forty eight hours in crater before being relieved by “D” Coy. We have them wash their feet in cold water, dry and apply whale from a can found in shelled dugout. We supply dry socks when possible.
Corporal dace, Sanitary NCO, is given a squad of partially recovered nerve cases and starts in to clean up about R.A.P, and Battn Headquarters.
17-k. Another furious enemy bombardment of one hour duration on our right section. Battalion expect to be relieved tonight by 19th Battalion”
More details from the unit diary for this period can be found here
data2.collectionscanada.ca/e/e039/e000974924.jpg
data2.collectionscanada.ca/e/e039/e000974925.jpg
No mention of a trench raid or bombing party.
A description of the defensive actions taken by the 31st during the period 6th / 7th April can be seen in these extracts from the commanding officers’ report for the period,
data2.collectionscanada.ca/e/e039/e000974958.jpg
data2.collectionscanada.ca/e/e039/e000974959.jpg
The battalions casualty list has Leonard down as killed in action, 7th April, the only man from B Company to die on this day, presumably as a result of shelling or sniping.
data2.collectionscanada.ca/e/e039/e000974964.jpg
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Alfred Hubert Rope
Roll of Honour
Private Royal Marines Light Infantry (RMLI)
Alfred Rope died aged 23 on 5 May 1917. He is one of 10,769 soldiers buried in Etaples Military Cemetery close to the British Expeditionary Force’s main base that included a military hospital complex where, even ten months after the final Armistice in September 1919, three hospitals and a QMAAC convalescent depot remained to treat men seriously wounded in battle.
Alfred Rope was the one of the two sons of Aaron and Ellen Alice Rope of Holly Farm on Loddon Road, both of whom was to be killed within a little over a year.
His Birth Certificate records him as Alfred Hubert and in the 1901 Census he is listed as Herbert, but his CWGC record has him as Hubert Alfred. We can be confident that he was called Hubert in the village as it was that name entered in the church service record by the Reverend Harvey Thursby after his Memorial service on 8 June 1917.
He volunteered for the Royal Marines on exactly the same date and at the same London recruiting office as his near-neighbour Victor Gillingwater (q.v.). Even their service numbers are consecutive. Victor lived at Bussey Bridge – literally a few hundred yards from the Rope farmstead, and it seems clear that these boys were friends who went to London together to enlist for the great adventure, and died within a month of each other in 1917.
CWGC lists as Hubert Alfred
www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=505345
No match on Norlink
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Aubrey Samuel Stone
Roll of Honour
Lance Corporal 9th Battalion, the Norfolk Regiment.
Aubrey was killed on 17 September 1916 but his body was never recovered and he is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial together with Sidney Kedge (q.v.).
Commonwealth War Graves Commission records do not include his next-of-kin but he was the son of John and Mary Stone of The Street in Bergh Apton, and he was one of eleven children. His mother’s maiden name was Bracey so he may also have been related to Walter Wilfred Bracey (q.v.). Aubrey’s nephew John Clemence still lives at Davy Place in Loddon
www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=1554813
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Clement Sidney Wall
Roll of Honour
Private 8th Battalion the Norfolk Regiment.
Clement had three other brothers who all fought in the Great War and survived. He was killed aged 29 on 11 August 1917 and is buried in the Railway Ground at Zillebeke near Ypres.
He was the son of Leonard and Anna Maria Wall of The Street in Bergh Apton, and uncle to Joy Lester of this village, Anna Stratton of Thurton and to Olive Hudson of Harleston. His parents and his sister Lily Scarles are buried in Bergh Apton churchyard.
Clement worked for Mr Redgrave the builder of The Beeches in Threadneedle Street. His niece Anna Stratton told us that he was a runner of some repute who would often pay small children a half-penny or a penny to time him on training runs. On one occasion he ran to Denton to take part in a race, won the race, and ran home again. The round-trip distance he ran just to take part was over thirty-six miles!
www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=490874
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Charles Daniel Weddup
Roll of Honour
Private, 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards
Charles was one of two village men to die in the service of this famous Regiment raised in the Scottish borders. He was killed on 17 October 1915 but like so many has no known grave. His name is on the same Loos Memorial as that of Harry Mayes who died only two weeks before him.
We have no details yet of his family but his birth is recorded in the Norwich register for the June Quarter of 1895. When we check that it may link him to Annie Weddup who lived in The Street in Bergh Apton at the beginning of the war.
www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=736897
No match on Norlink
The 1901 Census lists a Charles for 1882, born at Stoke Holy Cross and was now resident Carleton.
There are numerous Weddup’s from villages close to Bergh Apton, but assuming that all the Weddup’s listed as living in Carleton in the 1901 Census are one family, then they could be a picture of life at the bottom of the agricultural labouring ladder.
Rosa ...........................born 1862 Shottesham
Charles .......................born 1882 Stoke Holy Cross Profession: Horseman on Farm
William ........................born 1887 Alpington Profession: Worker on Farm
Annie ..........................born 1890 Bergh Apton
Bessie ........................born 1892 Alpington
Daniel .........................born 1895 Seething
Charles is the only Weddup listed as dying in WW1.
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James Robert Wright
Roll of Honour
P/7989, Lance Corporal, Military Police Corps (The Red Caps).
James was 33 years old when he died of fever on 17 December 1918, over a month after the Armistice, aboard a hospital ship in the harbour at Alexandria.
He is buried in Cairo War Memorial Cemetery. His parents Robert and Elizabeth Wright of Sunnyside Bergh Apton are buried in our churchyard. His wife Annie Elizabeth Wright is also buried here.
www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=113933
No match on Norlink
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1939 - 1945
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Leonard Cain
Roll of Honour - Leonard Walter George
Private 7th Battalion, the Royal Norfolk Regiment.
Leonard was 24 when he was killed on 8 August 1944 as the British Army advanced through Normandy following the D-Day landings.
He died during an action that pitted the 7th Royal Norfolks against tanks of the 12th Panzer Division outside the village of Grimbosq on the River Orne some 17 kilometres south of Caen. In this action Major David Jamieson, commanding Leonard Cain’s Company, won the Victoria Cross.
Leonard was the husband of Miriam and the son of Walter and Clara Elizabeth Cain of Framingham Pigot and later of Prospect Place, Bergh Apton. He is buried in Bayeux Cemetery
CWGC: www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=2955717
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Jack Lovewell
Roll of Honour
Sergeant 75th (RNZAF) Squadron, RAF Volunteer Reserve
Jack was killed aged 21 on Monday, 16 August 1943 on a raid over the Gironde Estuary (Bay of Biscay) where his aircraft was lost. His body was never found and he is remembered on the RAF Memorial at Runnymede.
He was an Air Gunner, trained in Canada and part of a Squadron of which the original nucleus was Wellington bombers contributed by the New Zealand government and flown by Kiwis. His own crew, flying in a Short Stirling bomber and engaged on a mine-laying (‘gardening’) mission, was flown and navigated by New Zealanders and had a Canadian bomb aimer. Jack was the rear gunner.
He was the son of Arthur and Ethel Lovewell who ran the village shop on Threadneedle Street and owned much of the land around the crossroads where Threadneedle Street and Mill Road meet in Bergh Apton. They are buried in our churchyard but his brother Brian, at the time of writing (August 2005) is still alive and living in Lincolnshire.
CWGC: www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=1078952
Stirling EE891 Information
Type........................................................................Stirling
Serial Number......................................................EE891
Squadron...............................................................75
X1D.........................................................................AA-Q
Operation..............................................................Gardening
Date 1....................................................................15th August 1943
Date 2....................................................................16th August 1943
EF316 were converted to Mk.1V. Delivered by Short & Harland between May43 and Jul43. Contract No.774677/38. Delivered to No.75 Sqdn 20Jun43.
Airborne 2049 15Aug43 from Mepal to lay mines in the Gironde Estuary. Cause of loss not established. Crashed in the sea. Three are buried in Olonne-sur-mer Communal Cemetery; F/S Costello is buried in les Sables-d_Olonne (la Chaume) New Communal Cemetery, while F/O Turnbull and Sgt Lovewell are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
F/S N.B.Whitts RNZAF KIA
Sgt F.D.Mason KIA
F/O J.G.Turnbull RNZAF KIA
F/S M.Costello RCAF KIA
Sgt R.F.Andrews KIA
Sgt E.G.Crisp KIA
Sgt J.E.Lovewell KIA "
www.lostbombers.co.uk/bomber.php?id=6902
Some of these crewmen could even be on these photograph of 75 Squadron that is believed to have been taken sometime in 1943.
www.commanet.org/reflect.aspx?action=navigate&rec=500...
www.commanet.org/reflect.aspx?action=navigate&rec=500...
www.commanet.org/reflect.aspx?action=navigate&rec=500...
www.commanet.org/reflect.aspx?action=navigate&rec=500...
And could this be the crew of AA-Q?
www.commanet.org/reflect.aspx?action=navigate&rec=500...
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Archibald Mayes
Roll of Honour
Leading Seaman, Royal Navy.
Archie died on 19 Feb 1941 while serving in HMS Warspite in the Mediterranean. We have been told by the son of a shipmate that he was the victim of an infection rather than injury. He is buried in Ramla (formerly Ralmeh) War Cemetery in Palestine, 12 kilometres south-east of Jaffa. We understand - and hope - that this is a different place from the Rameleh where so much destruction has taken place in recent fighting.
Archie was the brother of Jack Mayes (q.v.) who died later that year. His family lived at Prospect Place in Bergh Apton, on the A146 between Norwich and Lowestoft.
CWGC: Archie Russell Mayes www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=2220064
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Jack Mayes
Roll of Honour (John Arthur)
Petty Officer (Cook), Royal Navy
Jack Mayes served in the Destroyer HMS Cossack and was killed aged 38 on the night of 23 October 1941 when the Tribal class Destroyer was torpedoed and sank in the
Mediterranean with the loss of 158 lives.
His body was not recovered and he is remembered on the Royal Navy Memorial in Portsmouth. He was the brother of Archie Mayes (q.v. above).
CWGC does only one Jack Mayes, who was an Australian infantryman who died during the fall of Singapore, (service number NX/35164, from Wagga Wagga New South Wales).
.The details on the Roll of Honour relate to a John Arthur Mayes. In the additional information on the CWGC site is the information:- “Son of Thomas William and Agnes Mayes; husband of Nellie Dorothy Mayes, of Elson, Hampshire.”
www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=2657177
Under attacks by submarines of BRESLAU Group during
which ship was hit by torpedo from U563 in position
35.36N 10.04W whilst stationed astern of convoy.
Structure forward for bridge demolished killing the
Captain and 158 of ship’s company. Survivors abandoned
ship which remained afloat.
www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-10DD-34Tribal-Cossack1.htm
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Charles Podd
Roll of Honour Herbert Charles George
1474624, Gunner, 74th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery.
Herbert was killed aged 26 on 28 June 1942 serving with the 8th Army in the Western Desert and is remembered on the Alamein Memorial in Egypt, having no known grave. His family was from Norwich but parents Herbert and Rose rented a house on Threadneedle Street in Bergh Apton during the war having been bombed out of their house in the city.
CWGC: www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=2123887
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Albert E H Starman
www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=2072290
Name: STARMAN, ALBERT EDWARD Initials: A E
Rank: Private Regiment/Service: Royal Norfolk Regiment Unit Text: 4th Bn. Age: 25 Date of Death: 21/09/1944 Service No: 5773302
Additional information: Son of Frank and Daisy Starman; husband of Wilma E. Starman, of Thurlton, Norfolk.
Grave/Memorial Reference: Column 52. Memorial: SINGAPORE MEMORIAL
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Eric B Barnes
www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=2491394
Name: BARNES, ERIC BENJAMIN
Rank: Leading Signalman Regiment/Service: Royal Navy
Unit Text: H.M. Submarine Phoenix Age: 25 Date of Death: 21/07/1940
Service No: P/JX 134697
Additional information: Son of Benjamin and Edith Eliza Barnes, of Brooke, Norfolk. Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 40, Column 2. Memorial: PORTSMOUTH NAVAL MEMORIAL
At least one site has the Phoenix as reported lost on the 16th July 1940
www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1940-07JUL.htm
All crew are listed as missing, presumed killed.
After completion in 1930 she was deployed on the China Station in the 4th Submarine Flotilla. In 1940 this Flotilla was transferred from Hong Kong to the Mediterranean where they arrived in May of that year.
During a patrol in July she reported Italian warship movements and a few days later was sunk off Sicily
www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-12SS-02P-Phoenix.htm
On July 16, 1940, the HMS Phoenix was patrolling the Western Ionian Sea, when she spotted and torpedoed the Italian tanker Dora off the Italian base of Augusta (Eastern Sicily).
The British submarine was counterattacked by the Italian topedo boat Albatros, whose depth charges sank the HMS Phoenix
www.sportesport.it/wrecksSI030.htm
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Maurice C Barnes
www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=2463415
Name: BARNES, MAURICE CHARLES
Rank: Petty Officer Regiment/Service: Royal Navy Unit Text: H.M.S. Seal
Age: 24 Date of Death: 09/09/1940 Service No: C/JX 137224
Additional information: Son of Benjamin and Edith Eliza Barnes, of Brooke, Norfolk. Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 83. Memorial: CHATHAM NAVAL MEMORIAL
“They also found Maurice Barnes, a survivor of the capture of the submarine HMS Seal by the Germans in the Baltic. He later escaped from a prisoner of war camp in Poland but was shot by Russian border guards in 1940.”
new.edp24.co.uk/content/news/storyrss.aspx?brand=EDPOnlin... May 2007 21:29:43:670
May 1940
4th Entered Kattegat and encounter HMS NARWHAL returning from minelay.
