Replacing and earlier scanned photo with a better version, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 17-Apr-25.

 

This aircraft was delivered to Transair France as N22120 in Dec-97, it was transferred on delivery to Transair USA Inc. They sold it to the Aircraft Credit Corporation in Jan-98 and it was sold on to Kansas Beechcraft Leasing Inc the same day.

 

The aircraft was leased to Proteus Airlines (France) as F-GRPM the following day. Proteus Airlines was merged into Compagne Aerienne Europeenne Regional (Regional Airlines) in Apr-01.

 

It was returned to the lessor in Oct-02 and leased to NAYSA Aero Taxis (Spain) as EC-IJO a few days later. It was wet-leased to Binter Canarias in early 2005 and returned to NAYSA in 2006.

 

The aircraft was returned to the lessor and sold to B & I Aviation (Dubai) in Sep-09. In Oct-09 it was leased to Safari Plus, operating as Safari Express Airways (Tanzania) as 5H-SPB. It was noted at Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania in Jun-18 and appears to have been operational until early Sep-24. No further information. Updated 17-Apr-25.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 14-Mar-22 (DeNoise AI).

 

Operated by JAS - Japan Air System. This was the only JAS DC-10 in this livery. The other one was in standard old JAS livery.

 

A late-build DC-10-30ER, this aircraft was delivered to TOA Domestic Airlines in Japan in Mar-88 as JA8550. The following month TOA Domestic was renamed JAS Japan Air System. In Nov-97 it was transferred to Harlequin Air (a JAS subsidiary) and operated with them until it was sold to Northwest Airlines in Mar-00 as N243NW.

 

It was retired by Northwest in Oct-06 and sold to Omni Air International. Re-registered N522AX in Jan-07, it continued in service with Omni Air until it was retired in Feb-12 and stored at Goodyear, AZ, USA.

 

In Oct-13 the aircraft was sold to BC Aircraft Leasing. It remained stored at Goodyear until Jan-14 when it was ferried to Oscoda, MI, USA to undergo conversion into a water bomber to fight forest fires.

 

Conversion was completed in Jul-14. After flight testing it was leased to '10 Tanker Air carrier' in Aug-14 as 'Tanker 912'. Now 36 years old it continues in service. Updated 01-Apr-24.

 

I also have a photo of this aircraft with Northwest Airlines at ...

www.flickr.com/photos/kenfielding/11098307944

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 11-Jan-22.

 

Another long history nightmare...

 

This aircraft was delivered to Air Europe as G-BNPB in Mar-88. It was leased to Odyssey International (Canada) as C-FGHT between Oct-89/Apr-90. It was sold to a lessor in Dec-90 and leased back to Air Europe. Air Europe ceased operations in Mar-91 and the aircraft was repossessed by the lessor.

 

In Jun-91 it was leased to Air Europa, Spain with the temporary registration EC-771, becoming EC-FGG in Sep-91. It was returned to the lessor in May-92 and immediately leased to Philippine Airlines as RP-C4006. It returned to the lessor in Aug-98 and was stored.

 

The aircraft was leased to Debonair (UK) as G-DEBZ in May-99 and returned to the lessor in Oct-99 after the summer season when it returned to storage. It was re-registered N202KG in Dec-99 and remained stored until it was leased to British World Airlines as G-OBWY in Mar-00.

 

The aircraft was wet-leased to the easyJet Airline Company between Jun/Jul-00 and to National Jet Italia between Jan/Apr-01. It was returned to the lessor and stored in Dec-01. In Mar-02 it was leased to Astraeus Airlines as G-STRA.

 

It was wet-leased to AirAsia (Malaysia) between Dec-04/May-05 and to FlyBe (UK) between Dec-06/Nov-06 when it was returned to the lessor and stored at Southend, UK.

 

The aircraft was leased to Adam Sky Connection Airlines (Adam Air - Indonesia) as PK-KKY in Dec-06. After a series of accidents and incidents, Adam Air's operating license was revoked by the Indonesian authorities in Mar-08 and the aircraft was stored at Kuala Lumpur - Subang.

 

It was returned to the lessor in Jun-08 and re-registered N240AG. It remained stored at Subang until it was leased to Silver Air (UAE) as A6-FAY in Dec-08. It returned to the lessor in Dec-09 and was again registered N240AG.

 

It was sold to Safair (South Africa) as ZS-SPU in Jun-10. It was leased to Velvet Sky Airlines (South Africa) in Mar-11. They ceased operations in Feb-12 and the aircraft was repossessed by Safair and stored at Johannesburg.

 

It was sold to Star Air Cargo in Nov-13. In Mar-15 the aircraft was leased to Skywise. They didn't last either and it was returned to Star Air in Oct-15 just before they ceased operations in Dec-15.

 

Finally, it was leased to Swazi Airways in Oct-15. The aircraft was permanently retired at Johannesburg, South Africa in Nov-16.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 28-Apr-16, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 03-Jan-25.

 

Operated for Lufthansa by Lufthansa CityLine.

 

First flown with the British Aerospace test registration G-6-317, this aircraft was delivered to Lufthansa CityLine as D-AVRR in Dec-97 and operated on behalf of Lufthansa.

 

It was transferred to Lufthansa Regional in Feb-07, still operated by Lufthansa CityLine. The aircraft was withdrawn from service and stored at Cologne, Germany in Aug-12.

 

In Jul-13 the aircraft was sold to Linea Aerea EcoJet, Bolivia as CP-2814. It continued in service until mid Oct-24 when it was parked at Cochabamba, Bolivia.

 

In early Nov-24 it was ferried via Lima, Peru to an unknown location for storage, using it's registration as callsign. Possibly permanently retired? Updated 03-Jan-25.

Replacing an earlier digital photo with a better version 06-Sep-22.

 

A purpose built freighter, this aircraft was delivered to Singapore Airlines as 9V-SFH in Aug-99. It was transferred to Singapore Airlines Cargo in Jul-01 when Singapore Airlines set up a dedicated cargo division.

 

The aircraft was leased to Great Wall Airlines (China) as B-2429 in May-06. It returned to Singapore Cargo as 9V-SFE in Sep-06 due to a USA embargo on the company's owners. It was leased to Great Wall Airlines again, as B-2429 in Feb-07.

 

It was returned to Singapore Airlines Cargo in late 2009 and was stored at Singapore before being sold to the Dubai Air Wing (the Dubai Royal Flight) as A6-GGP in Jan-10. It's still in basic Great Wall livery and is mainly used for the transportation of race horses. It doesn't show up on FR24 but as far as I'm aware it's still in service. Updated 06-Sep-22.

Replacing an earlier digital photo with a better version 16-Sep-21 (DeNoise AI).

 

On a very dark and dismal February morning. Caught the beacons nicely though...

 

First flown with the Airbus test registration F-WZNN, this aircraft was delivered to Singapore Airlines as 9V-SMK in Feb-17. Current 16-Sep-21.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 23-Feb-22 (DeNoise AI).

 

Operated by JHM Cargo Express on behalf of TACA Airlines Cargo.

 

First flown with the Airbus test registration F-WZEF, this aircraft was delivered to Alitalia as I-BUSH in May-81. It was sold to S-C Aviation Holdings as N59140 in Jul-97.

 

It was converted to freighter configuration with a main deck cargo door in Apr-98. In Nov-98 it was leased to JHM Cargo Express and operated on behalf of Grupo TACA Cargo. The aircraft was returned to S-C Aviation in Nov-01 and stored at Lake Charles Regional Airport, LA, USA.

 

The aircraft was transferred to S-C Newco LLC in Oct-02 and permanently retired at Lake Charles. It was last noted still there in Dec-06 with many parts missing. The registration wasn't cancelled until Dec-10.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 13-Nov-21, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 05-Jun-22.

 

Later renamed Excel Airways and then XL Airways UK.

 

This aircraft was delivered to ILFC International Lease Finance Corporation and leased to Sabre Airways as G-OJSW in Dec-98. It was sub-leased to Miami Air in Dec-00 for the winter season.

 

While it was away, Sabre Airways was renamed Excel Airways in Jan-01 and the aircraft returned to them at the end of Apr-01. The aircraft was re-registered G-XLAB in May-01. Excel Airways was renamed XL Airways UK in Nov-06.

 

In May-07 it was sub-leased to MyTravel Airways for the summer season and returned to XL Airways in Oct-07. The following month it was leased to Xtra Airways (USA), returning to XL Airways UK in Apr-08.

 

The aircraft was transferred to XL Airways Germany as D-AXLF three days later. On 18-Oct-08, while en-route from Frankfurt (Germany) to Antalya (Turkey), the aircraft suffered a fire in the No:1 engine and diverted to Belgrade (Serbia) [see note below].

 

Blended Winglets were installed at Istanbul in Feb-09. In Nov-09 it was wet-leased to Air Namibia for the winter, returning to XL Airways Germany in May-10. In Nov-10 the aircraft was sub-leased to CanJet (Canada) as C-GDGY and returned to XL Airways as D-AXLF in Apr-11.

 

It was leased to CanJet again in Dec-11 as C-GDGY, returning to XL Airways as D-AXLF in May-12. The process was started again in Dec-12, the aircraft was leased to CanJet as C-GDGY but was still at Dublin (Ireland) having the titles applied when XL Airways Germany ceased operations and it was returned to ILFC as D-AXLF.

 

It was registered N282AG the same day and was stored at Dublin. The aircraft was leased to Corendon Airlines (Turkey) as TC-TJM in May-13 and returned to the lessor in Nov-18, it was stored at Lourdes, France.

 

It was re-registered 2-ACSA in Jan-19 and leased to Swift Air (USA) as N820TJ in Mar-19. The aircraft was wet-leased to SmartWings Airlines (Czechia) in May-19 and returned to Swift Air in Nov-19. Swift Air was renamed iAero Airways in Jan-20.

 

iAero Airways ceased operations 06-Apr-24 after failed restructuring efforts during bankruptcy proceedings. After initially being parked at Greensboro' NC, USA the aircraft was returned to the Aviation Capital Group and ferried to Marana for storage in mid Apr-24. Updated 14-May-25.

 

Note 1: A fire occurred in the No:1 engine and the aircraft made an emergency landing at Belgrade (Serbia). The engine was still burning on landing and was extinguished by ground based fire services. The aircraft was evacuated and there were no injuries to the 182 passengers and 6 crew. As well as the engine damage, the fire caused severe structural damage to the wing as well as damage to electrical and hydraulic systems within it. It took 6 weeks to make temporary repairs and replace the engine and the aircraft then ferried to Istanbul at the end of Nov-08 for permanent repairs. It returned to service in mid Feb-09.

 

Note 2: On 20-May-20 during a ferry flight from Victorville, CA, USA to San Diego, CA, USA, parts of the lower tail fin-fillet detached causing some damage to the rear horizontal stabiliser. The aircraft landed without incident. The crew were unaware of any problem until after arrival at San Diego. The aircraft was repaired and returned to service.

Replacing an earlier scanned 6"x4" print with a better version 22-Mar-22 (DeNoise AI).