5th Under air attack without serious damage.
Sighted enemy trawlers and decided to carry out lay in in alternative area.
Under anti-submarine search and during evasive manoeuvres detonated mine and sustained major damage which resulted in submarine being stuck in the mud on sea bed.
Obliged to surface when air became foul.
When unable to surface released drop keel and blew reserve tanks which enable submarine to surface.
Under series of air attacks which totally disabled submarine.
submarine was later towed to Frederickshaven, Denmark and crew were taken PoW
www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-12SS-05Grampus-Seal.htm
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Robert K Gidney
new.edp24.co.uk/content/news/storyrss.aspx?brand=EDPOnlin... May 2007 21:29:43:670
Probably
www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=2764188
Name: GIDNEY, ROBERT KITCHENER
Rank: Driver Regiment/Service: Royal Army Service Corps
Age: 25 Date of Death: 18/11/1941 Service No: T/204681
Additional information: Son of Mr. and Mrs. J. Gidney, husband of V. M. Gidney, of Norwich.
Grave/Memorial Reference: Sec. 54. Grave 551. Cemetery: NORWICH CEMETERY, Norfolk
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Henry Hood
new.edp24.co.uk/content/news/storyrss.aspx?brand=EDPOnlin... May 2007 21:29:43:670
Probably
Name: HOOD, HENRY JOHN
Rank: Private Regiment/Service: Essex Regiment Unit Text: 1/4th Bn. Age: 19
Date of Death: 26/07/1944 Service No: 14415798
Additional information: Son of Albert and Mary Elizabeth Hood, of Lakenham, Norwich, Norfolk.
Grave/Memorial Reference: V. C. 22. Cemetery: AREZZO WAR CEMETERY
www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=2097407
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William L Tolver
new.edp24.co.uk/content/news/storyrss.aspx?brand=EDPOnlin... May 2007 21:29:43:670
Name: TOLVER, WILLIAM LEONARD
Rank: Private Regiment/Service: Suffolk Regiment Unit Text: 1st Bn. Age: 20
Date of Death: 23/07/1944 Service No: 5782848
Additional information: Son of George William and Edith Maria Tolver, of Wramplingham, Norfolk.
Grave/Memorial Reference: II. E. 20. Cemetery: BANNEVILLE-LA-CAMPAGNE WAR CEMETERY
Photograph taken at an altitude of Ten metres, in the magic of the Golden hour around sunrise, (Sunrise was at precisely 06:58am), at 07:34am on Sunday 21st September 2014 off 1st Street and Bevan Avenue, at the very end of the Bevan Avenue fishing pier in beautiful Sidney by the sea on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.
Here, we are looking over towards Mt Baker in Washington State, USA from beautiful Sidney by the sea on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Also known as Koma Kulshan, (pronounced kō-ō’mah’ kool-shän’),she is an active glaciated andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington State in the United States, standing 3,286 metres tall and was first ascended in 1868, her last eruption recorded in 1880.
The name Mount Baker first appeared in print in Captain Vancouver’s 1798 narrative of his voyage around Vancouver Island. Legend has it that his third-lieutenant, Joseph Baker, was the first to spot the mountain while they sailed into Dungeness Bay on April 30th, 1792. Also known by the Lummi as Kwud-Shad, and Koba (meaning 'high mountain always covered with snow', was the Skagit name.
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Nikon D800 140mm 1/80s f/2.8 iso100 RAW (14 bit). Manual focus mode. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance. Auto Active D-lighting.
Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED IF VRII. Jessops 77mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.
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LATITUDE: N 48d 38m 52.67s
LONGITUDE: W 123d 23m 29.62s
ALTITUDE: 10.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE SIZE: 103.00MB
PROCESSED (JPeg) SIZE: 12.79MB
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PROCESSING POWER:
Nikon D800 Firmware versions A 1.10 B 1.10 L 2.009 (Lens distortion control version 2)
HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU processor. AMD Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB SATA storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX2 Version 2.10.3 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.
The One O'Clock Gun is a time signal, fired every day at precisely 13:00, excepting Sunday, Good Friday and Christmas Day. The 'Time Gun' was established in 1861 as a time signal for ships in the harbour of Leith and the Firth of Forth, 2 miles (3.2 km) away. It complemented the 'Time Ball', which was installed on the Nelson Monument in 1852, but was useless as a visual signal in foggy weather. Because sound travels relatively slowly (approximately 343 metres per second (770 mph)), a map was produced in 1861 to show the actual time when the sound of the gun would be heard at various locations across Edinburgh.[154]
The original gun was an 18-pound muzzle-loading cannon, which needed four men to load, and was fired from the Half Moon Battery. This was replaced in 1913 by a 32-pound breech-loader, and in May 1952 by a 25-pound Howitzer.[155] The present One O'Clock Gun is an L118 Light Gun, brought into service on 30 November 2001.[156]
The gun is now fired from Mill's Mount Battery, on the north face of the castle, by the District Gunner from the 105th Regiment Royal Artillery (Volunteers). Although the gun is no longer required for its original purpose, the ceremony has become a popular tourist attraction. The longest-serving District Gunner, Staff Sergeant Thomas McKay MBE, nicknamed "Tam the Gun", fired the One O'Clock Gun from 1979 until his retirement in January 2005. McKay helped establish the One O'Clock Gun Association, which opened a small exhibition at Mill's Mount, and published a book entitled What Time Does Edinburgh's One O'clock Gun Fire?.[157] In 2006 Sergeant Jamie Shannon, nicknamed "Shannon the Cannon", became the 29th District Gunner,[158] and in 2006 Bombardier Allison Jones became the first woman to fire the gun
Photograph taken at an altitude of Fifty six metres, during the first vestiges of dawn light prior to the magic of the Golden Hour around sunrise (Sunrise was at precisely 04:38am), at 03:41am on Thursday 12th June 2014 off Lullingstone Lane and Eagle Heights opposite the poppy field close to Eynsford Viaduct in the village of Eynsford, Kent, England.
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Nikon D800 24mm 1/40s f/2.8 iso100 RAW (14 bit) Manual focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance.
Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED IF. Jessops 77mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.
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LATITUDE: N 51d 22m 3.38s
LONGITUDE: E 0d 11m 53.65s
ALTITUDE: 56.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE: 103.00MB
PROCESSED FILE: 17.89MB
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Processing power:
HP Pavillion P6-2388EA Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. AMD Radeon HD 7570 graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.10.0 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit
Photograph taken at an altitude of Nine metres, in the magic of the Golden hour around sunrise at 05:17am, (sunrise was at precisely 06.15am) on Saturday 6th September 2014 off the Patricia Bay Highway 17, on Lochside Drive close to Frost Avenue and the Lochside Waterfront Park, in beautiful Sidney by the sea on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.
The small private jet has just taken off from Victoria International Airport (YYJ) at 1640 Electra Boulevard and is heading over towards Mt Baker in Washington State, USA from beautiful Sidney by the sea on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Also known as Koma Kulshan, (pronounced kō-ō’mah’ kool-shän’),she is an active glaciated andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington State in the United States, standing 3,286 metres tall and was first ascended in 1868, her last eruption recorded in 1880.
The name Mount Baker first appeared in print in Captain Vancouver’s 1798 narrative of his voyage around Vancouver Island. Legend has it that his third-lieutenant, Joseph Baker, was the first to spot the mountain while they sailed into Dungeness Bay on April 30th, 1792. Also known by the Lummi as Kwud-Shad, and Koba (meaning 'high mountain always covered with snow', was the Skagit name.
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Nikon D800 70mm 1/100s f/2.8 iso100 RAW (14 bit) Manual focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance.
Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED IF VRII. Jessops 77mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.
LATITUDE: N 48d 38m 15.76s
LONGITUDE: W 123d 24m 12.80s
ALTITUDE: 9.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE SIZE: 103.00MB
PROCESSED (JPeg) SIZE: 7.03MB
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Processing power:
HP Pavillion P6-2388EA Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. AMD Radeon HD 7570 graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.10.0 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit
Selinunte was an ancient Greek city on the southern coast of Sicily in Italy. The date of the foundation of the city cannot be precisely fixed, but it may be placed about 628 BCE. The archaeological site contains five temples centered on an acropolis.
Temple F, the oldest and smallest of the three temples on the East Hil, was built between 550 and 540 BC on the model of Temple C. Of the temples it has been the most severely spoliated. Its peristyle was 24.43 x 61.83m on a 6 x 14 column patter (each 9.11 m high), with stone screens (4.7m high) in the space between the columns, with false doors painted in with pilasters and architraves – the actual entrance was at the east end. It is not clear what the purpose of these screens, which are unique among Greek temples, was. Some think they were intended to protect votive gifts or to prevent particular rites (Dionysian Mysteries?) being seen by the uninitiated. Inside, there is a portico containing a second row of columns, a pronaos, a naos, and an adyton in single long, narrow structure (an archaic characteristic). On the east side, two late archaic metopes (dated to 500 BC) were found in excavations in 1823, which depict Athena and Dionysus in the process of killing two giants. Today they are kept in the Regional Archeological Museum Antonio Salinas. Scholars have suggested that Temple F was dedicated to either Athena or Dionysus.
Selinunte was one of the most important of the Greek colonies in Sicily, situated on the southwest coast of that island, at the mouth of the small river of the same name, and 6.5 km west of that of the Hypsas (the modern Belice River). It was founded, according to the historian Thucydides, by a colony from the Sicilian city of Megara, or Megara Hyblaea, under the conduct of a leader named Pammilus, about 100 years after the settlement of that city, with the addition of a fresh body of colonists from the parent city of Megara in Greece. The date of its foundation cannot be precisely fixed, as Thucydides indicates it only by reference to that of the Sicilian Megara, which is itself not accurately known, but it may be placed about 628 BCE. Diodorus places it 22 years earlier, or 650 BCE, and Hieronymus still further back, 654 BCE. The date from Thucydides, which is probably the most likely, is incompatible with this earlier epoch. The name is supposed to have been derived from quantities of wild celery (Ancient Greek: σέλινον (selinon)) that grew on the spot. For the same reason, they adopted the celery leaf as the symbol on their coins.
Selinunte was the most westerly of the Greek colonies in Sicily, and for this reason was early brought into contact and collision with the Carthaginians and the native Sicilians in the west and northwest of the island. The former people, however, do not at first seem to have offered any obstacle to their progress; but as early as 580 BCE we find the Selinuntines engaged in hostilities with the people of Segesta (a non-Hellenic city), whose territory bordered on their own. The arrival of a body of emigrants from Rhodes and Cnidus who subsequently founded Lipara, and who lent their assistance to the Segestans, for a time secured the victory to that people; but disputes and hostilities seem to have been of frequent occurrence between the two cities, and it is probable that in 454 BCE, when Diodorus speaks of the Segestans as being at war with the Lilybaeans (modern Marsala), that the Selinuntines are the people really meant. The river Mazarus, which at that time appears to have formed the boundary between the two states, was only about 25 km west of Selinunte; and it is certain that at a somewhat later period the territory of Selinunte extended to its banks, and that that city had a fort and emporium at its mouth On the other side its territory certainly extended as far as the Halycus (modern Platani), at the mouth of which it founded the colony of Minoa, or Heracleia, as it was afterward termed It is evident, therefore, that Selinunte had early attained to great power and prosperity; but we have very little information as to its history. We learn, however, that, like most of the Sicilian cities, it had passed from an oligarchy to a despotism, and about 510 BCE was subject to a despot named Peithagoras, from whom the citizens were freed by the assistance of the Spartan Euryleon, one of the companions of Dorieus: and thereupon Euryleon himself, for a short time, seized on the vacant sovereignty, but was speedily overthrown and put to death by the Selinuntines. The causes leading the Selinuntines to abandon the cause of the other Greeks, and take part with the Carthaginians during the great expedition of Hamilcar (480 BCE) are unknown; they had even promised to send a contingent to the Carthaginian army, which, however did not arrive till after its defeat.
The Selinuntines are next mentioned in 466 BCE, as co-operating with the other free cities of Sicily in assisting the Syracusans to expel Thrasybulus; and there is every reason to suppose that they fully shared in the prosperity of the half century that followed, a period of tranquility and opulence for most of the Greek cities in Sicily. Thucydides speaks of Selinunte just before the Athenian expedition as a powerful and wealthy city, possessing great resources for war both by land and sea, and having large stores of wealth accumulated in its temples. Diodorus also represents it at the time of the Carthaginian invasion, as having enjoyed a long period of tranquility, and possessing a numerous population.
Source: Wikipedia.
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***** Selected for sale in the GETTY IMAGES COLLECTION on March 26th 2015
CREATIVE RF gty.im/545126385 MOMENT OPEN COLLECTION**
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Photograph taken at an altitude of Eight metres, in the magic of the Golden hour around sunrise at 05:41am, (sunrise was at precisely 06.15am) on Saturday 6th September 2014 off the Patricia Bay Highway 17, on Lochside Drive close to Frost Avenue and the Lochside Waterfront Park, in beautiful Sidney by the sea on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.
Here, I am standing beside the wooden decked viewing platform, looking over towards Mt Baker in Washington State, USA from beautiful Sidney by the sea on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Also known as Koma Kulshan, she is an active glaciated andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington State in the United States, standing 3,286 metres tall and was first ascended in 1868, her last eruption recorded in 1880.