 

This aircraft was delivered to AWAS Ansett Worldwide Aviation Services and leased to Royal Brunei Airlines as V8-RBF in Feb-92. It was wet-leased to Vietnam Airlines in Apr-96 (although it's still in full Royal Brunei livery in this photo taken in Jun-96!) and returned to Royal Brunei in Jan-98.

 

It was returned to the lessor in Aug-11 and fitted with blended winglets before being sold to Aerosvit (Ukraine) as UR-AAI later the same month. Aerosvit ceased operations in Feb-13 and the aircraft was stored at Kiev-Borispil, Ukraine.

 

It was bought by Ukraine International Airways in Jul-13 and after maintenance and painting at Budapest (Hungary), it was re-registered UR-GEB before entering service in Oct-13. The aircraft was permanently retired at Kiev-Borispil, Ukraine in Oct-19. Updated 22-Mar-22.

When I was on a birding day trip with a group of friends, going SE of Calgary on Saturday, 14 March 2015, we called in at the small hamlet of Blackie. We were hopeful that we would see at least one of the Eurasian Collared Doves that live there, and we were in luck.

 

While we were walking along one of the streets, we saw this massive Cargill grain terminal. Not exactly the most beautiful of structures and definitely not as photogenic as the three old, wooden elevators that apparently used to be along the railway line, just a very short distance away, but still rather impressive.

 

In 2004, Blackie apparently had 3 elevators, an Ex-Agricore, Pioneer and Agricore United steel elevator. The large, green, wooden elevator was torn down in 2005 and replaced by this huge, modern grain loading terminal. The other wooden elevator, the Pioneer elevator, was torn down in December 2012. It was a fairly modern, seemingly well-kept elevator. Wish I had seen these, but I hadn't plucked up courage to drive SE of Calgary back then.

 

"There were 1,651 elevators in Alberta in 1951, but by 1982 a total of 979 elevators remained. The 1990s spelled the death of the wooden “country” or “primary” elevator. At the end of the 1990s, as the full impact of both of the ending of the Crow Rate in 1995 and further impending rail abandonment was felt, the pace of demolition accelerated at an unprecedented rate. At the end of the 1996-1997 crop year, there were only 327 elevators left. Alberta’s largest cooperative grain companies, the Alberta Wheat Pool (which amalgamated with Manitoba Pool Elevators in 1998 as Agricore) and United Grain Growers, ultimately formed a new corporate entity known as Agricore United in 2001, issuing issued public shares. Demolition of country elevators has continued, and in 2005 there were only 156 wooden elevators of any kind still standing, only a handful of which are used by the grain trade.

 

The Government of Alberta has recognised the significance of the traditional wood grain elevators, and has designated 12 as Provincial Historic Resources. They are located in the following communities: Andrew, Castor, Leduc, Meeting Creek, Paradise Valley, Radway, Rowley (3 elevators), Scandia and St. Albert (2 elevators)."

 

www.grainelevatorsalberta.ca/articles/HRM-history.pdf

 

www.bigdoer.com/2848/exploring-history/grain-elevators-an...

From replacing the fleet of Leyland B20 DMSs in 1992 up until early 1997 the allocation of buses on route 157 running between Crystal Palace, Anerley, South Norwood, Selhurst, West Croydon, Waddon, Wallington, Carshalton, Rose Hill and Morden were a fleet of MCW Metrobuses provided by London General and operating out of Sutton (A) bus garage as seen in this afternoon view of London General's M 913 seen parked up on the eastern side of Crystal Palace Parade in February 1993. Crystal Palace Parade was notorious for various LT bus routes from across South and South East London terminating on the Parade itself (much to the chagrin of other road users) prior to the much-needed opening of Crystal Palace bus station at the bottom end of Crystal Palace Parade in 2000.

The X7 Coastrider replaces the Platinum 19 as bus service of the year. The service which was extended to Perth last year using Elite I interdecks is operated by Stagecoach East Scotland although Buebird operate a shortworking from Elgin depot, Bluebird branded 53107 seen here on Market Street.

Replacing an earlier scanned print with a better version 17-Jul-21 (DeNoise AI).

 

"Chatham Historic Dockyard" - UK World Tail Livery.

 

This livery was originally 'just another world tail' livery. For most people it was either like 'em or hate 'em (I liked 'em!). The UK's Prime Minister of the day, Margaret Thatcher, most definitely disliked them and drooped her handkerchief over the tail of a large model on the BA stand at a Conservative Conference to show what she felt, in front of the World's media. After that they were gradually repainted into the Chatham Historic Dockyard livery which then became the standard BA livery.

 

First flown with the Boeing test registration N6005C, this aircraft was delivered to British Airways as G-BNWH in Oct-90. After 24 years in service the aircraft was permanently retired at Victorville, CA, USA in Aug-14.

Budapest, Hungary

Replacing the Lumia 925, Nokia’s latest offering the Lumia 930 is looking to take on the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S5, Sony Xperia Z2 and HTC One M8.

 

blog.pre-pay-as-you-go.co.uk/2014/07/21/nokia-lumia-930-h...

 

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 05-Apr-18, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 21-Feb-24.

 

Fleet No: '285', Operated by Jet Link.

 

First flown with the Embraer test registration PT-SMZ, this aircraft was delivered to Britt Airways as N31711 in Dec-88 and operated on behalf of Continental Express.

 

The aircraft was taken over by Continental Airlines in Aug-89 although it continued to be operated by Britt Air until Apr-93 when operation changed to Continental Express Inc.

 

It was sold to the Brazilian Air Force as FAB 2006 in Jan-00. No further information.

Phicen Lady Death body and head, hair piece replaced, make-up changed, eye decals added. More of a Raven Hex figure now.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Saints%27_Church,_Newcastle_upo...

 

All Saints' Church is a late 18th-century church in Lower Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, which replaced a medieval church on the same site. All Saints' Church is the only elliptical church building in England, the third tallest religious building in Newcastle and the ninth-tallest structure in the city overall. It is a Grade I listed building.

 

History

The old church

A Christian church stood here in 1286, and here continued to stand, of course undergoing many changes and restorations between times, until the end of the eighteenth century, when it was pulled down, and the present church built. The original All Saints', or All Hallows', was built in the Gothic style. Its appearance is thus described by Henry Bourne:

 

This church is seated upon a hill, which is much about the same height with the situation of St. Mary’s, in Gateshead, and upon the same line with it. It is not so long as St. Nicholas, being only 55 yards 1 foot a quarter long, but it is broader, as being 25 yards 2 feet broad. The steeple is but a mean height being a square tower, with only one spire arising from it. The bells belonging to this church were founded in 1696. They were cast out of the metal of that famous statue of King James the Second which stood on the Sandhill. They were founded in the ground belonging to St Austin Friars, in that part of it which is in the back of the Hospital of the Holy Jesus. Their sound is not so melodious as the others in this town, but the note is exceedingly exact, and more tuneful than the others.

 

McKenzie, who was living when the old church was pulled down, and when much public interest was taken in it, gives in his history an interesting account, from which we gather that the steeple and west end occupied the site of the present church. The church extended further east over what is now the burial ground. The steeple was a low, square, inelegant tower, supported by buttresses at the corners of the west side, and terminated by large embrasures. From the centre rose a small square turret, surmounted by a short spire, terminated with a gilt vane. The principal entrance into the church was the west door of the steeple which corresponded in size with the west door of St Nicholas's. Above it was a large and beautiful Gothic window. There were also a north and south porch, the former leading into Silver Street, the latter into Pilgrim Street. The steeple contained a good clock, with chimes and two painted dials. The five bells were cast by Christopher Hodgson of London. There were seven chantries; one of them – St Peter's – being founded by Roger Thornton. The windows of the old church were large and ornamented with stained glass, but they were greatly damaged at the time of the civil war.

 

But the finest monument in the church was, fittingly, that erected to the munificent "Patron of Newcastle", Roger Thornton. Brand gives an illustration of it,[6] and Mackenzie describes it thus "It consisted of an altar, the front of which was enriched with beautiful gothic compartments and armorial bearings, over which rose an elliptic canopy, surmounted by a spiral arch rising in the centre and terminated with a tower, the crest of the Thornton family. The whole was included in a wall with a semi-octagonal tower at each end and embrasures along the top. On this part of the monument was the representation of two small figures supporting the family arms. But the principal ornament of this monument was the large brass plate which covered the top of the altar, on which were beautifully engraved the figures of Roger Thornton and Agnes his wife, with numerous effigies of the apostles and saints, many of them with the symbols of their martyrdom. The beautiful monument is now gone, but the brass is still preserved and hangs in the vestry. In 1841 the vicar of the church, the Rev. R. Green, had it cleaned, repaired, and fitted into the wood frame in which it now hangs." This memorial brass has now been installed behind the altar of St Nicholas's Cathedral in Newcastle.

 

A very interesting feature of the church was the seamen's porch, and gallery on the north side, built by the Master and Brethren of the nearby Trinity House, Newcastle in 1618. The front of the gallery was decorated with painted panels. The centre one bore the arms of Trinity House, and on the side panels were depicted four scriptural subjects, all most appropriately being connected with the sea.

 

Connected with the font of the old church is the name of a Newcastle worthy which deserves to be recorded. When the Scots entered the town in 1640 they commenced, in their fanatical zeal against Popery, to deface the religious monuments. Beginning at St John's, the first object sacrificed was, naturally, the font which stood in the porch. One Cuthbert Maxwell, a stonemason of Newcastle, seeing this, ran in haste to St Nicholas’ and All Saints’, and hid the fonts of these churches before the Scots had time to reach them. After the Restoration he set them up again, and thus to Cuthbert Maxwell we owe the preservation of the beautiful font of St Nicholas. Concerning that belonging to All Saints’ the font thus saved was octagonal in shape, and carved with armorial bearings. At the demolition of the church it was given to Alderman Hugh Hornby, that enthusiastic collector of antiquities who built the carved stones from Tyne Bridge towers into the wall of his garden in Pilgrim Street.

 

Of the early history of old All Saints' there are few records except accounts of repairs. We hear of the assembly of the “Four-and-Twenty”, and of the “Ancients of the Parish” – for the purpose of considering needful repairs, and of levying cesses for carrying them out. The parish register commences in 1600.

 

The new church

About 1785 the churchwardens procured plans and estimates for the restoration of the building from William Newton, of Newcastle; but Dr Sharp, the Archdeacon of Northumberland, objected to the proposed design of shortening the chancel, and thus altering the form of an old Gothic church. Two other architects, David Stephenson and John Dodds, were called in, and they reported that it was impossible to give an estimate for restoring the church, as so many unforeseen circumstances might crop up. They reported, "That this decayed building cannot be repaired but at as much expense as building a new one. If one part is taken down the rest will follow." It appeared that "the south wall was in danger of falling by the pressure of the roof; one of the pillars of the steeple had considerably shrunk, and the steeple itself inclined to the south. The stone of the groined arches under the bells was decayed, the timber and bells in great danger of falling in, the stone in several windows decayed, the walls were rotten, and the lime had lost its cement and become almost dust".

 

On Easter Tuesday (18 April 1786) a general meeting of the parishioners was held, and they resolved unanimously to erect a new church. The work of destroying the old one proceeded immediately and, unfortunately, most of its old monuments, windows, and other interesting relics were not preserved; they either perished or were carried away during the operations. It was found necessary to blast with gunpowder the masonry of the tower, so tenacious was the mortar binding it, and while doing so a sad accident occurred, by which a well-known inhabitant of the town lost his life. This was Captain William Hedley, who was killed by one of the stones of the great west door falling upon him while he was standing watching the work of destruction. He was greatly respected in Newcastle, and well known abroad as the hero of a deed of humanity and daring, in saving a child from drowning in Bordeaux harbour. His conduct on that occasion was praised highly in the French newspapers.

 

The whole of the old church having at length been taken down, the construction of the new one was commenced with. The design of David Stephenson had been selected, and the foundation stone was laid on 14 August 1786 by the Rev. James Stephen Lushington, Vicar of Newcastle. In proceeding with the building the original design was departed from in two important points. The portico, which was to have had a colonnade of Ionic columns along the south front, was altered to the present Doric design, and the money thus saved was devoted to the improvement of the tower. According to the original design, the latter was to have consisted of "a plain octagonal tower, of uniform width, rising from the arch on which the present spire stands to the height of thirty-seven and a-half feet, and terminating with a semicircular dome twelve feet in diameter, making a total height of one hundred and forty-three feet from the ground. The tame and spiritless appearance of the model, however, happily caused its rejection. A model of the present handsome and superior design was exhibited to the trustees in August 1790, and finally adopted on the 12th of September following."

 

The new church was finished in 1796, and its cost was £27,000, the whole being obtained by assessment of the parish, except £2061.19s raised by the sale of pews, £30 by donations, and £100 given by Mrs Atlee for the additional expense of making the internal fittings of mahogany instead of oak. The church is built in the form of an ellipse, the longer diameter of which runs nearly north and south. It is in form like the Pantheon at Rome. The roof, without any supporting pillars, is a splendid piece of carpentry. It was first put together in the yard at the Austin Friars, where the bells of the old church were cast. The square tower on which the steeple stands is at the south end, and the interior forms the vestibule. On either side of it there is a wing – that on the left being used as a morning chapel and for baptisms, and that on the right as the vestry where hung the monumental brass of Roger Thornton, now moved to Newcastle Cathedral.

 

On Tuesday, 17 November 1789, the new church was consecrated by the Right Rev. Thomas Thurlow, Lord Bishop of Durham, and the opening sermon was preached by the Rev. Hugh Moises, morning lecturer of All Saints’ and head-master of the Grammar School. His text was from Leviticus xix: 30: Ye shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary. I am the Lord.

 

In 1881 the churchwardens called the public attention to the state of the church, and appealed for help to remedy it. Subscriptions were gathered in and the work of restoration was vigorously proceeded with.

 

About the end of 1881 Richard S. Donkin of Campville, North Shields, a wealthy shipowner, whose place of business was close by the old church, made a handsome offer to improve the graveyard at his own expense. This offer was thankfully accepted by the parishioners, and early in 1882 the work was proceeded with. Many other generous gifts were at the same time made to the church, but we will only mention one more, that of the presentation of the new clock by Mr John Hall, another Newcastle merchant. It was formally set going and illuminated on the evening of 3 February 1882. On the occasion an address was presented to Mr Hall by Mr Joseph Cowen, M.P. for the town, on behalf of the people of the parish. In presenting this address Mr Cowen, standing on the steps of the church, made a speech to the assembled people who crowded below to the number of about ten thousand.

 

Recent history

The church was deconsecrated in 1961, and converted to offices/auditorium in 1983-84 as the Town Teacher initiative. It was then used by the Royal Northern Sinfonia before their move across the river to The Sage, Gateshead in 2004. The church was for a while used by the Church of Saint Willibrord with All Saints, a member of The Old Catholic Church Anglican Diocese. It has also hosted musical events. Following flooding damage caused by blocked roof drains over the 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 winters, the building was left in a state of semi-disrepair. In 2015 it was placed on Historic England's Heritage at Risk register. In 2019, the local congregation of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales signed a 150-year lease for All Saints. After a comprehensive restoration project, worship services as All Saints' Presbyterian Church began in October, 2019. The minister is the Revd Benjamin Wontrop. In addition to two Sunday services, the church runs a mid-week Bible study. It is also open for self-guided tours weekly on Thursdays from 1-4pm and at various points in the year.

 

Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle is a cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is located on the River Tyne's northern bank, opposite Gateshead to the south. It is the most populous settlement in the Tyneside conurbation and North East England.

 

Newcastle developed around a Roman settlement called Pons Aelius, the settlement became known as Monkchester before taking on the name of a castle built in 1080 by William the Conqueror's eldest son, Robert Curthose. It was one of the world's largest ship building and repair centres during the industrial revolution. Newcastle was part of the county of Northumberland until 1400, when it separated and formed a county of itself. In 1974, Newcastle became part of Tyne and Wear. Since 2018, the city council has been part of the North of Tyne Combined Authority.

 

The history of Newcastle upon Tyne dates back almost 2,000 years, during which it has been controlled by the Romans, the Angles and the Norsemen amongst others. Newcastle upon Tyne was originally known by its Roman name Pons Aelius. The name "Newcastle" has been used since the Norman conquest of England. Due to its prime location on the River Tyne, the town developed greatly during the Middle Ages and it was to play a major role in the Industrial Revolution, being granted city status in 1882. Today, the city is a major retail, commercial and cultural centre.

 

Roman settlement

The history of Newcastle dates from AD 122, when the Romans built the first bridge to cross the River Tyne at that point. The bridge was called Pons Aelius or 'Bridge of Aelius', Aelius being the family name of Roman Emperor Hadrian, who was responsible for the Roman wall built across northern England along the Tyne–Solway gap. Hadrian's Wall ran through present-day Newcastle, with stretches of wall and turrets visible along the West Road, and at a temple in Benwell. Traces of a milecastle were found on Westgate Road, midway between Clayton Street and Grainger Street, and it is likely that the course of the wall corresponded to present-day Westgate Road. The course of the wall can be traced eastwards to the Segedunum Roman fort at Wallsend, with the fort of Arbeia down-river at the mouth of the Tyne, on the south bank in what is now South Shields. The Tyne was then a wider, shallower river at this point and it is thought that the bridge was probably about 700 feet (210 m) long, made of wood and supported on stone piers. It is probable that it was sited near the current Swing Bridge, due to the fact that Roman artefacts were found there during the building of the latter bridge. Hadrian himself probably visited the site in 122. A shrine was set up on the completed bridge in 123 by the 6th Legion, with two altars to Neptune and Oceanus respectively. The two altars were subsequently found in the river and are on display in the Great North Museum in Newcastle.

 

The Romans built a stone-walled fort in 150 to protect the river crossing which was at the foot of the Tyne Gorge, and this took the name of the bridge so that the whole settlement was known as Pons Aelius. The fort was situated on a rocky outcrop overlooking the new bridge, on the site of the present Castle Keep. Pons Aelius is last mentioned in 400, in a Roman document listing all of the Roman military outposts. It is likely that nestling in the shadow of the fort would have been a small vicus, or village. Unfortunately, no buildings have been detected; only a few pieces of flagging. It is clear that there was a Roman cemetery near Clavering Place, behind the Central station, as a number of Roman coffins and sarcophagi have been unearthed there.

 

Despite the presence of the bridge, the settlement of Pons Aelius was not particularly important among the northern Roman settlements. The most important stations were those on the highway of Dere Street running from Eboracum (York) through Corstopitum (Corbridge) and to the lands north of the Wall. Corstopitum, being a major arsenal and supply centre, was much larger and more populous than Pons Aelius.

 

Anglo-Saxon development

The Angles arrived in the North-East of England in about 500 and may have landed on the Tyne. There is no evidence of an Anglo-Saxon settlement on or near the site of Pons Aelius during the Anglo-Saxon age. The bridge probably survived and there may well have been a small village at the northern end, but no evidence survives. At that time the region was dominated by two kingdoms, Bernicia, north of the Tees and ruled from Bamburgh, and Deira, south of the Tees and ruled from York. Bernicia and Deira combined to form the kingdom of Northanhymbra (Northumbria) early in the 7th century. There were three local kings who held the title of Bretwalda – 'Lord of Britain', Edwin of Deira (627–632), Oswald of Bernicia (633–641) and Oswy of Northumbria (641–658). The 7th century became known as the 'Golden Age of Northumbria', when the area was a beacon of culture and learning in Europe. The greatness of this period was based on its generally Christian culture and resulted in the Lindisfarne Gospels amongst other treasures. The Tyne valley was dotted with monasteries, with those at Monkwearmouth, Hexham and Jarrow being the most famous. Bede, who was based at Jarrow, wrote of a royal estate, known as Ad Murum, 'at the Wall', 12 miles (19 km) from the sea. It is thought that this estate may have been in what is now Newcastle. At some unknown time, the site of Newcastle came to be known as Monkchester. The reason for this title is unknown, as we are unaware of any specific monasteries at the site, and Bede made no reference to it. In 875 Halfdan Ragnarsson, the Danish Viking conqueror of York, led an army that attacked and pillaged various monasteries in the area, and it is thought that Monkchester was also pillaged at this time. Little more was heard of it until the coming of the Normans.

 

Norman period

After the arrival of William the Conqueror in England in 1066, the whole of England was quickly subjected to Norman rule. However, in Northumbria there was great resistance to the Normans, and in 1069 the newly appointed Norman Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Comines and 700 of his men were killed by the local population at Durham. The Northumbrians then marched on York, but William was able to suppress the uprising. That same year, a second uprising occurred when a Danish fleet landed in the Humber. The Northumbrians again attacked York and destroyed the garrison there. William was again able to suppress the uprising, but this time he took revenge. He laid waste to the whole of the Midlands and the land from York to the Tees. In 1080, William Walcher, the Norman bishop of Durham and his followers were brutally murdered at Gateshead. This time Odo, bishop of Bayeux, William's half brother, devastated the land between the Tees and the Tweed. This was known as the 'Harrying of the North'. This devastation is reflected in the Domesday Book. The destruction had such an effect that the North remained poor and backward at least until Tudor times and perhaps until the Industrial Revolution. Newcastle suffered in this respect with the rest of the North.

 

In 1080 William sent his eldest son, Robert Curthose, north to defend the kingdom against the Scots. After his campaign, he moved to Monkchester and began the building of a 'New Castle'. This was of the "motte-and-bailey" type of construction, a wooden tower on top of an earthen mound (motte), surrounded by a moat and wooden stockade (bailey). It was this castle that gave Newcastle its name. In 1095 the Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Mowbray, rose up against the king, William Rufus, and Rufus sent an army north to recapture the castle. From then on the castle became crown property and was an important base from which the king could control the northern barons. The Northumbrian earldom was abolished and a Sheriff of Northumberland was appointed to administer the region. In 1091 the parish church of St Nicholas was consecrated on the site of the present Anglican cathedral, close by the bailey of the new castle. The church is believed to have been a wooden building on stone footings.