The name Mount Baker first appeared in print in Captain Vancouver’s 1798 narrative of his voyage around Vancouver Island. Legend has it that his third-lieutenant, Joseph Baker, was the first to spot the mountain while they sailed into Dungeness Bay on April 30th, 1792. Also known by the Lummi as Kwud-Shad, and Koba (meaning 'high mountain always covered with snow', was the Skagit name.
These Canada Geese, along with many other small groups, fly across the lake from East to West every morning and back again every evening at Sunset, and I love to watch the classic Vee formations and listen to the honking as they pass me by. In flight, a group of Geese are called, a Skein. For this frame, in the dawns early darkness, I was shooting the sunrise over Mt Baker and I could hear the geese honking as groups of up to ten flew byu me East to West. I waited until they entered the frame, amazed at how close they actually were to me, and began manually pressing the shutter.
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Nikon D800 70mm 1/1000s f/2.8 iso100 RAW (14 bit) Manual focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance.
Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED IF VRII. Jessops 77mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.
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LATITUDE: N 48d 38m 15.79s
LONGITUDE: W 123d 24m 12.85s
ALTITUDE: 8.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE SIZE: 103.00MB
PROCESSED (JPeg) SIZE: 11.42MB
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PROCESSING POWER:
HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU processor. AMD Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB SATA storage. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.10.3 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit
Not precisely what I was going for, but will have to do for the sake of time. My weekly submission to the Recording Images group. Have a great weekend!
The Great Anne is great at precisely one thing: putting a large amount of fire downrange. With expanded ammunition reserves as well as an external feed system, this frame can sustain serious fire support operations. However, it's fragile, slow, and decidedly a second-line unit. Underestimate its lethality at your peril, though.
It is not known precisely when construction of Colchester Castle began, but it was probably started in the 1070s or 1080s on the orders of William the Conqueror. The Castle was sited on the great stone base of what had been the Roman Temple of Claudius. William was linking his authority to that of the Roman emperors before him.
The keep is the largest surviving example built by the Normans, measuring 46m by 33.5m. Its ground plan is shared in England only by the White Tower at the Tower of London which makes Gundulph, Bishop of Rochester the likely designer of both castles.
Faced with a lack of good quality building stone, the Normans used the ruins of Roman Colchester to provide most of the brick and stone that they needed. The Castle was built in two stages. The first phase keep was only one storey high as is shown by the battlement which can still be seen clearly on some areas of the outer walls. The second phase of construction from about 1106 was entrusted to Eudo, who served the first three Norman kings as Steward of Normandy. The walls were raised higher, though how high is still a matter for debate. The traditional view is that the Castle was a three storey building. However, new evidence and a re-appraisal of the arguments suggest that the Castle was always roughly at the height it is today.
Worm March Moon Rising
I knew what time and place the moon was to rise but it seemed to take FOREVER for the March 9th rising Supermoon. It was precisely this color. The same phenomena effects the sun. “Golden Hour” and better, the red light passing to the pink/red “Belt of Venus” alpenglow. That projected filtered to red light on the ice in the sky opposite of the sun. Same effect here but on the moon. This just the atmospheric gauntlet of dust, moisture of all phase states, pollution etc block out all but the red light. Lots less yellow in this.
So the “Worm Moon A.K.A. Lenten Moon, Crow Moon, Sugar Moon, Sap Moon, Chaste Moon or just the March Full Moon lol.
Of course when the moon OR the sun is apparently this low, you actually seeing the celestial object below the line of sight to the horizon. The image is actually bent around the horizon. The atmospheric lens literally guides the image around the surface to my camera/eye. Getting topography/ hills and a celestial object to cooperate the same time can be challenging. …I know the topography I work pretty well after ‘working it’ for decades. Knowing the direction the moon is going to set is a matter of looking it up on google. Get a map, (in my head by now) and figure out “what two or three things” can line up.
I decide where to go early on but am flexible enough to change mid stream because I’m very mobile. Getting around in the snowy hills is a requirement for this job lolol. I never know WHAT the show is going to be when I go out with cameras. I do usually know WHERE an alignment will occur. 😄
This moon didn’t sneak up on me by any means. Getting up on the high ridges is of course the place to be for such a shot. The backcountry high in the hills provide all the topography and perspective that any photographer could need. Having free access to many square miles of backcountry WY/MT is always a good thing with a camera. Both States in this Photo.. I was lucky the weather cooperated with me as it disappeared into a cloud deck 20 minutes later not to reappear for over a day.
Location: Bliss Dinosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands (Wyotana).
Title: Worm March Moon Rising
"Longuich ([ ˈlɔŋɡɪç ]) is a local community in the Trier-Saarburg district in Rhineland-Palatinate. It belongs to the municipality of Schweich on the Roman Wine Route. The place is on the right bank of the Moselle in the Moselle-Franconian language area.
Longuich is a Gallo-Roman (more precisely: Mosel-Roman) place name (pronounced: Long_gich), which is derived from a 1st-century foundation called Longus Vicus (long village, long district). The place has been inhabited since at least Roman times, as various finds indicate, in particular the Villa Urbana, whose reconstructed bathing wing can be visited.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the Prussian mayor's office of Longuich emerged from the French Mairie Longuich.
Mosel (German: [ˈmoːzl̩]) is one of 13 German wine regions (Weinbaugebiete) for quality wines (Qualitätswein, formerly QbA and Prädikatswein), and takes its name from the Mosel River (French: Moselle; Luxembourgish: Musel). Before 1 August 2007 the region was called Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, but changed to a name that was considered more consumer-friendly. The wine region is Germany's third largest in terms of production but some consider it the leading region in terms of international prestige.
The region covers the valleys of the rivers Mosel, Saar, and Ruwer from near the mouth of the Mosel at Koblenz and upstream to the vicinity of Trier in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The area is known for the steep slopes of the region's vineyards overlooking the river. At 65° degrees incline, the steepest recorded vineyard in the world is the Calmont vineyard located on the Mosel and belonging to the village of Bremm, and therefore referred to as Bremmer Calmont. The Mosel is mainly famous for its wines made from the Riesling grape, but Elbling and Müller-Thurgau also contribute to the production, among others.
In the past two decades red wine production, especially from the Spätburgunder (Pinot noir), has increased in the Mosel and throughout the German vignoble and has become of increasing interest to the international wine community. Because of the northerly location of the Mosel, the Riesling wines are often light, tending to lower alcohol, crisp and high in acidity, and often exhibit "flowery" rather than or in addition to "fruity" aromas. Its most common vineyard soil is derived in the main from various kinds of slate deposits, which tend to give the wines a transparent, mineralic aspect, that often exhibit great depth of flavor. In the current era of climate change much work has been done to improve and gain acceptance for completely dry ("Trocken") Rieslings in this region, so that most of the more famous makers have found acceptance for such wines, particularly in Europe." - info from Wikipedia.
Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.
Now on Instagram.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dublin
Dublin (Irish: Baile Átha Cliath) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. It is on the east coast of Ireland, in the province of Leinster, at the mouth of the River Liffey, and is bordered on the south by the Wicklow Mountains. It has an urban area population of 1,173,179, while the population of the Dublin Region (formerly County Dublin), as of 2016, was 1,347,359, and the population of the Greater Dublin area was 1,904,806.
There is archaeological debate regarding precisely where Dublin was established by the Gaels in or before the 7th century AD. Later expanded as a Viking settlement, the Kingdom of Dublin, the city became Ireland's principal settlement following the Norman invasion. The city expanded rapidly from the 17th century and was briefly the second largest city in the British Empire before the Acts of Union in 1800. Following the partition of Ireland in 1922, Dublin became the capital of the Irish Free State, later renamed Ireland.
Dublin is a historical and contemporary centre for education, the arts, administration and industry. As of 2018 the city was listed by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) as a global city, with a ranking of "Alpha −", which places it amongst the top thirty cities in the world.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Guinness
Arthur Guinness (24 September 1725 – 23 January 1803) was an Irish brewer and the founder of the Guinness brewery business and family. He was also an entrepreneur and philanthropist.
At 27, in 1752, Guinness's godfather Arthur Price, the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Cashel, bequeathed him £100 in his will. Guinness invested the money and in 1755 had a brewery at Leixlip, just 17 km from Dublin. In 1759, Guinness went to the city and set up his own business. He took a 9,000-year lease on the 4-acre (16,000 m2) brewery at St. James's Gate from the descendants of Sir Mark Rainsford for an annual rent of £45.
Guinness's flowery red signature is still copied on every label of bottled Guinness.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinness_Storehouse
Guinness Storehouse is a tourist attraction at St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin, Ireland. Since opening in 2000, it has received over four million visitors.
The Storehouse covers seven floors surrounding a glass atrium shaped in the form of a pint of Guinness. The ground floor introduces the beer's four ingredients (water, barley, hops and yeast), and the brewery's founder, Arthur Guinness. Other floors feature the history of Guinness advertising and include an interactive exhibit on responsible drinking. The seventh floor houses the Gravity Bar with views of Dublin and where visitors may drink a pint of Guinness included in the price of admission, which was €18.50 on 15 October 2018 with discounts depending on dates and times, described as "overpriced" by Condé Nast Traveler. In 2006, a new wing opened incorporating a live installation of the present-day brewing process.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinness_Brewery
St. James's Gate Brewery (Irish: Grúdlann Gheata Naomh Séamuis) is a brewery founded in 1759 in Dublin, Ireland, by Arthur Guinness. The company is now a part of Diageo, a British company formed from the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan in 1997. The main product of the brewery is Guinness Draught.
Originally leased in 1759 to Arthur Guinness at IR£45 (Irish pounds) per year for 9,000 years, the St. James's Gate area has been the home of Guinness ever since. It became the largest brewery in Ireland in 1838, and the largest in the world by 1886, with an annual output of 1.2 million barrels. Although no longer the largest brewery in the world, it remains as the largest brewer of stout. The company has since bought out the originally leased property, and during the 19th and early 20th centuries the brewery owned most of the buildings in the surrounding area, including many streets of housing for brewery employees, and offices associated with the brewery. The brewery also made all of its own power using its own power plant.
There is an attached exhibition on the 250-year-old history of Guinness, called the Guinness Storehouse.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinness
Guinness is a dark Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in over 120. Sales in 2011 amounted to 850 million litres (220,000,000 US gal). It is popular with the Irish, both in Ireland and abroad. In spite of declining consumption since 2001, it is still the best-selling alcoholic drink in Ireland where Guinness & Co. Brewery makes almost €2 billion worth annually.
Guinness' burnt flavour derives from malted barley and roasted unmalted barley, a relatively modern development, not becoming part of the grist until the mid-20th century. For many years, a portion of aged brew was blended with freshly brewed beer to give a sharp lactic acid flavour. Although Guinness's palate still features a characteristic "tang", the company has refused to confirm whether this type of blending still occurs. The draught beer's thick, creamy head comes from mixing the beer with nitrogen and carbon dioxide.[6]
The company moved its headquarters to London at the beginning of the Anglo-Irish Trade War in 1932. In 1997, Guinness Plc merged with Grand Metropolitan to form the multinational alcoholic-drinks producer Diageo plc, based out of London.
Horned Treehopper (Membracidae)
Treehoppers (more precisely typical treehoppers to distinguish them from the Aetalionidae) and thorn bugs are members of the family Membracidae, a group of insects related to the cicadas and the leafhoppers. About 3,200 species of treehoppers in over 400 genera are known. They are found on all continents except Antarctica; only three species are known from Europe. Individual treehoppers usually live for only a few months.
Morphology
Thorn bugs, due to their unusual appearance, have long interested naturalists. They are best known for their enlarged and ornate pronotum, which most often resembles thorns, apparently to aid camouflage. In some species, the pronotum is a horn-like extension, but can form more bizarre shapes. The specialised pronotum (or helmet) may not be simply an expansion of the prothoracic sclerite, but a fused pair of dorsal appendages of the first thoracic segment.
These may be serial homologues of insect wings, which are dorsal appendages of the second and/or third thoracic segments. Evidence for this theory includes the development of the helmet, which arises as a pair of appendages attached to each side of the dorsal prothorax by an articulation with muscles and a flexible membrane that allow it to be mobile. Also, the same genes are involved in development of the helmet and the wings. Distinguishing males from females is accomplished only by looking at the genitalia.
Ecology
Treehoppers pierce plant stems with their beaks, and feed upon sap. The immatures can frequently be found on herbaceous shrubs and grasses, whereas the adults more often frequent hardwood tree species. Excess sap becomes concentrated as honeydew, which often attracts ants. Some species have a well-developed ant mutualism, and these species are normally gregarious, as well, which attracts more ants. The ants provide protection from predators. Treehoppers mimic thorns to prevent predators from spotting them.
Others have formed mutualisms with wasps, such as Parachartergus apicalis. Even geckos form mutualistic relations with treehoppers, with whom they communicate by small vibrations of the abdomen.
Eggs are laid by the female with her saw-like ovipositor in slits cut into the cambium or live tissue of stems, though some species lay eggs on top of leaves or stems. The eggs may be parasitised by wasps, such as the tiny fairyflies (Mymaridae) and Trichogrammatidae. The females of some membracid species sit over their eggs to protect them from predators and parasites, and may buzz their wings at intruders. The females of some gregarious species work together to protect each other's eggs. In at least one species, Publilia modesta, mothers serve to attract ants when nymphs are too small to produce much honeydew. Some other species make feeding slits for the nymphs.
Like the adults, the nymphs also feed upon sap, and unlike adults, have an extensible anal tube that appears designed to deposit honeydew away from their bodies. The tube appears to be longer in solitary species rarely attended by ants. It is important for sap-feeding bugs to dispose of honeydew, as otherwise it can become infected with sooty moulds. Indeed, one of the evident benefits of ants for Publilia concava nymphs is that the ants remove the honeydew and reduce such fungal growth.