 

Not a trace of the tower or mound of the motte and bailey castle remains now. Henry II replaced it with a rectangular stone keep, which was built between 1172 and 1177 at a cost of £1,444. A stone bailey, in the form of a triangle, replaced the previous wooden one. The great outer gateway to the castle, called 'the Black Gate', was built later, between 1247 and 1250, in the reign of Henry III. There were at that time no town walls and when attacked by the Scots, the townspeople had to crowd into the bailey for safety. It is probable that the new castle acted as a magnet for local merchants because of the safety it provided. This in turn would help to expand trade in the town. At this time wool, skins and lead were being exported, whilst alum, pepper and ginger were being imported from France and Flanders.

 

Middle Ages

Throughout the Middle Ages, Newcastle was England's northern fortress, the centre for assembled armies. The Border war against Scotland lasted intermittently for several centuries – possibly the longest border war ever waged. During the civil war between Stephen and Matilda, David 1st of Scotland and his son were granted Cumbria and Northumberland respectively, so that for a period from 1139 to 1157, Newcastle was effectively in Scottish hands. It is believed that during this period, King David may have built the church of St Andrew and the Benedictine nunnery in Newcastle. However, King Stephen's successor, Henry II was strong enough to take back the Earldom of Northumbria from Malcolm IV.

 

The Scots king William the Lion was imprisoned in Newcastle, in 1174, after being captured at the Battle of Alnwick. Edward I brought the Stone of Scone and William Wallace south through the town and Newcastle was successfully defended against the Scots three times during the 14th century.

 

Around 1200, stone-faced, clay-filled jetties were starting to project into the river, an indication that trade was increasing in Newcastle. As the Roman roads continued to deteriorate, sea travel was gaining in importance. By 1275 Newcastle was the sixth largest wool exporting port in England. The principal exports at this time were wool, timber, coal, millstones, dairy produce, fish, salt and hides. Much of the developing trade was with the Baltic countries and Germany. Most of the Newcastle merchants were situated near the river, below the Castle. The earliest known charter was dated 1175 in the reign of Henry II, giving the townspeople some control over their town. In 1216 King John granted Newcastle a mayor[8] and also allowed the formation of guilds (known as Mysteries). These were cartels formed within different trades, which restricted trade to guild members. There were initially twelve guilds. Coal was being exported from Newcastle by 1250, and by 1350 the burgesses received a royal licence to export coal. This licence to export coal was jealously guarded by the Newcastle burgesses, and they tried to prevent any one else on the Tyne from exporting coal except through Newcastle. The burgesses similarly tried to prevent fish from being sold anywhere else on the Tyne except Newcastle. This led to conflicts with Gateshead and South Shields.

 

In 1265, the town was granted permission to impose a 'Wall Tax' or Murage, to pay for the construction of a fortified wall to enclose the town and protect it from Scottish invaders. The town walls were not completed until early in the 14th century. They were two miles (3 km) long, 9 feet (2.7 m) thick and 25 feet (7.6 m) high. They had six main gates, as well as some smaller gates, and had 17 towers. The land within the walls was divided almost equally by the Lort Burn, which flowed southwards and joined the Tyne to the east of the Castle. The town began to expand north of the Castle and west of the Lort Burn with various markets being set up within the walls.

 

In 1400 Henry IV granted a new charter, creating a County corporate which separated the town, but not the Castle, from the county of Northumberland and recognised it as a "county of itself" with a right to have a sheriff of its own. The burgesses were now allowed to choose six aldermen who, with the mayor would be justices of the peace. The mayor and sheriff were allowed to hold borough courts in the Guildhall.

 

Religious houses

During the Middle Ages a number of religious houses were established within the walls: the first of these was the Benedictine nunnery of St Bartholomew founded in 1086 near the present-day Nun Street. Both David I of Scotland and Henry I of England were benefactors of the religious house. Nothing of the nunnery remains now.

 

The friary of Blackfriars, Newcastle (Dominican) was established in 1239. These were also known as the Preaching Friars or Shod Friars, because they wore sandals, as opposed to other orders. The friary was situated in the present-day Friars Street. In 1280 the order was granted royal permission to make a postern in the town walls to communicate with their gardens outside the walls. On 19 June 1334, Edward Balliol, claimant to be King of Scotland, did homage to King Edward III, on behalf of the kingdom of Scotland, in the church of the friary. Much of the original buildings of the friary still exist, mainly because, after the Dissolution of the Monasteries the friary of Blackfriars was rented out by the corporation to nine of the local trade guilds.

 

The friary of Whitefriars (Carmelite) was established in 1262. The order was originally housed on the Wall Knoll in Pandon, but in 1307 it took over the buildings of another order, which went out of existence, the Friars of the Sac. The land, which had originally been given by Robert the Bruce, was situated in the present-day Hanover Square, behind the Central station. Nothing of the friary remains now.

 

The friary of Austinfriars (Augustinian) was established in 1290. The friary was on the site where the Holy Jesus Hospital was built in 1682. The friary was traditionally the lodging place of English kings whenever they visited or passed through Newcastle. In 1503 Princess Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII of England, stayed two days at the friary on her way to join her new husband James IV of Scotland.

 

The friary of Greyfriars (Franciscans) was established in 1274. The friary was in the present-day area between Pilgrim Street, Grey Street, Market Street and High Chare. Nothing of the original buildings remains.

 

The friary of the Order of the Holy Trinity, also known as the Trinitarians, was established in 1360. The order devoted a third of its income to buying back captives of the Saracens, during the Crusades. Their house was on the Wall Knoll, in Pandon, to the east of the city, but within the walls. Wall Knoll had previously been occupied by the White Friars until they moved to new premises in 1307.

 

All of the above religious houses were closed in about 1540, when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries.

 

An important street running through Newcastle at the time was Pilgrim Street, running northwards inside the walls and leading to the Pilgrim Gate on the north wall. The street still exists today as arguably Newcastle's main shopping street.

 

Tudor period

The Scottish border wars continued for much of the 16th century, so that during that time, Newcastle was often threatened with invasion by the Scots, but also remained important as a border stronghold against them.

 

During the Reformation begun by Henry VIII in 1536, the five Newcastle friaries and the single nunnery were dissolved and the land was sold to the Corporation and to rich merchants. At this time there were fewer than 60 inmates of the religious houses in Newcastle. The convent of Blackfriars was leased to nine craft guilds to be used as their headquarters. This probably explains why it is the only one of the religious houses whose building survives to the present day. The priories at Tynemouth and Durham were also dissolved, thus ending the long-running rivalry between Newcastle and the church for control of trade on the Tyne. A little later, the property of the nunnery of St Bartholomew and of Grey Friars were bought by Robert Anderson, who had the buildings demolished to build his grand Newe House (also known as Anderson Place).

 

With the gradual decline of the Scottish border wars the town walls were allowed to decline as well as the castle. By 1547, about 10,000 people were living in Newcastle. At the beginning of the 16th century exports of wool from Newcastle were more than twice the value of exports of coal, but during the century coal exports continued to increase.

 

Under Edward VI, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, sponsored an act allowing Newcastle to annexe Gateshead as its suburb. The main reason for this was to allow the Newcastle Hostmen, who controlled the export of Tyne coal, to get their hands on the Gateshead coal mines, previously controlled by the Bishop of Durham. However, when Mary I came to power, Dudley met his downfall and the decision was reversed. The Reformation allowed private access to coal mines previously owned by Tynemouth and Durham priories and as a result coal exports increase dramatically, from 15,000 tons in 1500 to 35,000 tons in 1565, and to 400,000 tons in 1625.

 

The plague visited Newcastle four times during the 16th century, in 1579 when 2,000 people died, in 1589 when 1700 died, in 1595 and finally in 1597.

 

In 1600 Elizabeth I granted Newcastle a charter for an exclusive body of electors, the right to elect the mayor and burgesses. The charter also gave the Hostmen exclusive rights to load coal at any point on the Tyne. The Hostmen developed as an exclusive group within the Merchant Adventurers who had been incorporated by a charter in 1547.

 

Stuart period

In 1636 there was a serious outbreak of bubonic plague in Newcastle. There had been several previous outbreaks of the disease over the years, but this was the most serious. It is thought to have arrived from the Netherlands via ships that were trading between the Tyne and that country. It first appeared in the lower part of the town near the docks but gradually spread to all parts of the town. As the disease gained hold the authorities took measures to control it by boarding up any properties that contained infected persons, meaning that whole families were locked up together with the infected family members. Other infected persons were put in huts outside the town walls and left to die. Plague pits were dug next to the town's four churches and outside the town walls to receive the bodies in mass burials. Over the course of the outbreak 5,631 deaths were recorded out of an estimated population of 12,000, a death rate of 47%.

 

In 1637 Charles I tried to raise money by doubling the 'voluntary' tax on coal in return for allowing the Newcastle Hostmen to regulate production and fix prices. This caused outrage amongst the London importers and the East Anglian shippers. Both groups decided to boycott Tyne coal and as a result forced Charles to reverse his decision in 1638.

 

In 1640 during the Second Bishops' War, the Scots successfully invaded Newcastle. The occupying army demanded £850 per day from the Corporation to billet the Scottish troops. Trade from the Tyne ground to a halt during the occupation. The Scots left in 1641 after receiving a Parliamentary pardon and a £4,000,000 loan from the town.

 

In 1642 the English Civil War began. King Charles realised the value of the Tyne coal trade and therefore garrisoned Newcastle. A Royalist was appointed as governor. At that time, Newcastle and King's Lynn were the only important seaports to support the crown. In 1644 Parliament blockaded the Tyne to prevent the king from receiving revenue from the Tyne coal trade. Coal exports fell from 450,000 to 3,000 tons and London suffered a hard winter without fuel. Parliament encouraged the coal trade from the Wear to try to replace that lost from Newcastle but that was not enough to make up for the lost Tyneside tonnage.

 

In 1644 the Scots crossed the border. Newcastle strengthened its defences in preparation. The Scottish army, with 40,000 troops, besieged Newcastle for three months until the garrison of 1,500 surrendered. During the siege, the Scots bombarded the walls with their artillery, situated in Gateshead and Castle Leazes. The Scottish commander threatened to destroy the steeple of St Nicholas's Church by gunfire if the mayor, Sir John Marley, did not surrender the town. The mayor responded by placing Scottish prisoners that they had captured in the steeple, so saving it from destruction. The town walls were finally breached by a combination of artillery and sapping. In gratitude for this defence, Charles gave Newcastle the motto 'Fortiter Defendit Triumphans' to be added to its coat of arms. The Scottish army occupied Northumberland and Durham for two years. The coal taxes had to pay for the Scottish occupation. In 1645 Charles surrendered to the Scots and was imprisoned in Newcastle for nine months. After the Civil War the coal trade on the Tyne soon picked up and exceeded its pre-war levels.

 

A new Guildhall was completed on the Sandhill next to the river in 1655, replacing an earlier facility damaged by fire in 1639, and became the meeting place of Newcastle Town Council. In 1681 the Hospital of the Holy Jesus was built partly on the site of the Austin Friars. The Guildhall and Holy Jesus Hospital still exist.

 

Charles II tried to impose a charter on Newcastle to give the king the right to appoint the mayor, sheriff, recorder and town clerk. Charles died before the charter came into effect. In 1685, James II tried to replace Corporation members with named Catholics. However, James' mandate was suspended in 1689 after the Glorious Revolution welcoming William of Orange. In 1689, after the fall of James II, the people of Newcastle tore down his bronze equestrian statue in Sandhill and tossed it into the Tyne. The bronze was later used to make bells for All Saints Church.

 

In 1689 the Lort Burn was covered over. At this time it was an open sewer. The channel followed by the Lort Burn became the present day Dean Street. At that time, the centre of Newcastle was still the Sandhill area, with many merchants living along the Close or on the Side. The path of the main road through Newcastle ran from the single Tyne bridge, through Sandhill to the Side, a narrow street which climbed steeply on the north-east side of the castle hill until it reached the higher ground alongside St Nicholas' Church. As Newcastle developed, the Side became lined with buildings with projecting upper stories, so that the main street through Newcastle was a narrow, congested, steep thoroughfare.

 

In 1701 the Keelmen's Hospital was built in the Sandgate area of the city, using funds provided by the keelmen. The building still stands today.

 

Eighteenth century

In the 18th century, Newcastle was the country's largest print centre after London, Oxford and Cambridge, and the Literary and Philosophical Society of 1793, with its erudite debates and large stock of books in several languages predated the London Library by half a century.

 

In 1715, during the Jacobite rising in favour of the Old Pretender, an army of Jacobite supporters marched on Newcastle. Many of the Northumbrian gentry joined the rebels. The citizens prepared for its arrival by arresting Jacobite supporters and accepting 700 extra recruits into the local militia. The gates of the city were closed against the rebels. This proved enough to delay an attack until reinforcements arrived forcing the rebel army to move across to the west coast. The rebels finally surrendered at Preston.

 

In 1745, during a second Jacobite rising in favour of the Young Pretender, a Scottish army crossed the border led by Bonnie Prince Charlie. Once again Newcastle prepared by arresting Jacobite supporters and inducting 800 volunteers into the local militia. The town walls were strengthened, most of the gates were blocked up and some 200 cannon were deployed. 20,000 regulars were billeted on the Town Moor. These preparations were enough to force the rebel army to travel south via the west coast. They were eventually defeated at Culloden in 1746.

 

Newcastle's actions during the 1715 rising in resisting the rebels and declaring for George I, in contrast to the rest of the region, is the most likely source of the nickname 'Geordie', applied to people from Tyneside, or more accurately Newcastle. Another theory, however, is that the name 'Geordie' came from the inventor of the Geordie lamp, George Stephenson. It was a type of safety lamp used in mining, but was not invented until 1815. Apparently the term 'German Geordie' was in common use during the 18th century.

 

The city's first hospital, Newcastle Infirmary opened in 1753; it was funded by public subscription. A lying-in hospital was established in Newcastle in 1760. The city's first public hospital for mentally ill patients, Wardens Close Lunatic Hospital was opened in October 1767.

 

In 1771 a flood swept away much of the bridge at Newcastle. The bridge had been built in 1250 and repaired after a flood in 1339. The bridge supported various houses and three towers and an old chapel. A blue stone was placed in the middle of the bridge to mark the boundary between Newcastle and the Palatinate of Durham. A temporary wooden bridge had to be built, and this remained in use until 1781, when a new stone bridge was completed. The new bridge consisted of nine arches. In 1801, because of the pressure of traffic, the bridge had to be widened.

 

A permanent military presence was established in the city with the completion of Fenham Barracks in 1806. The facilities at the Castle for holding assizes, which had been condemned for their inconvenience and unhealthiness, were replaced when the Moot Hall opened in August 1812.

 

Victorian period

Present-day Newcastle owes much of its architecture to the work of the builder Richard Grainger, aided by architects John Dobson, Thomas Oliver, John and Benjamin Green and others. In 1834 Grainger won a competition to produce a new plan for central Newcastle. He put this plan into effect using the above architects as well as architects employed in his own office. Grainger and Oliver had already built Leazes Terrace, Leazes Crescent and Leazes Place between 1829 and 1834. Grainger and Dobson had also built the Royal Arcade at the foot of Pilgrim Street between 1830 and 1832. The most ambitious project covered 12 acres 12 acres (49,000 m2) in central Newcastle, on the site of Newe House (also called Anderson Place). Grainger built three new thoroughfares, Grey Street, Grainger Street and Clayton Street with many connecting streets, as well as the Central Exchange and the Grainger Market. John Wardle and George Walker, working in Grainger's office, designed Clayton Street, Grainger Street and most of Grey Street. Dobson designed the Grainger Market and much of the east side of Grey Street. John and Benjamin Green designed the Theatre Royal at the top of Grey Street, where Grainger placed the column of Grey's Monument as a focus for the whole scheme. Grey Street is considered to be one of the finest streets in the country, with its elegant curve. Unfortunately most of old Eldon Square was demolished in the 1960s in the name of progress. The Royal Arcade met a similar fate.

 

In 1849 a new bridge was built across the river at Newcastle. This was the High Level Bridge, designed by Robert Stephenson, and slightly up river from the existing bridge. The bridge was designed to carry road and rail traffic across the Tyne Gorge on two decks with rail traffic on the upper deck and road traffic on the lower. The new bridge meant that traffic could pass through Newcastle without having to negotiate the steep, narrow Side, as had been necessary for centuries. The bridge was opened by Queen Victoria, who one year later opened the new Central Station, designed by John Dobson. Trains were now able to cross the river, directly into the centre of Newcastle and carry on up to Scotland. The Army Riding School was also completed in 1849.

 

In 1854 a large fire started on the Gateshead quayside and an explosion caused it to spread across the river to the Newcastle quayside. A huge conflagration amongst the narrow alleys, or 'chares', destroyed the homes of 800 families as well as many business premises. The narrow alleys that had been destroyed were replaced by streets containing blocks of modern offices.

 

In 1863 the Town Hall in St Nicholas Square replaced the Guildhall as the meeting place of Newcastle Town Council.

 

In 1876 the low level bridge was replaced by a new bridge known as the Swing Bridge, so called because the bridge was able to swing horizontally on a central axis and allow ships to pass on either side. This meant that for the first time sizeable ships could pass up-river beyond Newcastle. The bridge was built and paid for by William Armstrong, a local arms manufacturer, who needed to have warships access his Elswick arms factory to fit armaments to them. The Swing Bridge's rotating mechanism is adapted from the cannon mounts developed in Armstrong's arms works. In 1882 the Elswick works began to build ships as well as to arm them. The Barrack Road drill hall was completed in 1890.

 

Industrialisation

In the 19th century, shipbuilding and heavy engineering were central to the city's prosperity; and the city was a powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution. Newcastle's development as a major city owed most to its central role in the production and export of coal. The phrase "taking coals to Newcastle" was first recorded in 1538; it proverbially denotes bringing a particular commodity to a place that has more than enough of it already.

 

Innovation in Newcastle and surrounding areas included the following:

 

George Stephenson developed a miner's safety lamp at the same time that Humphry Davy developed a rival design. The lamp made possible the opening up of ever deeper mines to provide the coal that powered the industrial revolution.

George and his son Robert Stephenson were hugely influential figures in the development of the early railways. George developed Blücher, a locomotive working at Killingworth colliery in 1814, whilst Robert was instrumental in the design of Rocket, a revolutionary design that was the forerunner of modern locomotives. Both men were involved in planning and building railway lines, all over this country and abroad.

 

Joseph Swan demonstrated a working electric light bulb about a year before Thomas Edison did the same in the USA. This led to a dispute as to who had actually invented the light bulb. Eventually the two rivals agreed to form a mutual company between them, the Edison and Swan Electric Light Company, known as Ediswan.

 

Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine, for marine use and for power generation. He used Turbinia, a small, turbine-powered ship, to demonstrate the speed that a steam turbine could generate. Turbinia literally ran rings around the British Fleet at a review at Spithead in 1897.

 

William Armstrong invented a hydraulic crane that was installed in dockyards up and down the country. He then began to design light, accurate field guns for the British army. These were a vast improvement on the existing guns that were then in use.

 

The following major industries developed in Newcastle or its surrounding area:

 

Glassmaking

A small glass industry existed in Newcastle from the mid-15th century. In 1615 restrictions were put on the use of wood for manufacturing glass. It was found that glass could be manufactured using the local coal, and so a glassmaking industry grew up on Tyneside. Huguenot glassmakers came over from France as refugees from persecution and set up glasshouses in the Skinnerburn area of Newcastle. Eventually, glass production moved to the Ouseburn area of Newcastle. In 1684 the Dagnia family, Sephardic Jewish emigrants from Altare, arrived in Newcastle from Stourbridge and established glasshouses along the Close, to manufacture high quality flint glass. The glass manufacturers used sand ballast from the boats arriving in the river as the main raw material. The glassware was then exported in collier brigs. The period from 1730 to 1785 was the highpoint of Newcastle glass manufacture, when the local glassmakers produced the 'Newcastle Light Baluster'. The glassmaking industry still exists in the west end of the city with local Artist and Glassmaker Jane Charles carrying on over four hundred years of hot glass blowing in Newcastle upon Tyne.

 

Locomotive manufacture

In 1823 George Stephenson and his son Robert established the world's first locomotive factory near Forth Street in Newcastle. Here they built locomotives for the Stockton and Darlington Railway and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, as well as many others. It was here that the famous locomotive Rocket was designed and manufactured in preparation for the Rainhill Trials. Apart from building locomotives for the British market, the Newcastle works also produced locomotives for Europe and America. The Forth Street works continued to build locomotives until 1960.

 

Shipbuilding

In 1296 a wooden, 135 ft (41 m) long galley was constructed at the mouth of the Lort Burn in Newcastle, as part of a twenty-ship order from the king. The ship cost £205, and is the earliest record of shipbuilding in Newcastle. However the rise of the Tyne as a shipbuilding area was due to the need for collier brigs for the coal export trade. These wooden sailing ships were usually built locally, establishing local expertise in building ships. As ships changed from wood to steel, and from sail to steam, the local shipbuilding industry changed to build the new ships. Although shipbuilding was carried out up and down both sides of the river, the two main areas for building ships in Newcastle were Elswick, to the west, and Walker, to the east. By 1800 Tyneside was the third largest producer of ships in Britain. Unfortunately, after the Second World War, lack of modernisation and competition from abroad gradually caused the local industry to decline and die.

 

Armaments

In 1847 William Armstrong established a huge factory in Elswick, west of Newcastle. This was initially used to produce hydraulic cranes but subsequently began also to produce guns for both the army and the navy. After the Swing Bridge was built in 1876 allowing ships to pass up river, warships could have their armaments fitted alongside the Elswick works. Armstrong's company took over its industrial rival, Joseph Whitworth of Manchester in 1897.

 

Steam turbines

Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine and, in 1889, founded his own company C. A. Parsons and Company in Heaton, Newcastle to make steam turbines. Shortly after this, he realised that steam turbines could be used to propel ships and, in 1897, he founded a second company, Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company in Wallsend. It is there that he designed and manufactured Turbinia. Parsons turbines were initially used in warships but soon came to be used in merchant and passenger vessels, including the liner Mauretania which held the blue riband for the Atlantic crossing until 1929. Parsons' company in Heaton began to make turbo-generators for power stations and supplied power stations all over the world. The Heaton works, reduced in size, remains as part of the Siemens AG industrial giant.

 

Pottery

In 1762 the Maling pottery was founded in Sunderland by French Huguenots, but transferred to Newcastle in 1817. A factory was built in the Ouseburn area of the city. The factory was rebuilt twice, finally occupying a 14-acre (57,000 m2) site that was claimed to be the biggest pottery in the world and which had its own railway station. The pottery pioneered use of machines in making potteries as opposed to hand production. In the 1890s the company went up-market and employed in-house designers. The period up to the Second World War was the most profitable with a constant stream of new designs being introduced. However, after the war, production gradually declined and the company closed in 1963.

 

Expansion of the city

Newcastle was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835: the reformed municipal borough included the parishes of Byker, Elswick, Heaton, Jesmond, Newcastle All Saints, Newcastle St Andrew, Newcastle St John, Newcastle St Nicholas, and Westgate. The urban districts of Benwell and Fenham and Walker were added in 1904. In 1935, Newcastle gained Kenton and parts of the parishes of West Brunton, East Denton, Fawdon, Longbenton. The most recent expansion in Newcastle's boundaries took place under the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974, when Newcastle became a metropolitan borough, also including the urban districts of Gosforth and Newburn, and the parishes of Brunswick, Dinnington, Hazlerigg, North Gosforth and Woolsington from the Castle Ward Rural District, and the village of Westerhope.

 

Meanwhile Northumberland County Council was formed under the Local Government Act 1888 and benefited from a dedicated meeting place when County Hall was completed in the Castle Garth area of Newcastle in 1910. Following the Local Government Act 1972 County Hall relocated to Morpeth in April 1981.

 

Twentieth century

In 1925 work began on a new high-level road bridge to span the Tyne Gorge between Newcastle and Gateshead. The capacity of the existing High-Level Bridge and Swing Bridge were being strained to the limit, and an additional bridge had been discussed for a long time. The contract was awarded to the Dorman Long Company and the bridge was finally opened by King George V in 1928. The road deck was 84 feet (26 m) above the river and was supported by a 531 feet (162 m) steel arch. The new Tyne Bridge quickly became a symbol for Newcastle and Tyneside, and remains so today.

 

During the Second World War, Newcastle was largely spared the horrors inflicted upon other British cities bombed during the Blitz. Although the armaments factories and shipyards along the River Tyne were targeted by the Luftwaffe, they largely escaped unscathed. Manors goods yard and railway terminal, to the east of the city centre, and the suburbs of Jesmond and Heaton suffered bombing during 1941. There were 141 deaths and 587 injuries, a relatively small figure compared to the casualties in other industrial centres of Britain.

 

In 1963 the city gained its own university, the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, by act of parliament. A School of Medicine and Surgery had been established in Newcastle in 1834. This eventually developed into a college of medicine attached to Durham University. A college of physical science was also founded and became Armstrong College in 1904. In 1934 the two colleges merged to become King's College, Durham. This remained as part of Durham University until the new university was created in 1963. In 1992 the city gained its second university when Newcastle Polytechnic was granted university status as Northumbria University.

 

Newcastle City Council moved to the new Newcastle Civic Centre in 1968.

 

As heavy industries declined in the second half of the 20th century, large sections of the city centre were demolished along with many areas of slum housing. The leading political figure in the city during the 1960s was T. Dan Smith who oversaw a massive building programme of highrise housing estates and authorised the demolition of a quarter of the Georgian Grainger Town to make way for Eldon Square Shopping Centre. Smith's control in Newcastle collapsed when it was exposed that he had used public contracts to advantage himself and his business associates and for a time Newcastle became a byword for civic corruption as depicted in the films Get Carter and Stormy Monday and in the television series Our Friends in the North. However, much of the historic Grainger Town area survived and was, for the most part, fully restored in the late 1990s. Northumberland Street, initially the A1, was gradually closed to traffic from the 1970s and completely pedestrianised by 1998.

 

In 1978 a new rapid transport system, the Metro, was built, linking the Tyneside area. The system opened in August 1980. A new bridge was built to carry the Metro across the river between Gateshead and Newcastle. This was the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, commonly known as the Metro Bridge. Eventually the Metro system was extended to reach Newcastle Airport in 1991, and in 2002 the Metro system was extended to the nearby city of Sunderland.

 

As the 20th century progressed, trade on the Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides gradually declined, until by the 1980s both sides of the river were looking rather derelict. Shipping company offices had closed along with offices of firms related to shipping. There were also derelict warehouses lining the riverbank. Local government produced a master plan to re-develop the Newcastle quayside and this was begun in the 1990s. New offices, restaurants, bars and residential accommodation were built and the area has changed in the space of a few years into a vibrant area, partially returning the focus of Newcastle to the riverside, where it was in medieval times.

 

The Gateshead Millennium Bridge, a foot and cycle bridge, 26 feet (7.9 m) wide and 413 feet (126 m) long, was completed in 2001. The road deck is in the form of a curve and is supported by a steel arch. To allow ships to pass, the whole structure, both arch and road-deck, rotates on huge bearings at either end so that the road deck is lifted. The bridge can be said to open and shut like a human eye. It is an important addition to the re-developed quayside area, providing a vital link between the Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides.

 

Recent developments

Today the city is a vibrant centre for office and retail employment, but just a short distance away there are impoverished inner-city housing estates, in areas originally built to provide affordable housing for employees of the shipyards and other heavy industries that lined the River Tyne. In the 2010s Newcastle City Council began implementing plans to regenerate these depressed areas, such as those along the Ouseburn Valley.

William got to replace being 8 to 9 today.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 13-Oct-23.

 

This aircraft was delivered to Cathay Pacific Airways as VR-HOU in Jan-91. It became B-HOU in Sep-97 when Hong Kong became an autonomous region of China.

 

It was converted to freighter configuration with a main deck side cargo door (SCD) at Xiamen, China in Sep-05 and was transferred to Cathay Pacific Cargo in Dec-05.

 

In Jun-11 the aircraft was transferred to Cathay Pacific subsidiary Air Hong Kong. It was returned to Cathay Pacific in May-17 and ferried to Marana, AZ, USA where it was permanently retired. Updated 13-Oct-23.

Replaced in my 2007 Pace Arrow 36D

Samsung RF18HFEDB, counter depth French door

RF18HFENBSR/AA

32.25” wide x 70.875” tall

24.25” depth without doors

30.50" depth with doors and handles

 

Took my motorhome out of storage for an annual trip North from AZ and, again, the Dometic refrigerator was dead. I had replaced the cooling unit 5 years earlier for more than $3,000. I was not a happy camper! We limped along with 2 plug-in coolers until arriving at our destination in WA State. Invited a mobile RV repair guy to give it a look. He confirmed its death.

 

Rather than go thru the same process, I decided to install a "residential" model. It only runs on 110 household current. So what! It only cost $1,000. I have a large inverter and a good generator to help this keep cool on long, all day road trips. The secret to making this a success was to remove the side personnel door plus its frame from the RV. Once removed, I had the necessary clearance. Getting it off the RV wasn't easy. After taking off all screws I could see, it still wouldn’t budge. Once I found screws in the threshold and with the help of a pry bar, it came off.

 

Removal of the Dometic wasn't too bad. Again had to find all the screws inside and outside holding it. Then the cabinet needed modifications to remove the floor and increase the height opening. The width only needed help in a couple spots. This is definitely a two man job and needs a good large wheel hand truck. Doors on the new frig needed removal for clearance. Naturally, getting the new frig setting properly level took a little doing. Hocking up to electricity and water for the ice maker was OK. I did need to visit the local hardware store for tube fittings. What came with the frig didn't do it. After install, I needed new molding to fit around its sides and top. I also screened off the exterior back covers so no flying critters can invade.

Now my wife and I are happy campers. We went from a 12 cubic foot Dometic piece of stink to a well-lit up 18 cubic foot Samsung with a 5 year warrantee. Purchased it thru HomeDepot.

www.samsung.com/us/appliances/refrigerators/RF18HFENBSR/AA

 

Update:

Still love our new frig. Let’s talk about how to handle this frig without 110v shore power.

First, get a thermometer you can read without opening doors. I’ve provided a link to one I picked sold thru Amazon.com. It isn’t expensive and simple. It operates on one little battery and tells you the temperature in your RV and inside the refrig wherever you put the probe. And it comes with a bonus: an audible alert when the temperature gets too warm. Nice!

flic.kr/p/G4nTr1

flic.kr/p/G4nTr1

Next, get some reusable ice packs. I chose a couple Rubermaid ones that are about 7” square. Put them in the refrigerator area while traveling to help keep things cool. Overnight, refreeze so you are good for the next morning.

If things get to warm during a long days drive, turn on the generator. Open the door to make sure the lights come on and you are cooling. Next option: plug the refrig into a capable inverter. You know, the gadget that makes 110v from a 12v source.

Update 2:

You need to secure the refrigerator to the wall of the RV. I used a ratcheting strap over a top protrusion. You will also need to secure the doors from opening. More on that when I figure it out. The freezer door is the biggest problem.

Replacing an earlier digital photo with a better version, plus DeNoise AI 04-Nov-22.

 

First visit of AlWafeer Air to Manchester, departing on a Haj flight.

 

This aircraft was delivered to Malaysia Airlines as 9M-MPD in Oct-93. It was sold to Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad (a Malaysia Government financial entity) in Nov-02 and leased back to Malaysia Airlines.

 

The aircraft was sub-leased to AlWafeer Air (Saudi Arabia) as HZ-AWA3 in Oct-09 and returned to Malaysia Airlines in Sep-11. It was returned to Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad and stored at Kuala Lumpur - KUL in Dec-11.

 

In Aug-12 it was leased to EagleExpress Air Charter. The aircraft was wet-leased to NAS Air (National Air Services - Saudi Arabia) in Jan-13 and returned to EagleExpress in Sep-13.

 

It was wet-leased to Saudia Saudi Arabian Airlines in Dec-13 and returned to EagleExpress in Jan-16 when it was permanently retired at Kuala Lumpur - KUL. It was eventually broken up at Kuala Lumpur in Nov-21.

Replaced with full size image on 15 October 2006

Dont get me wrong but he is replacing his G string as i play guitar my-self.

Replacing the earlier scanned photo with a better version, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 07-Sep-23.

 

This aircraft was delivered to ILFC International Lease Finance Corporation and leased to Flying Colours Airlines as G-FCLE in Jun-98. Flying Colours was merged with Caledonian Airways (Mk2) to form 'JMC air' in Mar-00.

 

Not many of the travelling public knew who/what 'JMC air' was and it was renamed Thomas Cook Airlines in Apr-03. The aircraft was sub-leased to Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia, short-term, for three weeks in Nov/Dec-12.

 

It was returned to the lessor in Feb-14 and leased to Abakan Avia (Russia) as VQ-BTR in Mar-14. Blended Winglets were added in Apr-14 and the aircraft was operated on behalf of Royal Flight (Russia) a few days later.

 

The aircraft was stored at Moscow-SVO in Mar-22. Due to western sanctions on Russia due to their invasion of Ukraine, the aircraft was re-registered RA-73357 a few days later but hasn't flown since. It remains stored at Moscow-SVO. Updated 07-Sep-23.

This proposed coupe would replace the outdated Hawk. It was designed by Brooks Stevens and built in Italy by Sibona-Bassano. Stevens called this replacement 'Sceptre'.

Note the odd hubcaps.

 

For several reasons Studebaker had to close down its South Bend, Indiana production plant in December 1963.

Some production was replaced to their production facilities in Hamilton, Ontario (Canada). In March 1966 also this factory had to close its doors.

 

Imagine what kind of cars Studebaker could had offer us if it hadn't gone bankrupt. Master designers Raymond Loewy and especially Brooks Stevens had various plans and ideas for future Studebaker cars.

With a minimum of financial space Brooks Stevens was able to renew the Lark series on a spectacular way. He worked together with the Italian coach-builder Sibona-Bassano to realize his plans.

 

4736 cc V8 engine.

Production Studebaker Hawk Series: Autumn 1955-1964.

Production Hawk Gran Turismo: Autumn 1961-1964.

 

Source: www.indieauto.org/2021/12/10/1965-studebaker-lark-concept....

 

Screenshot, Halfweg, July 19, 2024.

 

© 2024 Sander Toonen Halfweg | All Rights Reserved

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version, plus Topaz DeNoise AO 17-Jan-25.

 

White winglets. They were later painted red with the Swiss flag white cross.

 

Named: "Ticino".

 

This aircraft was delivered to LTU International Airways, Germany as D-AERW in Jun-92. It was sold to a lessor in Nov-98 and leased to Swissair as HB-IWS a few days later.

 

It was repainted in full Swissair livery at Hamburg, Germany and stored until it was delivered to Zurich, Switzerland in Feb-99. It eventually entered service in early May-99. Swissair ceased operations in Oct-01 as a consequence of the 9/11 atrocity in the USA and the aircraft was stored at Zurich.

 

Swissair previously had an agreement with FedEx Federal Express to sell the whole MD-11 fleet for freighter conversion (this one was allocated the registration N642FE). However, after Swissair ceased operations FedEx cancelled the deal.

 

The aircraft was sold to Boeing Capital in Sep-02 and ferried to Mojave, CA, USA for further storage. It was sold to Central Air Leasing as N74WF in Nov-04. It remained at Mojave until early 2005 when it was ferried to Singapore for freighter conversion.

 

Conversion was completed in Apr-05 and the aircraft was leased to Transmile Air Services, Malaysia, in Jun-05 as 9M-TGR. Transmile ceased MD-11F operations in Jun-08 and it was stored at Kuala Lumpur - Subang.

 

It was bought by FedEx in Mar-11, becoming N642FE. Now 32.5 years old, the aircraft continues in service. Updated 17-Jan-25.

Replacing an earlier digital photo with a better version 03-Mar-20.

 

First flown as a B767-3T9ER in Apr-87 with the Boeing test registration N767PW, this aircraft was the Pratt & Whitney engine test-bed. In Mar-88, after the test programme was completed, it was re-designated as a B767-3Z9ER and re-registered N6009F. It was delivered to Lauda Air (Austria) as OE-LAU in Apr-88. It was wet-leased to Vietnam Airlines between Au/Sep-89. The aircraft was transferred to a Lauda subsidiary, Lauda Air Italy SpA in Dec-97 and returned to Lauda Air in Nov-00. It was wet-leased to Royal Nepal Airlines between Dec-00/Jun-01, and to Air Atlanta Icelandic between Jun/Oct-01. The aircraft was sold to FIT Aero Iceland as G-VKNG in Sep-04 and immediately leased to Air Atlanta Icelandic. It was transferred to subsidiary, Air Atlanta Europe and sub-leased to Excel Airways in Nov-04. Excel Airways was renamed XL Airways UK in Nov-06. It was returned to FIT Aero Iceland in Sep-08 and sold to Wells Fargo Bank Northwest as N763BK three days later and stored at Toronto, Canada, It was leased to Ryan International Airlines in Feb-09 and they bought it in Aug-09. They sold it to their own Holding Company, Ryan 763BK LLC in Nov-11 and leased it back. The aircraft was withdrawn from service and stored at Marana, AZ, USA in Aug-12. Ryan International ceased operations in Jan-13 and it was returned to Ryan 763BK LLC. It remained stored at Manana and was repossessed by the Barrington Bank & Trust Company in Feb-13. By then it was 26 years old and was permanently retired in Sep-13. It was last noted at Marana in the parts recovery area in Oct-13.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 18-Mar-18. plus Topaz DeNoise AI 24-Jan-24.

 

North Atlantic Airways - Malta, leased from Kalitta/American International Airways (if you look closely you can see some of Kalitta's red/gold livery showing through the white below the flight deck windows.

 

This aircraft was originally built as a Boeing 747-2B4B(M) Combi with a main deck side cargo door (SCD). It was delivered to MEA Middle East Airlines as OD-AGH in May-75. In Jun-77 it was wet-leased to Saudia Saudi Arabian Airlines and returned to MEA in Jan-81.

 

In Sep-81 it was wet-leased to Nigeria Airways, returning to MEA in Oct-81. The aircraft was sold to a US lessor and re-registered N202AE in Dec-84 and leased back to MEA. It was returned to the lessor in Apr-85 and was immediately leased to British Airways as G-BLVE.

 

It returned to the lessor as N202AE in Apr-90 when it was again leased to MEA. MEA sub-leased it to Air France between Jun-90/Jul-91, then to Garuda Indonesia Airlines between Jan-92/Jun-93 and again between Apr/Jun-95 for a Haj Pilgrimage operation.

 

In Mar-96 the aircraft was sold back to MEA and re-registered OD-AGH again. In Sep-97 it was sold to American International Airways as N710CK and was converted to a full freighter in Nov-98 and wet-leased to North Atlantic Airways (Malta) later the same month.

 

While it was with NAA, American International was renamed Kitty Hawk International Air Cargo in Feb-99 and the aircraft returned to them in Mar-99. It was stored at Victorville, CA, USA in May-00.

 

Kitty Hawk filed for US Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Aug-02 and the aircraft was transferred to the Kitty Hawk Collateral Liquidating Trust in Sep-02. It remained stored at Victorville.

 

In Jul-03 the company became Kalitta Air (again!) and the aircraft returned to service. It continued in service until , at the age of 33.5, it was permanently retired at Oscoda, MI, USA in Dec-08. It was last noted still at Oscoda in Jul-12 with many parts missing.

 

Note: The registration N710CK was re-used by Kalitta Air in Mar-18 when it bought a Boeing 747-4B5F from Korean Air Cargo (ex HL7642).

Replacing the usual Boeing 787-9.

Replacing an earlier digital photo with a better version 09-Aug-20, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 01-Sep-23.

 

Taken from the Templeton Bridge.

 

First flown with the Airbus test registration F-WWJL, this aircraft was delivered to Singapore Airlines as 9V-SJB in Apr-96. It was sold to Boeing Capital (in part-exchange for Boeing 777's) in Jul-01 and immediately leased to Cathay Pacific Airways as B-HXN.

 

The aircraft was withdrawn from service and stored at Victorville, CA, USA in Aug-09. It was ferried to Xamien, China in Apr-11 for major overhaul and repaint into Aerolineas Argentinas livery prior to return to Boeing.

 

It was stored at Hong Kong in Aug-11 and returned to Boeing Capital in Dec-11. The aircraft was leased to Aerolineas Argentinas as LV-CSE in Jan-12.

 

It was withdrawn from service and stored at Buenos Aries in Sep-16, returned to Boeing Capital and permanently retired at Victorville, CA, USA in Nov-17. The aircraft was broken up at Victorville in Mar-20.

Replacing an earlier digital photo with a better version 14-Jan-22 (DeNoise AI).

 

First Choice were merged into Thomson Airways in Nov-08 but the First Choice B767's were left in this livery as they were due to be returned to the lessor. However, due to the late arrival of Thomson's B787's they were retained.

 

This aircraft was originally ordered by Continental Airlines as N47904, however the order was cancelled and it was delivered to the General Electric Capital Corporation as EI-CMH in Oct-95 and stored on delivery.

 

The aircraft was transferred to GECAS Technical Services in Feb-96 and leased to Vietnam Airlines as S7-RGU (operated by Regionair), it was re-registered VN-A765 in Feb-01.

 

It was returned to the lessor in Nov-05 and immediately leased to First Choice Airways as G-OOBM. First Choice was merged into Thomson Airways in Nov-08 although the aircraft remained in First Choice livery. It was fitted with blended winglets in Jan-10.

 

It was returned to GECAS in May-15 and was leased to NEOS Airlines (Italy) as I-NDDL the same day. The aircraft was wet-leased to Arkia Israel Airlines between Jul-18/Jan-19 and returned to the lessor in Feb-19 when it was stored at Lourdes, France.

 

It was sold to Atlas Air Inc as N663GT at the end of Feb-19 and remained stored at Lourdes until it was ferried to Taipei, Taiwan in Mar-19 for freighter conversion. The conversion was completed and the aircraft entered service in Aug-19. Current, updated 13-Jan-22.

Replacing an earlier digital photo with a better version 09-Jan-22, plus DeNoise AI 18-Jan-22.

 

Diversion due to fog at London-Heathrow.

 

Named: "City of Chittagong".

 

First flown in May-96 with the Airbus test registration F-WWCB, this aircraft was delivered to Biman Bangladesh Airlines as S2-ADF in Aug-96.

 

The aircraft was damaged at Dhaka, Bangladesh on 22-Apr-04 during a severe storm when a Biman Fokker F.28-4000 (S2-ACV), parked next to the A310, was lifted 6 ft into the air and embedded it's nose in the lower forward fuselage of the A310. Both aircraft were repaired and returned to service.

 

The aircraft was permanently retired at Dhaka in Sep-16. It was broken up there in Nov-19.

Replaced the trans-dark blue facade from my original model with the trans-light blue found in the LEGO Architecture set.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 25-Mar-24

 

Fly FTI (Frosch Touristik International - a German tour operator) was another offshoot of the UK tour operator Airtours International.

 

This was another lessor owned aircraft with a long history. First flown in Jun-93 with the Airbus test registration F-WWDM, this aircraft was stored at Toulouse, France in Jul-93 before delivery to the Orix Aircraft Corporation in Sep-93. It remained in storage until it was re-registered N437RX in Mar-94.

 

It was leased to Airworld, UK as G-BVJV in Apr-94 for the summer season. On it's return to Orix in Nov-94 it was stored at Stansted, UK and leased to Airworld again in Apr-95. It was sub-leased to Skyservice Airlines (Canada) as C-FWOQ in Nov-95 and returned to Airworld as G-BVJV in Apr-96.

 

It was leased to Transmeridian Airways, USA as N437RX in Nov-96 for the winter, returning to Airworld as G-BVJV in Apr-97. The aircraft returned to Orix in Nov-97 and was leased to Airtours International Airways as G-EPFR two weeks later.

 

It was sub-leased to Skyservice as C-FTDF in Dec-97 and returned to Airtours in Apr-98. In Nov-98 it was sub-leased to Airtours subsidiary SkyserviceUSA and returned to Airtours as G-EPFR in Apr-99.

 

In Feb-00 the aircraft was leased to Airtours German subsidiary FlyFTI (operating for German Tour Operator, Frosch Touristik International). It was re-registered D-AAMS in Mar-00. It returned to Airtours in Jan-01 and was sub-leased to Skyservice Airlines, Canada as C-FTDF in Feb-01.

 

The sub-lease to Skyservice continued with the aircraft being sub-leased back to Airtours International for the summer season from Apr/Nov-01.

 

Airtours was renamed MyTravel Airways in Apr-02 and the summer sub-leases from Skyservice, Canada continued between May/Nov-02, Apr/Nov-03, May/Nov-04, May/Nov-05 and Mar/Nov-06. The aircraft was returned to MyTravel Airways, this time as G-FTDF, in Apr-07.

 

MyTravel was merged into Thomas Cook Airlines UK in Mar-08. The aircraft continued in service until it was permanently retired and stored at Manchester, UK in Jan-11. It was ferried to Greenwood, MS, USA for further storage. The registration was cancelled in Aug-11 and it was later broken up.

Replacing an earlier digital photo with a better version 25-Jul-19.

 

'Liverpool - John Lennon International Airport' special tail livery, with the additional cheesy 'Above us only sky' slogan! Plus additional 'Around the Universe' titles on the forward fuselage (a bit ambitious!). On a slightly misty September morning.

 

This aircraft was delivered to ILFC International Lease Finance Corporation and leased to Icelandair as TF-FIK in Mar-96. It was returned to the lessor in Mar-07 and immediately leased to flyGlobespan.com (UK) as G-CEJM.

 

It returned to the lessor in Apr-09. In May-09 the aircraft was leased to Mint Airways (Spain) as EC-LBC. It was wet-leased to PAL Aerolinea Principal (Chile) between Jan/Feb-11. It was also wet-leased to Thomas Cook Airlines UK between May/Sep-11.

 

Also in Sep-11 it was wet-leased, short-term, to RAK Airways (UAE). In Oct-11 the aircraft was wet-leased to Comtel Air (Austria), however they ceased operations on 14-Nov-11 and the aircraft was impounded at Amritsar, India. It was returned to Mint Airways in early Dec-11.

 

Mint Airways ceased operations in May-12, the aircraft was returned to the lessor and stored at Madrid, Spain. It was re-registered N391LF in Aug-12 and ferried to Goodyear, AZ, USA in Sep-12 for further storage.

 

The aircraft was sold to Erickson Aviation in Mar-13 and converted to freighter configuration with a main deck cargo door in Dec-13. It was sold to DHL Aviation (Netherlands) BV in Jan-14 and leased to Blue Dart Aviation (India) as VT-BDQ two days later. Blue Dart operate it on behalf of DHL. Current, updated 23-Apr-23.

Replacing an earlier digital photo with a better version 14-Feb-22.

 

This aircraft was delivered to TACA International Airlines (El Salvador) as N371TA in Jul-90. It was wet-leased to Freedom Air International (New Zealand) between Apr-96/Apr-97.

 

It was leased to VARIG Brasil as PP-VPF in Aug-97. TACA sold it to a lessor in Dec-99 while the lease to VARIG continued. It was returned to the lessor in Apr-06 and re-registered N371TA again in May-06.

 

The aircraft was leased to Hemus Air (Bulgaria) as LZ-HVB in Jun-06 and wet-leased to Bulgaria Air in May-07. It was returned to the lessor in Nov-10 and sold to Aurora Leasing as N919GF in Dec-10 and ferried to Miami, FL, USA.

 

By Apr-11 it had been converted to freighter configuration with a main deck cargo door and was leased to Airwork Flight Operations (New Zealand) as ZK-TLE later the same month. It was wet-leased to, and operated for, Toll Priority Freight in May-11.

 

The aircraft was returned to Airwork Flight Operations in Sep-20 and was stored at Brisbane, Australia. It was transferred to to Airwork Ireland as OE-IFE in Jan-21 and stored at Bucharest-Baneasa, Romania.

 

Now 32 years old the aircraft was due to be leased to Olympus Airways (Greece) in early 2021, however the lease was cancelled and the aircraft remained stored at Bucharest. It was returned to Airwork New Zealand as ZK-TLE in Mar-22 and returned to service.

 

It was withdrawn from use at Auckland, New Zealand in Jun-24 and ferried to Hamilton, NI, New Zealand in Jul-24 where it was permanently retired. Updated 14-Feb-26.

King Richard's tomb in historic Leicester Cathedral. It replaces a previous memorial slab.

 

***

 

Thanks to an excellent travelling companion I finally got to visit Leicester to 'see' King Richard III and his new tomb in Leicester Cathedral.

 

Richard was killed at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 during the so-called 'Wars of the Roses' a name which is so bloody inaccurate it should be dropped. Nasty historical shorthand. The York family made some use of the white rose but the red rose was not brought back into use (by Henry Tudor) until two years before Bosworth. There is no evidence that the original Lancastrian clan ever used a red rose - they used their own badges or the Royal badges. At the time this dynastic struggle was known as 'the Cousins War'. The Shakespearean story about two rival families choosing roses in The Temple garden is pure tosh. He made it up.

 

www.flickr.com/photos/barryslemmings/albums/7215767859279... to see the full set.

 

Thanks to inspired research, and not a little pure luck, Richard's skeleton - hidden under the floor of a friary knocked down by Henry VIII in the 16th century - was found under the tarmac of a modern council car park. Ironically it was actually under the letter 'R' for 'reserved' but R was also cursive Latin on coins, etc, for 'Rex'. So, in this case, Rex marked the spot. Indiana Jones said X never marks the spot!

 

The bones were re-interred in the cathedral less than 120 yards from where he was found, in a coffin made by one of his descendants, who is a carpenter.

 

An interpretive centre is partly built over the grave itself (which can be viewed through a glass floor) and it is clear Richard was buried in some haste. The hole was not big enough and by the time he was crammed into it, his head was just four inches below the tiled floor of the old friary church.

 

The centre's exhibits and scenes of the battle cover aspects of his life and his influence on history - plus the way subsequent history has treated him. An interesting item is Sir Ian McKellen's Nazi-style black uniform from his modern dress film version of Richard III - Richard as a fascist leader in an alternative 1930s England. Instead of a swastika it carries the white boar of Richard.

 

Were the Princes in the Tower murdered? Was Richard responsible for their deaths? How about the other suspects? - the Duke of Buckingham, Margaret Beaufort, Henry Tudor, Queen Anne Neville or any childhood disease which you can name. Measles, mumps, diphtheria or TB. They could simply have died in the Tower of London just as Richard's own son died a few months later. The Richard III Society think he is innocent - I simply say the case against him is 'not proven'. Beyond that, we will never know.

 

We know a bit more, but we still don't know enough.

When I saw that 740 had replaced 743 moments after I saw it heading into town I had to stay and get a photo of it, I've seen people say that it's a permanent transfer and not a loan but I'm gonna take that with a pinch of salt because of the people who are saying it however it would be nice if it is true.

 

Trent Barton Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse Urban 740 (FJ09BXE) is pictured on Meadows Way working a Skykink Express service to East Midlands Airport via Clifton and East Midlands Gateway.

An Olympic hotel used in 1984 for the Winter games. This reminded me of what i imagine the hotel from the shining to be if it was left for near on 30 years. The old rusty chairs moved slowly in what turned out to be quite a chill wind (hadnt taken the altitude into consideration while choosing clothing)

 

The cloud just appeared after getting to the top of the mountain creating some atmosphere (10mins later the blue skies had replaced it)

 

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this wood at potholm is being clear felled of sitka spruce,for a replant with natural hardwood trees,one man and one machine is all that is needed,in my early days as a tree cutter 3-4 of us would have been there for a few weeks with chainsaws-now it can be done in a few days.langholm,dumfriesshire,scotland. view large

Kangaroo Flat.

The splitting of main roads from Gawler to Mallala and Gawler to Wasleys was an obvious place for a small settlement to arise. A general store emerged here and in 1854 Reverend Keen got the Bible Christians to build a chapel here. The land for the church had been donated by a local Anglican family the Ebsary family. The cairn here notes that the present church was built in 1866 presumably replacing the very basic 1854 church. This simple structure with two Gothic windows each side is typical of Bible Christian churches of this era. A cemetery is attached with eight local families represented on the burial register. Zion church was another of the biblical names used for churches built during Reverend Keen’s period of service. Presumably when the settlers arrived this was a region of many kangaroos. A private school operated here in the little chapel from 1874 to 1878 when a stone government school was built nearby. That school closed in 1970. The church closed in 1966 and became a music school for Roseworthy Agricultural College but it is now in a poor state of repair. The family names on the few graves here are repeated in the dirt roads of this district- Nottle, Leak, Oates etc. In the late 1870s over 50 children were attending state school in Kangaroo Flat.

 

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 10-Apr-14.

 

The Dassault Mercure was an oddball aircraft, similar to the B737-200 but bigger and heavier and a bit under powered. Only 12 were built for the French domestic market with a very short range, about 1,000miles/1,700km. Consequently it didn't sell outside France, everyone else went for the B737-200.

 

This particular aircraft was delivered to Air Inter as F-BTTC in Jul-74 and was permanently retired 20 years later at Paris-Orly, in late 1994.

Replaced a Thomas Built International 3800 which is now Chapel Field Christian Schools #160

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Replacing an earlier digital photo with a better version 12-Jun-20.

 

First flown with the Boeing test registration N1786B, this aircraft was delivered to Boullioun Aviation Services and leased to Midway Airlines (USA) as N314ML in Jan-01. Midway ceased operations on '9/11', 11-Sep-01.

 

The aircraft was returned to the lessor and stored at Goodyear, AZ, USA later the same month. It was leased to the resurrected Midway Airlines in Dec-01 and repossessed by the lessor in Jul-02.

 

The aircraft was leased to Rio-Sul Servicios Linhas Aereas (Brasil) as PR-SAH in Aug-02 and returned to the lessor as N271CH in Mar-03. It was leased to Air-Berlin as D-ABAA in May-03 and returned to the lessor in May-11.

 

It was fitted with blended winglets in May-11 before being leased to Yakutia Airlines (Russia) as VQ-BLT in Jun-11. The aircraft returned to the lessor as N271AG in Jan-15 and was stored at Victorville, CA, USA.

 

It was sold to Southwest Airlines in Feb-16 and after maintenance, cabin refit and painting at Seattle-Everett it was re-registered N7882B in May-16 prior to service entry.

 

The aircraft was temporarily stored at Seattle-Everett in late Mar-20, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. It returned to service in Mar-22. The aircraft was permanently retired at Coolidge, AZ, USA in Jan-25