Most species are innocuous to humans, although a few are considered minor pests, such as Umbonia crassicornis (a thorn bug), the three-cornered alfalfa hopper (Spissistilus festinus), and the buffalo treehopper (Stictocephala bisonia), which has been introduced to Europe. The cowbug Oxyrachis tarandus has been recorded as a pest of Withania somnifera in India.
Systematics
The diversity of treehoppers has been little researched, and their systematic arrangement is tentative. It seems three main lineages can be distinguished; the Endoiastinae are the most ancient treehoppers, still somewhat resembling cicadas. Centrotinae form the second group; they are somewhat more advanced but the pronotum still does not cover the scutellum in almost all of these. The Darninae, Heteronotinae, Membracinae and Smiliinae contain the most apomorphic treehoppers.
Several proposed subfamilies seem to be paraphyletic. Centronodinae and Nicomiinae might need to be merged into the Centrotinae to result in a monophyletic group.
[Credit: en.wikipedia.org]
A view along The Sunken Lane looking towards Hawthorn Ridge, where the mine was detonated prior to the advance on 1st July 1916, with a still from the Geoffrey Malins film superimposed, showing the men of 1st Battalion The Lancashire Fusiliers.
I do not claim that the position is precisely matched, rather I have just tried to put some faces back into the location, and wonder what they must have been thinking and feeling in the moments before the attack, almost certainly none of these men would have survived for more than a few moments as soon as they emerged from the Lane.
RIP
Location and background information:-
The Sunken Lane is a lane running in a north-south direction situated in what was No Mans Land, roughly halfway between the opposing Front Lines west of Beaumont Hamel village until the fighting moved beyond the village in November 1916. From September 1914 the French Army occupied the Allied Front Line here. From August 1915 the British Army took over the Front Line sector here.A little further along the road from Beaumont Hamel to Auchonvillers, on the right, is the position where Geoffrey Malins famously filmed the mine explosion on Hawthorn Ridge on the 1st of July 1916. A track leading up from this point runs to the position which was known during the war as 'White City'; where there were stores and also dugouts used in the Somme offensives.
Lancashire Fusilier's War Diary for July 1st. It makes chilling reading:-
A transcription of part of the material in the Lancashire Fusilier's War Diary for July 1st. It was written by Lieutenant Colonel Magniac.
86th Brigade
1st Battalion The Lancashire Fusiliers
Summary of Events and Information
Account of action 1st July 1916.The Battalion was badly cut up by enemy’s Machine Gun fire suffering 508 casualties and 21 officer casualties. At dusk we returned to the trenches but held and consolidated Sunken Road. The Battalion fought nobly but had no chance of success against enemy’s Machine Gun fire.
Attack of 1st Lancashire Fusiliers on BEAUMONT HAMEL
At 7 am Battalion Headquarters moved from White City to Sunken Road, and at the same time the enemy began to shell the Sunken Road with 77cm guns, and inflicted about 20 casualties. They had probably spotted the communication trench leading from the end of the tunnel into the road.
07.20
The mine under HAWTHORNE REDOUBT was fired, and though it was not visible from the road, all felt the ground shake. ‘B’ and ‘D’ Companies were now lining up in position for the assault. ‘D’ Company had to be careful not to expose themselves as the Northern end of Sunken Road is shallow, and ‘B’ Company had to carefully select their exits, as the bank is overhung and lined with trees at the Southern end. 86th Stokes Gun battery speed hurricane bombardment on German front line.
0730
The leading sections of ‘B’ and ‘D’ and bombing company dashed forward in extended order, ’D’ Company being led by 2/Lieutenants CRAIG, GORFUNKLE and SPENCER, ‘B’ Company by 2/Lieutenants PRESCOTT, EDWARDS, and KERSHAW. At the same moment 1 platoon ‘B’ Company under Lieutenant WHITTAM and 2 platoons bombers left our trenches South of BEAUMONT road. ‘A’ Company began to leave front line trenches in support of ‘B’ and ‘D’ Companies.
The leading 2 lines of ‘B’ and ‘D’ Companies had a few moments [grace] and then the Enemy Machine Gun opened and a storm of bullets met the attack. The third and fourth lines of ‘B’ and ‘D’ Companies were practically wiped out within a few yards of Sunken Road and only some wounded, including Captains NUNAELLY and WELLS the two Company Commanders managed to crawl back. ‘A’ Company had also suffered in their advance to Sunken Road, the three Subalterns all being hit and many men. Captain [MATHEY] reached the road and dashed in with the men who entered over Northern end.
‘C’ Company caught the Machine Gun fire as soon as they left the trenches. Captain DAWSON and Colour Sergeant Major NELSON being hit on the parapet when giving orders to Company to advance. 2/Lieutenant CASEBY and about 60 Other Ranks reached the Sunken Road, but one platoon under 2/Lieutenant JONES got blocked in the communication trench by wounded.
The bank into the Sunken Road is a steep drop of about 15 feet, and men encumbered with coils of wire mounts etc. rolled down this to the bottom.
This now ensured some delay whilst ‘C’ Company and remainder of ‘A’ Company who had entered down steep bank were collected and sorted from 100 wounded who had by now collected in Sunken Road, preparatory to further advance.
Sergeant CAULFIELD, a Lewis Gunner, had located a Machine Gun behind some debris in the village, and he pointed this out to the Commanding Officer. Two Lewis Guns were established toward [Left] Flank to put it out of action, but the German Artillery observation was very quick and they were immediately shelled by 77cm guns and 1 gun hit, still the Machine Gun ceased firing from that position.
0815
It took nearly half an hour to organise the further advance, and at 0815 the Commanding Officer ordered the Stokes Guns to open a rapid burst under cover of which 2/Lieutenant CASEBY led forward about 75 Other Ranks who had been collected. This reinforcement was launched from the [Left] end of the road to try and gain a footing toward Northern end of village, where the ground is higher.
All ranks dashed forward bravely, but on tipping the crest, just 10 yards from the Sunken Road they were met by the same heavy Machine Gun fire and only 2/Lieutenant CASEBY and about 10 Other Ranks reached the German wire.
It was now 0830, and no reports had come from the front, and it was not possible to see from Sunken Road what was happening on the flanks, so Commanding Officer returned to our trenches and got news there.
Major UTTERSON reported that besides the 10% reinforcements, who were holding front line system there was about 30 men, who had not gone over the top owing to being blocked by wounded. These were collected.
Very little movement could be seen in the German lines, and the village was certainly not occupied by our troops, and fire had died down. Around HAWTHORN REDOUBT about 25 Germans under an officer could be seen working toward the crater. One of our Machine Guns opened on them, but had to cease almost at once as enemy Artillery blew in the parapet by them in under 3 minutes.
0945
Returning to the Sunken Road there was nothing to be done, as we had no reinforcements. At about 0945 there was a sudden retirement on our Right or Southern flank, presumably Royal Fusiliers and Middlesexs’. Everyone thought for the moment the Germans were counter attacking [original must be re-examined as half a sentence is missing]. We had over 100 wounded in the Sunken Road and they tried to make [rush] for the tunnel. This was soon cancelled and about [50 fit] men were made to [line] the bank at either end. 25 under Sergeant GREEN began digging at the Southern end and making a barricade and about 35 did the same at the Northern end.
1145
Time passed and at 11.45 GS 43 from General Officer Commanding 86th Brigade was received. GM 17/1 sent in reply - (copies attached).
There was no time to receive an answer to GM 17/1 and orders were given to Major UTTERSON that at 12.30 he was to advance with his 25 men viz. all that was available - our front Trenches exclusive - exclusive of 10% who were left under our orders.
The remaining men in Sunken Road were got ready to advance, if Major UTTERSON’S reinforcements reached the road.
Although there was no chance of achieving anything on our own front, there were about 700 men in the trenches opposite the Hawthorne Redoubt and to help them it seemed necessary to attract as much Machine Gun fire as possible on ourselves.
Unfortunately only Major UTTERSON and 4 Other Ranks reached the road, and the troops on our right never moved, so our sacrifice was in vain. Still it showed us that the Enemy still held the village and that his Machine Guns were intact.
There was nothing now to be done except to hold on to Sunken Road.
Further steps were taken to improve entrenchments already begun, and the wounded who could move by themselves were allowed to crawl back to White City via the Tunnel.
1 pm.
Received BM 1. Copy attached - and reply CM 15/1.
1.50 pm
CM 16/1 dispatched.
2.10 pm
Captain FULTON (attached to Brigade Staff) arrived and talked over situation, and informed me that Sunken Road must be held at all costs.
Nothing else changed the situation for the remainder of the day, except the German shells which dropped into Sunken Road caused a few more casualties and the Germans sniped [and] killed a good many of our wounded, whenever they moved or tried to put on their field dressings.
At 6 pm remainder of men except 1 officer and 25 withdrew from Sunken Road, and at night all available stretcher bearers and men searched the field for wounded.
The day had cost the Battalion many valuable lives. Casualties were 7 officers killed, 14 wounded and 500 Other Ranks. The Battalion fought well, but the enemy was ready for us and had plenty of Machine Guns and against them no troops with a strength of only 1½ men per yard can hope for success.
A link to the footage shot by Geoffrey Malins:-
The Equestrian Monument to King Felipe III of Spain in the Plaza Mayor in Madrid is made up of a Mannerist bronze sculpture larger than life size and an architectural pedestal from a later period, currently supported on a rectangular plinth or bench that serves as protection and support for a wrought iron lance fence.
The equestrian portrait is the fundamental part of the monument. The king appears with a young and smiling face, showing serenity. His head is uncovered and he is protected with half armor, with the breastplate decorated with bas-reliefs. The neck with a large ruffle stands out, according to the fashion of the moment. Iconographic elements of diverse origins, attributes of power that indicate the rank of the character are joined to the real image. On the chest appears the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece, of Burgundian origin, while the right hand holds the baton, using the left to hold the reins.
The horse, advancing at a pace, raises one of its front legs, giving movement to the figure. It is meticulously worked, as can be seen in the treatment of the agitated manes, the tail, the muscles and the veins marked through the skin. The reconstructed head is treated in a more concise and schematic way. On the strap appears the signature of the sculptor Pietro Tacca, “PETRUS TACCA F. FLORENTIAE 1614”.
There is also a second inscription "RESTORED 1934 / ESCULTOR - FUNDIDOR / J. CRISTÓBAL - CODINA H".
The pedestal is a quadrangular prismatic body four meters high, topped by two semi-cylinders. It is made with three types of stone, gray granite in the base, pink granite in the middle section and Colmenar de Oreja limestone at the top, in the friezes, moldings and tombstones.
On the granite plinth there are several moldings with plant decoration, triglyphs and bay leaves. Two allegorical tombstones with sculpted reliefs representing war trophies are located on the sides of the intermediate body. In the frontal semi-cylinder there is a heraldic relief with the coats of arms of the Royal House and the Villa of Madrid on a trimmed leather cartouche, topped by the royal crown. In the rear semi-cylinder there is a tombstone with loose bronze letters alluding to the placement of the equestrian monument in the Plaza Mayor: "THE QUEEN DOÑA ISABEL II / AT THE REQUEST OF THE / MADRID CITY COUNCIL / COMMANDED TO PLACE / IN THIS SITE THE STATUE / OF SEÑOR REY / DON FELIPE III / SON OF THIS VILLA / WHO RESTITUTED HER / THE COURT IN 1606 / AND MADE IT BUILD IN 1619 / THIS MAJOR SQUARE / YEAR 1848 ”.
The upper body or finish of the pedestal starts with a beautiful frieze with scrolls and vegetal decoration that connects with the cornice by means of a molding of ova and leaves. The set of equestrian sculpture and its pedestal, although heterogeneous in origin, is harmonious and well proportioned, constituting an element that notably enriches the space of the Plaza Mayor, both for its correct scale and for the stylistic agreement with the architecture of the herself. If from the formal and stylistic point of view the monument is suitable for that space, it is no less so from the historical point of view, since Felipe III was precisely the promoter of the works to complete the square in 1617. Both elements, square and equestrian monument, together take on a special value that makes this space the place in the city that best evokes the historical period of the Habsburg dynasty, creating an image that is part of the collective memory of Madrid and foreigners.
In conclusion, the bronze equestrian sculpture of King Philip III of Spain is one of the most important and significant pieces of Mannerist monumental statuary, one of the few surviving in Europe from this period and the oldest of those preserved outside of Italy. made by two leading artists such as Giambologna and Pietro Tacca, so its uniqueness and importance for the historical heritage of the Community of Madrid is beyond doubt. The restorations carried out in 1934 by Juan Cristóbal González Quesada are worthy and are perfectly integrated into the whole. The pedestal designed by Juan José Sánchez Pescador with the stone reliefs of Sabino de Medina de la Torriente created for that location in 1848, is an element of appreciable architectural and artistic value that places the portrait in height, complements and enhances equestrian, essential to allow adequate contemplation, which is why it is considered an inseparable complement to the main sculpture. The set of both pieces, called Equestrian Monument to King Felipe III of Spain, in the Plaza Mayor of Madrid, brings together values of historical and artistic interest relevant to its declaration as Asset of Cultural Interest in the Monument category.
El Madrid de los Austrias (English: The Madrid of the Austrians or the Habsburgs) is a name used for the old centre of Madrid, built during the reign of the Habsburg Dynasty (1516–1700), known in Spain as Casa de Austria. The area is located south of the Calle Mayor, in between the Metro stations Sol and Ópera.
Madrid first became the capital in the 16th century, Spain's Golden Age. The kingdom underwent enormous economic growth by virtue of its provinces in Hispanoamerica. The Habsburgs commissioned a variety of buildings and infrastructure projects, in order to represent their power and wealth through their shaping of public space. El Madrid de los Austrias subsequently took the name of its builders, the Spanish Habsburgs, who are known as "the Austrians" in Spanish. Its typical architectural style ranges from the late Renaissance through the early Baroque.
The most notable Habsburg construction and the essential part of El Madrid de los Austrias is the Plaza Mayor, in the middle of which stands a statue of its builder, Philip III of Spain. Laid out in 1619, the Plaza Mayor is a large, rectangular plaza with arcades and nine entrances. It is maintained in a colorful dark red and orange; these colors were chosen in a citywide poll. The Plaza Mayor was the scene of bullfights, executions, and coronations.
Before becoming the capital, in 1535, Madrid was 72 hectares in area, increasing to 134 in 1565, four years after the establishment of the Court in the town. At the end of the reign of Philip II, the town occupied 282 hectares and had about 7590 homes, three times more than in 1563 (2,250), shortly after the appointment of Madrid as capital.
The intense housing activity of this period was not sufficient to meet the demand for housing by courtiers and servants of the Crown. This induced the king to issue the edict known as Regalía de Aposento, through which property owners of more than one floor were forced to give one to a family of the court.
This decree encouraged the development of what became known as casas a la malicia, a kind of home in which the owners, attempting to avoid compliance with the decree, used different solutions (a single storey, excessive compartmentalization of the interior or concealment of the upper floor from view from the roads ...).
The Palacio de Santa Cruz, located on the Plaza de Santa Cruz, was built between 1629 and 1643. Characteristic of Habsburg architecture is the red façade with white-framed windows and it resembles the style of the Plaza Mayor. The structure has two prominent corner towers with pointed roofs, and originally accommodated a prison, the Cárcel de la Corte. Here the condemned would be held before being taken to the adjacent Plaza Mayor for execution. One famous prisoner was the bandit Luis Candelas, a sort of Spanish Robin Hood, who was executed in November 1837.
Despite the Spanish Civil War and the subsequent reconstruction, the palace has lost little of its original form. Briefly hosting the Ministro de Ultramar (Overseas Ministry), since 1931 it has been the seat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Several important buildings are also located in the Plaza de la Villa, one of the oldest plazas in Madrid. The oldest building is the Torre de los Lujanes, built in the Gothic style in the 15th century. Strictly speaking the Torre does not belong to the Habsburg period, though it is situated in the Madrid de los Austrias. Another building, the Casa de Cisneros, was built in 1537. Alongside it is the Ayuntamiento, the old town hall. It was built by the architect Juan Gómez de Mora, designer of the Plaza Mayor, and it is architecturally similar with a relatively austere red-orange façade and mansard roof, and steep-roofed corner towers.
Other important buildings include:
Iglesia de San Andrés (St. Andrew's Church)
The Plaza de las Descalzas with the cloister monastery of the Descalzas Reales
The Casa de las Siete Chimeneas (literally "House of the Seven Chimneys") on the Plaza del Rey
The Puente de Segovia (Bridge to Segovia)
The Palace of Uceda
Madrid is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and its monocentric metropolitan area is the second-largest in the EU. The municipality covers 604.3 km2 (233.3 sq mi) geographical area. Madrid lies on the River Manzanares in the central part of the Iberian Peninsula at about 650 meters above mean sea level. The capital city of both Spain and the surrounding autonomous community of Madrid (since 1983), it is also the political, economic, and cultural centre of the country. The climate of Madrid features hot summers and cool winters.
The Madrid urban agglomeration has the second-largest GDP in the European Union and its influence in politics, education, entertainment, environment, media, fashion, science, culture, and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities. Due to its economic output, high standard of living, and market size, Madrid is considered the major financial centre and the leading economic hub of the Iberian Peninsula and of Southern Europe. The metropolitan area hosts major Spanish companies such as Telefónica, Iberia, BBVA and FCC. It concentrates the bulk of banking operations in the country and it is the Spanish-speaking city generating the largest amount of webpages. For innovation, Madrid is ranked 19th in the world and 7th in Europe from 500 cities, in the 2022–2023 annual analysts Innovation Cities Index, published by 2ThinkNow.
Madrid houses the headquarters of the UN's World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB), the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI), and the Public Interest Oversight Board (PIOB). It also hosts major international regulators and promoters of the Spanish language: the Standing Committee of the Association of Spanish Language Academies, headquarters of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), the Instituto Cervantes and the Foundation of Urgent Spanish (FundéuRAE). Madrid organises fairs such as FITUR, ARCO, SIMO TCI and the Madrid Fashion Week. Madrid is home to two world-famous football clubs, Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid.
While Madrid possesses modern infrastructure, it has preserved the look and feel of many of its historic neighbourhoods and streets. Its landmarks include the Plaza Mayor, the Royal Palace of Madrid; the Royal Theatre with its restored 1850 Opera House; the Buen Retiro Park, founded in 1631; the 19th-century National Library building (founded in 1712) containing some of Spain's historical archives; many national museums, and the Golden Triangle of Art, located along the Paseo del Prado and comprising three art museums: Prado Museum, the Reina Sofía Museum, a museum of modern art, and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, which complements the holdings of the other two museums. Cibeles Palace and Fountain has become one of the monument symbols of the city. The mayor is José Luis Martínez-Almeida from the People's Party.
The documented history of Madrid dates to the 9th century, even though the area has been inhabited since the Stone Age. The primitive nucleus of Madrid, a walled military outpost in the left bank of the Manzanares, dates back to the second half of the 9th century, during the rule of the Emirate of Córdoba. Conquered by Christians in 1083 or 1085, Madrid consolidated in the Late Middle Ages as a middle to upper-middle rank town of the Crown of Castile. The development of Madrid as administrative centre began when the court of the Hispanic Monarchy was settled in the town in 1561.
The primitive urban nucleus of Madrid (Majriṭ) was founded in the late 9th century (from 852 to 886) as a citadel erected on behalf of Muhammad I, the Cordobese emir, on the relatively steep left bank of the Manzanares. Originally it was largely a military outpost for the quartering of troops. Similarly to other fortresses north of the Tagus, Madrid made it difficult to muster reinforcements from the Asturian kingdom to the unruly inhabitants of Toledo, prone to rebellion against the Umayyad rule. Extending across roughly 8 ha, Muslim Madrid consisted of the alcázar and the wider walled citadel (al-Mudayna) with the addition of some housing outside the walls. By the late 10th century, Majriṭ was an important borderland military stronghold territory with great strategic value, owing to its proximity to Toledo. The most generous estimates for the 10th century tentatively and intuitively put the number of inhabitants of the 9 ha settlement at 2,000. The model of repopulation is likely to have been by the Limitanei, characteristic of the borderlands.
The settlement is mentioned in the work of the 10th-century Cordobese chronicler Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Razi, with the latter locating the Castle of Madrid within the district of Guadalajara. After the Christian conquest, in the first half of the 12th century Al-Idrisi described Madrid as a "small city and solid fortress, well populated. In the age of Islam, it had a small mosque where the khuṭbah was always delivered," and placed it in the province of the sierra, "al-Sārrāt". It was ascribed by most post-Christian conquest Muslim commentators, including Ibn Sa'id al-Maghribi, to Toledo. This may tentatively suggest that the settlement, part of the cora of Guadalajara according to al-Razi, could have been transferred to Toledo following the Fitna of al-Andalus.
The city passed to Christian control in the context of the conquest of Toledo; historiography debates whether if the event took place in 1083, before the conquest of Toledo, in the wake of negotiations between Alfonso VI and al-Qadir, or afterwards, as a direct consequence of the seizure of Toledo in 1085.
The mosque was reconsecrated as the church of the Virgin of Almudena (almudin, the garrison's granary). The society in the 11th and 12th centuries was structured around knight-villeins as a leading class in the local public, social and economic life. The town had a Muslim and mozarabic preexisting population (a number of the former would remain in the town after the conquest while the later community would remain very large throughout the high middle ages before merging with the new settlers). The town was further repopulated by settlers with a dominant Castilian-Leonese extraction. Frank settlers were a minority but influential community. The Jewish community was probably smaller in number than the mudéjar one, standing out as physicians up until their expulsion. By the end of the middle ages, the best-positioned members of the mudéjar community were the alarifes ('master builders'), who were tasked with public works (including the management of the viajes de agua), and had a leading role in the urbanism of the town in the 15th century.
Since the mid-13th century and up to the late 14th century, the concejo of Madrid vied for the control of the Real de Manzanares territory against the concejo of Segovia, a powerful town north of the Sierra de Guadarrama mountain range, characterised by its repopulating prowess and its husbandry-based economy, contrasted by the agricultural and less competent in repopulation town of Madrid. After the decline of Sepúlveda, another concejo north of the mountain range, Segovia had become a major actor south of the Guadarrama mountains, expanding across the Lozoya and Manzanares rivers to the north of Madrid and along the Guadarrama river course to its west.
The society of Madrid before the 15th century was an agriculture-based one (prevailing over livestock), featuring a noteworthy number of irrigated crops.[16] Two important industries were those of the manufacturing of building materials and leather.
John I of Castile gifted Leo V of Armenia the lordship of Madrid together with those of Villa Real and Andújar in 1383. The Madrilenian concejo made sure that the privilege of lordship did not become hereditary, also presumably receiving a non-sale privilege guaranteeing never again to be handed over by the Crown to a lord.
Later, Henry III of Castile (1379–1406) rebuilt the town after it was destroyed by fire, and he founded El Pardo just outside its walls.
During the 15th century, the town became one of the preferred locations of the monarchs of the Trastámara dynasty, namely John II of Castile and Henry IV of Castile (Madrid was the town in which the latter spent more time and eventually died). Among the appeals the town offered, aside from the abundant game in the surroundings, the strategic location and the closed link between the existing religious sites and the monarchy, the imposing alcázar frequently provided a safe for the Royal Treasure. The town briefly hosted a medieval mint, manufacturing coins from 1467 to 1471. Madrid would also become a frequent seat of the court during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, spending reportedly more than 1000 days in the town, including a 8-month long uninterrupted spell.
By the end of the Middle Ages, Madrid was placed as middle to upper-middle rank town of the Castilian urban network in terms of population. The town also enjoyed a vote at the Cortes of Castile (one out of 18) and housed many hermitages and hospitals.
Facing the 1492 decree of expulsion, few local Jews opted for leaving, with most preferring to convert instead, remaining as a non-fully assimilated converso community, subject to rejection by Old Christians. Likewise, adoption of Christianism by the mudéjar community facing the 1502 pragmatic law of forced conversion was also widespread. Seeking to protect its economic interests, the council actively promoted assimilation in the latter case by awarding tax and economic benefits, and gifts.
The 1520–21 Revolt of the Comuneros succeeded in Madrid, as, following contacts with the neighbouring city of Toledo, the comunero rebels deposed the corregidor, named Antonio de Astudillo, by 17 June 1520. Juan Zapata and Pedro de Montemayor found themselves among the most uncompromising supporters of the comunero cause in Madrid, with the former becoming the captain of the local militias while the later was captured by royalists and executed by late 1520. The end of revolt came through a negotiation, though, and another two of the leading figures of the uprising (the Bachelor Castillo and Juan Negrete) went unpunished.
Philip II (1527–1598), moved the court to Madrid in 1561. Although he made no official declaration, the seat of the court became the de facto capital. Unlikely to have more than 20,000 inhabitants by the time, the city grew approaching the 100,000 mark by the end of the 16th century. The population plummeted (reportedly reduced to a half) during the 5-year period the capital was set in Valladolid (1601–1606), with estimations of roughly 50–60,000 people leaving the city. The move (often framed in modern usage as a case of real estate speculation) was promoted by the valido of Philip III, Duke of Lerma, who had previously acquired many properties in Valladolid. Madrid undertook a mammoth cultural and economic crisis and the decimation of the price of housing ensued. Lerma acquired then cheap real estate in Madrid, and suggested the King to move back the capital to Madrid. The king finally accepted the additional 250,000 ducats offered by the town of Madrid in order to help financing the move of the royal court back to Madrid.
During the 17th century, Madrid had a estate-based society. The nobility, a quantitatively large group, swarmed around the royal court. The ecclesial hierarchy, featuring a nobiliary extraction, shared with the nobility the echelon of the Madrilenian society. The lower clergy, featuring a humble extraction, usually had a rural background, although clerics regular often required certifications of limpieza de sangre if not hidalguía. There were plenty of civil servants, who enjoyed considerable social prestige. There was a comparatively small number of craftsmen, traders and goldsmiths. Domestic staff was also common with servants such as pages, squires, butlers and also slaves (owned as symbol of social status). And lastly at the lowest end, there were homeless people, unemployed immigrants, and discharged soldiers and deserters.
During the 17th century, Madrid grew rapidly. The royal court attracted many of Spain's leading artists and writers to Madrid, including Cervantes, Lope de Vega, and Velázquez during the so-called cultural Siglo de Oro.
By the end of the Ancient Regime, Madrid hosted a slave population, tentatively estimated to range from 6,000 to 15,000 out of total population larger than 150,000. Unlike the case of other Spanish cities, during the 18th century the slave population in Madrid was unbalanced in favour of males over females.
In 1739 Philip V began constructing new palaces, including the Palacio Real de Madrid. Under Charles III (1716–1788) that Madrid became a truly modern city. Charles III, who cleaned up the city and its government, became one of the most popular kings to rule Madrid, and the saying "the best mayor, the king" became widespread. Besides completing the Palacio Real, Charles III is responsible for many of Madrid's finest buildings and monuments, including the Prado and the Puerta de Alcalá.
Amid one of the worst subsistence crises of the Bourbon monarchy, the installation of news lanterns for the developing street lighting system—part of the new modernization policies of the Marquis of Esquilache, the new Sicilian minister—led to an increase on oil prices. This added to an increasing tax burden imposed on a populace already at the brink of famine.[42] In this context, following the enforcing of a ban of the traditional Spanish dress (long cape and a wide-brimmed hat) in order to facilitate the identification of criminal suspects, massive riots erupted in March 1766 in Madrid, the so-called "Mutiny of Esquilache".
During the second half of the 18th century, the increasing number of carriages brought a collateral increment of pedestrian accidents, forcing the authorities to take measures against traffic, limiting the number of animals per carriage (in order to reduce speed) and eventually decreeing the full ban of carriages in the city (1787).
On 27 October 1807, Charles IV and Napoleon signed the Treaty of Fontainebleau, which allowed French troops passage through Spanish territory to join Spanish troops and invade Portugal, which had refused to obey the order for an international blockade against England. In February 1808, Napoleon used the excuse that the blockade against England was not being respected at Portuguese ports to send a powerful army under his brother-in-law, General Joachim Murat. Contrary to the treaty, French troops entered via Catalonia, occupying the plazas along the way. Thus, throughout February and March 1808, cities such as Barcelona and Pamplona remained under French rule.
While all this was happening, the Mutiny of Aranjuez (17 March 1808) took place, led by Charles IV's own son, crown prince Ferdinand, and directed against him. Charles IV resigned and Ferdinand took his place as King Ferdinand VII. In May 1808, Napoleon's troops entered the city. On 2 May 1808 (Spanish: Dos de Mayo), the Madrileños revolted against the French forces, whose brutal behavior would have a lasting impact on French rule in Spain and France's image in Europe in general. Thus, Ferdinand VII returned to a city that had been occupied by Murat.
Both the king and his father became virtual prisoners of the French army. Napoleon, taking advantage of the weakness of the Bourbons, forced both, first the father and then the son, to meet him at Bayonne, where Ferdinand VII arrived on 20 April. Here Napoleon forced both kings to abdicate on 5 May, handing the throne to his brother Joseph Bonaparte.
On 2 May, the crowd began to concentrate at the Palacio Real and watched as the French soldiers removed the royal family members from the palace. On seeing the infante Francisco de Paula struggling with his captor, the crowd launched an assault on the carriages, shouting ¡Que se lo llevan! (They're taking him away from us!). French soldiers fired into the crowd. The fighting lasted for hours and is reflected in Goya's painting, The Second of May 1808, also known as The Charge of the Mamelukes.
Meanwhile, the Spanish military remained garrisoned and passive. Only the artillery barracks at Monteleón under Captain Luis Daoíz y Torres, manned by four officers, three NCOs and ten men, resisted. They were later reinforced by a further 33 men and two officers led by Pedro Velarde y Santillán, and distributed weapons to the civilian population. After repelling a first attack under French General Lefranc, both Spanish commanders died fighting heroically against reinforcements sent by Murat. Gradually, the pockets of resistance fell. Hundreds of Spanish men and women and French soldiers were killed in this skirmish.
On 12 August 1812, following the defeat of the French forces at Salamanca, English and Portuguese troops entered Madrid and surrounded the fortified area occupied by the French in the district of Retiro. Following two days of Siege warfare, the 1,700 French surrendered and a large store of arms, 20,000 muskets and 180 cannon, together with many other supplies were captured, along with two French Imperial Eagles.
"In the early years of this century, Madrid was a very ugly town, with few architectural monuments, with horrible housing."
Antonio Alcalá Galiano. Recuerdos de un anciano.
On 29 October, Hill received Wellington's positive order to abandon Madrid and march to join him. After a clash with Soult's advance guard at Perales de Tajuña on the 30th, Hill broke contact and withdrew in the direction of Alba de Tormes. Joseph re-entered his capital on 2 November.
After the war of independence Ferdinand VII returned to the throne (1814). The projects of reform by Joseph Bonaparte were abandoned; during the Fernandine period, despite the proposal of several architectural projects for the city, the lack of ability to finance those led to works often being postponed or halted.
After a liberal military revolution, Colonel Riego made the king swear to respect the Constitution. Liberal and conservative government thereafter alternated, ending with the enthronement of Isabella II.
At the time the reign of Isabella II started, the city was still enclosed behind its walls, featuring a relatively slow demographic growth as well as very high population density. After the 1833 administrative reforms for the country devised by Javier de Burgos (including the configuration of the current province of Madrid), Madrid was to become the capital of the new liberal state.
Madrid experienced substantial changes during the 1830s. The corregimiento and the corregidor (institutions from the Ancien Regime) were ended for good, giving rise to the constitutional alcalde in the context of the liberal transformations. Purged off from Carlist elements, the civil office and the military and palatial milieus recognised legitimacy to the dynastic rights of Isabella II.
The reforms enacted by Finance Minister Juan Álvarez Mendizábal in 1835–1836 led to the confiscation of ecclesiastical properties and the subsequent demolition of churches, convents and adjacent orchards in the city (similarly to other Spanish cities); the widening of streets and squares ensued.
In 1854, amid economic and political crisis, following the pronunciamiento of group of high officers commanded by Leopoldo O'Donnell garrisoned in the nearby town of Vicálvaro in June 1854 (the so-called "Vicalvarada"), the 7 July Manifesto of Manzanares, calling for popular rebellion, and the ousting of Luis José Sartorius from the premiership on 17 July, popular mutiny broke out in Madrid, asking for a real change of system, in what it was to be known as the Revolution of 1854. With the uprising in Madrid reaching its pinnacle on 17, 18 and 19 July, the rebels, who erected barricades in the streets, were bluntly crushed by the new government.
1858 was a marked year for the city with the arrival of the waters from the Lozoya. The Canal de Isabel II was inaugurated on 24 June 1858. A ceremony took place soon after in Calle Ancha de San Bernardo to celebrate it, unveiling a 30-metre-high water source in the middle of the street.
The plan for the Ensanche de Madrid ('widening of Madrid') by Carlos María de Castro was passed through a royal decree issued on 19 July 1860. The plan for urban expansion by Castro, a staunch Conservative, delivered a segregation of the well-off class, the middle class and the artisanate into different zones. The southern part of the Ensanche was at a disadvantage with respect to the rest of the Ensanche, insofar, located on the way to the river and at a lower altitude, it was a place of passage for the sewage runoff, thereby being described as a "space of urban degradation and misery". Beyond the Ensanches, slums and underclass neighborhoods were built in suburbs such as Tetuán, Prosperidad or Vallecas.
Student unrest took place in 1865 following the ministerial decree against the expression of ideas against the monarchy and the church and the forced removal of the rector of the Universidad Central, unwilling to submit. In a crescendo of protests, the night of 10 April 2,000 protesters clashed against the civil guard. The unrest was crudely quashed, leaving 14 deaths, 74 wounded students and 114 arrests (in what became known as the "Night of Saint Daniel"), becoming the precursor of more serious revolutionary attempts.
The Glorious Revolution resulting in the deposition of Queen Isabella II started with a pronunciamiento in the bay of Cádiz in September 1868. The success of the uprising in Madrid on 29 September prompted the French exile of the queen, who was on holiday in San Sebastián and was unable to reach the capital by train. General Juan Prim, the leader of the liberal progressives, was received by the Madrilenian people at his arrival to the city in early October in a festive mood. He pronounced his famous speech of the "three nevers" directed against the Bourbons, and delivered a highly symbolical hug to General Serrano, leader of the revolutionary forces triumphant in the 28 September battle of Alcolea, in the Puerta del Sol.
On 27 December 1870 the car in which General Prim, the prime minister, was travelling, was shot by unknown hit-men in the Turk Street, nearby the Congress of Deputies. Prim, wounded in the attack, died three days later, with the elected monarch Amadeus, Duke of Aosta, yet to swear the constitution.
The creation of the Salamanca–Sol–Pozas tram service in Madrid in 1871 meant the introduction of the first collective system of transportation in the city, predating the omnibus.
The economy of the city further modernized during the second half of the 19th century, consolidating its status as a service and financial centre. New industries were mostly focused in book publishing, construction and low-tech sectors. The introduction of railway transport greatly helped Madrid's economic prowess, and led to changes in consumption patterns (such as the substitution of salted fish for fresh fish from the Spanish coasts) as well as further strengthening the city's role as a logistics node in the country's distribution network.
The late 19th century saw the introduction of the electric power distribution. As by law, the city council could not concede an industrial monopoly to any company, the city experienced a huge competition among the companies in the electricity sector. The absence of a monopoly led to an overlapping of distribution networks, to the point that in the centre of Madrid 5 different networks could travel through the same street. Electric lighting in the streets was introduced in the 1890s.
By the end of the 19th century, the city featured access to water, a central status in the rail network, a cheap workforce and access to financial capital. With the onset of the new century, the Ensanche Sur (in the current day district of Arganzuela) started to grow to become the main industrial area of the municipality along the first half of the 20th century.
In the early 20th century Madrid undertook a major urban intervention in its city centre with the creation of the Gran Vía, a monumental thoroughfare (then divided in three segments with different names) whose construction slit the city from top to bottom with the demolition of multitude of housing and small streets. Anticipated in earlier projects, and following the signature of the contract, the works formally started in April 1910 with a ceremony led by King Alfonso XIII.
Also with the turn of the century, Madrid had become the cultural capital of Spain as centre of top knowledge institutions (the Central University, the Royal Academies, the Institución Libre de Enseñanza or the Ateneo de Madrid), also concentrating the most publishing houses and big daily newspapers, amounting for the bulk of the intellectual production in the country.
In 1919 the Madrid Metro (known as the Ferrocarril Metropolitano by that time) inaugurated its first service, which went from Sol to the Cuatro Caminos area.
In the 1919–1920 biennium Madrid witnessed the biggest wave of protests seen in the city up to that date, being the centre of innumerable strikes; despite being still surpassed by Barcelona's, the industrial city par excellence in that time, this cycle decisively set the foundations for the social unrest that took place in the 1930s in the city.
The situation the monarchy had left Madrid in 1931 was catastrophic, with tens of thousands of kids receiving no education and a huge rate of unemployment.
After the proclamation of the Second Republic on 14 April 1931 the citizens of Madrid understood the free access to the Casa de Campo (until then an enclosed property with exclusive access for the royalty), was a consequence of the fall of the monarchy, and informally occupied the area on 15 April. After the signing of a decree on 20 April which granted the area to the Madrilenian citizens in order to become a "park for recreation and instruction", the transfer was formally sealed on 6 May when Minister Indalecio Prieto formally delivered the Casa de Campo to Mayor Pedro Rico. The Spanish Constitution of 1931 was the first legislating on the state capital, setting it explicitly in Madrid. During the 1930s, Madrid enjoyed "great vitality"; it was demographically young, but also young in the sense of its relation with the modernity. During this time the prolongation of the Paseo de la Castellana towards the north was projected. The proclamation of the Republic slowed down the building of new housing. The tertiary sector gave thrust to the economy. Illiteracy rates were down to below 20%, and the city's cultural life grew notably during the so-called Silver Age of Spanish culture; the sales of newspaper also increased. Anti-clericalism and Catholicism lived side by side in Madrid; the burning of convents initiated after riots in the city in May 1931 worsened the political environment. The 1934 insurrection largely failed in Madrid.
In order to deal with the unemployment, the new Republican city council hired many jobless people as gardeners and street cleaners.
Prieto, who sought to turn the city into the "Great Madrid", capital of the Republic, charged Secundino Zuazo with the project for the opening of a south–north axis in the city through the northward enlargement of the Paseo de la Castellana and the construction of the Nuevos Ministerios administrative complex in the area (halted by the Civil War, works in the Nuevos Ministerios would finish in 1942). Works on the Ciudad Universitaria, already started during the monarchy in 1929, also resumed.
The military uprising of July 1936 was defeated in Madrid by a combination of loyal forces and workers' militias. On 20 July armed workers and loyal troops stormed the single focus of resistance, the Cuartel de La Montaña, defended by a contingent of 2,000 rebel soldiers accompanied by 500 falangists under the command of General Fanjul, killing over one hundred of rebels after their surrender. Aside from the Cuartel de la Montaña episode, the wider scheme for the coup in the capital largely failed both due to disastrous rebel planning and due to the Government delivering weapons to the people wanting to defend the Republic, with the city becoming a symbol of popular resistance, "the people in arms".
After the quelling of the coup d'état, from 1936–1939, Madrid remained under the control of forces loyal to the Republic. Following the seemingly unstoppable advance towards Madrid of rebel land troops, the first air bombings on Madrid also started. Immediately after the bombing of the nearing airports of Getafe and Cuatro Vientos, Madrid proper was bombed for the first time in the night of the 27–28 August 1936 by a Luftwaffe's Junkers Ju 52 that threw several bombs on the Ministry of War and the Station of the North. Madrid "was to become the first big European city to be bombed by aviation".
Rebel General Francisco Franco, recently given the supreme military command over his faction, took a detour in late September to "liberate" the besieged Alcázar de Toledo. Meanwhile, this operation gave time to the republicans in Madrid to build defenses and start receiving some foreign support.
The summer and autumn of 1936 saw the Republican Madrid witness of heavy-handed repression by communist and socialist groups, symbolised by the murder of prisoners in checas and sacas directed mostly against military personnel and leading politicians linked to the rebels, which, culminated by the horrific Paracuellos massacres in the context of a simultaneous major rebel offensive against the city, were halted by early December. Madrid, besieged from October 1936, saw a major offensive in its western suburbs in November of that year.
In the last weeks of the war, the collapse of the republic was speeded by Colonel Segismundo Casado, who, endorsed by some political figures such as Anarchist Cipriano Mera and Julián Besteiro, a PSOE leader who had held talks with the Falangist fifth column in the city, threw a military coup against the legitimate government under the pretext of excessive communist preponderance, propelling a mini-civil war in Madrid that, won by the casadistas, left roughly 2,000 casualties between 5–10 March 1939.
The city fell to the nationalists on 28 March 1939.
Following the onset of the Francoist dictatorship in the city, the absence of personal and associative freedoms and the heavy-hand repression of people linked to a republican past greatly deprived the city from social mobilization, trade unionism and intellectual life. This added to a climate of general shortage, with ration coupons rampant and a lingering autarchic economy lasting until the mid 1950s. Meat and fish consumption was scarce in Post-War Madrid, and starvation and lack of proteins were a cause of high mortality.
With the country ruined after the war, the Falange command had nonetheless high plans for the city and professionals sympathetic to the regime dreamed (based on an organicist conception) about the notion of building a body for the "Spanish greatness" placing a great emphasis in Madrid, what they thought to be the imperial capital of the New State. In this sense, urban planners sought to highlight and symbolically put in value the façade the city offered to the Manzanares River, the "Imperial Cornice", bringing projects to accompany the Royal Palace such as the finishing of the unfinished cathedral (with the start of works postponed to 1950 and ultimately finished in the late 20th century), a never-built "house of the Party" and many others. Nonetheless these delusions of grandeur caught up with reality and the scarcity during the Post-War and most of the projects ended up either filed, unfinished or mutilated, with the single clear success being the Gutiérrez Soto's Cuartel del Ejército del Aire.
The intense demographic growth experienced by the city via mass immigration from the rural areas of the country led to the construction of plenty of housing in the peripheral areas of the city to absorb the new population (reinforcing the processes of social polarization of the city), initially comprising substandard housing (with as many as 50,000 shacks scattered around the city by 1956). A transitional planning intended to temporarily replace the shanty towns were the poblados de absorción, introduced since the mid-1950s in locations such as Canillas, San Fermín, Caño Roto, Villaverde, Pan Bendito [es], Zofío and Fuencarral, aiming to work as a sort of "high-end" shacks (with the destinataries participating in the construction of their own housing) but under the aegis of a wider coordinated urban planning.
Together with the likes of Cairo, Santiago de Chile, Rome, Buenos Aires or Lisbon, Francoist Madrid became an important transnational hub of the global Neofascist network that facilitated the survival and resumption of (neo)fascist activities after 1945.
In the 1948–1954 period the municipality greatly increased in size through the annexation of 13 surrounding municipalities, as its total area went up from 68,42 km2 to 607,09 km2. The annexed municipalities were Chamartín de la Rosa (5 June 1948), Carabanchel Alto (29 April 1948), Carabanchel Bajo (29 April 1948), Canillas (30 March 1950), Canillejas (30 March 1950), Hortaleza (31 March 1950), Barajas (31 March 1950), Vallecas (22 December 1950), El Pardo (27 March 1951), Vicálvaro (20 October 1951), Fuencarral (20 October 1951) Aravaca (20 October 1951) and Villaverde (31 July 1954).
The population of the city peaked in 1975 at 3,228,057 inhabitants.
Benefiting from prosperity in the 1980s, Spain's capital city has consolidated its position as the leading economic, cultural, industrial, educational and technological center of the Iberian peninsula. The relative decline in population since 1975 reverted in the 1990s, with the city recovering a population of roughly 3 million inhabitants by the end of the 20th century.
Since the late 1970s and through the 1980s Madrid became the center of the cultural movement known as la Movida. Conversely, just like in the rest of the country, a heroin crisis took a toll in the poor neighborhoods of Madrid in the 1980s.
On 11 March 2004, three days before Spain's general elections and exactly 2 years and 6 months after the September 11 attacks in the US, Madrid was hit by a terrorist attack when Islamic terrorists belonging to an al-Qaeda-inspired terrorist cell placed a series of bombs on several trains during the morning rush hour, killing 191 people and injuring 1,800.
The administrations that followed Álvarez del Manzano's, also conservative, led by Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón and Ana Botella, launched three unsuccessful bids for the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics. Madrid was a centre of the anti-austerity protests that erupted in Spain in 2011. As consequence of the spillover of the 2008 financial and mortgage crisis, Madrid has been affected by the increasing number of second-hand homes held by banks and house evictions. The mandate of left-wing Mayor Manuela Carmena (2015–2019) delivered the renaturalization of the course of the Manzanares across the city.
Since the late 2010s, the challenges the city faces include the increasingly unaffordable rental prices (often in parallel with the gentrification and the spike of tourist apartments in the city centre) and the profusion of betting shops in working-class areas, equalled to an "epidemics" among the young people.
Photograph taken at an altitude of Seven metres, in the magic of the Golden hour around sunrise at 05:31am, (sunrise was at precisely 06.15am) on Saturday 6th September 2014 off the Patricia Bay Highway 17, on Lochside Drive close to Frost Avenue and the Lochside Waterfront Park, in beautiful Sidney by the sea on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.
Here, we are looking over towards Mt Baker in Washington State, USA from beautiful Sidney by the sea on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Also known as Koma Kulshan, (pronounced kō-ō’mah’ kool-shän’),she is an active glaciated andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington State in the United States, standing 3,286 metres tall and was first ascended in 1868, her last eruption recorded in 1880.
The name Mount Baker first appeared in print in Captain Vancouver’s 1798 narrative of his voyage around Vancouver Island. Legend has it that his third-lieutenant, Joseph Baker, was the first to spot the mountain while they sailed into Dungeness Bay on April 30th, 1792. Also known by the Lummi as Kwud-Shad, and Koba (meaning 'high mountain always covered with snow', was the Skagit name.
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Nikon D800 116mm 1/500s f/2.8 iso100 RAW (14 bit) Manual focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance.
Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED IF VRII. Jessops 77mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.
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LATITUDE: N 48d 38m 15.80s
LONGITUDE: W 123d 24m 12.85s
ALTITUDE: 7.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE SIZE: 103.00MB
PROCESSED (JPeg) SIZE: 24.56MB
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Processing power:
HP Pavillion P6-2388EA Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. AMD Radeon HD 7570 graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.10.0 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit
Olympus EM1 MKII with Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 300mm f/4 IS PRO.
In this third test shot of my new EM1 MKII along with the new Olympus 300mm f/4 Pro, I was impressed not only by the quality and resolution of the picture, by also by the ability of the tracking function of this camera.
Once you lock the focus bracket on the part of the bird you want (I chose the head), it keeps track of it very precisely. It is an important feature that makes a difference in the ultimate picture where you want to have the eye sharply focused, and not the wing of the bird - as it often happens with most cameras I have owned.
On another shot of a blue heron, I locked the trackinf AF bracket on the feet of the bird, and the EM1 MKII tracked the bird on its feet as it walked away from me: amazing!
Olympus has really pulled all the stops in the design of this camera AF system.
I can say already that I had reservations paying $2000 for a MFT camera but the AF-C/Tracking performance evidenced by the first few shots I captured reassured me that I had invested in the ultimate wildlife camera system.
Therefore I believe that the Olympus EM1 MKII and the Olympus 300mm f/4 IS Pro is a better system for wildlife photography.
it was a long comment on lenses when the initial test was about tracking functionality of the camera. But this experience of the D500 and the Olympus made me realize that the tracking performance of the camera means nothing by itself: it requires the use of a bright telephoto with fast focusing speed to produce the image that the camera claims to be capable of doing.
Buying the EM1 MKII for shooting BIF would be a frustration and a waste of money if the only lens you can afford is the Olympus M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 75-300mm f/4.8-6.7 II Lens: you would not capture many images in focus and you might actually have missed the bird by the time it locked the focus on it.
Let me mention finally the overwhelming advantage of having 6.5 Stops of stabilization when combining the 5 stops of the in body image stabilization (IBIS) of the EM1 MKII and the 1.5 stop IS of the Olympus 300mm f/4 IS Pro. Both worked combined and become additive. This will not work with Panasonic lenses and even other Olympus lenses except the last two launched:
- the 300mm f/4 IS Pro
- the 12-100mm f/4 IS Pro
This opens up a whole new world of photography in low light without having to crank up the ISO, the key known weakness of the MFT format as soon as you reach above ISO 1600,
You notice my use of the word system. The camera alone will be challenged by the similarly priced Nikon D500 which I own as well but the equivalent lens I would have to use to get similar quality and focal length (equivalent of 600mm f/4 in Full Frame) would be a 400mm in DX format. Unfortunately the 400mm f/4 AF-S does not exist and I could not afford the 400mm f/2.8, nor am I interested in a f/5.6 aperture using a 300mm f/4 with a teleconverter 1.4 which degrades the image quality and would be quite inferior to the exceptional Olympus prime.
The Nikon AF-S 500mm f/4 would outdo the Olympus in FL equivalent on the D500 but I would not be able to afford a $6,500 lens which would not be optically superior to the Olympus wide open anyway. I do not dwell on the weight of 8.5lbs (3,9kg) of the nikon lens vs the 52oz (1.4kg) of the Olympus lens. One is not hand-holdable and requires a tripod/monopod, the other frees you completely from one.
This leaves the budget conscious Nikon owners with the Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 lens which I happen to own with the D500.
After a few minutes, I still cannot hand hold the heavy nikon zoom at 4.6lbs (2.0kg). Although it provides more flexibility than the Fixed FL Olympus prime lens, the Nikon is 50% heavier, is one stop slower which impacts the speed and accuracy of the AF tracking function. And it is optically in a different class (inferior) wide open - especially in the soft corners. I would need to close to f/8 to have a sharp photo across the frame which becomes a problem in low light nature photography where high speed capture is a must for Bird in flight for example.
Flagging and lagging behind.
Where does the time go eh?
A week ago we came back from our holiday and I feel like I have done precisely nothing!
This report is from Friday night and was a fantastic haul on a very warm and humid night and included several new species for the garden.
It was lovely to get two Tree-lichen Beauties (2nd and 3rd garden records respectively) and garden firsts of Six-striped Rustic, Olive and 2 White-points.
Svensson's Copper Underwing was noted after checking every single Copper Underwing last year to no avail, I was lucky to find one so quickly this year.
And that was just the Macro's....on the Micro front there was also plenty of interest.
Ypsolopha alpella was new for the garden and not a very frequent moth with me.
All in all a cracking night and just a shame that the weather has now turned very unsettled for this coming week, still it might be worth sticking out the trap just incase of something very special turning up!
Catch Report - 21/08/15 - Back Garden - Stevenage - 1x 125w MV Robinson Trap
Macro Moths
1x Six-striped Rustic [NFG]
1x Olive [NFG]
2x White-point [NFG]
1x Knot Grass [NFY]
2x Tree-lichen Beauty [NFY]
1x Old Lady [NFY]
2x Dusky Thorn [NFY]
1x Svensson's Copper Underwing [NFY]
18x Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing
3x Copper Underwing
4x Square-spotted Clay
1x Iron Prominent
1x Yellow-barred Brindle
3x Garden Carpet
1x Yellow Shell 2x Mouse Moth
1x Angle Shades 5x Orange Swift
2x Straw Dot
2x Flounced Rustic
1x Double-striped Pug
15x Square-spot Rustic
1x Cabbage Moth
3x Dark Arches
3x Pale Mottled Willow
1x Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing
8x Large Yellow Underwing
2x Lesser Yellow Underwing
3x Shuttle-shaped Dart
1x Silver Y
2x Small Square-spot
3x Common Rustic
4x Straw Underwing
8x Setaceous Hebrew Character
4x Flame Shoulder-
1x Spectacle
2x Brimstone Moth
2x Dun-bar
2x Marbled Beauty
4x Riband Wave
1x Maple Pug
5x Vine's Rustic
38x Willow Beauty
1x Maiden's Blush
Micro Moths
1x Ypsolopha alpella [NFG]
1x Argyresthia albistria [NFY]
1x Ypsolopha dentella [NFY]
3x Caloptilia alchimiella [NFY]
5x Cameraria ohridella [NFY]
2x Cydia splendana [NFY]
1x Bucculatrix thoracella [NFY]
1x Parornix sp
1x Argyresthia goedartella
1x Cydia pomonella
1x Plutella xylostella
1x Hofmannophila pseudospretella
12x Agriphila tristella
2x Argyrotaenia ljungiana
1x Bucculatrix ulmella
1x Lyonetia clerkella
5x Epiphyas postvittana
1x Acentria ephemerella
1x Acrobasis advenella
1x Oegoconia sp
1x Celypha striana
1x Carcina quercana
1x Ditula angustiorana
10x Blastobasis adustella
2x Blastobasis lacticolella
5x Pandemis corylana
10x Pleuroptya ruralis
4x Agriphila straminella
3x Spilonota ocellana
12x Evergestis forficalis
3x Eudonia mercurella
1x Bryotropha terrella
2x Emmelina monodactyla
Photograph taken in the magic of The Golden Hour around Sunrise (Sunrise was at precisely 07:46am), at an altitude of Zero metres, at 06:44am on Tuesday December 9th 2014 off Botany Road and Marine Drive, on the sandy shoreline of Botany Bay in Broadstairs, Kent, England.
A very chilly morning on the beach, around One degree, and a bracing wind that pounded flesh and bones, but well worth the one and a half hour journey there to enjoy a lovely sunrise. The seven bays in Broadstairs consist of: (From south to north) Dumpton Gap, Louisa Bay, Viking Bay, Stone Bay, Joss Bay, Kingsgate Bay and Botany Bay.
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Nikon D800 24mm 4 Seconds long exposure f/2.8 iso200 RAW (14Bit) AF-S single point focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance.
Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED IF. Jessops 77mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.
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LATITUDE: N 51d 23m 17.28s
LONGITUDE: E 1d 26m 23.01s
ALTITUDE: 0.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE SIZE: 103.00MB
PROCESSED (JPeg) SIZE: 11.77MB
Processing power:
HP Pavillion P6-2388EA Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. AMD Radeon HD 7570 graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.10.0 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit
Photograph taken at an altitude of Forty eight metres, prior to the magic of the Golden Hour around sunrise (Sunrise was at precisely 04:42am), at 03:13am on Thursday 19th June 2014 off Lullingstone Lane as a thin veil of morning mist rolled across Eynsford Viaduct in the village of Eynsford, Kent, England.
This impressive nine-arched red-brick viaduct is a prominent feature on the line to the 'Bat & Ball' station. The structure was built by the independent ''Sevenoaks Railway'', incorporated in 1859 to link the ''Chatham'' main line with the market town of Sevenoaks. And first services began on 2nd June 1862. The viaduct has nine arches of 30-foot span, and rises to a height of 75-feet above the valley and the River Darent.
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Nikon D800 20mm 1/6s f/2.8 iso200 RAW (14 bit) Mirror up. AF-S auto mode. Manual exposure. Matrix metering.Auto white balance.
Nikkor AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G ED IF. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.
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LATITUDE: N 51d 22m 6.72s
LONGITUDE: E 0d 12m 11.11s
ALTITUDE: 48.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE: 103.00MB
PROCESSED FILE: 33.64MB
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Processing power:
HP Pavillion Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. HD graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.90 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit
Photograph taken at an altitude of Nine metres, in the magic of the Golden hour around sunrise at 05:35am, (sunrise was at precisely 06.15am) on Saturday 6th September 2014 off the Patricia Bay Highway 17, on Lochside Drive close to Frost Avenue and the Lochside Waterfront Park, in beautiful Sidney by the sea on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.
Here, I am standing beside the wooden decked viewing platform, looking over towards Mt Baker in Washington State, USA from beautiful Sidney by the sea on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Also known as Koma Kulshan, she is an active glaciated andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington State in the United States, standing 3,286 metres tall and was first ascended in 1868, her last eruption recorded in 1880.
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Nikon D800 185mm 1/320s f/4.5 iso100 RAW (14 bit) Manual focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance.
Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED IF VRII. Jessops 77mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.
LATITUDE: N 48d 38m 15.76s
LONGITUDE: W 123d 24m 12.88s
ALTITUDE: 9.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE SIZE: 103.00MB
PROCESSED (JPeg) SIZE: 13.08MB
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Processing power:
HP Pavillion P6-2388EA Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. AMD Radeon HD 7570 graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.10.0 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit
Photograph taken at an altitude of One hundred and eight metres, in the Golden Hour around Sunset ( which was at precisely 19:38pm), at 19:40pm on Saturday 14th September 2013 Just before Aberfeldy On the shoreline of Loch Tay, nestled in the Tay Forest Park near Kenmore off the A827.
Kenmore (Cheannmhor) is a small village in Perthshire in the Highlands of Scotland where Loch Tay drains into the River Tay.
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Nikon D800 43mm 1/30s f/2.8 iso200 RAW (14Bit). AF-S Single point focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance.
Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED IF. Jessops 77mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL15 batteries.Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap. Sandisc 32GB Ultra Class 10 30MB/s SDHC. Nikon DK-17a magnifying eyepiece. Hoodman HGEC soft eyepiece cup. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.
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LATITUDE: N 56d 34m 52.62s
LONGITUDE: W 4d 1m 14.83s
ALTITUDE: 108.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE: 103.00MB
PROCESSED FILE: 19.42MB
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Processing power:
HP Pavillion Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. HD graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.10.0 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit
Basically an all-new car, meant to do pretty much precisely what the very familiar previous one did. It’s a huge family hatch and property. Because the market has diversified, it will be joined towards the top of Ford’s range by a huge crossover-SUV called the Borders, plus of course some sort of...
i0.wp.com/www.autocars.asia/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Fo...
This is precisely why i love shooting with other flickr photographers. Unexpected and awesome things come out of your lenses. Me and Captain Suresh Sharma shot the entire passing out parade at the OTA (Officers Training Academy) at Chennai.
The touching story of the indian army and the reality of what their lives are will follow suit in the following weeks to come. This is a warm up of what you will get to see. I promise every one of you, the images you see will be inspiring and will make you feel INDIAN like you never felt before.
While we were shooting on the drill, i removed my camera from the tripod to check on my histogram when suresh walked down the alley. I found this to be a good profile image and went snap! Suresh responded with his.
Dilip on the Canon EOS 400D with the Tamron 70 - 300 MM F/4-5.6 Ultrazoom lens. Captain Suresh Sharma on the Canon EOS 20D with the Canon 70 - 200 MM F/4 L IS USM Ultrazoom Lens.
Seen from from ~590 m asl, on the side of White Fell Head, from precisely the same viewpoint as this photo of the Horse of Busha, behind the camera in this instance.
The Grade II* Listed Lune Viaduct (details in this earlier caption), on the Ingleton Branch of the disused North Western Railway, is 5¼ km away; the blue haze of distance means this is better as a monochrome image.
Note the Black Horse farmhouse/ex-inn in the background – which means, to answer my own question, that it is theoretically possible to see the Horse of Busha from there. From the back of the building. In good weather. If there aren't too many leaves on the trees. Maybe.
On reflection, the suggestion that the house is named for the view of the Horse is... tenuous.
Better On Black?
Photograph taken at an altitude of Four metres, in the magic of the Golden hour around sunrise, (Sunrise was at precisely 06:58am), at 07:02am on Sunday 21st September 2014 off 1st Street and Beacon Avenue, from the concourse above the shoreline in beautiful Sidney by the sea on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.
Here, we are looking over towards Mt Baker in Washington State, USA from beautiful Sidney by the sea on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Also known as Koma Kulshan, (pronounced kō-ō’mah’ kool-shän’),she is an active glaciated andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington State in the United States, standing 3,286 metres tall and was first ascended in 1868, her last eruption recorded in 1880.
The name Mount Baker first appeared in print in Captain Vancouver’s 1798 narrative of his voyage around Vancouver Island. Legend has it that his third-lieutenant, Joseph Baker, was the first to spot the mountain while they sailed into Dungeness Bay on April 30th, 1792. Also known by the Lummi as Kwud-Shad, and Koba (meaning 'high mountain always covered with snow', was the Skagit name.
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Nikon D800 110mm 1/800s f/2.8 iso100 RAW (14 bit) Mirror up. Manual focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance.
Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED IF VRII. Jessops 77mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.
LATITUDE: N 48d 38m 54.81s
LONGITUDE: W 123d 23m 38.70s
ALTITUDE: 7.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE SIZE: 103.00MB
PROCESSED (JPeg) SIZE: 10.27MB
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Processing power:
HP Pavillion P6-2388EA Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. AMD Radeon HD 7570 graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.10.0 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit
Photograph taken prior to the magic of The Golden Hour around Sunrise at 03:15am, (Sunrise was at precisely 05:15am), at an altitude of seven metres on Sunday July 7th 2014 off Botany Road and Marine Drive, on the sandy shoreline of Botany Bay in Broadstairs, Kent, England.
The seven bays in Broadstairs consist of: (From south to north) Dumpton Gap, Louisa Bay, Viking Bay, Stone Bay, Joss Bay, Kingsgate Bay and Botany Bay.
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Nikon D800 70mm 1/30S f/2.8 iso200 RAW (14Bit) Manual focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance.
Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED IF VRII. Jessops 77mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip pack.Two Nikon EN-EL 15 batteries.Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod. Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Manfrotto 327RC2 Grip action ball head. Manfrotto quick release plate 200PL-14. Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Hoodman HGEC soft viewfinder eyecup.Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release cable. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit
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LATITUDE: N 51d 23m 20.52s
LONGITUDE: E 1d 26m 14.38s
ALTITUDE: 7.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE SIZE: 103.00MB
PROCESSED (JPeg) SIZE: 14.62MB
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Processing power:
HP Pavillion P6-2388EA Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. AMD Radeon HD 7570 graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.10.0 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit
Tsukemen
- pork broth, fish powder, menma, chāshū, thick tsukemen noodles
I made it to Tokyo station after a 14-hour flight from New York, and Rokurinsha ramen ( more precisely - their legendary tsukemen) was just too much of a temptation to resist.
Rokurinsha is widely believed to be one of Tokyo's best ramenayas, and I must admit - my meal reflected that notion. The line was fairly long, but after a reasonable wait - I would say may be 20 minutes, or so - I somehow chose the right button on the ticket vending machine and was seated at a communal table for two; my youthful dining companion spoke no English, but I just followed his lead in proper tsukemen manners. The biggest difference between Rokurinsha tsukemen were the noodles - as thick as traditional udon, and much thicker and wider than any ramen or tsukemen I have had before. Noodles were exceptionally well made and cooked, but served cold - to prevent additional cooking, I might guess.
The biggest attraction was definitely the broth - unmistakeable tonkotsu consistency and taste were complimented by slightly darker color one might expect from a typical milky-white tonkotsu soup (actually, it has been a bit of an issue in my own kitchen - my tonkotsu always turns out darker than I would like it to be; I tend to use more bones and natural skin gelatin than necessary). I think Rokurinsha broth color comes from a generous amount of bones used in the broth, but also from an addition of dried mackerel and, to a lesser degree, seaweed. The key player in the soup was the ground fish powder, no doubt ( the latter can be seen at the 6 o'clock position in the picture). Fish powder added an assertive, if not aggressive, umami component - I wasn't even sure if I liked it at first, but when the thick noodles found their new cradle in the broth all my concerns were laid to rest - I was simply hooked and just couldn't stop eating. Phenomenal bowl of noodles.
There is a lot to be said about Rokurinsha ramen, but it hardly can add anything to what two local Tokyo and independent from each other food writers have written about this gem of a restaurant in the past:
- first, exceptional in many ways, Japan Times and Tokyo Food File writer Robbie Swinnerton;
- second, extremely interesting and engaging Tokyo Cuisine Guide with Tokyo Joe at the helm;
Please refer to post by those exceptional bloggers for a different, and perhaps, a bit more comprehensive opinion of Rokurinsha ramen and tsukemen. All I can say - my $9.- meal at Rokurinsha was beyond exceptional - if only I could have those noodles again.
This photograph was taken in the magic of The Golden Hour around Sunrise (Sunrise was at precisely 07:46am), at an altitude of Two metres, at 07:38am on Tuesday December 9th 2014 off Botany Road and Marine Drive, on the sandy shoreline of Botany Bay in Broadstairs, Kent, England. Here we look towards Kingsgate Bay and Kingsgate Castle.
A very chilly morning on the beach, around One degree, and a bracing wind that pounded flesh and bones, but well worth the one and a half hour journey there to enjoy a lovely sunrise. The seven bays in Broadstairs consist of: (From south to north) Dumpton Gap, Louisa Bay, Viking Bay, Stone Bay, Joss Bay, Kingsgate Bay and Botany Bay.
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Nikon D800 18mm 1/60s f/3.5 iso100 RAW (14Bit) AF-S single point focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance.
Nikkor AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G ED IF. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.
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LATITUDE: N 51d 23m 15.49s
LONGITUDE: E 1d 26m 31.25s
ALTITUDE: 2.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE SIZE: 103.00MB
PROCESSED (JPeg) SIZE: 16.43MB
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Processing power:
HP Pavillion P6-2388EA Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. AMD Radeon HD 7570 graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.10.0 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit
Photograph taken at an altitude of Six metres, during the first vestiges of ambient light prior to the magic of the Golden Hour around sunrise (which was at precisely 04:51am), at 03:15am on Monday 7th July 2014, off Botany Road and the Viking Coastal Trail on the shoreline of Botany Bay, the Northern most of seven bays in Broadstairs, Kent, England.
Here, I am standing knee deep in the warm and rapidly returning tidal water after a one hour drive to the coast that had me in the shower at 01:30am.The seven bays are (from south to north) Dumpton Gap, Louisa Bay, Viking Bay, Stone Bay, Joss Bay, Kingsgate Bay and Botany Bay.
This frame looks out towards the Thanet offshore windfarm, which was officially opened on September 23rd 2010 and was for a time, the largest offshore windfarm project in the world. The eight lines of turbines, one hundred of them in total, run north-west to south-east, covering a total area of 35sq km off Foreness Point near Margate. Each turbine is 115 metres high with 44-metre blades, and the project cost between £780-900million
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Nikon D800 160mm 1/30s f/2.8 iso100 RAW (14 bit) Mirror up. Manual focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance.
Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED IF VRII. Jessops 77mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.
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LATITUDE: N 51d 23m 20.54s
LONGITUDE: E 1d 26m 14.41s
ALTITUDE: 6.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE: 103.00MB
PROCESSED FILE: 19.75MB
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Processing power:
HP Pavillion Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. HD graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.90 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit