SONY DSC

Northbridge Mall opened in 1987 to serve the small community of Albert Lea which had a population of 19,000 at the time. The mall replaced Skyline Mall as this mall was near the interstate which is where Albert Lea's shopping area is unlike Skyline. The mall is 250,000 Square and it's own by locals. The mall's original anchors were Shopko and Herberger's. Both closed in 2018 and 2019 as those company went out. Northbridge Mall is one of my favorite small town malls and it also is one of the few to offer a food court not usually found in small town malls. Currently however, the mall is struggling due to the loss of the anchors and numbers of vacant spaces throught the mall. A strange thing about Northbridge Mall is that Dunham's Sports which is their junior anchor opened at 9 which means the mall technically opened at 9 however most of the tenants open at 10 which is why it doesn't look busy but some people did come in at 10 which made it at least a little busy.

Jaguar Mk.II 3.4ltr. (1960-68) Engine 3442 S6 DOC

Production 28,660 (3.4 litre - 83,800 all Mark IIs)

Registration Number 9411 RU (Bournemouth)

JAGUAR ALBUM

www.flickr.com/photos/45676495@N05/albums/72157623671588245/

 

Not surprising but the Mk.II replaced the Mk.I

 

The Jaguar Mark 2 is a mid-sized luxury sports saloon built from late 1959The Mark 2 was a fast and capable saloon in line with Sir William Lyon mantra of - Grace, Space and Pace. available with all three versions of the advanced Jaguar XK engine: the 2.4, 3.4, and 3.8 litre.

 

The Mark 2 came with a 120 bhp (122 PS) 2,483 cubic centimetres, 210 bhp (213 PS) 3,442 cubic centimetres, 0r a 220 bhp (164 kW; 223 PS) 3,781 cubic centimetres Jaguar XK engine. The 3.4 Litre and 3.8 Litre cars were fitted with twin SU HD6 carburettors and the 2.4 Litre with twin Solex carburettors. The front suspension geometry was rearranged to raise the roll centre and the rear track widened. Four-wheel disc brakes were now standard. Power steering, overdrive or automatic transmissions could be fitted at extra cost. The 3.8 litre was supplied fitted with a limited-slip differential.

 

The new car was re-engineered above the waistline, with vision dramatically improved by an 18% increase in cabin glass area. Slender front pillars allowed a wider windscreen, and the rear window almost wrapped around to the enlarged side windows, now with the familiar Jaguar D-shape above the back door and fully chromed frames for all the side windows. The radiator grille was changed, and larger side, tail and fog lamps were repositioned. Inside a new heating system was fitted and ducted to the rear compartment. There was an improved instrument layout that became standard for all Jaguar cars until the XJ series II of 1973.

 

The Mark 2 is also well known as the car driven by fictional TV detective Inspector Morse played by John Thaw; Morse's car was the version with 2.4 litre engine, steel wheels and Everflex vinyl roof, registered 248 RPA .

 

Whereas in his younger days as a Detective Constable in Endeavour, Endeavour Morse is seen driving and being a passenger in his boss Inspector Thursdays Mark 1 Jaguar 3.8 litre, UFF 325, as driving a 2.4 litre Mark 1 KAN 169

 

Diolch am 97,347,597 o olygfeydd anhygoel, mae pob un yn cael ei werthfawr706'n fawr.

 

Thanks for 97,347,597 amazing views, every one is greatly appreciated.

 

Shot 21.08.2022, at Lupin Farm, Kings Bromley, Staffordshire REF 163-158

   

Replaced 11/11/08 with version with a straight horizon :-)

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 09-Jun-20.

 

'Thar - Colours of the Desert' tail livery.

 

This aircraft was delivered to PIA Pakistan International Airlines as AP-BHV in Dec-06. Current, updated (Jun-20)

replaced with the full resolution image!

 

Testshot with f/1.4

the mirror in the middle is used to align the camera perfect vertically to the paper/wall

Now replaced by Millstream House, this Bulldog garage beside the River Stour on the old A12 through Stratford St Mary was proudly selling petrol in gallons in 1995. https://goo.gl/maps/6TaX1JmEPWsfAnPH9

 

Stratford St Mary still has a petrol station—Vale Garage, in the centre of the village, now branded Pace and before that Gulf (see Chris Barker's photo here www.flickr.com/photos/131286969@N05/27470197347 ). My notes from 1995 tell me that Vale Garage was Q8 at the time, with no pole sign.

Great Sampford, Essex

 

The beautiful church of St Michael the Archangel at Great Sampford is not the first church to stand on the rising ground at the centre of the village overlooking the cornfields along the valley of the river Pant. It is possibly sited on an ancient place of cult or religious significance. The proximity of the Stow farm may be of some importance, for the word ‘Stow’ in Old English can mean a ‘holy place’ or ‘place of assembly’. A pre-Conquest church, presumably of timber and thatch construction, followed perhaps, by a simple stone-built church, was replaced by the 13c on the same site by a major church building of which one of the transepts remains as the vestry of the present church which was built between 1320 and 1350. The original dedication of the church, if different, is not known as the first documentary reference to St Michael occurs as late as 1540 in a Sampford will. Dedications were sometimes changed and the use of the proper style, St. Michael the Archangel, is in fact quite rare. However, dedications to St. Michael or St. Michael and All Angels are numerous and were popular as the Archangel is an important figure in Christian tradition and art, symbolising the victory of God over evil, as an intercessor for the sick and as a leader of the Church militant. Churches dedicated to him, as at Great Sampford, are often found on hill—top sites or on high ground .a possible allusion to St. Michael’s pre-eminence in the Angelic Host of Christian belief. His Feast Day is 29th September.

 

Knowledge of the origins of the Christian Church in Essex relies largely on the fragile but growing evidence of archaeology and landscape interpretation. An ill-defined and mobile pattern of contemporaneous pagan and early Christian practices in the Roman era comes into historical focus with the missionary endeavours of the Roman and Celtic Churches when such names as Augustine, Mellitus and Cedd are prominent in Essex history. Within that tradition there are various, as yet unproven, theories about the establishment of a church at Great Sampford.

 

On entering the church the first impression that the visitor receives is of its elegant dignity; the next, the incongruence of its scale in such a tiny rural community. An interesting aspect of this enigma is the search for a convincing explanation of its status, from the mid-13c until 1907, as a deanery church serving twenty-one surrounding parishes in the Freshwell Hundred and in part of Uttlesford. It may have been a consequence of an early ‘minster’ (i.e.: missionary) role or as the result of a parochial compromise in an area with more important communities such as (Saffron) Walden. We do not know. However, it is a fact that the missionary work of the early minsters often extended to and beyond the boundaries of the administrative hundreds and became the sites of the hundredal centres themselves. There may well be historic linkages, not yet understood, between the Freshwell and Uttlesford Hundreds and the Sampford Deanery that relate to the early status of the church at Great Sampford.

 

The earliest historical fact about St. Michael’s is the grant by William Rufus, son and successor of William the Conqueror, of the church at Sampford along with the subordinate chapel at Hempstead with their lands and tithes to Battle Abbey in 1094. According to Philip Morant, the most famous of Essex historians, this was a formal confirmation of the Conqueror's original royal grant. This act of confirmation was a necessary and regular practice in regard to the efficacy of grants and early charters which were frequently forged. The church at Hempstead was within the jurisdiction of the vicar of Great Sampford until as late as 1979. Great Sampford remained in the hands of Battle Abbey until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539 when it was transferred to the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury. In 1836 it passed to the newly-established Church Commissioners. In 1982 Great Sampford was combined with the parish of Little Sampford.

 

For perhaps a thousand years, even more, the Church at Sampford pursued its mission and, like others of medieval foundation, did not escape the consequences of religious, political and parochial events or circumstances. An astonishing flowering of spiritual faith and social commitment led to the building and re-building of these lovely churches. This phase was followed by the painful disruption of the Reformation, the Commonwealth and the Restoration, all of which led to anxious change and despoliation. In the course of these events much of the magnificence of the church at Great Sampford and its furnishings was lost or abandoned. All his was compounded by periods of neglect and the chronic problems of maintaining a great building in a small village bereft of wealthy resident patrons.

 

The loss, confiscation or sale of the rood, images, church plate and "such other goods as could be spared" was mirrored by decay of the fabric as is evident from the Parochial Inventories and Visitations of the l6c and l7c. The l7c saw the introduction of new arrangements for the railing of the Lord’s Table and seating for the congregation, a school was held in the south transept and the village musicians performed in a gallery under the tower. The inevitable ‘restorations’ by the Victorians led to the removal of furnishings, the installation of new pews, patterned floor tiling and the stripping of the stucco from the exterior walls of the church to expose the original flint and rubble surfaces. In more recent times the spiral staircase in the tower was removed and the roof structure of the south aisle replaced. We are, fortunately, left with a church of beauty and distinction.

 

It is hoped that the following brief notes on the architectural features and minor objects and details of interest in the church will help visitors to enjoy their visit.

  

The significance of St. Michael the Archangel in the village scene is apparent from the scale of the building, its strong profiles and conspicuous English Gothic idiom of the Decorated period. Internally, the major architectural theme is that of a restrained, uncomplicated elegance that is enhanced by the ample light admitted by plain glass windows. A dominant feature is the fine range of trefoiled, cinquefoiled and sexfoiled lights of the nave, chancel and aisle windows all dating from the period c. 1320-50. The cusped tracery of the windows is complemented by the symmetrical refinement of the arcading which is only lightly embellished by mouldings and carved capitals, typical of the period, and among the best in the county. Although not devoid of interesting detail, there is nothing to detract from the simple elegance and spatial qualities with which the fenestration and graceful arcading endow this fine building.

 

In 1769 Peter Muilman referred to the church at Great Sampford which "stands pleasantly on a small eminence by the roadside". Pleasantly indeed, the church is handsomely set in the Essex cornfields and seen to advantage from the high ground on the opposite side of the river. Close to, the sturdy profiles and somewhat severe external textures, relieved by some decorative areas of knapped flint flushwork, offer little hint of the quality of its Gothic interior. The main structure is built with random-faced flint and rubble set in lime mortar with limestone and clunch dressings. The roof is tiled and slated. The prominent west tower was built in the mid-l4c and, like the south aisle, has an embattled parapet. The south porch is of the same period. Unhappily, the window tracery of the 13c transept has been lost and is now disfigured by brickwork of two phases which seem to date from the late-18c to early-19c. Conspicuous in the churchyard are the fine lime trees planted in about 1835. The only monument of significance is the obelisk near the east wall of the churchyard which commemorates members of the Watson Family of Sampford. Colonel Jonas Watson was a distinguished soldier who was killed in action at the siege of Cartagena in 1741. But spare a moment to look at the adjacent grave stone of William Ruffle who died in 1881, a village worthy who served Great Sampford as shopkeeper, constable, clerk and in other public offices for over half a century.

 

External details of note are a rare series of consecration crosses of varying designs around the church, an early scratch dial, now displaced and seen on a doorstep in the north wall, a benchmark and the slot for the surveyor’s bench on the south-west buttress of the tower and miscellaneous graffiti mainly in the porch. Other details of interest include the rainwater heads, the vigorous carvings on the label of the south transept and niches in the south transept and the north and west walls. The clock on the church tower was installed in l9ll to mark the coronation of King George V.

 

On entering, visitors will appreciate the impressive dimensions and architectural refinement of this handsome village church. Standing in the centre of the nave the dominant curvilinear idiom of the Gothic styling will be apparent. The nave is flanked by north and south arcaded aisles with plain two-centred arches datable to the l4c. The piers of the north arcade are quatrefoil in plan with slender engaged shafting; those of the south arcade are octagonal in plan. All of the piers have moulded bases and capitals.

 

The 14c west tower is constructed in four stages. Internally it is open to the nave under a two-centred moulded arch. There is access to the belfry but, sadly, the brick-built circular Tudor staircase was removed about fifty years ago. The carved head of a woman recovered from this staircase, although it presumably originated from elsewhere in the church, can be seen in the vestry. But the finest aspects of this church are to be seen in the early chancel which is remarkable for its size and the splendour of its architectural expression. It dates from the first decades of the l4c. This fine chancel is framed by an exceptionally large east window of five cinquefoiled lights, the curvilinear bar tracery and verticality of which enhance the powerful impact of this aspect of the building. Most interesting, and presumably deriving from the deanery status of the church, there is a series on the north and south walls of twenty-one stalls recessed under a canopied arcade with mouldings and cusping. At the east end of the south arcade there are the piscina and sedilia. The chancel arch, of the same period and sprung from the capitals of clustered shafts, shows residual traces, near the base on either side of the step, of a former stone screen which is possibly significant in view of the rare stone screens in the nearby churches of Stebbing and Great Bardfield. Note also the small blocked low window by the north side of the arch. The panels behind the altar on which the Creed, Lords Prayer and Commandments are painted were made in 1837 for the church at Danbury and brought to Great Sampford in 1894.

 

The vestry, formerly a chapel, is of great interest as a surviving major element of the previous church of the late - 13c (however when I visited this was locked). In the east wall there are good coupled windows of two trefoiled lights with two quatrefoil and sexfoil circular openings, interesting examples of pierced plate-tracery. The large brick-filled window in the south wall is of the mid-13c with good mouldings and the surviving arch and shafting in the splays. Below this window, fragments of medieval glass were found buried in the ground outside. The contemporary archway in the west wall has some intriguing carved capitals richly adorned with robust oak-leaf foliage and vibrant figures including an owl, snail, pig and a human face in a good state of preservation. One is assumed to be a representation of a ‘Green Man’ a symbolic figure of English folklore. The north wall has four quatrefoil openings. There is, under the south window, a triple gabled recess with crockets and linear moulding, pinnacles and a neat acanthus motif which was probably once a fine tomb of an important local family, perhaps a member of the de Kemesek family. It is said to have served as a fireplace in the time when the vestry housed the village school! The battened and studded oak door leading into the chancel is 16c.

 

The open church roof structures are well worth close study. The best is in the vestry which is roofed with twelve pairs of collared scissor-braced trusses supporting the steep-pitched rafters on moulded wall plates. The chancel roof is also of trussed-rafter construction of seven cants, as is that of the nave roof which also has three tie-beams which may have been installed at a later date, perhaps when, as we know from church records, the roof was repaired in the 16c. The lean-to roof of the north aisle is attractively braced with graceful curved members sprung from a good moulded wall-plate. Unfortunately, the original roof of the south aisle has been replaced by a modern structure, but three of the amusing stone corbels which supported it remain. The trussed-rafter roof of the south porch with seven cants should be noted as it rests on extremely fine early moulded plates. Visitors should not miss the intriguing carved medieval wooden head which is fastened onto the wall above the chancel arch at the north-west corner facing the nave. This appears to have been repositioned, perhaps from a figure that was once part of church statuary. On the south side in the clerestory will be seen an attractive 15c Perpendicular style rectilinear and cinquefoiled window of three ogee lights which was devised to throw light onto the former rood.

 

Originally the church would have been resplendent with a comprehensive range of wall paintings for visual instruction depicting scenes of biblical or religious significance. A few fragments survive, having been discovered during restoration work in 1979, above the arches on the walls of the north arcade. Although faint and incomplete the two remaining paintings are of interest. One represents the seven deadly sins in the form of a diagrammatic tree which is comparatively rare. The other may be of St. Christopher, a saintly figure normally positioned, as possibly here, opposite the church entrance as a reassuring gesture to the worshippers. There are traces, too, possibly of another period, that suggest a dragon was depicted which would imply an association with St. Michael to whom the church is dedicated or, possibly, St. Margaret. Traces of colour in the wall plaster of the vestry may eventually yield further paintings.

 

Worthy of note are some special features beginning with the door at the church entrance. This is thought to be contemporary with the building of the church in the early l4c and, although damaged at the base, is still a fine example and retains the original wrought iron strap-work and studding. According to expert opinion it is the most elaborate of all saltire-braced doors in Essex. The boards of which it is constructed are pegged together. The font in the south aisle has a plain moulded octagonal bowl of the 15c. Its stem is earlier and has complex decoration which combines ogee-headed panels with intricate tracery on a chamfered 14c plinth. The Victorian pews were recently detached and the nave flooring paved. The beautiful series of kneelers worked with flower motifs were recently embroidered by local people. The lovely embroidered runner on the step of the sanctuary was made in 1990 and is an exact copy of the Victorian runner it replaced.

 

It is valid to observe that St. Michael’s benefits aesthetically from the absence of monumental clutter which, although sometimes historically useful, can be detrimental to the architectural purity of the building as a whole. The only remaining monuments of antiquity in the church are the tomb slabs (Calthorp and Burrows) of the 17c and 18c in the chance]. They commemorate a family whose name persists at a local farm and another of textile merchants who lived opposite the church. There is another (Gretton) in the south aisle. The pulpit, the provenance of which is unknown, is Victorian. There are also a few notable pieces of furniture. These include a 17c desk with a writing slope and cupboard which once served the school in the church. There is also a standing cupboard or hutch of the late 16c and a 16c church chest, iron-banded with strap hinges and an interior ‘till’ which may have been built-in as a response to a Parochial Visitation of 1686 which ordered it to be provided and lockable. The modern portable altar at the east end of the north aisle was given to the church by an anonymous donor in 1991. The small bronze of the Madonna and Child is of German provenance.

 

The five church bells which were once rung for church services as well as for special village occasions like harvest and gleaning can no longer be pealed. This is because of structural weaknesses in the belfry though they are still hung on the original stocks. Nowadays one is chimed for church services, as a Sanctus bell and used to ring the hours for the clock. The first, third and fourth bells were cast by William Land in 1624; the second (which bears the Royal Arms and a medallion with a bust of Charles II) by Henry Yaxley in 1684; the fifth by John Hodson in 1664. The church plate includes an interesting early Elizabethan silver cup of 1562 with a paten cover of c1567 and another paten dated 1630. None of these is inscribed although they carry makers' marks. An electro-plated flagon of 1854 was purchased by the vicar for five guineas in 1856. The organ, installed in 1976, is said to have come from a nonconformist chapel and to have been built in c1830 by G.M. Holdich. The eagle lectern in the south aisle was placed in the church in 1909 as a tribute to the incumbency of the Rev. Robert Eustace, vicar from 1850 to 1905.

 

Almost every ancient church has a range, most of which cannot be satisfactorily explained, of markings and graffiti, ostensibly symbolic figuring, idle scratchings and numerous initials and dates. Great Sampford has a generous quota of such. Of genuine interest is a 3-men’s (or 9-men's) Morris cut into the second stall on the north side of the chancel inside the altar rail. These are gaming boards of some antiquity, the play having affinities with ludo and allegedly used to relieve the boredom of long sermons or tedious ritual. On the opposite side one of the sedilia has a set of unexplained grooves, possibly another game.

 

This guide has so far been concerned mostly with events, architecture and objects of beauty or interest. More important are the people, clergy, church officers and villagers who have worked for and worshipped in the church. They all emerge from the obscurity of the past through the church records and the village archives as personalities or in human situations which help us to share their hopes, commitment or despair. The clergy, ever since Thomas de Sampford, dean in 1163, have served the church and ministered to the people throughout the ages and struggled with the traumas of turbulent and anxious times. The churchwardens, like Richard Petytt and John Mylner in the l6c and their successors, have striven to preserve the church from decay and neglect and carried out their onerous and multifarious duties with devotion if not always with alacrity. There have been too the countless parishioners whose recurring family names fill the registers recording the joy of marriage and birth and the sadness of illness and death. They are all part of the story and the reality of the church and its life in the village. They too were familiar with the building we admire. They sat in the pews and looked upon the beauty that is now our heritage. Their responsibility has passed to successive generations, and now to us. We hope that they would have approved of this little booklet and that it will play its part in safeguarding the continuity of that inheritance.

I suppose I have been driving up and down the A143 for the last 33 years, and I have noticed the sign to Mendham the very first time I drove down there, as Mendham was also the surname of one of the Norwich City players at this time.

 

But it wasn't until a friend posted a shot of the church from the air, that the thought of visiting it entered my little head. (www.flickr.com/photos/john_fielding/)

 

Anyway, I turned off the main road into the lane that leads to Mendham, the lane shrinking to a width of just wider than the car, before it plunged down a valley side to the now dry water meadows before a bridge took me over the river and from Norfolk into Suffolk.

 

The church was at the entrance to the village, guarded by a pillbox, looking over the lane now, but 75 years ago would have covered fire on the lane and bridge that spans the mighty river Waveney, which must be some ten feet side at this point.

 

The church was open, and despite the gloomy day, I could see lots of interest, including a blocked squint, but not too sure about that east window, but then I'm no expert.

 

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(Introduction: In 2007, I started revisiting the churches of Suffolk. It was interesting to look back at what I'd written when I'd first come this way. Back then, by the time I got to Mendham in 2002, the journey was almost complete. Here, and on the entry for neighbouring Weybread, there is a demob-happy irreverence which suggests I was happy for the journey to be coming to an end. In truth, I think I was exhausted, and it would actually be another year before I started on Norfolk. But that was in the future. I came to Mendham in the days before I owned a digital camera, which was the main reason for going back. Apart from replacing the old photographs and adding lots of new ones, I have left the account pretty much as I wrote it in 2002. This entry seems to have an uncharacteristic number of side-swipes at other villages, and the Countryside Alliance, who were at that time making themselves rather unpleasant. Perhaps they have been proved right, who can say? Anyway, this is what I wrote.)

 

2002: Mendham, for me, is synonymous with civilisation. I had come here from Bungay, one of my favourite East Anglian towns, and I had made the choice there to travel onwards on the Suffolk side of the Waveney, even though the more direct trip on the Norfolk side would take me through Earsham and Redenhall. This was because I wanted to visit Flixton, where the 19th century church of St Mary is a direct copy by Salvin of the Saxon church at Sompting in Sussex. Out of Flixton, I could stay on the main road, or try and take a short cut through the Saints.

Now, anyone who knows Suffolk will tell you that no one takes a short cut through the Saints. This elaborate maze of twelve villages is connected by threadlike roads without name, direction or purpose, that lead you into farmyards and then peter out, or double back on themselves, so you see yourself across the fields trying to get to somewhere other than the place where you are. The Saints were created by a Zen Buddhist God to demonstrate the futility of life.

 

But I ambled on, aiming for the easily recognisable tower of the church of St George, South Elmham St Cross, which would lead me to my intended destination. The road lurched and dipped, straining to throw me off down some unmarked byway, but I held to my course. I had a map, a sense of direction, and would not be diverted from reaching St George. And then I got there, and it turned out to be South Elmham St Peter.

 

I stopped for a moment, exasperated. Looking at the map, it was easy to see where I had gone wrong (they do this to you, the Saints, they point out your inadequacies) but I was now 4 miles further east than I should have been. I found a lane that led me down into South Elmham St Margaret, and resisted the temptation to head off of this road, which was the correct one.

 

Okay, then I didn't. I was going to stick to it, but a sudden lane pointed to St Cross. So I took it. Instantly, it narrowed, dipped, and sent me hurtling into a tunnel overgrown with hawthorn. The road surface disappeared under a sea of mud, obviously left over from the winter ploughing. My bike cheerfully sprayed the slurry all up the front of me. Now, I'm a reasonable man - well, mostly. But I have no time for the Countryside Alliance mob, and howled in execration, something along the lines of "----ing farmers, why can't they keep their mud on their ----ing fields where it belongs", which caused mild consternation to the donkey skulking under a tree at the bottom of the dip.

 

I climbed up the other side of the valley - and at the top of the rise there was a proper road, and a sign saying Mendham 2 and I knew I was free. With a cry of "YES!" I headed on into Mendham, a large and civilised place, which was birthplace and home to the artist Sir Alfred Munnings. Right beside the Waveney sits the pretty church of All Saints in a delightful graveyard.

 

The first impression is a neat, substantial building, and indeed this is a major 19th century restoration that was done well. The 14th tower is slightly older than the body of the church it stands against, but the chancel is late 19th century. The going over the rest of the church received 20 years earlier was at the hands of our old friend Richard Phipson, and the headstops on the porch will instantly remind us of his contemporary work at St Mary le Tower, Ipswich.

 

It is a big church, and the inside is pretty much all the work of Phipson in his 'see, I can be surprisingly creative when I try' period. So it is very Victorian, although I thought the roof angels were superb despite this. They bear shields with a complete set of Passion symbols. The chancel arch is very striking, being wooden, and based on a pair of arch braces. There is a fine memorial to William Godbold, as well as a number of lovely brasses to the Freston family, which don't seem to get mentioned in books on the subject. Best of all, I think, is the 1880s east window by Ward and Hughes depicting the Ascension.

 

Mortlock thought the painting of the Presentation in the Temple was probably Venetian, dating from the early 17th century. In general, this is a crisp, spare, simple interior, a cool place to pause in the middle of a busy journey.

 

Back outside again, the graveyard has something that no other graveyard in Suffolk has. The western edge drops straight into the Waveney, and against this edge is a pill box, a machine gun emplacement from the Second World War (or, at least, I'm guessing it was built to repel Nazi invaders, rather than anything that might come across from the Norfolk side).

 

My next port of call was Weybread, just three miles away - but five if I stayed in the narrow winding lanes on the Suffolk bank, so I took a deep breath, screwed up my courage, and crossed the river into Norfolk.

  

All Saints, Mendham, is situated between Bungay and Harleston, Norfolk, just south of the border. I found it open.

 

Simon Knott 2002 (revised and updated 2007)

  

www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/mendham.htm

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edham, adjoins east to Brockdish, on the great road; and is originally a hamlet and chapelry to Mendham, which is a very extensive place; the parish church stands just over the river, and so is in Suffolk; but this hamlet and the adjacent part between it and the parish church, on the Norfolk side, were no less than two miles and five furlongs long, and seven furlongs broad, at the Conqueror's survey, and paid 7d. to the geld or tax; and the part on the Norfolk side (exclusive of the bounds of this ancient hamlet) was called Scotford, or the part at the ford, (over which there is a good brick bridge built, called Shotford bridge at this day,) and for many ages had a rector presented to it, who served in the church of Mendham, by the name of the rector of Shotford portion in Mendham.

 

Part of Herolveston or Harleston then belonged to Mendham also; and now, that part of the town opposite to the south side of the chapel, on which the publick-house called the Pye stands, is in Mendham.

 

Mendham parish church is dedicated to All the Saints, and was originally a rectory, one turn of which, was in Sir William de Huntingfield, founder of the priory here, to which he gave it, and the other in Sir Thomas de Nedham, who gave it to William Prior of the Holy Trinity at Ipswich, and the convent there, to which it was appropriated by Thomas de Blundeville Bishop of Norwich, in 1227, when the vicarage was settled to consist of a messuage and 24 acres of land, 6 acres of meadow and marsh, with all the alterage belonging to the church, and the tithes of the mills, hay, turf, and fish, and all sorts of pulse, and 10s. per annum rent; viz. from the Lady Eve de Arches half a mark, &c. (fn. 1) and the said Prior was to pay all dues to the bishop and archdeacon, except synodals; (fn. 2) and Henry de Diss, chaplain, the first vicar here, was presented by the Prior of Ipswich. The account of this church in Norwich Domesday is thus; the Prior of the Holy Trinity of Ipswich hath the moiety of the church of Mendham, appropriated to his convent, and hath a house and two carucates of land, and receives the tithes of the demeans of Sir Thomas de Nedham; this was valued formerly at 15 marks. The Prior of Mendham hath the other moiety, and receives the tithes of Sir William de Hunting field, and his moiety is valued at ten marks. Sir Thomas de Clare is patron of the third part, which the vicar holds of the fee of Cockfield, and is valued at tive marks.

 

The chapel of St. Peter at Nedham was in all probability founded by the Nedham family, and most likely, by Sir Thomas de Nedham himself, for his own tenants; and being so far from the mother-church of Mendham, was made parochial, and hath separate bounds, officers, administration of sacraments, and burial; it is under the episcopal, but exempt from the archidiaconal jurisdiction; for it pays neither synodals, procurations, nor Peter-pence: and in 1329, a perpetual composition and agreement was made between the parishioners of the mother-church of Mendham, and those of the chapel of Nedham; by which, in lieu of all reparations and dues to the parish of Mendham, they agreed to pay 18d. every Easter-day, towards the repairs of Mendham church, as an acknowledgment that they were members of it. In 1411, the parishioners of Nedham, complained to Pope John XXIII. that their chapel was not well served, though the Prior of Mendham was well paid his tithes; upon which, a bull directed to Alexander de Totington Bishop of Norwich, issued; (fn. 3) commanding him to oblige the Prior of Mendham to find, and give security to him, that that convent would always find a parochial chaplain resident in Nedham, well and duly to serve the chapel there: and ever since, the impropriator of Mendham nominates the parish chaplain. In 1603, it was returned that

 

Mr. Andrew Wily, clerk, was curate, that there were 220 communicants, and that it was an impropriation; the herbages being reserved for the maintenance of the minister, who hath now the vicarial tithes, amounting to about 14l. per annum, for which it is served once every fortnight;

 

The Rev. Mr. John Tracey being the present curate.

 

The steeple is round at bottom and octangular at top, and hath four bells in it; the south porch and nave are tiled; there are several stones, but none with inscriptions on them, all their brasses being reaved: the chancel was wholly rebuilt in 1735, of brick, and tiled (though less than the old one was) by William Freston, Esq. who is interred in it; for whom there is a mural monument on the south side, with the

 

Crest of Freston, viz. a demi-greyhound arg. collared sab. and his arms,

 

Az. on a fess or, three leopards heads gul. which were first granted to the Frestons of Yorkshire, (fn. 4) impaling

 

Kedington, and this inscription,

 

Memoriæ sacrum, Gulielmi Freston de Mendham in Agro Norfolciensi, Armigeri, qui ex hac Vitâ demigravit 26° Die Oct. A. D. MDCCXXXIXo. Ætatis LVo. Et Margarettæ Uxoris Charissimæ, Filiæ et Herædis Henrici Kedington, Armigeri, quæ nimio ob Mariti obitum indulgens Dolori, Die 2do. Julij animam efflavit Anno Dni. DCCXLIo. Ætatis LIo. Vincula Amoris inter eos arctissima ut ad Amorem mutuum nihil posset accedere. Ex his nati sunt octo Liberi, Quorum sex jam Superstites; Maria Filia natû maxima, 20° Die Mensis Junij mortem obijt A. D. MDCCXL. Æt. XVII. Et in hoc Adesto (cum Johanne Fratre Infantulo) humata jacet. Hoc Monumentum Pietatis Ergo Coke Freston Filius natû maximus posuit.

 

Anno Domini MDCCXLVI.

 

This chapelry hath a lete held in it by the Duke of Norfolk's steward, it being in his Grace's liberty, who is lord paramount in right of his hundred of Earsham, over all the Norfolk part of Mendham; and in 1285, Roger Bigot, then lord of the hundred, had free-warren allowed him here.

 

The abbot and convent of Sibton in Suffolk had a fishery, and water-mill called Fryer's Mill, in this place; (fn. 5) which was let with their grange and manor of Weybrede in Suffolk; which in 1611, belonged to George Hering of Norwich.

 

This hamlet originally belonged to the Abbot of Bury, (fn. 6) and was infeoffed by one Frodo at the Conquest, whose descendants took the sirname of Nedham, and contrary to the common rule, gave their name to this place; it should seem that the family extinguished in several heiresses, by the many parts or manors it was divided into; and now there are four manors still subsisting here.

 

The first is a very small one, called Sileham Comitis, ex Parte Norfolk; and was originally part of the Earl's manor of Sileham, from which it was separated, and now belongs to Mr. James Bransby of Shotesham.

 

The second is called Denison's, or Denston's manor: this was given to the priory of Mendham, to which it belonged till its Dissolution.

 

This monastery was founded in King Stephen's time, by Will. son of Rog. de Hunting field, with the approbation of Roger his son and heir, who gave the whole isle of Mendham, called Medenham, or the village of meadows, to the monks of Castleacre, on condition they should erect a church of stone, and build a convent by it, and place at least eight of their monks there: in the place called Hurst, or Bruningsherst, being then a woody isle on the Suffolk side of the river; accordingly, monks being placed there, the founder ordered that they should be subject to Castleacre monks, as a cell to that house, in the same manner as Castleacre itself was, to the monastery of St. Pancras at Lewes in Suffolk; and that to the church of Cluni or Clugny in France: but after the death of the founder, the Prior of Castleacre covenanted with Roger de Hunting field his son, (who was also a great benefactor,) to maintain at least eight monks at Mendham, and not to depose the Prior there, unless for disobedience, incontinence, or dilapidations of the house.

 

Their founder gave the whole island of St. Mary of Mendham, with Ulveshage and the Granges there; and many other lands, rents, and homages; and all his lands in Crochestune, and his homagers there, which were all to be employed by the Prior, to the maintenance of Mendham monks, except half a mark of silver to be paid yearly to the priory of Castleacre, as an acknowledgment of their depending as a cell to that monastery; (fn. 7) he gave them also, St. Margaret's church at Linstede, and St. Peter's there; the moiety of the church of Trideling; an aldercarr and 11 acres by the mill, of Thomas de Mendham; and the third part of the tithes of his demeans in Suttorp; and 5s. rent in Bradenham; together with all his right in the church of Mendham: to all which, William the Dean of Redenhall, and others, were witnesses. And Stephen de Saukeville released all his right in Hurst. In 1239, Richard son of Benedict, after his decease, settled a messuage and 60 acres of land on this priory. In 1386, Sir Robert de Swillington, Knt. Sir Roger Bois, Knt. John Pyeshale, clerk, and Robert de Ashfield, settled the patronage of this monastery, on Isabel Countess of Suffolk. This house and all its revenues, were given by King Henry VIII. together with the lands of the dissolved priories of Ankerwick in Lincolnshire, and Little Marlow in Buckinghamshire, to the then newly restored monastery at Bisham or Butlesham in Berkshire, in 1537, (fn. 8) by way of augmentation to the value of 661l. 14s. 9d. per annum for the maintenance of an abbot and 13 monks of the Benedictine order. But that monastery was short-lived and soon fell; and this house, &c. in 1539, was granted to Charles Duke of Suffolk, and with it, this manor of Denston's, which, 2d 3d Philip and Mary, was conveyed to Richard Freston Esq. and Anne his wife, and he was lord of it in 1567; and it continued in his family some time: it now belongs to Mrs. Frances Bacon of Earlham, widow.

 

The prior was taxed for all his temporals in Mendham on the Norfolk side, at 4l. 12s. 11d.

 

From the rolls of this manor, I find the following Priors of Mendham, to have kept courts here.

 

1239, John. 1250, Simon. 1336. Nic. Cressi; he died this year, and Sir Rog. de Hunting field, patron of the priory, kept a court during the vacancy.

 

1340, John de Waltun; succeeded in 1342, by Henry de Berlegh. 1353, William. 1382, John de Tomston. 1400, Robert. 1420, John Betelee succeeded. 1449, Sir Tho. Rede. 1487, Sir Tho Pytte. 1501, Sir Tho. Bullock. 1523, Simon. Robert Howton, sub-prior, and Sir Ric. Pain, monk.

 

The third manor is called Bourt's and was owned by Daniel Bourt in 1345, and after by John le Straunge and Thomas de Hales, who held it at half a fee of the heirs of Roger de Hunting field; it after belonged to the Grices of Brockdish, for which family I refer you thither. In 1600, Thomas Pawlet, Esq. conveyed it to Thomas Leigh and John Godfrey; and it now belongs to Sir Edmund Bacon of Gillingham, Bart.

 

The fourth manor is called Gunshaw's, which see at p. 348.

 

To this hamlet, joins the aforesaid portion of Mendham, called

 

Shotford in Mendham,

Which contains two manors, called Whitendons, or the Whitehills, and Seameares, each of which originally presented alternately to the portion of Shotford in Mendham church.

 

Rectors of Shotford portion.

 

1317, Ralf son of Sir William de Ingham, accolite. Lady Maroya, relict of Sir John de Ingham, Knt. for this turn

 

1318, Walter of Ipswich, priest.

 

1328, Jeffry de Swanton.

 

1332, Roger Nicole, priest. John son of Robert de Ingham, attorney to Sir Oliver Ingham, Knt.

 

1339, Roger de Hempstede.

 

1347, Robert at Wode. Lady Isabel Queen of England.

 

1349, Giles Arches of Mendham, to the rectory of the third part of the church of Mendham, called Shotford portion in Norfolk. Sir Roger Lord Strange of Knokyn, Knt. He resigned in 1350, and the Lady Joan le Strange gave it to

 

Robert de Harwoode; afterwards the noble Sir Miles Stapleton, Knt. having the whole advowson, gave it to Mendham priory; and on the 3d of July, 1385, it was appropriated to the monastery of the blessed Virgin Mary at Mendham, and no vicarage ordained, so that the Prior received all tithes whatever of the whole portion, paying a pension of 6s. 8d. yearly to the Bishop, and finding a chaplain to perform a third part of the service in Mendham church: which service was after turned into that of a chantry priest, who was to officiate in St. Mary's chapel on the east side of Mendham churchyard; and that service ceased in Edward the Sixth's time, and the chapel was granted by the Crown into lay hands, and is now used as a malt-house.

 

The manor of Semere's

 

At the Conqueror's survey, belonged to Roger of Poictou, third son of Roger de Montgomery Earl of Arundel, and was held in the Confessor's time by a freeman named Ulfriz: (fn. 9) it was then valued at 10s. and after at 20. It divided into two parts, one belonged in 1311, to Alice and Edmund de Sancto Mauro or Seymor, Knt. and Joan his wife, from which family it took its name: this Sir Edmund, in 1335, infeoffed it with the manors of Sileham and Esham, and their advowsons, in Sir John Wing field, Knt. as trustee; and Laurence Seymour, parson of the united churches of Sileham and Esham, and Ralf his brother, released all their right; and the next year, Sir John released them to John son and heir of Sir Edward Seymour, Knt. It appears, that in 1291, John de Brampton held the other part of Elizabeth de Ingham at half a fee, and that it then divided, the one half continuing in the Inghams, of which Sir John Ingham, Knt. was lord, and Maroya or Mariona, his widow, in 1217. In 1331, Sir Oliver Ingham, Knt. and it passed with that family, till Sir Miles Stapleton gave it to Mendham priory, when it became joined to Denston's in Nedham. The other part, now Semere's manor, was sold to Sir John Wingfield by Laurence de Seymor; and in 1349, John Garlek and Sara his wife conveyed their third parts of Sileham, Esham, and this manor, and their advowson, to him. In 1401, Edw. Hales was lord; in 1551, it was sold to Henry Floteman, and it is now owned by John Kerrich of Bury M. D.

 

Whitendons, or Wichendons manor,

 

Belonged to Humfry, a freeman of Edric's in the Confessor's time; and to Robert Malet, lord of the honour of Eye, in the Conqueror's; (fn. 10) it after belonged to a family sirnamed De Arcubus; and in 1226, William de Arches and Eve his wife gave it to the Priory of the Holy Trinity at Ipswich; in which house it continued till its dissolution, when it came to the Crown, and the first year of Edward VI. 1546, he granted the advowson of Sileham and its appurtenances, this manor of Wichendon, and all the tithes and glebes, in Mendham, Nedham, and Metfield, late in the tenure of Richard Freston, Esq. to the said Richard and his heirs; (fn. 11) who upon this grant, came and settled in the manor-house here; and his descendants have continued in it to this time.

 

This Richard, in 1534, (fn. 12) appears to be treasurer, and a great favourite of Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk; and an intimate acquaintance of Sir Rob. Budde, who was master of Wingfield college, and chaplain to his grace; and by his interest it was, that he obtained several great grants from the Crown; (fn. 13) among which, he had Denston's manor in Nedham, and many lands belonging to Mendham priory: he was afterwards knighted, and lies buried with Dame Anne Coke his wife, in Mendham chancel, for whom there is a monument against the east part of the north wall, with the arms of Freston impaling Coke, which shows that he outlived his wife, and died in 1557; and was succeeded by

 

Richard, his son and heir, who married Cecily, daughter of Thomas Felton, Esq.; (fn. 14) she lies buried in the chancel, under a stone, on which is her effigies, and the following inscriptions in Roman capitals on brass plates:

 

Cecilia Freston, (fn. 15) Filia Thomæ Felton Arm. Uxor dicti Ricardi, viro Amore Charissima, habuerunt sex Filios et 2 Filias et obdormivit in Domino 6 Sep. 1615. Christus mihi Vita.

 

An adjoining stone hath the arms of Freston with a mullet, impaling Felton, and his image in brass, and this,

 

Ricardus Freestone Armiger, (fn. 16) vir singulari Pietate, Eraditione, et Integritate, qui obdormivit in Domino 27 Nov. 1616. mors mihi lucrum.

 

William Freston, Esq. their eldest son, inherited; and in 1620, settled the manor on Alban Pigot, Esq. with the patronage of Nedham chapel; and the same year, Sir Robert Heath, Knt. recovered it against Pigot, and conveyed it to Freston again; he died soon after, and

 

Richard his brother inherited, and died seized of this and Denston's manor in 1634; (fn. 17) he is buried under a stone in the chancel, with his crest and arms, impaling in fess, an inescutcheon, on which a plain cross between three crosslets formy fitché, the sharpened parts pointing towards the inescutcheon; and on a brass plate this,

 

Animam Creatori, Marmoreo presenti Monumento, Ricardus Freston (dum vixit, in Agro Norfolciensi Armiger) Corporis Reliquias, amicis omnibus sui desiderium, 20 Dec. A. D. 1634, reliquit, non procul a cujus dextrâ, Pater Materque ejus requiescunt. Vitam vixit summâ cum Pietate, tum morum probitate, laudabilem Amicitiam magnâ cum Sinceritate coluit.

 

By this lies a stone with Freston's arms single.

 

Hic jacet Corpus Richardi Freston Armigeri, Filij Richardi Freeston de Mendham in Agro Norfolciensi Armigeri, qui hinc translatus est ad supera, Flore Juventutis suæ, vir summis dotibus Animi et Corporis, recumbens in Christi merita, obijt 14 Augusti 1648.

 

Anthony Freston, brother of the said Richard, (fn. 18) was buried Oct. 13, 1655; Lydia his wife lies buried in the chancel under a stone, with the arms of Freston impaling on a chief indented, two hands cooped at the wrist.

 

Ledia Wife of Anthony Freston, younger son of Richard Freston Esq; ob. 22 Mar. 1651.

 

Anthony, son of the said Anthony, married Bridget, (fn. 19) daughter of Henry Coke, Esq. of Thorington in Suffolk, and Margaret Lovelace his wife; which Henry was son to Sir Edward Coke and Dame Bridget Paston his wife, and had a daughter,

 

Penelope, late wife of John Smith of Cratfield in Suffolk, buried here in 1681, æt. 51, whose marble lies in the altar rails, and hath

 

Smith's crest, viz. an arm cooped at the shoulder, holding a chaplet; the arms are, Barry of six arg. and sab. in chief three barnacles of the 2d, (which coat was granted to the Smiths of Lincolnshire,) quartering a chevron ingrailed between three garbs, and a lion rampant impaling Freston.

 

Eliz. Daughter of Anthony Freston Esq; and Bridget his Wife, was buried May 4, 1716, æt. 62.

 

Theophila their youngest daughter, married James Rant, Esq. and is buried here with this,

 

Hic jacet Sepulta Theophila Uxor Jacobi Rant Armigeri, Filii natû quarti, Gvlielmi Rant de Yelverton in Com. Norf. Armigeri, et Elizæ. Uxoris secundæ: Theophila prædicta, minima natû Filia fuit, Antonij Freston de Mendham in Com. Norf. Armigeri, et Brigidæ Uxoris ejus, E Vitâ excessit 12° Die Aprilis A.D. 1721, Ao Æt. 55. Duos Filios superstites reliquit, viz. Frestonum et Gulielmum.

 

Si quæris, Lector, qualis sub marmore dormit Fœmina! Scito brevi, casta, benigna, pia.

 

Rant's arms as in vol. i. p. 204, impaling Freston.

 

Over the south chancel door is a mural monument thus inscribed,

 

Beneath this Monument lyeth interred the Body of Edward Freston, Gent. youngest Son of Anthony Freston of Mendham in the County of Norfolk, Esq; and Bridget his Wife, Daughter of Henry Coke of Thorington in the County of Suffolk, Esq; he died 28 Day of Dec. 1708, Ao, Æt. 43. As also the Body of Elizabeth the Wife of Edward Freston, and Daughter of John Sayer of Pulham St. Mary the Virgin, in the County of Norfolk, Gent. she died the 25 Day of Sept. 1727, Ao Æt. 55.

 

Freston's crest and arms, impaling Sayer, as at p. 31, vol. iv. and crest on a cap of maintenance, a dragon's head erased vert.

 

Another monument more west, against the south wall, hath the arms of Freston impaling,

 

Cooke, or, a chevron ingrailed between three cinquefoils az. on a chief of the 2d, a lion passant guardant az.

 

M. S. Sub hoc marmore conditæ sunt reliquiæ Richardi Freston, Arm. hominis adprimè pij; mariti Uxoris amantissimi, Parentis, propitij, et clementis Domini: Vis plura Lector? Scies, hoc Monumentum a Maria Uxore ejus, Filia viri colendissimi, Domini Gulielmi Cooke, in Agro Norfolciensi, quondam Baronetti; Amoris et Pietatis Ergo extructum, ut omnes qui huc venient et intuentur, tam clari exempli memores sint et æmuli, et Vitâ cum eo fruantur æternâ, obijt 22 Junij 1721, æt. 68.

 

William Freston and Margaret Kedington his wife, who are buried in Nedham chapel as before, left this manor, impropriation, and a good estate, to

 

Coke Freston, Esq. their eldest son, who now owns them, and dwells in the site of the manor, called Wichingdon-hall.

 

In the Suffolk part of Mendham, there are four manors; the first is called

 

Mendham's-Hall, or Mendham-Hall,

 

From the ancient lords of it, who took their sirname from the town: it originally belonged to the Abbot of Bury, and was infeoffed by Baldwin Abbot there, in Hugh de Vere, of whom Nicholas de Menham had it; in 1205, William de Mendham, and in 1239, Benedict son of Serlo de Mendham conveyed a messuage and 10 acres to the prior of Ipswich, who had obtained in 1230 a release from Robert Byhurt, of all his right in Mendham advowson. In 1285 Thomas de Mendham, who was lord also in 1306; in 1312, John de Mendham had it; in 1318, John son of John de Mendham, and Christian his wife, sold it to the lord of

 

Kingshall in Mendham, (fn. 20)

 

To which it hath been joined ever since. This manor belonged to the King, according as its name intimates, and was settled by Edw. I. on Queen Eleanor his first wife, after whose death it came to the Veres Earls of Oxford; and Sir Robert Vere, in 1314, sold it to Sir John de Fresingfield, Knt. son of Seman de Fresingfield; at which time, Robert son of John de Mendham, released to him all right in Mendham's-Hall manor; and in 1317, Sir John sold them to Sir Walter de Norwich, Knt. and his heirs, the Earl of Oxford releasing all right; Sir John de Insula, or L'isle, Sir John de Foxele, and Sir John Abel, Knts. Barons of the King's Exchequer, Sir John Muteford, justice of the King's Bench, and others, being witnesses. In 1353, Sir John de Huntingfield held those manors late of Thomas Earl of Oxford, at half a fee. In 1363, it was presented that William de Huntingfield held the river Waghene as a separate fishing, from Mendham bridge to King's-hall mill, and that he had the fishery there, as belonging to his manor of King's-hall. In 1369, Will. de Huntingfield held it for life; and in 1370, John Deyns, rector of Toft in Lincolnshire, and Richard Wright of Holbech, chaplain, his trustees, released to Roger de Huntingfield, who, with his trustees, John de Seckford, parson of Somercotes, John de Linstede, parson of Cawston, Tho. Horne, rector of Huntingfield, and others, soon after, settled them on Mendham priory: in which they continued to its dissolution, and then were granted to Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk, and his heirs, by King Henry VIII. in 1540, along with the lete of Metfield, and

 

The manor of Mendham Priory,

 

Which was given to it by its founder. They after belonged to the Frestons, and in 1551, Richard Freston was lord; in 1619, Sir Thomas Holland of Quidenham, Knt. sold to Edw. Ward of Mendham in Suffolk, Esq. the site of Mendham priory manor, now called Mendham'shall, &c. Kings-hall meadow, &c. the park, the manor of Mendhamhall, &c. with the letes thereto belonging, situate in Mendham, Withersdale, and Waybrede; all which, he purchased of Anthony Gosnold of Clopton, Esq. Anthony Gosnold of Swillington, Gent. Robert Gosnold of Ottley in Suffolk, Esq. Thomas Laurence of St. James's in S. Elmham, Gent. Michael Wentworth of Rogersthorpe in Yorkshire, Esq. Thomas Wales of Thorp in Norfolk, yeoman, and Loye Browne of Norwich: and the said Thomas, and Dame Mary his wife, sued a fine, and passed a recovery to the use of the said Edward Ward the elder, and his heirs; together with the fishery in the river Wayveneth. It came afterwards to the Baxters, and thence to the Gardiners of Norwich; and was sold by Richard Berney, Esq. recorder of Norwich, executor to Stephen Gardiner, Esq. late recorder there, to the Rev. Mr. Thomas Whitaker, late rector of Fresingfield, whose widow now owns them. They have a lete here, and another in Metfield, belonging to them; they give dower, and the eldest son is heir.

 

I find the following memorials relating to the Baxters in this church:

 

Depositum Stephani Baxter Generosi, qui decessit 12 Die Sept. 1696, æt. 79,

 

On a neat mural monument are the arms of

 

Godbold, az. two long bows in saltier or. Crest, an arm cooped at the shoulder az.

 

M.S. V. C.mi. D. Gulielmi Godbold Militis, ex illustri et perantiquâ Prosapiâ oriundi, qui post septennem peregrinationem, animi excolendi Gratiâ, per Italiam, Greciam, Palœstinam, &c. in solo natali in bonarum Literarum Studijs consenescens, morte repentinâ obijt Londini, Mense Aprilis Ao MDCXIIIC. Ætatis LXIXo. Hoc Monumentum designavit vir integerrimus, et sinceræ Probitatis Exemplar, Thomas Baxter Generosus, quem Testamenti sui Curatorem instituit; ipso autem Thomâ, morte subitaneâ perempto, collapso super eum Equo, nocte intempestivâ et tenebrosâ. IIII Calendas Septemb. MDCXC. Franciscus Gardiner de Civitate Norwicensi Armiger, ejusdem Thomœ Baxter sororis maritus, et Testamenti Curator, posuit. Baxter with a label of three, (see p. 212,) impaling D'eye, as in vol. ii. p. 345.

 

Hic reposita, beatam præstolatur Resurrectionem Fæmina, Pietate et Virtute insignis, Elizabetha Filia Thomœ Dey, de Insula, sive Eay in Agro Suffolciensi Armigeri, Uxor Thomæ Baxter de Mendham in eodem Agro Generosi, cui prolem edidit Masculam unam, alteramque fœminam, Quarum utramque ipso die lustrico et renata simul et denata est, annos nata triginta sex, nupta plus minus septendecem; obijt 27 Dec. 1681.

 

The next manor here, is called

 

Walsham-Hall,

 

From Gilbert de Walsham, who held it of the Abbot of Bury in the time of King Ric. I. at one fee; and lately it belonged to the Hobarts, who lived in the site of it, till Anthony Hobart, Gent. sold it to Mr. Robert Bransby, senior, of Shotesham, who sold it to Mrs. Sarah Woogan, wife of the Rev. Mr. Holmes, rector of Fresingfield, who now owns it.

 

I find the following account of the Hobarts buried here:

 

In the chancel on brass plates, Hobart's arms with a label of three.

 

William Son of James Hobart of Mendham Esq; died 9 March 1641. aged 3 Months.

 

Hobart with a crescent, on a stone at the east end of the nave, part of which is covered by a seat.

 

Hic expectant Christi adventum relliquiæ Jacobi Hobart Arm. (Filij unici Edwardi Hobart, dum vixit de Langley in Agro Norfolciensi Armigeri) qui Vitâ per 57 annos, piè justè, et sobriè peractâ, Patriam repetijt 20 Aug. Ao 1669: Cujus fœlici memoriæ, castissima illius Uxor, Brigetta (Gulielmi Spring, nuper de Pakenham Suffolciâ Militis Filia,) hoc &c.

 

An adjoining stone hath the arms of Hobart impaling Spring, as at vol. ii. p. 485.

 

Resurrectionem in Christo hic expectat Brigetta, Jacobi Hobart Arm. Relicta, Filiaque Gulielmi Spring nuper de Pakenham in Agro Suffolciensi Militis, quæ dum vixit Pietatem coluit et 26° Die Jan. placidè in Domino obdormivit A0 Sal. 1671.

 

Vivit post Funera Virtus.

 

On a black marble in the south isle,

 

Hic jacet Jacobus Filius et Hæres, Jacobi Hobart nuper de Mendham, Armigeri, ultimo Die Martij ad Cœlestem Patriam emigravit Ao Xti. 1673, æt. 23.

 

Animam Cœlo, Corpus humo reddidit.

 

Miles another Son, buried Jun. 8, 1686.

 

Edward Hobart, Esq; Son of James Hobart of Mendham, Esq; did 4 Nov. 1711, æt. 60. James his eldest son died 7 Aug. 1676, æt. 1 Mens. Sarah a Daughter 1689. Thomas a Son 1698, æt. 1 An. And John, Anthony, and Elizabeth, other Children buried here, and Lydia a Daughter in 1691.

 

Lydia Daughter of Edward Hobart Esq; and Penelope his Wife, died 31 Oct. 1680, æt. 1 An. 7 Mens.

 

Her Time was short, the longer is her Rest, God calls them soonest, whom he loves best.

 

There is an under manor or free-tenement, called Midletonhall, in this town, which belongs to Mrs. Whitaker, and is a good old seat; here Richard de Midleton lived in 1373, and William his son in 1390, who was succeeded by William his son; on whose marriage in 1392, it was settled on Margaret his wife, with estates in South-Elmham and Redenhale: this family always sealed with a fess erm. between three croslets; and it continued in it a long time. In 1457, William Midleton owned it, and Robert Midleton in 1467, who lived here in 1491. In 1558, Henry Reppes of Mendham died seized of it, and of Thorney manor in Stow in Suffolk, and gave them to Anne Wodehouse, alias Reppes, for life, with remainder to John Reppes, son of his brother Francis, remainder to John Reppes his brother, &c. In 1562, Ric. Whetley, rector of Homersfield, leased his rectory to Bassingbourn Gawdy of Midleton-hall in Mendham, Esq. by whom it was sold, and so became joined to the other manors.

 

There is an ancient seat here called Oaken-hill, (but no manor,) in which the family of the Batemans have resided ever since the time of William Bateman Bishop of Norwich; and William Bateman, only son of William Bateman, Gent. of Mendham, lately deceased, now dwells there: (see vol. iii. p. 506;) most of this family have had the christian name of William, ever since the Bishop's time.

 

Mendham church is a good building, with a square tower and five bells; having its nave, two isles, and south porch leaded, and chancel tiled, in which are the following memorials, besides those already taken notice of:

 

In the north isle window, France and England in a bordure gul. impaling or, an eagle displayed sab. quartering Morley.

 

And this on a stone,

 

M. S. Aliciæ Filiæ Henrici Borret de Stradbrook in Agro Suffolciensi Generosi, ob. 4 Oct. 1690, æt. 49.

 

Expectans ultimum Sonum Tubæ.

 

On a mural monument against the north chancel wall,

 

In medio hujus-ce Templi Tramite, juxta Cineres matris suæ Pientissimæ, Theop. Rant, suos etiam voluit deponi Frestonus Rant Armiger, cum quo unà sepeliuntur Urbanitas, et suavissima Facetiarum copia, cum quo unà abripiuntur ditissima placendi vena, animusque arctioris Amicitiæ necessitudini accomodalus, Hoc Juvene adempto, vix alterum reperies, aut literarum Scientiâ præcellentiorem aut humanitate Parem, cum difficilem Legis Angliœ Doctrinam, universum ferè Quinquennium apud Hospitium Grayense Studio sanè Laudabili prosecutus est, acerba suis, luctuosa sodalibus, gravis omnibus, labori vitæque mors Finem imposuit 23° Sept. Ao 1728, æt. suæ 27°. Et Luctûs et Pietatis Monumentum, Pater suus amantissimus, Jacobus Rant Armiger, hoc marmor posuit.

 

James Rant, Esq. his father, is since dead, and buried by him, and Will. Rant, Esq. his only surviving son, now lives in MendhamPriory, which is situated just by the river Waveney, about five furlongs south-west of the church, where there is a good old chapel still left, which is kept clean and neat; but there is no manor remaining with the site.

 

In the chancel,

 

Tirrel impales a chevron between three stags passant. James Tirrel Esq; May 22, 1656, 48. and left behind him his dear Consort his 2d Wife, and two Daughters by her, Eliz. and Jane. Eliz. his Widow died 1697. James his Son 1640.

 

In the churchyard are memorials for William Bateman, Gent. Jan. 9, 1659, æt. 70.

 

Hic spe plenâ resurgendi, situm est depositum mortale Johannis Kerrich Clerici Rectoris de Sternefield in Comitatû Suffolciæ, Qui, dum vixit, Dei Gloriam et animarum Salutem sedulò Studuit ob. 14 Maij. A. D. 1691, æt. 28°. Hic juxta jacet etiam Henricus Kerrich Frater supradicti Johannis qui obijt Apr. 17°, A.D. 1687, æt. 18. John Kerrich ob. June 24 1704, æt. 72. Mary his Wife, ob. 18 March 1708, æt. 76. James their Son 29 Apr. 1715, æt. 44.

 

In 1469, Walter Nyche or Neech of Mendham, was buried in AllSaints church there, before St. Nicholas's altar, and gave 12d. to every monk of Mendham, and five marks for a new tabernacle at St. Nicholas's altar; he owned an estate here, which had continued many generations in his family. In 1610, 21 Jan. Anne Neech married to William Bateman, Gent. to whose family the estate now belongs. He left Katerine his wife, Alice and Margaret, his daughters; and three sons, Robert, John le Senior, priest, and John le Junior; from whom descended the Rev. Mr. Anthony Neech, late rector of Snitterton, of whom in vol. i. p. 110, 421.

 

The vicarage stands in the King's Books at 5l. 5s. 2d. ob. and being sworn of the clear yearly value of 23l. 4s. 7d. is capable of augmentation, and was augmented accordingly by the Rev. Mr. Whitaker, late rector of Fresingfield, the patron, who presented his nephew, the Rev. Mr. Thomas Whitaker, the present vicar.

 

Vicars here.

 

1228, Henry de Diss, the first vicar, presented by the Prior of Ipswich, as were all the succeeding vicars to the Dissolution.

 

1305, Walter le Shepherd.

 

1318, Benedict.

 

1320, Hervy del Welle of Mendham.

 

1329, William son of John Gibbs of Kenford, who resigned in

 

1347, to John de Reppes, priest, in exchange for Shelton mediety.

 

1364, Edward de Flete.

 

1394, John de Hunstanton.

 

1505, Sir Jeffery Lowen.

 

1534, Will. Grave.

 

1631, Thomas Trendle, buried here 18 June the same year.

 

1632, George Fen.

 

1653, Mr. John Harward, minister.

 

1671, John Mayhew, sequestrator.

 

1677, Mr. Ric. Jennings, sequestrator, succeeded by Mr. Child, sequestrator; who was succeeded by the present vicar's predecessor,

 

Mr. Seth Turner, who was presented by Mr. Stephen Baxter,-and was vicar above 50 years; he is buried here.

 

Medefield, or Metfield, (fn. 21)

Is also another hamlet and parochial chapel of Mendham, the great tithes of which, belong to the impropriator there, who nominates and pays the stipendiary chaplain. The Rev. Mr. John Mendham, vicar of Weybrede, hath it now; and I am informed, there is a good house and glebe given to the serving minister since the Reformation.

 

The chapel is dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and hath a square tower, clock, and three bells; on the biggest is this,

 

Munere Baptiste, Benedictus sit chorus iste.

 

The south porch, nave, and chancel, are leaded. There are stones for John Norton 1609. Anne wife of John Francklin, Gent. daughter of William and Elizabeth Blobold, Gent. 1636, and left John, William, Elizabeth, and Anne. Will. Browne 1660, 70.

 

Francis Smallpeece Esq; Son and Heir of Tho. Smallpeece Esq; and Anne his Wife. 1652.

 

Smallpeece, S. a chevron ingrailed between three cinquefoils ar. Crest, a bird rising.

 

But this hamlet is of chief remark, as being the ancient seat of the Jermys.

 

It seems this manor, called

 

Metefield In Mendham,

 

Was anciently of the fee of the abbot of Holm, of whom it was held in the time of Richard I. at half a fee, by Hugh Burd; after which, it was escheated to the Crown, and was granted to Thomas de Brotherton, son to King Edward I. who married Alice, daughter of Sir Roger Hales of Harwich, Knt. whose sister Joan, (fn. 22) married to Sir John Germyn or Jermy, Knt.; and in 1325, the said Thomas conveyed to his brother-in-law, Sir John Jermy, Knt. two parts of this manor, and the third part to his wife, for the assignment of her dower. In 1353, Sir John Germy, Knt. held it at a quarter of a fee of the manor of King's-hall in Mendham. In 1385, Sir Will. Jermy, Knt. was buried here; Elizabeth his wife survived him. In 1428, Sir John Jermy, Knt. and Margaret Mounteney his wife, owned this and Withersdale manors; and he it was, that rebuilt this church and manor-house, where he placed the matches of his family in the windows; and his own arms are carved several times on the timber of the roof, and are still in several windows, and in stone on the font; he died in 1487, and was buried at the north-east corner of the chancel; his inscription was cut in old text letters on his stone, but it is so worn and broken, that this only remains,

 

Johannes Jermy Miles quondam Dominus et qui obiit

 

By his will in Register Aleyn, fo. 330, which is dated at BukenhamFerry, Oct. 24, 1487, he appointed to be buried here, and gave a legacy to this church, and those of Bukenham-Ferry and Hasingham, of which he was patron; he ordered 100 marks to be distributed to the poor on his burial day, and gave the manor and advowsons of Bukenham and Hasingham, to be sold, after his wife Margaret's death: he gave 200 marks to the Abbot of St. Bennet at the Holm in Ludham, to found a chantry priest to sing mass daily there, for him and his family for ever; he is called Sir John Jermy, senior, Knt.

 

Sir John Jermy, junior, Knt. his son and heir, married Elizabeth, daughter of Will. Wroth of Enfield, Esq. and had two sons; from Thomas, the younger son, descended the Jermys of Bayfield in Norfolk, under which place I design an ample account of the family. And

 

John Jermy, Esq. the eldest son, continued the family at Metfield; he married Isabel, daughter of John Hopton, Esq. and lies buried in the chancel by his grandfather, with this on a brass plate on his stone;

Orate pro animabus Johannis Jermy et Jsabelle Uroris sue, unius Filiarum Johannis Nopton Armigeri, qui quidem Johannis obiit riiio Die Januarii Anno Domini Mo vc iiii. Quorum anima- bus propicietur Deus Amen. (fn. 23)

 

Jermy, arg. a lion rampant guardant gul. impaling Hopton, as at vol. iii. p. 553.

 

Edmund Jermy, Esq. his son and heir, married a daughter of William Booth, Esq. and left Sir John Jermy of Metfield and Brightwell, Knight of the Bath; (fn. 24) who by Margaret, daughter and heir of Sir Thomas Teye, Knt. had Francis Jermy of Brightwell, Esq. who by Eliz. daughter and coheir of Sir William Fitz-Williams of Ireland, Knt. had Sir Thomas Jermy, Knight of the Bath; who by Jane, daughter and heiress of Edward Stuart or Styward, of Teversham in Cambridgeshire, had four sons, Thomas, Edmund, John, and William, of which,

 

Thomas, his eldest son, settled here, for whom there is an altar tomb at the north-east corner of this chancel, with the arms of Jermy, and a griffin proper for the crest, and this,

 

Thomas Jarmy Esq; Sonne and Heire of Sir Thomas Jarmy Knight of the noble Order of the Bath. 21 Dec. 1652.

 

Since which time, the manor hath been sold from the family, and now belongs to Walter Plommer, Esq.

 

¶I have an account, which says, that more gentlemen kept coaches in Mendham, than in any place in Suffolk, and that in 1642, many cavileers in these parts, raised a sum for the King; among which in this town, Richard Baxter, Gent. lord, 30l. Rob. Harper 30l. William Bateman, senior, 10l. James Terrold. Gent. 10l. William Jacob 20l. Will. Herring 3l. &c. Thomas Jermy, Esq. 20l. Anthony Freston, Gent. 5l.

 

In Charles the Second's time, Sir William Godbould lived here, and Colonel John Hobard; and Edward Ward, Esq. justice of the peace, in K. James the Second's time.

 

www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-hist-norfolk/vol5...

replacing the low quality ones

Fourth generation (1991–1996)

 

The 1991 model was completely restyled—It replaced the 1977-based rectilinear design with rounded, more aerodynamic sheetmetal. While the body and interior were all new, excluding the Anti-Lock Braking System, the chassis and powertrain were carried over from the 1990 model. and several major components (including the floor pan) are entirely interchangeable between 1977 and 1996.

 

Motor Trend awarded the new Caprice Classic Car of the Year. Two trim levels were initially offered—Caprice and Caprice Classic, replacing the previous Classic and Brougham models. General Motors had hoped to regain the top spot as America's favorite automobile with the new aerodynamic styling of their full-size offering.

 

The last-generation Caprice was not well received by critics and did not hold on to high sales numbers. The car's styling was criticized with car aficionados calling it a "beached whale" and "an upside-down bathtub". For 1993 there were some revisions, the most obvious being the removal of the skirted rear wheel wells in favor of more conventional, open wheel wells. This applied only to the sedan model; station wagons retained the skirted wheel wells. In 1995, minor modifications were made to the C-pillars & the wagon was given the same mirrors as the sedan; 1995 was the final year for the Caprice wagon.

 

In 1994 the Caprice received the new-generation GM engines, including an optional detuned version of the Corvette's LT1 350 cu in (5.7 L) engine that put out 260 hp (194 kW) and 330 lb·ft (447 N·m) of torque. The standard engine in all sedans, including the 9C1 police cars, was the 200 hp (150 kW), L99 263 (4.3 L) V8. The LT1 was optional in the 9C1 police-package and standard in the wagon. The LT1 350 was standard in the civilian sedans with the addition of the B4U towing package. The towing package also gave a heavy duty suspension nearly identical to the 9C1 police car suspension, 2.93 gears, heavy duty cooling, heavy duty rear drum brakes and positraction. The 265 (4.3 L) L99, and 350 (5.7 L) LT1 look nearly identical externally. Many 4.3 L99 equipped sedans are passed off as 5.7 LT1 cars. The 8th digit in the Vehicle Identification Number is the Engine code. W: 4.3 L L99, P: 5.7 L LT1. The 1994 Caprice's interior had a redesign which featured a Camaro steering wheel, digital speedometer and a new console.

 

The Caprice 9C1 with the LT1 engine became one of the fastest and most popular modern day police vehicles. This vehicle established such strong devotion by many police departments that a cottage industry thrived in refurbishing Caprices for continued police service after GM discontinued production of the car.

 

The car's production was stopped in 1996 from sales pressure from the mid-size Chevrolet Lumina, financial troubles at General Motors, and consumer demand shifting from full-sized family sedans to the increasingly popular sport utility vehicles. The Arlington, Texas vehicle assembly plant (used for Caprices, Buick Roadmaster, Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser, and Cadillac Fleetwood) was converted to produce GM's more profitable full size SUVs (the Tahoe and Suburban). In 1997, the Lumina LTZ would take the Caprice's place as Chevrolet's premium passenger car. Total production of 1991–96 models was 689,257 with production ending on December 13, 1996.

 

Aftermath

 

With the exit of the Caprice, the Ford Crown Victoria and its corporate siblings (Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car), continued as the sole traditional rear-drive, body-on-frame, V8-powered American sedans (though the final assembly point is in Canada) until their discontinuation in 2011. Thereafter the Ford Crown Victoria dominated police vehicle sales from 1997 through 2011. Dodge would introduce the unibody Dodge Charger in 2006 (Chrysler Corp and AMC had a long history of using unibody rather than body on frame for their full sized cars since 1960 and 1948, respectively), the division's first rear-wheel drive sedan since 1989.

 

The Chevrolet Impala nameplate was reintroduced to the American passenger car market in 2000 as the marque's premium offering, albeit in a front wheel drive configuration.

 

[Text from Wikipedia]

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Caprice

 

The car shown here is a 1992 Caprice Taxi from the film '28 Days'.

 

www.imcdb.org/vehicle.php?id=3421

 

www.imdb.com/title/tt0191754/

 

This miniland-scale Lego Chevrolet Caprice Taxi (1991 - '28 Days') has been created for Flickr LUGNuts' 92nd Build Challenge, - "Stuck in the 90's", - all about vehicles from the decade of the 1990s.

  

Replacing an earlier digital photo with a better version 04-Feb-23.

 

Operated for DBA by Maersk, with additional 'Hannover Airport' titles and graphics.

 

This aircraft was delivered to Maersk Air as OY-APL in Feb-98. It was leased to LOT Polish Airlines as SP-LKK in Mar-01 and returned to Maersk Air as OY-APL in Apr-04.

 

It was wet-leased to DBA,com (Germany) a few days later. DBA was acquired by Air-Berlin in Aug-06 but continued to operate as a separate company. It technically became DBA,com (powered by Air-Berlin) in Apr-07.

 

In the meantime, Maersk Air had become Sterling Airlines and the aircraft was returned to them in Oct-07. Two days later the aircraft was ferried to Centralia, ON, Canada and sold to Wells Fargo Bank Northwest as N737RH (as trustee for Travera Air, Indonesia).

 

In Dec-07 it was ferried via Bournemouth UK to Jakarta-HLP and was registered PK-TVZ with Travera Air. The aircraft was withdrawn from service and stored at Jakarta-HLP in Jan-19. It was sold to Enrique Pineryo as T7-CTA (San Marino) in Dec-19 and is operated on his behalf by Comlux San Marino, with a VIP interior.

 

It was stored at Madrid, Spain in Apr-21 as a consequence of COVID-19. Since then it has been stored at Vilnius, Lithuania. Ostrava, Czechia. Prestwick, Scotland, UK for varying periods and is currently stored at Montpellier, France. Updated 04-Feb-22.

 

Note: Enrique Pineryo is an Argentine-Italian ex airline pilot turned film actor, producer, crash analyst, aeronautical physician, film director, and screenplay writer, working partly in Argentina. Pineyro owns Aquafilms, a film production company in Argentina and currently has a VIP Boeing 787-8...

A change in locomotives saw G511 head in for servicing, being replaced with GM27 and S317. Seen here passing through Waratah, BRM002 GM27 S317 C503 and BRM001 head up the hill towards Kooragang Island with NW452 loaded coal

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 16-Jul-21, plus DeNoise AI 16-Jul-21.

 

With additional 'Dubai Shopping Festival 2002' titles & logo.

 

First flown with the Boeing test registration N5020K, this aircraft was delivered to Emirates Airlines as A6-EMG in Apr-97. It served with Emirates until it was retired in May-16 and stored at Dubai.

 

It was sold to Triple Seven (CIS) Ltd as 2-RLAK in Jul-16 and ferried to Jakarta-CGK, Indonesia for further storage. It was moved to Teruel (Spain) in Dec-16 for further storage.

 

The aircraft was re-registered VP-BSN in Jun-17 for lease to VIM Airlines (Russia). However VIM ceased operations in Oct-17 before the lease could take place. The aircraft was permanently retired at Teruel and was last noted still at Teruel in Jun-18. Updated 16-Jul-21.

Replacing one large British Leyland hatchback with another saw the disappearance of my much loved Austin Ambassador with this immaculate 1989 Rover 820Se automatic. The sunny weather means its finally getting to tread the tarmac a little bit more often than it has which can only do it good as this is one type of old car which really doesn't like being left unused for long periods of time. Even now this Rover-Honda executive car collaboration is still struggling to gain acceptance in classic circles but it does get quite a bit of attention. Comfy, well equipped and rapid at the traffic light derby it does out accelerate far more modern vehicles leaving their owners a little startled!

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 28-Sep-25. From a very yellowed negative.

 

This aircraft was delivered to Asiana Airlines as HL7516 in Jul-97. It was repainted in 'Star Alliance' livery in Jan-03. After 25 years in service, it was withdrawn from use and stored at Seoul-Inchon (South Korea) in Mar-22.

 

It was sold to the ANA Trading Corporation as N304TU in Nov-22 and ferried to Victorville, CA, USA in early Dec-22. Permanently retired. Updated 28-Sep-25.

Replaced the tortoise shell with a Bakelite pickguard. Looks. . ."rigjht" to me.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on authentic facts. BEWARE!

  

Some background:

In Autumn 1946, the Saab company began internal studies aimed at developing a replacement aircraft for the Saab B 18/S 18 as Sweden's standard attack aircraft. In 1948, Saab was formally approached by the Swedish Government with a request to investigate the development of a turbojet-powered strike aircraft to replace a series of 1940s vintage attack, reconnaissance, and night-fighter aircraft then in the Flygvapnet’s inventory. On 20 December 1948, a phase one contract for the design and mock-up of the proposed aircraft was issued. The requirements laid out by the Swedish Air Force were demanding: the aircraft had to be able to attack anywhere along Sweden's 2,000 km (1,245 miles) of coastline within one hour of launch from a central location, and it had to be capable of being launched in any weather conditions, at day or night.

 

In response, Saab elected to develop a twin-seat aircraft with a low-mounted swept wing and equipped with advanced electronics. On 3 November 1952, the first prototype, under the handle “Fpl 32” (flygplan = aircraft) conducted its first flight. A small batch of prototypes completed design and evaluation trials with series production of the newly designated Saab 32 Lansen beginning in 1953. The first production A 32A Lansen attack aircraft were delivered to the Swedish Air Force and proceeded through to mid-1958, at which point manufacturing activity switched to the Lansen’s other two major scheduled variants, the J 32B all-weather fighter and the photo reconnaissance S 32C, optimized for maritime operations.

 

The idea behind the J 32 originated from the late 1940s: Even before the SAAB 29 Tunnan had taken to the air, discussions began between SAAB and the Swedish Aviation Administration regarding a future night fighter aircraft with a jet engine. Since the end of the war, the Swedish Air Force had wanted a night fighter aircraft but was forced to put these on the shelf due to cost reasons. In the end, they managed to obtain sixty de Haviland Mosquito night fighter aircraft (then designated J 30) from Great Britain as a low-budget solution, but the J 30 was far from modern at the end of the 1940s and talks with SAAB regarding a domestic alternative continued.

At the beginning of the 1950s, the Fpl 32 project was in full swing and the aircraft was selected as the basis for an indigenous all-weather jet night fighter with a sighting radar and various heavier weapons to be able to shoot down bombers – at the time of the J 32B’s design, the main bomber threat was expected to enter Swedish airspace at subsonic speed and at high altitude. The original idea was that this aircraft would replace the J 30 Mosquito from 1955 onwards, but this proved to be impossible as the J 30 fleet needed to be replaced long before this and the A 32A as initial/main varia of the Fpl 32 had priority. Because of this operational gap, in January 1951 the Swedish Air Force ordered the British de Haviland Venom (then designated J 33) as an interim all-weather fighter and plans for the J 32B were postponed until later with the idea that the Lansen’s fighter variant would replace the J 33 at the end of the 1950s and benefit from technological progress until then.

 

On 7 January 1957, the first J 32B conducted its maiden flight, and it was a considerable step forward from the A 32A attack aircraft – in fact, excepts for the hull, it had only little in common with the attack variant! The new fighter version was powered by a Rolls-Royce Avon Mk 47A (locally designated RM6A) which gave as much thrust without an afterburner as the SAAB A 32A's original RM5A2 did with an afterburner, greatly improving the aircraft’s rate of climb and acceleration, even though the J 32B remained only transonic.

The armament consisted of four heavier fixed 30 mm ADEN m/55 automatic cannon in a slightly re-contoured nose, plus Rb 24/AIM-9B Sidewinder IR-guided AAMs and various unguided rockets against air and ground targets. Instead of the A 32A’s Ericsson mapping and navigation radar, which was compatible with the indigenous Rb 04C anti-ship missile, one of the earliest cruise missiles in western service, the J 32B carried a PS-42/A. This was a search/tracking X-band radar with a gyro-stabilized antenna with a swivel range of 60° to each side and +60°/−30° up/down. The radar featured the option of a 3D display for both WSO and pilot and its data could be directly displayed in the pilot’s Sikte 6A HUD, a very modern solution at the time.

 

A total of 118 aircraft (S/N 32501-32620) were produced between 1958 and 1960, serving in four fighter units. However, the J 32B only served for just under 12 years as a fighter aircraft in the Swedish Air Force: aviation technology progressed very quickly during the 1960s and already in 1966, the J 32B began to be replaced by the J 35F, which itself was already an advanced all-weather interceptor version of the supersonic Draken. In 1969 only the Jämtland's Air Flotilla (F4) still had the J 32B left in service and the type began to be completely retired from frontline service. In 1970 the plane flew in service for the last time and in 1973 the J 32B was officially phased out of the air force, and scrapping began in 1974.

 

However, the J 32Bs’ career was not over yet: At the beginning of the 1970s, Målflygdivisionen (MFD for short, the “Target Air Division”) was still using old J 29Fs as target tugs and for other training purposes, and they needed to be replaced. The choice fell on the much more capable, robust and readily available J 32B. Twenty-four machines were transferred to the MFD in 1971 to be used for training purposes, losing their radar and cannon armament. Six of these six J 32Bs were in 1972 modified into dedicated target tugs under the designation J 32D, six more J 32Bs were left unmodified and allocated to various second-line tasks such as radio testing and ground training.

The other twelve J 32Bs (s/n 32507, -510, -512, -515, -529, -541, -543, -569, -571, -592, -607 and -612) became jamming aircraft through the implementation of ECR equipment under the designation J 32E. This electronics package included internally:

- An INGEBORG signal reconnaissance receiver with antennae in the radome,

covering S, C and L radar frequency bands

- A G24 jamming transmitter, also with its antenna in the radome, covering alternatively

S, C and L frequency bands. This device co-operated with the external ADRIAN jamming pod

- Apparatus 91B; a broadband jammer, later integrated with INGEBORG

- MORE, a jammer and search station for the VHF and UHF bands

- FB-6 tape player/recorder; used, among other things, to send false messages/interference

Additional, external equipment included:

- PETRUS: jamming pod, X-band, also radar warning, intended for jamming aircraft

and active missile radars

- ADRIAN: jamming pod, active on S- and C-band, intended for jamming land-based and

shipboard radars

- BOZ-1, -3, -9 and -100 chaff dispenser pods

 

Outwardly, the J 32E differed from its brethren only through some blade antennae around the hull, and they initially retained the fighters’ blue-green paint scheme and their tactical markings so that they were hard to distinguish from the original fighters. Over time, orange day-glow markings were added to improve visibility during training sessions. However, during the mid-Nineties, three machines received during scheduled overhauls a new all-grey low-visibility camouflage with toned-down markings, and they received the “16M” unit identifier – the only MFD aircraft to carry these openly.

 

When a J 32E crashed in 1975, three of the remaining six training J 32Bs were modified into J 32Es in 1979 to fill the ranks. The MFD kept operating the small J 32Ds and Es fleet well into the Nineties and the special unit survived two flotilla and four defense engagements. At that time, the Målflygdivisionen was part of the Swedish Air Force’s Upplands Flygflottilj (F16), but it was based at Malmen air base near Linköpping (where the Swedish Air Force’s Försökscentralen was located, too) as a detachment unit and therefore the machines received the unit identifier “F16M”, even though the “M” suffix did normally not appear on the aircraft. However, through a defense ministry decision in 1996 the Target Air Division and its associated companies as well as the aircraft workshop at Malmen were to be decommissioned, what meant the end of the whole unit. On June 26, 1997, a ceremony was held over the disbandment of the division, where, among other things, twelve J 32Es made a formation flight over Östergötland.

After the decommissioning of the division, however, the Lansens were still not ‘dead’ yet: the J 32D target tugs were kept operational by a private operator and received civil registrations, and eight flightworthy J 32Es were passed over to FMV:Prov (Provningsavdelningen vid Försvarets materielverk, the material testing department of the Swedish Air Force’s Försökscentralen) to serve on, while other airframes without any more future potential were handed over to museums as exhibition pieces, or eventually scrapped. The surviving J 32Es served on in the electronic aggressor/trainer role until 1999 when they were finally replaced by ten modified Sk 37E Viggen two-seaters, after their development and conversion had taken longer than expected.

 

However, this was still not the end of the Saab 32, which turned out to be even more long-lived: By 2010, at least two Lansens were still operational, having the sole task of taking high altitude air samples for research purposes in collaboration with the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority, and by 2012 a total of three Lansens reportedly remained in active service in Sweden.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 2

Length: 14.94 m (49 ft 0 in)

Wingspan: 13 m (42 ft 8 in)

Height: 4.65 m (15 ft 3 in)

Wing area: 37.4 m² (403 sq ft)

Airfoil: NACA 64A010

Empty weight: 7,500 kg (16,535 lb)

Max takeoff weight: 13,500 kg (29,762 lb)

 

Powerplant:

1× Svenska Flygmotor RM6A afterburning turbojet

(a Rolls Royce Avon Mk.47A outfitted with an indigenous afterburner),

delivering 4,88 kp dry and 6,500 kp with reheat

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 1,200 km/h (750 mph, 650 kn)

Range: 2,000 km (1,200 mi, 1,100 nmi) with internal fuel only

Service ceiling: 15,000 m (49,000 ft)

Rate of climb: 100 m/s (20,000 ft/min)

 

Armament:

No internal weapons.

13× external hardpoints (five major pylons and eight more for light weapons)

for a wide variety of up to 3.000 kg of ordnance, typically only used

for ECM and chaff/flare dispenser pods and/or a conformal ventral auxiliary tank

  

The kit and its assembly:

This is a what-if project that I had on my idea list for a long time, but never got the nerve to do it because it is just a mild modification – the model depicts a real aircraft type, just with a fictional livery for it (see below).

The plan to create a J 32E from Heller’s A 32 kit from 1982 predated any OOB option, though. Tarangus has been offering a dedicated J 32B/E kit since 2016, but I stuck to my original plan to convert a Heller fighter bomber which I had in The Stash™, anyway)- also because I find the Tarangus kit prohibitively expensive (for what you get), even though it might have saved some work.

 

The Heller A 32A kit was basically built OOB, even though changing it into a J 32B (and even further into an “E”) called for some major modifications. These could have been scratched, but out of convenience I invested into a dedicated Maestro Models conversion set that offers resin replacements for a modified gun bay (which has more pronounced “cheek fairings” than the attack aircraft, the lower section is similar to the S 32C camera nose), a new jet exhaust and also the Lansen’s unique conformal belly tank – for the cost of a NIB Heller Saab 32 kit alone, though… :-/

Implanting the Maestro Models parts was straightforward and relatively easy. The J 32B gun bay replaces the OOB parts from the Heller kit, fits well and does not require more PSR than the original part. Since the model depicts a gun-less J 32E, I faired the gun ports over.

 

The RM6A exhaust was a bit more challenging – it is a bit longer and wider than the A 32A’s RM5. It’s not much, maybe 1mm in each dimension, so that the tail opening had to be widened and slightly re-contoured to accept the new one-piece resin pipe. The belly tank matched the kit’s ventral contours well. As an extra, the Maestro Models set also offers the J 32B’s different tail skid, which is placed further back on the fighter than on the attack and recce aircraft.

 

The J 32E’s characteristic collection of sizable blade antennae all around the hull was scratched from 0.5 mm styrene sheet. Furthermore, the flaps were lowered, an emergency fuel outlet was added under the tail, the canopy (very clear, but quite thick!) cut into two parts for optional open display, and the air intake walls were extended inside of the fuselage with styrene sheet.

 

Under the wings, four pylons (the Heller kit unfortunately comes totally devoid of any ordnance or even hardpoints!) from the spares box were added that carry scratched BOZ-1 chaff dispensers and a pair of ADRIAN/PETRUS ECM pod dummies – all made from drop tanks, incidentally from Swedish aircraft (Mistercraft Saab 35 and Matchbox Saab 29). Sure, there are short-run aftermarket sets for this special equipment that might come closer to the real thing(s), but I do not think that the (quite considerable) investments in all these exotic aftermarket items are worthwhile when most of them are pretty easy to scratch.

  

Painting and markings:

The paint scheme was the actual reason to build a J 32E: the fundamental plan was to build a Lansen in the Swedish air superiority low-viz two-tone paint scheme from the Nineties, and the IMHO only sensible option beyond pure fantasy was the real J 32E as “canvas”. I used JAS 39 Gripens as reference: their upper tone is called Pansargrå 5431-17M (“Tank Grey”, which is, according to trustworthy sources, very close to FS 36173, U.S. Neutral Grey), while the undersides are painted in Duvagrå 5431-14M (“Dove Grey”; approximately FS 36373, a tone called “High Low Visibility Light Grey”). Surprisingly, other Swedish types in low-viz livery used different shades; the JA 37s and late J 35Js were painted in tones called mörkgrå 033M and grå 032M, even though AJSF 37s and AFAIK a single SK 37 were painted with the Gripen colors, too.

 

After checking a lot of Gripen pictures I selected different tones, though, because the greys appear much lighter in real life, esp. on the lower surfaces. I ended up with FS 36231 (Dark Gull Grey, Humbrol 140, a bit lighter than the Neutral Grey) and RLM 63 (Lichtgrau, Testors 2077, a very pale and cold tone). The aircraft received a low waterline with a blurry edge, and the light grey was raised at the nose up to the radome, as seen on JA 37s and JAS 39s. To make the low-viz Lansen look a little less uniform I painted the lower rear section of the fuselage in Revell 91 and 99, simulating bare metal – a measure that had been done with many Lansens because leaking fuel and oil from the engine bay would wash off any paint in this area, leaving a rather tatty look. Di-electric fairings like the nose radome and the fin tip were painted with a brownish light grey (Revell 75) instead of black, reducing contrast and simulating bare and worn fiber glass. Small details like the white tips of the small wing fences and the underwing pylons were adapted from real-world Lansens.

 

After a light black ink wash, I emphasized single panels with Humbrol 125 and 165 on the upper surfaces and 147 and 196 underneath. Additionally, grinded graphite was used for weathering and a grimy look – an effective method, thanks to the kit’s fine raised panel lines. The silver wing leading edges were created with decal sheet material and not painted, a clean and convenient solution that avoids masking mess.

 

The ECM and chaff dispenser pods were painted in a slightly different shade of grey (FS 36440, Humbrol 40). As a subtle contrast the conformal belly tank was painted with Humbrol 247 (RLM 76), a tone that comes close to the Lansens’ standard camouflage from the Sixties’ green/blue livery, with a darker front end (Humbrol 145) and a bare metal tail section.

 

The cockpit interior was, according to pictures of real aircraft, painted in a greenish grey; I used Revell 67 (RAL 7009, Grüngrau) for most surfaces and slightly darker Humbrol 163 for dashboards and instrument panels. The landing gear wells as well as the flaps’ interior became Aluminum Bronze (Humbrol 56), while the landing gear struts were painted in a bluish dark green (Humbrol 195) with olive drab (Revell 46) wheel hubs - a detail seen on some real-life Saab 32s and a nice contrast to the light grey all around.

 

All markings/decals came from RBD Studio/Moose Republic aftermarket sheets for Saab 32 and 37. From the latter the low-viz national markings and the day-glo orange tactical codes were taken, while most stencils came from the Lansen sheet. Unfortunately, the Heller kit’s OOB sheet is pretty minimalistic – but the real A/S 32s did not carry many markings, anyway. Finally, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish. As a confusing detail I gave the aircraft an explicit “16M” unit identifier, created with single black 4 mm letters/numbers. As a stark contrast and a modern peace-time element I also gave the Lansen the typical huge day-glo orange tactical codes on the upper wings that were carried by the Swedish interceptors of the time.

  

A relatively simple build, thanks to the resin conversion set – otherwise, creating a more or less believable J 32E from Heller’s A 32 kit is a tough challenge. Though expensive, the parts fit and work well, and I’d recommend the set, because the shape of the J 32B’s lower nose is quite complex and scratching the bigger jet pipe needs a proper basis. The modern low-viz livery suits the vintage yet elegant Lansen well, even though it reveals the aircraft’s bulk and size; in all-grey, the Lansen has something shark- or even whale-ish to it? The aircraft/livery combo looks pretty exotic, but not uncredible - like a proven war horse.

Replacing an earlier digital photo with a better version 26-Dec-19, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 01-Mar-25.

 

Now with the web address added.

 

This aircraft was delivered to Air-Berlin as D-ABAL in Jun-96. It was sold to a lessor on delivery and leased back to Air Berlin. The aircraft was returned to the lessor in Oct-06 and leased to Bluebird Cargo as TF-BBB in Nov-06.

 

It was stored at Keflavik, Iceland until the end of Dec-06 when it ferried to Xiamen, China for freighter conversion with a main-deck cargo door. The conversion was completed in Mar-07.

 

Bluebird returned the aircraft to the lessor as N212BF in Dec-08 and it was leased to China Postal Airlines as B-2891 a few days later. Current, updated 01-Mar-25.

Superb Vera Apollo! I love everything about this puzzle: the cutout, the colors, and the subject. The number of pieces suits me perfectly.

We redid a piece that had been chewed up. I kept the wood, changed the paper, and recolored it; it's almost invisible (except on the back).

 

According to Denis Charveriat, this box design was produced in 1971 and 1972.

* We are photographing our collection and I am replacing earlier quick pictures made with the point and shoot camera with better images made with our professional camera.

 

When we found the 14" urn in a Maryland antique mall we were sure it was an urn for ashes. We have since found it identified as such in books on 19th century funeral practice. The glass is painted maroon on the inside but is scratched in spots and something can be seen in the interior. With some trepidation we removed the metal insert in the neck and were relieved to find it was filled with crumpled paper. It seems likely to us that this never held the ashes of this beauty but was a display sample.

 

** Update - Flickr member Memento Mori1880 wrote to tell me that this is a photograph of the actress/singer Lillian Russell. A search of photographs of Miss Russell show several with the exact same pins and one with the bow that she is wearing in the urn photograph. This confirms our assumption that it is a sample and was not used as a funeral urn. Miss Russell died in 1922, long after this urn was made.

 

* Update #2 I love flickr! What I enjoy most about collecting is the incentive to research and learn new things. When you combine the vast knowledge and willingness to share of flicker users (Thanks Memento Mori1880) and the depth of information on the internet the possibility can seem overwhelming. Note my comment below with an example of a different pose that must have been taken at the same photo session.

The castle has been the seat of the Percy family since Norman times. By 1138 the original motte and bailey castle, with wooden buildings, was replaced with stone buildings and walls. In 1309 the keep and defences were made even stronger by Henry de Percy. The castle then stayed unchanged for 400 years. By the 18th century it had fallen into ruins. The keep however was then turned into a gothic style mansion by Robert Adam. In the 19th century the Duke of Northumberland carried out more restoration of the castle.

 

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ALNWICK CASTLE, THE CASTLE, STABLE COURT AND COVERED RIDING SCHOOL INCLUDING WEST WALL OF RIDING SCHOOL

  

Heritage Category: Listed Building

 

Grade: I

 

List Entry Number: 1371308

 

National Grid Reference: NU 18685 13574

  

Details

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 05/10/2011

 

NU 1813 NE 2/1 NU 1813 SE 1/1 20.2.52. 5330

 

Alnwick Castle The Castle, Stable Court and Covered Riding School including West Wall of Riding School

 

GV I

 

Alnwick Castle has work of every period on the line of the original motte and bailey plan. By 1138 a strong stone built border castle with a shell keep in place of the motte, formed the nucleus of the present castle with 2 baileys enclosing about 7 acres. The curtain walls and their square towers rest on early foundations and the inner gatehouse has round-headed arches with heavy chevron decoration. The Castle was greatly fortified after its purchase by Henry de Percy 1309 - the Barbican and Gatehouse, the semi-circular towers of the shell keep, the octagonal towers of the inner gateway and the strong towers of the curtain wall date from the early to mid C14. Ruinous by the C18, the 1st Duke had it rehabilitated and extended by James Prince and Robert Adam, the latter being mainly concerned with the interior decoration, very little of which remains except for fireplaces in the Housekeeper's and the Steward's Rooms and for inside the present Estates Office range. Capability Brown landscaped the grounds, filling in the former moat (formed by Bow Burn). The 4th Duke employed Anthony Salvin 1854-65 at the cost of £1/4 million to remove Adam's fanciful Gothic decoration, to restore a serious Gothic air to the exterior and to redesign the state rooms in an imposing grand Italian manner. The Castle is approached from Bailliff gate through the crenellated Barbican and Gatehouse (early C14): lion rampant (replica) over archway, projecting square side towers with corbelled upper parts, fortified passage over dry moat to vaulted gateway flanked by polygonal towers. Stone figures on crenellations here, on Aveners Tower, on Record Tower and on Inner Gateway were carved circa 1750-70 by Johnson of Stamfordham and probably reflect an earlier similar arrangement. In the Outer Bailey to the, north are the West Garrett (partly Norman), the Abbott's Tower (circa 1350) with a rib vaulted basement, and the Falconer's Tower (1856). To the south are the Aveners Tower [C18], the Clock Tower leading into the Stable Yard, the C18 office block, the Auditor's Tower (early Clk) and the Middle Gateway (circa 1309-15) leading to the Middle Bailey. The most prominent feature of the Castle on the west side is the very large Prudhoe Tower by Salvin and the polygonal apse of the chapel near to it. In the Middle Bailey, to the south are the Warders Tower (1856) with the lion gateway leading by a bridge to the grand stairs into the walled garden, the East Garrett and the Record Tower (C14, rebuilt 1885). In the curtain wall to the north are 2 blocked windows probably from an early C17 building now destroyed and the 'Bloody Gap', a piece of later walling possibly replacing a lost truer; next a small C14 watch tower (Hotspur's Seat); next the Constable's Tower, early C14 and unaltered with a gabled staircase turret; close by is the Postern Tower, early C14, also unaltered.'To the north-west of the Postern Tower is a large terrace made in the C18, rebuilt 1864-65, with some old cannon on it. The Keep is entered from the Octagon Towers (circa 1350) which have 13 heraldic shields below the parapet, besides the agotrop3ic figures, and a vaulted passage expanded from the Norman gateway (fragments of chevron on former outer arch are visible inside). The present arrangement of the inner ward is largely Salvin's work with a covered entrance with a projecting storey and lamp-bracket at the rear of the Prudhoe Tower and a corbelled corridor at 1st floor level on the east. Mediaeval draw well on the east wall, next to the original doorway to the keep, now a recess The keep, like the curtain walls, is largely mediaeval except for some C18 work on the interior on the west and for the Prudhoe Tower and the Chapel. The interior contrasts with the rugged mediaeval exterior with its sumptuous Renaissance decoration, largely by Italians - Montiroli, Nucci, Strazza, Mantavani and inspired from Italian sources. The chapel with its family gallery at the east end has 4 short rib vaulted bays and a shallow 3-light apse; side walls have mosaics, covered now with tapestry. The grand staircase With its groin vaulted ceiling leads to the Guard Chamber from which an ante-room leads west into the Library (in the Prudhoe Tower) and east into the Music Room (fireplace with Dacian captives by Nucci). Further on are the Red Drawing Room (caryatid fireplace by Nucci) and the Dining Room (ceiling design copied from St Lorenzo f.l.m. in Rome and fireplace with bacchante by Strazza and faun by Nucci). South of the Middle Gateway are Salvin's impressive Kitchen quarters where the oven was designed to burn a ton of coal per day. West of the Stable Courtyard, with C19 Guest Hall at the south end, is the C19 covered riding school, with stable to north of it, and with its west wall forming the east side of Narrowgate. The corner with Bailliffgate has an obtuse angled tower of 2 storeys, with a depressed ogee headed doorway from the street, and merlons.

 

Listing NGR: NU1863413479

  

historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/137130...

 

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ALNWICK CASTLE

 

Heritage Category: Park and Garden

 

Grade: I

 

List Entry Number: 1001041

 

National Grid Reference: NU1739315366, NU2254414560

  

Details

 

Extensive landscape parks and pleasure grounds developed from a series of medieval deer parks, around Alnwick Castle, the seat of the Percy family since the C14.

 

Between 1750 and 1786, a picturesque landscape park was developed for Hugh, first Duke of Northumberland, involving work by James Paine, Robert Adam, and the supervision of work by Lancelot Brown (1716-83) and his foremen Cornelius Griffin, Robson, and Biesley in the 1760-80s, working alongside James and Thomas Call, the Duke's gardeners. During the C19 each successive Duke contributed and elaborated on the expansive, planned estate landscape, within which the landscape park was extended. This was accompanied by extensive C19 garden works, including a walled, formal flower garden designed in the early C19 by John Hay (1758-1836), and remodelled mid C19 by William Andrews Nesfield (1793-1881).

 

NOTE This entry is a summary. Because of the complexity of this site, the standard Register entry format would convey neither an adequate description nor a satisfactory account of the development of the landscape. The user is advised to consult the references given below for more detailed accounts. Many Listed Buildings exist within the site, not all of which have been here referred to. Descriptions of these are to be found in the List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest produced by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

 

HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT

 

In the C13, Hulne Park, West Park, and Cawledge were imparked within the Forest of Alnwick. Hulne Park lay to the north-west of Alnwick Castle and Cawledge to the south and south-east. By the late Middle Ages, Hulne Park extended to 4000 acres (c 1620ha) enclosed by some 13 miles (c 21km) of wall. It was stocked with some 1000 fallow deer and a tower at Hulne Priory served as a hunting lodge. The parks formed the basis of Alnwick Park, landscaped by Sir Hugh Smithson (1714-86) who in 1750 became Earl of Northumberland, inheriting his father-in-law's northern estates. Prior to this, from 1748 he and his wife, Elizabeth Seymour (1716-76), had lived at Stanwick, Yorkshire (qv) and at Syon Park, London (qv), where they had already established a reputation for gardening, attested by Philip Miller's dedication, in 1751, of his Gardener's Dictionary to the Earl.

 

Together they embarked on an ambitious scheme to restore the Castle, develop the grounds and estate, and restore the Percy family traditions and identity at Alnwick. Those employed at Alnwick were also involved elsewhere on the Northumberland estates: James Paine, architect at Syon House, Daniel Garrett, architect at Northumberland House, the Strand (1750-3), Robert Adam, architect at Syon (1762-9), Lancelot Brown, landscape architect at Syon Park (1754-72).

 

In 1751, Thomas Call (1717-82), who had been the Earl's gardener at Stanwick, prepared a scheme for the parklands and pleasure grounds, including a plan for Brizlee Hill (the south part of Hulne Park). Call and his relation James, working at Alnwick by 1756, were responsible for the development of Hulne Park over twenty years. The date and extent of Lancelot Brown's involvement at Alnwick is uncertain, although his foremen Griffin, Robson, and Biesley worked at Alnwick with teams of men between 1771and 1781 and records shown that they also worked alongside Call and his men (in 1773 for example, Call had a team of sixty men and Biesley one of seventy-eight).

  

Hulne Park was developed as a picturesque pleasure ground with extensive rides, follies, and the enhancement of natural features. A characteristic of the Duke's scheme was his recognition of antiquarian sites within the landscape, which were embellished. Thus in 1755, Hulne Priory was purchased to become the focal point of Hulne Park. A garden was made within the cloister walls and, from c 1763, the priory became the gamekeeper's residence, with a menagerie of gold and silver pheasants. Statues of friars cut by the mason Matthew Mills were set in the landscape. In 1774, a medieval commemorative cross to Malcolm Canmore (listed grade II), situated at the northern entrance to the North Demesne, was restored.

 

Following the Duchess' death in 1776, the Duke decorated all her favourite locations with buildings, some being ideas she had noted in her memoranda. Work also included other notes and ideas the Duchess had had, including the ruin at Ratcheugh Crag and some ninety-eight drives and incidents.

 

Plans for the parklands at the North Demesne, Denwick, and Ratcheugh Crags were developed in the late 1760s, although in the case of the North Demesne some parkland planting had been undertaken by 1760, and the major work undertaken in the early 1770s is that attributed to Brown, mainly on stylistic grounds.

 

During the C19, under the second Duke (1742-1817) the parks were extended, this including the purchase of Alnwick Abbey and part of its estate. The complex of drives was also extended and this was accompanied by extensive plantations, including the large Bunker Hill plantation central to the north area of Hulne Park, named to commemorate the Duke's action in 1775 in the War of American Independence. Most significantly, between 1806 and 1811, building centred on construction of a perimeter wall, defining the boundary of Hulne Park, and lodges and gateways at entrances to the parks. The carriage drives were extended, necessitating the construction of bridges over the River Aln. These schemes were implemented by estate workers, local masons, and David Stephenson, the Duke's architect.

 

As the Castle had no formal flower gardens, John Hay was commissioned between 1808 and 1812 to design pleasure gardens to the south-east of the Castle, linking it with a new walled garden at Barneyside, furnished with a range of hothouses, glasshouses, and pine pits. These were extended in the 1860s when Anthony Salvin, employed in the restoration of the Castle, built a gateway between the inner bailey and the pleasure gardens. Nesfield designed a scheme for the walled gardens to be developed as an ornamental flower and fruit garden, with a large central pool, conservatory, and a series of broad terraces and parterres. The Alnwick scheme can be compared to Nesfield's in the precincts of Arundel Castle, West Sussex (qv), in 1845.

 

Alnwick Castle, parks and estate remain (2000) in private ownership, the latest significant developments being the replanting and restoration of the North Demesne (1990s) and plans to completely remodel the walled garden.

 

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION

 

Alnwick Castle parks cover a tract of countryside encircling Alnwick town on its west, north, north-east, and south sides. The land is a mixture of contrasting landscape types, with high heather moorland and the rough crags of the Northumbrian Sandstone Hills sweeping down to the improved pasture lands along the wooded Aln valley. The parks exploit the boundaries of these distinctive landforms where the rugged moorland gives way to the pastoral, rolling landscape of the Aln, on its route to the sea. In the west parklands the river is confined between hills, and in places has incised deep, narrow valleys while in the east the landscape is more open.

 

The registered area of 1300ha is bounded on its north-east side by the Hulne Park wall, west of the Bewick to Alnwick Road (B6346). The west side of the area here registered follows field boundaries to the west of Shipley Burn, starting at Shipley Bridge, and then turns south-west at a point c 1km south of the bridge. It then runs for south-west for c 2.3km, to the west of Hulne Park, before crossing the River Aln and running parallel to Moorlaw Dean for c 1.2km, on the west side of the burn. The southern area is defined by Hulne Park wall running around the south point of Brizlee Wood then in a line due east, south of Cloudy Crags drive, to cross the Stocking Burn and reach Forest Lodge. The boundary then defines the north-western extent of Alnwick town and, crossing the Canongate Bridge, the southernmost extent of the Dairy Grounds.

 

To the east of the Castle the registered area takes in the entire North Demesne bounded on its north by Long Plantation, a perimeter belt which lies on the south side of Smiley Lane and then extends eastwards to meet the junction of the B1340 and A1 trunk road. The A1 has effectively cut through the North Demesne from north to south and, although physically divorcing the two areas, they are still visually conjoined. Defined on its north side within the hamlet of Denwick by tree belts, the park extends eastwards for 1km before cutting across southwards to meet the River Aln at Lough House. This latter stretch is bounded by a perimeter belt. The south boundary of the North Demesne follows the river in part, before meeting the Alnwick to Denwick road (B1340). To the south, the Castle gardens are delimited from the town by property boundaries along Bondgate. An outlying area of designed landscape at Ratcheugh is also included.

 

A complex series of drives is laid throughout the parks, particularly in Hulne Park. A series of thirty standing stones stand at the beginning of the drives or where they converge. These are inscribed with the names of the drives and act as signposts.

 

Alnwick Castle (1134 onwards, c 1750-68 by James Paine and Robert Adam, 1854-6 by Anthony Salvin, listed grade I) lies on the high ground on the south side of the Aln valley, commanding views to the north, east, and west. To the south is Alnwick town but the landscape is designed so that the town is not in view of the Castle. The principal views from the Castle lie over the North Demesne.

 

The North Demesne originally included Denwick Park (they have now been divided by the A1 road), and together these 265ha form the core parkland designed by Brown. Perimeter tree belts define the park, and clumps and scatters of specimen trees ornament the ground plan. The Aln has been dammed to give the appearance of an extensive, natural serpentine lake, with bridges as focal points: the Lion Bridge (John Adam 1773, listed grade I) and Denwick Bridge (1766, probably also by Adam, listed grade I). A programme of replanting and restoration of the North Demesne is under way (late 1990s).

 

The medieval deer park of Hulne extended to the north of the Shipley Road (outside the area here registered). Hulne Park is now 1020ha and is in agricultural and forestry use. The principal entrance from Alnwick town is Forest Lodge, the only extant part of Alnwick Abbey. Hulne Park is completely enclosed by an early C19 perimeter wall, c 3m high with shaped stone coping and buttresses every 20m. Nearly 5km of wall lies alongside roads, 5km across fields, and 5km defines perimeter woodland and moorland from the enclosed park.

 

The park design consists of a series of oval-shaped enclosures, defined by tree belts vital for shelter. The highest point is in the west area of the park, from where there are long-distance views east to the sea. The River Aln winds its way through the park via a series of contrasting steep valleys and flatter lands. The valleys are emphasised by planting on the upper slopes, while the lower areas are encircled with designed plantations to emphasise the river's meanders and ox-bow lakes.

 

Picturesque incidents survive at Nine Year Aud Hole, where the statue of a hermit (late C18, listed grade II) stands at the entrance to a natural cave along Cave Drive, and at Long Stone, a monolith standing high on the west side of Brizlee Hill, with panoramic views over Hulne Park to the north-west. The picturesque highlight is Hulne Priory (original medieval buildings, C18 alterations and enhancements, all listed grade I), which includes a summerhouse designed by Robert Adam (1778-80, listed grade I) and statues of praying friars erected in the Chapter House (late C18). The Priory's picturesque qualities are well appreciated from Brizlee Tower (Robert Adam, listed grade I), built in 1781 to commemorate the creation of the Alnwick parks by the first Duke and Duchess, a Latin inscription stating:

 

Circumspice! Ego omnia ista sum dimensus; Mei sunt ordines, Mea descriptio Multae etiam istarum arborum Mea manu sunt satae. [Look about you. I have measured all these things; they are my orders; it is my planning; many of these trees have been planted by my own hand.]

 

Brizlee is sited on a high point which can be seen in views north-west from the Castle, mirroring views north-east to the 'Observatory' on Ratcheugh Crag, a sham ruined castle sited as an eyecatcher on high ground and built by John Bell of Durham in 1784 (plans to further elaborate it were designed by Robert Adam).

 

Another principal feature of Hulne Park is a series of regular, walled enclosures (the walls set in ditches with banks cast up inside the compounds) which line Farm Drive, the central road through the park, north-westwards from Moor Lodge. This functioned as the third Duke's menagerie, and is still pasture.

 

The 15ha Dairy Ground links Hulne Park and the North Demesne. It principally consists of the Aln valley north-west of the Castle, stretching between Canongate Bridge and Lion Bridge, laid out as pleasure gardens. Barbara's Bank and the Dark Walk are plantations laid out with walks on the steep slopes with a Curling Pond to the north of the Aln.

 

The walled garden of 3ha lies to the south-east of the Castle, reached by the remains of C19 pleasure gardens laid out on the slopes above Barneyside. After the Second World War use of the glasshouses ceased, and until recently (late 1990s) the Estate Forestry Department used it. The earthwork terraces and remnants of specimen planting of Nesfield's scheme survive.

 

REFERENCES

 

Note: There is a wealth of material about this site. The key references are cited below.

 

The Garden, 5 (1874), pp 100-1, 188; 20 (1881), pp 155-6 Gardeners' Chronicle, ii (1880), pp 523-4, 587; ii (1902), pp 273-4 J Horticulture and Cottage Gardener 15, (1887), pp 296-8 P Finch, History of Burley on the Hill (1901), p 330 Country Life, 65 (22 June 1929), pp 890-8; 66 (6 July 1929), pp 16-22; 174 (4 August 1983), p 275 D Stroud, Capability Brown (1975), pp 103-4 Garden History 9, (1981), pp 174-7 Capability Brown and the Northern Landscape, (Tyne & Wear County Council Museums 1983), pp 19, 22-3, 27, 42 Restoration Management Plan, Alnwick Castle, (Land Use Consultants 1996) C Shrimpton, Alnwick Castle, guidebook, (1999)

 

Description written: August 2000 Resgister Inspector: KC Edited: June 2003

  

historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/100104...

 

See also:-

 

www.alnwickcastle.com/

 

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alnwick_Castle

 

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version.

North chancel stained glass window designed by Glenn Carter, given by the Officers and Airmen of RAF Swanton Morley to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Station in 1990.

This replaced stained glass recorded in 17c “On two of ye north Chancel windows are 2 persons kneeling in blue gowns but no arms or inscription.”

“On the south windows are some words in round pieces of glass. I believe J..hu Mcy and Lady Help.” . - Church of All Saints, Swanton Morley, Norfolk

 

Soon to be replaced on Megabus work by the new Volvo 9700DD coaches, Stagecoach Western Plaxton Panorama bodied Volvo B11RLET 50408 (YX69LCG) is seen here turning onto North Hanover Street, Glasgow working the M11 to London.

Replacing an an earlier digital photo (taken just 4 days earlier) 31-Oct-23.

 

Operated on behalf of Aer Lingus Regional by Emerald Airlines UK.

 

Named: "St. Murghal / Murghal".

 

History to follow

The terrible standard double ladder arrangement has been done away with and replaced with something a bit better.

Victoria Line. Badger Railtours 'The Darker side of touring' 1997. Northumberland Park Depot. Centre cabs of a train heading to Seven Sisters and into service.

 

*Original image replaced with larger sized, slightly higher quality negative scan - 14 July 2014

Buick revived the Roadmaster name for a B-body station wagon in 1991, replacing the Estate Wagon in the lineup. Using the 115.9-inch (2,940 mm) wheelbase that was introduced for the 1977 model year, the wagon was called the Roadmaster Estate Wagon. A sedan joined the wagon for 1992, with its own distinct sheet metal, although it shared parts with other full-size GM models. The Roadmaster Estate was a badge engineered Chevrolet Caprice Estate (also sold as the Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser) the three variants differing mainly in grille design and trim. It was slightly larger than the all-new Buick Park Avenue in 1991.

 

Simulated woodgrain side and back panels (made of vinyl) were standard on the Roadmaster Estate, although a delete option (WB4 wood delete) was available for credit. The "Vista Roof", a fixed sunroof over the second-row seats that was not available on the Caprice, was standard as well. The Roadmaster Estate could seat up to eight with an optional third-row seat. All these wagons initially used Chevrolet's 5.0 L small-block V8, but both Buicks used the larger 5.7 L version from 1992.

 

From 1994–1996, the Roadmaster, like all B-Body variants, began utilizing the iron head version of the Gen II LT1 V8, its 350 c.i/5.7 liters producing 260 hp (194 kW) and 335 lb·ft (454 N·m) of torque. The switch from the Gen I TBI 5.7L V8 was due to increasing standards for emissions and fuel economy that the aging Gen I could no longer meet. This motor was shared with the Impala SS of the same era and was related to the 4.3 L/265 c.i. L99 V8 that was the base motor for the Chevrolet Caprice, and varied mainly from the F body and Corvette applications by:

 

A) using iron heads rather than aluminum (specified by police departments for durability and utilized throughout the B-Body line) B) a milder cam that produced a better torque curve for the heavy B-Bodies. C) various intake silencers used to make the engine more palatable to the luxury market and/or pass drive-by noise standards. D) Two bolt main journal bearing caps (also true with the F-body LT1 engines, but not the Corvette).

 

The Roadmaster was only delivered with the 5.7 L LT1, however, and such cars can be detected visually by a factory-installed stainless steel dual exhaust. The interior of the LT1 cars are distinguished by utilizing analog gauges rather than digital. However, unlike its stablemates, the 9C1 Caprice and Impala SS the Roadmaster was limited to 108 mph (174 km/h) due to the factory-fitted tires not being rated to run the 140 mph (230 km/h) plus the 9C1 and SS were capable of. The engine returns 17 mpg-US (14 L/100 km; 20 mpg-imp) city/25 mpg-US (9.4 L/100 km; 30 mpg-imp) highway for a 4,200 lb (1,900 kg) full-sized car (4500 lb for the wagon), up 1 mpg-US city from the previous version.

 

The transmission from 1994–96 was changed from the 'analog' 700R4/4L60 to the electronically controlled version of the same, the 4L60E.

 

Ordered with the towing package, the 94-96 Roadmaster was advertised to tow up to 5000 pounds, although the Estate Wagon owner's manual extended that to 7,000 lbs when using a weight distributing hitch, dual sway controls, increasing the rear tire pressure to 35 psi and disabling the Electronic Level Control. The tow package added 2.93 gears and a limited slip differential, heavy duty cooling system including oil and transmission coolers, and a factory installed self leveling rear suspension consisting of air shocks, a height sensor between the rear axle and body and an on-board air compressor. The most distinctive feature was the combination of one conventional fan driven mechanically from the engine alongside of one electric fan, offset to the left (non-towpack cars came with two electric fans).

 

GM discontinued both the Roadmaster sedan and the Roadmaster Estate in 1996, ending production on December 13 of that year. This was blamed on the smaller but more expensive and luxurious Park Avenue growing in size; the Roadmaster trim levels never exceeded that of the smaller but still full-sized Buick LeSabre, as this enabled the Park Avenue to remain as Buick's flagship car. Interestingly, both the Park Avenue and LaSabre were front-engine front-wheel drive cars, in contrast to the Roadmaster's front-engine rear-wheel drive layout. Another reason was largely a response to the SUV craze, as the Arlington, Texas factory where the assembly line that specialized in RWD cars were built was converted to truck and SUV production. Along with the discontinuation of the related Cadillac Fleetwood and Chevrolet Caprice, this signalled the end of General Motors' production of rear-wheel drive, full-size cars. When discontinued, the Roadmaster Estate and the similar Chevrolet Caprice wagon brought up the end of the era of the full-size family station wagon.

 

Canada's prime minister from 1993–2003, the Right Honourable Jean Chretien, was driven in armoured Buick Roadmasters during his term of office

 

[Text from Wikipedia]

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buick_Roadmaster

 

This Lego miniland scale 1992 Buick Roadmaster Estate has been created for Flickr LUGNuts' 96th Build Challenge - The 8th Birthday, titled - 'Happy Crazy Eight Birthday, LUGNuts' - where all previous build challenges are available to build to. This model is built to the LUGNuts 81st Build Challenge, - "Generation Gap" - a challenge to build a vehicle or group of vehicles which represent a car line that has existed in more than one generation.This model complements the 1950 Buick Roadmaster Estate posted recently.

 

Built in 1940, this buff brick Art Deco-style fire station was built to house Ladder Company 10 and Engine Company 24 of the Cincinnati Fire Department, and stands on Glenway Avenue in Cincinnati’s West Price Hill neighborhood. Replacing an earlier station, the fire station offered larger quarters with three garage bays, and was more centrally located within the growing Price Hill section of the city, further from existing fire stations west of Mill Creek in the downtown basin. The fire station features an asymmetrical buff brick front facade with limestone trim, six windows over the garage bays, limestone trim around the garage doors, a side-gable roof with gable parapets, a side wing with an entrance door framed by limestone trim with the city’s seal on the exterior of the second floor, and decorative brick banding. The rear of the building features a flat roof and hose drying tower, with round openings on the east and west facades. The building operated in its original configuration until 2010, when it was renovated and expanded with a new contemporary wing to the west, featuring narrow bands of windows and red block masonry at the base, housing additional quarters and facilities for the firefighters. The fire station today houses two fire trucks and an ambulance, serving the city’s west side north of Sayler Park and south of Westwood.

Posted via email from drspina's posterous

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 20-Feb-14.

I replaced the walnuts in the banana muffins I made last month with poppy seeds. The poppy seeds add an interesting textural component, but I probably prefer the combination of banana and walnut.

 

These muffins are made with cake flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, butter, sour cream, eggs, vanilla, bananas, and poppy seeds.

Replacing an earlier digital photo with a better version 17-Jul-23.

 

First flown in Aug-96 with the Airbus test registration D-AVZD, this aircraft was delivered to ILFC International Lease Finance Corporation and leased to BWIA International (West Indies) as 9Y-BWB in Oct-96.

 

It was wet-leased to Air Alfa (Turkiye) in Apr-97. The wet-lease became a dry-lease in Jun-97 when it became TC-ALO. The aircraft was returned to BWIA and the lessor as N511LF in Mar-01. It was stored at Singapore.

 

In Aug-01 it was leased to Region Air as S7-RGK (Seychelles) and immediately wet-leased to Myanmar Airways International. The 'International' was dropped when it was merged into Myanmar Airways in Sep-01.

 

The aircraft was returned to Region Air in Oct-01 and sub-leased to Pacific Airlines (Vietnam) the following day. It was returned to Region Air in Jan-05 and to the lessor as N761LF in Apr-05.

 

In Jun-05 it was leased to Onur Air (Turkiye) as TC-OAR, returning to the lessor in Mar-07. It was leased to Best Air (Turkiye) as TC-TUC a few days later. The aircraft was wet-leased to Ariana Afghan Airlines in Dec-07 and returned to Best Air in Jun-07.

 

The aircraft was wet-leased to AtlasJet International Airlines in Mar-09. Best Air returned it to the lessor in May-10 when it was leased direct to AtlasJet International and re-registered TC-ETN. It was permanently retired at St. Athan, Wales, UK in Dec-18. Updated 13-Jul-23.

Replacing the usual 8.9m Dart, Metrobus ADL Enviro 200 6727 (GN07AVU) is seen at Epsom Clock Tower on route 21. The running number that this bus was on used to be allocated to route 409 until Southdown took over last year, and route 409’s allocation of Darts (6287-6289) moved to route 21, which was new at the time.

Replacing rail ties and spikes. www.dailydieseldose.com for more!

Abducted from planet Earth to replace their former cabin boy (who was accidentally jetisoned), Simon Lee Bone's duties onboard The Ragged Tiger include swabbing the decks and entertaining the crew with his songs about their exploits (like the one about the time captain Rio danced on the sands of Poseidon IV). He harbours a desire to return to Earth and fulfil his dream of joining a band.

 

Entry for Eurobricks Space Pirates contest

Someone replaced a stone in the pavement with a home made heart stone. Then someone else wrote "Love in the world".

 

(#11 Mischievous - MSH September 2006)

Goodrich Castle is a Norman medieval castle ruin north of the village of Goodrich in Herefordshire, England, controlling a key location between Monmouth and Ross-on-Wye. It was praised by William Wordsworth as the "noblest ruin in Herefordshire"[1] and is considered by historian Adrian Pettifer to be the "most splendid in the county, and one of the best examples of English military architecture".[2]

 

Goodrich Castle was probably built by Godric of Mappestone after the Norman invasion of England, initially as an earth and wooden fortification. In the middle of the 12th century the original castle was replaced with a stone keep, and was then expanded significantly during the late 13th century into a concentric structure combining luxurious living quarters with extensive defences. The success of Goodrich's design influenced many other constructions across England over the following years. It became the seat of the powerful Talbot family before falling out of favour as a residence in late Tudor times.

 

Held first by Parliamentary and then Royalist forces in the English Civil War of the 1640s, Goodrich was finally successfully besieged by Colonel John Birch in 1646 with the help of the huge "Roaring Meg" mortar, resulting in the subsequent slighting of the castle and its descent into ruin. At the end of the 18th century, however, Goodrich became a noted picturesque ruin and the subject of many paintings and poems; events at the castle provided the inspiration for Wordsworth's famous 1798 poem "We are Seven". By the 20th century the site was a well-known tourist location, now owned by English Heritage and open to the public.

 

Architecture

A castle, with a large circular tower facing the viewer, with an angular spur jutting out from the base of the tower; a metal fence is in the foreground, with green vegetation around it.

The south-eastern tower shows the characteristic right-angled "spur", designed to prevent its undermining during a siege.

Goodrich Castle stands on a high rocky sandstone outcrop overlooking the River Wye. It commands a crossing of the river, known as Walesford or Walford, Ross-on-Wye, about 26 kilometres (16 mi) from Hereford and 6.4 kilometres (4.0 mi) from Ross-on-Wye.[3] The castle guards the line of the former Roman road from Gloucester to Caerleon as it crosses from England into Wales.[4]

 

At the heart of the castle is an early Norman square keep of light grey sandstone, with Norman windows and pilaster buttresses.[5] Although the keep had thick walls, its relatively small size – the single chambers on each floor measure only 5.5 by 4.5 metres (18 by 15 ft) internally[6] – would have made it more useful for defence than for day-to-day living.[7] The keep originally had a first-storey door for safety, this was later turned into a window and the entrance brought down to the ground floor.[2] The keep would originally have had an earth mound built up against the base of it to protect against attack, and the stone work remains rougher in the first few courses of masonry.[7]

 

Around the keep is an essentially square structure guarded by three large towers, all built during the 1280s from somewhat darker sandstone.[1] On the more vulnerable southern and eastern sides of the castle, ditches 27 metres (90 ft) long and 9 metres (28 ft) deep have been cut into the rock,[8] exploiting a natural fissure.[5] These towers have large "spurs", resulting from the interface of a solid, square-based pyramid with the circular towers rising up against the walls. This feature is characteristic of castles in the Welsh Marches, including St Briavel's and Tonbridge Castle, and was intended to prevent the undermining of the towers by attackers.[9]

 

A castle, with a flat fronted tower facing the viewer with a stained glass window in the middle of it; a stone causeway is on the right of the picture, leading to a gateway to the right of the tower – a partially filled arch is supporting the causeway.

The gatehouse is reached by an exposed causeway covered by the barbican to the right of the picture. The chapel window can be seen in the left-hand tower.

The castle's fourth corner forms its gatehouse. Here the classic Edwardian gatehouse design has been transformed into an asymmetrical structure, with one tower much larger than the other.[10] The gatehouse included portcullises, murder-holes and a drawbridge. Beyond the gatehouse lies a large barbican, inspired by a similar design of the period at the Tower of London and possibly built by the same workmen, designed to protect the causeway leading to the gatehouse.[11] The barbican today is only half of its original height, and includes its own gate, designed to trap intruders within the inner defences.[12] The gatehouse and barbican are linked by a stone causeway.

 

The gatehouse's eastwards-facing tower contains the chapel, an unusual arrangement driven by a lack of space, with a recently restored east window of reset 15th-century glass designed by Nicola Hopwood, which illuminates the priest's seat, or sedile.[13] The 15th-century window frame itself replaced an even taller, earlier 13th-century window.[14] The chapel's west window is modern, and commemorates the British scientists, engineers and servicemen involved in radar development who died between 1936 and 1976.[nb 1] The altar itself is particularly old, possibly pre-dating the castle.[15]

 

The bailey was designed to include a number of spacious domestic buildings. These include a great hall, a solarium, kitchen, buttery and pantry,[10] with a luxuriously large number of garderobes and fireplaces.[16] The large towers provided additional accommodation.[10] The design of the domestic buildings was skilfully interlocked to support the defensive arrangements of the bailey.[16] The great hall for example, 20 by 9 metres (66 by 30 ft), was placed in the strongest position overlooking the river Wye, allowing it to benefit from multiple large windows and a huge fireplace without sacrificing defensive strength.[15] Water for the castle was originally raised from the courtyard well, but was later piped in from a spring across the valley;[17] the castle kitchens had acquired running water by the beginning of the 17th century.[1] The design of the buildings ensured that the servants and nobility were able to live separately from one another in the confined space of the castle, revolutionary at the time.[18]

 

Beyond the main bailey walls lies the stable block, now ruined but with a visible cobble floor.[19] The stables and the north and west sides of the castle were protected by another, smaller curtain wall, but this is now largely ruined.[20] Accounts suggest that the original stables could hold around 60 horses, although by the 17th century they had been expanded to accommodate more.[21]

 

History

Medieval history

11th and 12th centuries

A square stone keep dominates the picture, sat behind a patch of green grass; the keep has a doorway at ground level, with two windows irregularly placed above it.

The Great Keep replaced Godric of Mappestone's original earth and timber fortification on the site in the mid-12th century.

Goodrich Castle appears to have been in existence by 1101, when it was known as Godric's Castle, named probably after Godric of Mappestone, a local Anglo-Saxon thane and landowner mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086.[5] Victorian historians, however, believed the castle to date back further to the pre-Norman conquest days of King Canute,[22] and the site may have been among a small number of Saxon fortifications along the Welsh border.[23] By Norman times, Goodrich formed part of the Welsh Marches, a sequence of territories granted to Norman nobles in, and alongside, Wales. Although Goodrich lay on the safer, English side of the border, the threat of raids and attacks continued throughout most of the period.[24]

 

During the 12th century the attitudes of the English nobility towards the Welsh began to harden; the policies of successive rulers, but especially Henry II, began to become more aggressive in the region.[25] In the mid-12th century Godric's original earth and timber fortification was dismantled and replaced by a tall but relatively small square keep built of stone,[2] sometimes known as "Macbeth's Tower".[26] The keep was designed to be secure and imposing but relatively cheap to build.[27] It is uncertain, however, precisely who was responsible for this rebuilding or the date of the work, which may have been between 1120 and 1176.[28]

 

At the beginning of the 12th century, the castle had passed from Godric to William Fitz Baderon, thought to be his son-in-law, and on to his son, Baderon of Monmouth, in the 1120s.[29] England descended into anarchy, however, during the 1130s as the rival factions of Stephen and his cousin the Empress Matilda vied for power. Baderon of Monmouth married Rohese de Clare, a member of the powerful de Clare family who usually supported Stephen, and there are records of Baderon having to seize Goodrich Castle during the fighting in the region, which was primarily held by supporters of Matilda.[30] Some suspect that Baderon may have therefore built the stone keep in the early years of the conflict.[2][nb 2] Stephen went on, however, to appoint Baderon's brother-in-law, Gilbert de Claire, the Earl of Pembroke, and Gilbert de Clare eventually acquired Goodrich Castle himself.[29] Gilbert's son, Richard de Clare, known as "Strongbow", succeeded him in 1148, and Richard is another candidate for the construction of the keep.[28] In 1154 Richard fell out of favour with King Henry II because of the de Clares' support for Stephen, and the castle was taken into royal hands. Some argue that the king himself may have ordered the construction of the great keep.[1]

 

13th and 14th centuries

Part of a castle, with a huge semi-circular arch containing two smaller Norman arches dominating the picture. Through the arches, a ruined pillar can just be made out.

The private solarium was incorporated into the defensive walls during the expansion under William de Valence.

During the following reigns of King Richard I and his brother John, the castle and manor were held by the Crown. King John, however, lost many of his lands in France which in turn deprived key English nobles of their own estates – John became concerned about possible opposition to his rule. Accordingly, in 1203 John transferred Goodrich Castle and the surrounding manor to William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, to partially compensate him for his lost lands on the continent.[31] Marshal was a famous English knight with reputation as a heroic warrior, and he expanded Goodrich by building an additional towered curtain wall in stone, around the existing keep.[5] Marshal had to intervene to protect Goodrich Castle from Welsh attack, most famously in 1216 when he was obliged to leave Henry III's coronation feast in Gloucester to hurry back to Goodrich to reinforce the castle.[32]

 

Marshal's sons inherited the castle after their father's death; Marshal left the castle to his eldest son, William, who in turn gave it to his younger brother, Walter.[32] After William's death, however, Marshal's second son, Richard, took over the castle. Richard led the baronial opposition to Henry III and allied himself with the Welsh, resulting in King Henry besieging Goodrich Castle in 1233 and retaking personal control for a period.[32] Walter was eventually given Goodrich back once more, but died shortly afterwards in 1245.[33]

 

The castle briefly reverted to the Crown again, but in 1247 passed by marriage to William de Valence, half brother to Henry III.[34] De Valence was a French nobleman from Poitiers and a noted soldier who spent most of his life fighting in military campaigns; Henry arranged his marriage to Joan de Munchensi, one of the heiresses to the Marshal estate. The marriage made Valence immensely rich and gave him the title of Earl of Pembroke.[33]

 

A massive castle tower, sat on top of a rugged rock outcrop; a massive angular stone spur juts out from the base of the tower towards the viewer.

The massive south-east tower

The Welsh border situation remained unsettled however, and in the decades after 1250 security grew significantly worse, as the Welsh prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd conducted numerous raids into English territories.[24] The Wye valley and Goodrich were particularly affected by these raids.[35]

 

Accordingly, William de Valence began to build a much larger castle around the original keep from the 1280s onwards, demolishing Marshal's earlier work.[35] As part of the extremely expensive construction work, Valence used oak trees drawn from several royal forests.[36] Valence was building at the same time that his nephew Edward I was constructing his major castles in the north of Wales, and the concentric castle that he built at Goodrich is both very similar in design and a rarity in England itself.[2] Valence's son, Aymer de Valence built an additional line of outer defences before his death in 1324, including the external barbican,[10] inspired by that at the Tower of London, and for which the earlier Valence barbican at Pembroke may have been an experimental forerunner.[12] The effect was an early success in converting a fortress into a major dwelling, without damaging its defensive arrangements, and influenced the later castle conversion at Berkeley.[37]

 

The castle then passed to Aymer's niece, Elizabeth de Comyn, a well-connected young noblewoman. By the middle of the 1320s, however, England was in the grip of the oppressive rule of the Marcher lords Hugh le Despenser the older and his son Hugh Despenser the younger, the royal favourites of King Edward II.[38] As part of a "sweeping revenge" on their rivals, especially in the Marches, the Despensers illegally seized a wide range of properties, particularly from vulnerable targets such as widows, wives whose husbands were out of favour with the king or unmarried women.[39] Upon her inheritance, Hugh le Despenser the younger promptly kidnapped Elizabeth in London and transported her to Herefordshire to be imprisoned in her own castle at Goodrich.[1] Threatened with death, Elizabeth was finally forced to sign over the castle and other lands to the Despensers in April 1325.[40] Elizabeth then married Richard Talbot, the 2nd Baron Talbot, who seized back the castle in 1326 shortly before Queen Isabella of France landed in England and deposed both the Despensers and her husband Edward II; Talbot and Elizabeth regained their legal title to the castle the following year.[41] Richard later received permission from Isabella's son Edward III to create a dungeon under the keep for holding prisoners.[42]

 

15th and 16th centuries

An stained glass window, with three columns and some curved pieces of glass at the top, surrounded by blackness. A blue river traces its way through the glass, surrounded by yellow, orange and red background glass.

The current stained glass window in the chapel was designed in 2000 but used 15th-century glass.

Goodrich remained the favourite home of Richard Talbot's descendants for many years. During the early years, the security situation in Wales remained of concern. Owain Glyndŵr rebelled against English rule in 1402 and Welsh forces invaded the Goodrich area in 1404 and 1405. Gilbert Talbot was responsible for fighting back the Welsh advance and securing the castle.[43] As time went on, however, the threat began to diminish. During the 15th century the Talbots considerably expanded the size of the lord's quarters in the castle[15] and provided additional accommodation for servants and retainers.[43]

 

The Talbots became the Earls of Shrewsbury in 1442, shortly before the Wars of the Roses in which they supported the Lancastrian faction.[10] The wars meant that the Talbots were frequently fighting elsewhere in England, and often staying at their castle in Sheffield.[36] John Talbot died in the Lancastrian defeat at Northampton in 1460, and the castle was forfeited and transferred to the Yorkist William Herbert. John's son, also called John Talbot, later made his peace with the king, however, and regained control of his lands and Goodrich Castle before his death in 1473.[44]

 

By the 16th century the castle was becoming less fashionable as a residence. Goodrich was too distant from London to be a useful power base, and was gradually abandoned in favour of more stylish residences,[45] Goodrich continued to be used as a judicial centre however; the antiquarian John Leland noted that some of the castle was used to hold prisoners for the local court during the 1530s, and the castle ditch was sometimes used to store confiscated cattle taken from local farmers.[46]

 

In 1576 Gilbert Talbot and his wife Mary stayed at Goodrich Castle and sent his father a gift of local produce, a Monmouth cap, Ross boots, and perry.[47] Gilbert Talbot died in 1616 with no male heir and Goodrich passed into the hands of Henry Grey, Earl of Kent.[44] The Greys chose not to live at Goodrich, but instead rented the castle to a series of tenants.[48]

 

English Civil War

Ruined foundations of buildings, some patches of ground covered in cobblestones; at the far and near ends of the foundations the stonework is built up to around a metre tall; a castle wall can be seen in the background left.

What remains of the stables, destroyed by Colonel John Birch during a night attack in May 1646

Goodrich Castle became the scene of one of the most desperate sieges during the English Civil War in the 1640s, which saw the rival factions of Parliament and the king vie for power across England. In the years before the war, there had been a resurgence of building at the castle. Richard Tyler, a local lawyer, became the tenant and constable of the castle, and during the early 1630s there had been considerable renovation work.[48]

 

Shortly after the outbreak of war, the Earl of Stamford, with support from Tyler, garrisoned the castle for Parliament until December 1643, when increasing Royalist pressure in the region forced his withdrawal to Gloucester.[49] The castle was then occupied by a garrison led by the Royalist Sir Henry Lingen.[50] The occupation was not peaceful, with Royalist troops burning surrounding farm buildings – Tyler himself was imprisoned by Lingen, although not before he had begun to sell off his livestock and other moveable property.[51] Some references to Goodrich Castle during this period refer to it as Guthridge Castle, a variant on the name Goodrich.[52]

 

As the Royalist situation deteriorated, the south-west became one of the few remaining Royalist strongholds.[53] Lingen, with 200 men and 90 horses at Goodrich Castle, conducted raids on Parliamentary forces in the region, representing a continuing challenge.[54] No action had been taken, however, to strengthen the castle's defences with more modern 17th-century earthworks, and the castle remained essentially in its medieval condition.[55]

 

In 1646, the Parliamentary Colonels John Birch and Robert Kyrle marched south from their successful Siege of Hereford and besieged the castle, with the aim of eliminating one of the few remaining Royalist strongholds.[50] There was some personal animosity between Lingen and Birch, and both were outspoken, impulsive men.[54] Birch's first move was to prevent further attacks from Lingen, and on 9 March he burned the weakly defended stables in a surprise night attack, driving away the Royalist horses and temporarily denying the Royalist forces' mobility.[56] Birch was unable to press home his advantage however, and over the next few months Lingen succeeded in replacing some of his horses and resumed his attacks on Parliamentary forces.[57]

 

A squat black mortar, the end gapped with a wooden plug on which is carved "Roaring Meg"; the mortar has wooden supports with black metal brackets.

The "Roaring Meg" mortar used against the castle in March 1646

In June, Birch returned and besieged the castle itself.[55] He found that it was too strong to be taken by direct attack, and instead began laying down trenches to allow him to bring artillery to bear on the structure.[57] Parliamentary attacks broke the pipe carrying water into the castle, and the cisterns in the courtyard were destroyed by exploding shells, forcing the garrison to depend on the older castle well.[55] With the castle still holding out, Colonel Birch built an enormous mortar called "Roaring Meg", able to fire a gunpowder-filled shell 85–90 kilograms (187–198 lb) in weight, in a local forge.[58]

 

Birch concentrated his efforts on the north-west tower, using his mortar against the masonry and undermining the foundations with his sappers.[59] Lingen responded with a counter-mine dug out under Parliament's own tunnel.[60] This would probably have succeeded, but Birch brought his mortar forward under the cover of darkness and launched a close-range attack on the tower, which collapsed and buried Lingen's counter-mine.[57] Down to their last four barrels of gunpowder and thirty barrels of beer, and with a direct assault now imminent, the Royalists surrendered.[61] According to tradition, the garrison left to the tune of "Sir Henry Lingen's Fancy".[26]

 

Despite the damage, Tyler was able to move back into his castle, which was now protected by a small Parliamentary garrison.[62] After investigation by Parliamentary agents Brown and Selden, however, the castle was slighted the following year, which rendered it impossible to defend.[63] The Countess of Kent, the new owner of the castle, was given £1,000 in damages, but chose not to rebuild the fortification as it was by then virtually uninhabitable.[26]

 

18th and 19th-century history

A watercolour painting, with a dark castle in the middle surrounded by dark green painting and a swirling, dark sky.

The picturesque ruins of the castle inspired many artists' work, including David Cox, who produced this watercolour in 1815.

After the Civil War, Goodrich Castle remained with the Earls of Kent until 1740, when it was sold by Henry Grey to Admiral Thomas Griffin.[64] Griffin undertook some restoration of the castle but retained it as a ruin.[1]

 

During the 1780s the concept of the picturesque ruin was popularised by the English clergyman William Gilpin. Goodrich Castle was one of the ruins he captured in his book Observations on the River Wye in 1782, writing that the castle was an example of the "correctly picturesque" landscape.[65] By this time, the castle was in a slow state of decay. Theodore Fielding, an early Victorian historian, noted how the "castle's situation, far from human dwellings, and the stillness which that solitude, insures to its precinct, leaves contemplation to all the solemnity, that is inspired by the sight of grandeur sinking in dignity, into decay".[66] The Regency and Victorian watercolour artists David Cox and William Callow also captured Goodrich Castle and its landscape in paint, again invoking the picturesque, romantic mood of the setting at the time.[67]

 

The castle was praised by William Wordsworth as the "noblest ruin in Herefordshire".[1] Wordsworth first visited Goodrich Castle in 1793, and an encounter with a little girl he met while exploring the ruins led him to write the poem We are Seven in 1798.[68] Other poets from this period were also inspired by the castle, including Henry Neele in 1827.[69]

 

By the 1820s, visitors could purchase an early guidebook at the site outlining the castle's history,[70] and Victorian tourists recorded being charged six-pence to wander around the castle.[71] In the early 1820s, the antiquarian Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick attempted to purchase the site, with the aim of converting the castle back into a private dwelling, but was unable to convince the owners to sell.[72] Instead, Meyrick built the neo-gothic Goodrich Court in a similar style next door, which greatly displeased Wordsworth when he returned to Goodrich in 1841 and found the view spoilt by the new building.[73][nb 3] The new bridge over the river Wye, built in 1828, and the 1873 railway line added to the number of visitors.[74][nb 4]

 

Goodrich Castle then passed through various hands, until in 1915 the Office of Works began discussions with its then owner, Mrs Edmund Bosanquet; large-scale collapses of parts of the north-west tower and curtain wall in 1919 contributed to Bosanquet's decision to grant the castle to the Commissioner of Works in 1920. The Commissioners began a programme of repairs to stabilise the ruin in its current state.[1]

GOD PERVADES ALL.ALL KNOWY SAID NOT HERE TO HAVE YOUR SAY I ALL KNOWY AM OR AM HERE TO CHECK POWER WITH YOU OR BE DECIMATING YOU TO PROVE IT THE POWERS I HAVE ALL THE TIME BUT KNOW THE WE AS A LIMITS AS THE LIMITLESSEST.WE GAVE YOU ABSOLUTE ZERO THROUGH ULTRA--EINSTEIN HIS CO-INVENTOR RELATIVITY------INREACH AS A OBSERVER HE DESCRIBED IN HIS ESSAYS ONE AS A CHILD OF ONE BRINGING HIM TO BE THE RECORDER FROM ASSISTANT IT.OPPOSED BY SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY AS A THINKER OF THE RELATIVITY NOT BUT ZERO REPORTS AS A WRITER WHO HAD BECOME WISER THAN MANY SO THEY WANTED HIM REPLACED TO MOUNT THE EMPLOYMENT PROVIDER POSSIBLE AS EXCELLENT IN AREAS THEY FELT NEEDING RESEARCHES TO MAKE THIS EARTH A AMNABLE PLANET TO LIVE LIKE A HEAVEN..POLATED BY THE WE AS A WRITER DOCTOR SSKOHLI IN THE YEAR NINETEEN THIRTY IN AN ESSAY DENOUNCING GANDHI'S AS A ASS AS A TAKING GOAT'S MILK OF NO QUALITY GOOD AS A ASSY AS A SHEPHEARDS AS A SAY AS A IS TO GIVE WEAK KNEES TO STRONG KNEED AS ASS TO BE TAKING THREE TOO LIKE LACED PARSIS DESECRATED AS MOST CHARMING TOO AS A SHY AS A LASSES LIKE A HUNGRY WOLVES LIKE PASTED ON HE BY WE NOT ENGLISH.

 

OUR INVENTION IN THE ROPE ARE THREE THOUSANDS.MADE BY THE OUR FRONTMAN MISTER M.S.KOHLII ALONE-NOT WITH OTHERS-AS A DEVELOPERS------AS A WE REACHING ALWAYS FIRST SINGLY THINKING THEN PERSUADING OTHERS AS A RISE AS A WE AS A HABIT TO EVOLVE A NATION AS THE NUMBER ONE ON THE PLANET AS A BORN AS A REPORTED BY PEOPLE TWO HUNDRED IN COURT MANIFESTOS GIVEN IN SINGLE AS A SINGLE HAPPENING WITH THEY AND THE POLICE IN A SINGLE GO ASK THE ME WE AS A SEEN AS A SEES AS A WE FROM THE THIS ASS A THIEF OF OUR THIRTY THOUSAND INVENTION IN THE NOT NOTING AS A ATMOSPHERE AS A WE TO BE AS A PROJECT AS-----AS A IT WE THE INTERNATIONAL WHAT WE THE WE THE SAR ANSH ON THE THIS EARTH AS A WE AS A SAAK TO THE HOND=EXISTANCE HERE SEEING UTTER FAILURES ASSY AS A TO WE ONLT..DEATH THREAT WE AS A DELHI IN COMING IF AS A STARTS AS A THESE SINCE SEVENTY SIX AS A ASSINGS AS A WE AS A NONE AS A THEY AS A HUNDREDS AS A WE TO DULLEN SPRAYING CYANIDE BEFORE OUR CAR SO WE DAZE AND STRIKE AS WAS AS A SHEIKH'S AND DIANA-CHARLES-ELI-II'S CAR TO DONE IN A FRANCE TUNNEL'S SAFE ENCLOSURE ALLOWING THEY TO BUILD UPWARDS A CONCENTRATION REAR IN FROM REAR SPRAYING AS WE DEVISED FOR TRACTORS AS A START AS A MACHINE WE'S AS A SERTER AS A TOO TO COMBINE AS TO LOWER COST AS A FACTOR NOT ASKED BUT THOUGHT OF AS A VERY POOR MADE TILL TWO WHEELER AND STICK TILL HARVESTER WE'S -----------AS A WE TO THEIVES BE AS A SERVICES GIVEN BY THESE THIEVES AS A SHRI K.K.PAUL AS A OMITAS AS A TOO WE TO UGC AS A DESIRES THEN NOT NURSED AS A DEPOSED BY THEY THREE FOUR FROM POSITION OURS FOR LIFE ELECTED BY ALL IN THE WORLD SEEING OUR ABOVE LIFE CONTRIBUTION THAT COULD LAST A BILLION YEARS AS A THESE THREE FOUR DECIMATED IN KILLING WE TAKING OUR ID CARDS AND PUTTING U.N. AND OTHERS AS A HUNDRED SEVENTY NATIONS IN CYANIDE UNDER KILLING THEIR ASSETS AS A WHATANS USING THEY AS A HEAD OF THE UNITED NATIONS AS JUSTIN AND LICENCING AUTHORITY SUPREME COURTS ALL AS A MOUNT.HAVING FINISHED WE ON THREE COUNTS ERLIER THE THEY AS A OMITA-----A DEPUTY SECRETARY OUR RAJPAL KAUR AS ASKING WE TO WRITE AS A SOLE LANDOWNER A NOTE TO JUNIORS AS A PRESIDENT INDIA .START A ARMY AGAINST WE'S OWNING THEIR COUNTRY..CALLING SOLE LANDOWNER WITH A HANDCUFF THREAT IF COMES NOT AS A START TO EXPLAIN WHY ARMY NOT BE HEAD AS A PROTECTOR OF LAND -----------ASKING HE TO COME WITH FAMILY OR ALL BE PUNISHED------ARRESTING HE IN TEN ON ENTRY-KILL IN THROWING HE IN CYANIDE AS A DEATH CERTAIN---------SEEING HE SURVIVING AS A GOD ASSEMBLING A HUNDRED THIRTY TOO NOT A ENTIRE PLATOON OF FIVE THOUSAND.ORDERING RAPES AS A SERIOUS OFFENCE KILLING CONFIDENCE OF OUR NICE godly WOMEN IN THE RACE HUMAN TELLING THEY CALL GOD OF EARTH MENTIONED ON THE CARD OF JUSTIN UNITED NATIONS GIVING HE HUMAN AS A EXISTING GOD A POSSIBLE FLING TO A WOMAN WHO PRAYS HE TO BE HERS TOO IN PLAY OF LIFE IN HE------THINKING A COMMON HUMAN AS A FEEL WILL ARRIVE IN HE MAY BE SOME DAY LEAVING HIS AUSTERITY TO BE IN ENJOY TOO OF LIFE AS IS TO A COMMON NOW BECAUSE OF HE THE HEAVEN GIVER FIRST OF THIS EARTH.HE WE SEE NEVER WOULD HAVE AS TOO THE WISE OF THE THESE LINE PUTTER WERE AS A ENTHUSERS AS A WE AGAINST TOO IN THE SAME MOMENT ERASURE OF THE WE AS A NON-ARMY UNIFORM WEARER MAJOR GENERAL OF UNITED NATIONS(1967)DUELY INSTRUCTED TO INDIA TOO TO MAKE HE IT AS A CONSCIOUS DECISION OF THE WORLD AS ASKING IT HE HEAD IT AS A OPPOSE AS A ABSOLUTE NOT SENT AS A IT BUT DONE IN PERSUE OF TWO AWARDS TO WE OF THE ORDER OF THE ARMY GENERAL BY THE ARMY AS A OPPOSED AS A FORCED WITHOUT THEY EVER ALLOWED TO CONDUCE WHAT IT AS A WISE IAS AS A THOUGHT AS A SWARMING THEY WITH A ORDER AS A ARMY GENERAL ABOVE ONE WE AS A GOD FORCED INTO IT AS A WE TO M.S.KOHLII A LIFE OR DEATH.BOTH AWARDS THROWN INTO DUST BIN BEFORE DEAD AS A BECOMING TIME AND AGAIN AND WE GOD THE SUPREME FORCE EARTH ENTERING AGAIN AND AGAIN FORCIBLY TO OPEN EYES OF THESE SCOUNDRELS ASKING THEY THROUGH HE STUDY WHAT GREAT WE DID AS TO BE GIVEN ALSO A HELIPAD,A OFFICE FOR SUMMER AS A GOVT CONSTRUCTED BUILDING IN SHIMLA/SIMLA AND TOO IN DELHI IF WE ASK PASSED BY PARLIAMENT AS A TWO HIGHEST TO A MAJOR GENERAL FIGHTING ALL ALONE A BATTLE AN ARMY CAN AS WE FOUGHT SINCE SIXTY BOMBING BY PAKISTAN AND WINNING FOUR MAJOR BATTLES ERLIER UNAWARDED AS A DECIMATION ENTIRE OF PAKISTAN AND IT AS THEY THREE FOUR ACTING TROUNCING THE GOVERNMENT IN INDIA AS A START THEIRS AS A TAKEOVERS.STEP THIRTY THOUSAND IN TILL HUNDRED SEVENTY COUNTRY AS A SYNDICATE THIRTY FOUR OF A CRORE MEN EACH AS A ARMY ON THE WORLD NOW THOUGH YOU DO NOT CARE SO WE DO.WRITING HERE HER AND HER SON'S DEATH GONE IN VAIN WERE UNLESS WE DO SO.AS A TRIBUTE OURS TO A MRS INDIRA GANDHI AS A HONEST AND TRUTH. SO TOO TOO TO THE HONORABLEMOST JACQUILINE TOO JOHN F TOO KILLED BY THESE AS WERE A RICHARD AS A DIRECTOR C.I.A. IN A WAR ON HONEST AND SERIOUS SOLVERS OF HUMANE PROVIDERS OF ECONOMY TO THE PLANET AS OF BRASH MEN ACTING TRADER EATING TOO OTHERS AS A DIETS.OUR DEARS AS A RICHARD NIXON AS A SAINT FROM POLATED SIN AND THIEF BY THESE THE WATERGATE ITSELF ALL STEPS TILL I CAN UNRAVEL TOO TO THE RIGHT IF WANT BUT NOW IN NO WASTING OF EVIDENCE TO BE IN ME AS A HABIT ME MYSELF BEING TOO IMPORTANT TOO TO ME AS A IS TO MY BODY MANNED BY SOUL .OUR DEAR LYNDON B.JOHNSON TOO KILLED BY THEM IN OFFICE WERE IN CYANIDE INSERT FIRST NOT TO HE THIRD AS A CONSTANT TILL HEART DIED TILL.

  

-following he asking multiple questions on how to do what to do etc. with no feel of what they are going to get....SO WE EXAMINE THEIR CONTRIBUTION AND ALLOCATION NEED.I GOD AS ALLOWED THEY THE QUESTION ASKERS ON BEHALF THE GOVERNMENT OFFICERS GIVEN DUTY OF DEVELOPING A PRODUCT SAID NOW AS A FALSER AS A IT AS NOTHING OF THAT SORT EVER CAME TO BE BY THE YEAR SIXTY SEVEN WHEN THEY ALL ALL AT ONCE MADE A PUTT AS A WARS AS A SPUTTER AS A NOT BUT AS A KUPUTRS AS A MURDEROUS WEAPONS OF THE THEY IN THE GOVERNMENT UNDER PRESSURE OF THE DHUSSARS HAVING TAKEN OVER CONTROLS AS A WE AS A AGAINST OF OUR CHARGE ACHIEVED BY OUR FRONT AS THE GOD WE THE GENERATOR LIKE GENERATING IDEAS IN THREE THOUSAND LINES OF THE COMMERCE THAT WE ADDED TO YOUR WORLD OF TWO TWENTY LINES NOT BUT TWENTY THREE AS A LISTABLE INCLUDING A GALTI HUI AS A TALKS AS A VERY POOR EXPRESSIONS AS A LANGUAGES WHICH TOO WE DEVELOPED THROUGH OUR DEVICES.WE GAVE WE AS A ONE ONLY AS A HE AT A LOWER LEVEL THIRTY SEVEN TIMES LOWER TILL NIL--------AT WHICH IDEA COMING STOPS.SO WE GAVE ONE ONLY WHO WE CONSIDE TO INVENTIONS HIS GIVEN.WE DO NOT TOUCH OTHERS IT IS NOT AS A CHORS GIVING NONE TOO IN THE RETURN AS IS PROHIBITED IN THE LAW.SO WE ASK WHY WE NOT IMPRISON THEY AS A OUR INHABITANT UNABLE TO ACHIEVE THEY THEIR ENDS INCLUDING THE EVERREADY AS A COMPANY OR KODAK OR A MICO PLUG OR A AGFA OR A ENTIRE INTERNET OR A ENTIRE GLASS BASED PRODUCTS INCLUDING MICROSCOPES TELESCOPES.THREE THOUSAND AS A LINES AS A THIRTY LAKH =THREE MILLION PRODUCTS AS A SALE OF LEGALLY TOO OTHERWISE TOO AS A WE AS A TO BE MAKING THEM ALL.OR LAY A CESS ALL HAVE TO PAY BASED ON UNPAID AS A WE AS A FOUR NOT ONE.THROUGH THE UNITED NATIONS.WHY DID UNITED NATIONS TAKE UP THE SALE OF OUR REGISTERED AS A FEW NOT MULTIPLE IN THE RANGE TWO THOUSAND PLUS THEN AS A MULTITUDE AS A LISTS AS A WE AS A NOT CIRCULATED BUT THEY THEIR AS A WE AS A KNOWLEDGE AS A TOO IN THE POLICE AS A RECORDS AS A IS WHICH IN CAN BE CONSULTED WE WILL IT AS A IT AS.ALL CASES OF THE BAZIGAR BE WE TO ASSOCIATED.THEIR VAKILS AS A WE AS A ASSED MOST PROBABLY AS A COOTERS OF OUR COURTS AS A WE AS A TO GIVING POISONS THROUGH OUR RELATIVES ON ZULM AS A FORCING THROUGH WE ON A ZULMS INTENSE A A VULGARS AS A DESERVING DEATHS AS A WE TO IN IT THE THEY BY ADMINISTERED WHETHER WE DIED OR NOT TOO BE ASCERTAINED FROM WE IN THE WHOLE TILL ATE TRY IN BEING TILL TILLERED TILLORY AS A WE AS A STORY BE PUBLISHED IN THE WE BY POINTED ALL NEWSPAPERS AS A WE AS A CHARGE IS THE WE AS A THE TOTAL LANDOWNER ON WHICH YOU ALL AS A ARE IN THE BUSINESSES WE BY COINED IN ORDER TO EVOLVE A EARTH WITH A JOB FOR EVERYONE SO THE OTHER TENDENCIES AS A IS AS A CHORS AS A DO NOT COME UP.

  

IF NOT EARNING FROM SELLING THE SUGGESTIONS TAKEN FROM HE AND DEVELOPED BY THEY HAVING BENEFITED FROM THEY AS A FORCE AS A GENERATED AS A ARE THERE IN THE DELHI AS A CHOR BAZAR IN THE CAR AS A FEW AS A WE AS A ALWAYS IN THE REACH WE TO BE WAYLAID AS A WRITER OF THE EVIDENCES AS A AGAINST THEY THE CHOR.TODAY THEIR NUMBER IS THE DL 8C AH 3011.A AMBASSADOR LOOKING LIKE CAR AS A TRAVELLER AS A THREE MOST CHOR AS A CAR MECHANICS AS A HURT BEARING NOT BUT TOO IN THE MOST BADMASH AS HAVING BEEN RECEIVED BY ANIL NEXT DOOR SON IN LAW OF A POLICER WE SEE WHO WERE ADMINISTERED ARSENIC SULFIDE AS A POISONOUS SUBSTANCE TO HAVE HE SIGNS OF THAT POISONING IN THE CITY OF THE SONEPAT TOO MURTHAL WE TO HAVING BEEN A TROUBLE AS A WE AS A MADE THIRTY YEAR BACK COMPLAINTS BEING SUSPECTED TO BE FALSE AS A PROCESS SERVER AS A ARRIVED HOW BUT SO WRITTEN AS A CIVIL HOSPITAL AS A DISCHARGERS AS A WE AS A CIVIL AS A BEING TO DEATH.HIS WIFE IS BEING VISITED BY SIKHS OF AGE TWELVE TO THIRTY BY THE WAY WE NOT IT AS A THE SANSIS AS. AS A WE AS A IT IS A CASE OF A RAPES BY THEM.THEY WE SEE DISAPPEARING AS WE WROTE THE STORY OF A CID OFFICER OF THE RANK OF THE INSPECTOR NOT SENIOR.FROM I.B. SINCE EIGHT YEARS IN IT DUE CHAUTALA AS A THIEF OF OUR PROPERTY ALONGWITH THE A.S. BRAR GROUP.WHO AS PER BADAL IS HIS BROTHER BEING SON OF THE DEVI LAL HIS FATHER IN THE PRE-PARTITION DAYS AS WELL WE ASK THE PROOF OF HE BEING A INDIAN. TWICE DISCARDED AS A CHANDIGARH COURT AS A IT AS A CASES AS A FOUR BY THE YEJDI SAID YAD JI AS A NAME AS.WHO WE SAY WERE A PAKISTANI OF THE TRIBE SANSI SMUGGLERS.HERE WE DEPOSIT NOT BUT TOO IN THE REACH OF THE THESE TOO TO THEY THE THESE DIRTY GIRLS A A SAY THEIRS AS A WE AS A NUT.

 

TILL 1955 THE ROPES WERE ,

BUT THEY WERE MADE FROM ANIMAL SKIN OR INTESTINE.IN THE PLANET EARTH.

THERE IS NO ESCAPE.

TODAY ROPE IS MADE FROM SYNTHETIC SUBSTANCES ALL OF THE MAKE WE.

 

WE CITE THE U.N. COURT .THE WE TODAY LEARNT THE ROPE MAKING FROM SANN PLANT .THEN IN A MONTH IN THE SAME FILE IS THE WE AS A SANN AS A DIFFERENT IS.THEN A THIRD AS A WE AS A TOKRI MAKING IS AS A SMALL.OVERTAKEN BY MONEY DEFICIENT DACOITY IN THE THEIR VEIN A LANCERS AS A AFFECTING THE DELHI WERE A TWENTY LAKH SANSIS.INCURSED AS A SIKH AS.BY THE GANGSTER OF THE TRIBE DAANVEER AS A SEMANTIC SPERM DONORS AS A BAZI SHOWY AS A WE AS AVERY VERY A YOGIS INVOLVED IN SIDHIS AS A ACHIEVED WHAT THEY CALLED JADU=MAGIC OR BAZI OF THEY THE BAZIGARS AS A INCLUDED IN THE FUND SPENDING OF OURS TO TRAIN THE WE LOOKING FALLEN FROM THE BIWI LIKE A SMALL----NOT INVESTIGATED THAT IT WERE BECAUSE OF THEM..APPLYING VARIOUS PRODUCTS THAT COULD INFLUENCE MIND BODY SOUL AS A POISON PLANT BASED,SNAKE BASED,OTHER ANIMAL LIKE SEH BASED,GOH BASED AS A GOH CATCHERS,AS A HYOSCYAMUS,AS A SHEH OF THE SNEHS NOT BUT TOO IN THE APPLY GOT OF THE WATER LIKE ARK OF THE SAMUNDRI JHAGG AS A DEAD SEA AS A COLLECTED AND SOLD EVEN NOW TILL AS A VERY VERY NERVE WRECKING POISON OPENLY IN INDIA AS ARE A TWENTY THOUSAND OTHERS POTENTIATING HOUSE BREAKING WITHOUT LOOKING LIKE.BY INTRODUCING A LITTLE POISON ON A DOORBELL,DOOR OR A WIREMESH WHEREFROM IT GOES INTO HOUSE AFFECTING ALL RESIDENTS.GENERALLY WITHIN A MONTH TOO IF THEIR CONCENTRATION IS.KILLING A FAMILY.REMOVED .THE HOUSE READY FOR SALE IS AS A SUCH OR RENOMINATED RENOVATED BY A LEGAL DEVICE AS A LETTER CONFISCATED AS A WE AS A SHOWED AS A WE AS A SUPERIOR IN THE POLICE WE.IN THE CITY OF THE DELHI IN THE MONTH OF THE THIS JANUARY TOO IN THE SIXTY THREE WE AS A INFORM IN TOO IN THE W AS A KNOWN ESCAPE IN NOT BUT THERE NOT AS A WE AS A SEEN HERE TOO IN THE CITY MOHALI TWO TIMES WRITTEN AS A INVESTIGATED BUT NOT ANY ACTIVITY VISIBLE WAS.CITY POLICE OFFICE SHIFTED FROM HERE FROM NEAR WE SO WE DO NOT GO THERE AS WE DID.IN CASES AS A IT AS A WE AS A VERY VERY ALERT AS A WERE DOING A SERVICE TO DEVELOP POLICE.HOWEVER WE ARE WE AS A NONE BUT SO REPORTED BY THE THEIR OWN ENEMIES.

 

WE=GOD OF ALL THE ORIGINAL EVOLVER OF ALL POSSIBLE TO BE AWARDED AS ONE PARTY FOR THE CONTRIBUTION CONSIDERING INPUT OF GOD IN ALL THOUGHT THAT LEAD TO INVENTIONS,NEW THOUGHTS,IDEAS,CULTURES,GAMES-----------ALL THAT COMES FROM A BRAIN INVOLVED COMPLETELY IN SOLVING DIFFICULT PROBLEMS EVOLVING INVENTIONS---------INTENSELY PLOUGHING MIND BODY SOUL INTO IT LOOKING FOR SOLUTIONS TO GOD AND ALL DATA ALREADY ON RECORD ALL BROUGHT INTO EXISTANCE BY THE MOTHER NATURE NOT OR ALL OR SOME AMBITIOUS EXISTING ON A PLANET INTERESTED IN CORNERING OR LISTING A SOLUTION EVOLVED BY A INTENSELY RESEARCHING EVOLVER INVENTING OR SUGGESTING AS A NEW THOUGHT EQUALING A INVENTION ITSELF WORTHY OF THE SCIENTIFIC EVALUATION AS A THOUGHT OF THE TIMES AS A SOLUTION TO SOME OR MORE OR ALL THE POSSIBLE PROBLEMS AS A BASIS AS A EVALUATION FOR IN THE VIEW OF THE GOD OF ALL AS THE OVERALL AUTHORITY IN REACH OF ALL SOLUTIONS TO ALL AT ALL TIMES LETTING THE SOLUTION TO THE INTENSELY RESEARCHING IN AREAS VISITED BY HE SHE .IN EVOLVE HE SHE COMES AS A SECOND SECONDARY IF EVALUATED BY COSMOS LATER THAN EVOLVE.BUT IS PRIMARY IF LOOKED FROM THE ANGLE OF THE PLANET AS A PHYSICAL REALITY HAPPENING BEFORE IT ..AS WHICH IT IS RECORDED OR ASSIMILATED BY SOME THIEVES.......AS ALSO SOMETIMES COMES TO LIGHT AT OTHER ESCAPES.WE GOD EVER EVERYTHING OURS TO BE LISTED AS A OURS.AS ALSO OF THE ACHIEVER WHO COMES TO ACHIEVE.ANY OTHER TO ASCRIBE PER WE IS A CRIME ABSOLUTE.THE MONIES AS A ASCRIBES AS A EXCHANGES EXHIBITED IN ANY PHYSICAL AS A IS A COURT OR A GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT,POLICE RECORD/POTLI/FILE,UNIVERSITY PAPER,POLL RECORDS AS A IS A PERMANENT RECORDS AS A RACE ANY INFRINGE OF THE SAME WE CONSIDE TO THE WE AGAINST A ACTION,AS A ACTIVITY AS A DEATH ASA PENAL ACTION AS A NECESSITY AS IS AGAINST A R.C. PAUL WHOSE SERVICES WERE CANCELLED BY THE DELHI MAGISTRATE FOR HAND IN THE RAPISTS AS RESTRAINING THE PARTY CALLED TO ATTEND A CASE IN THE HIGH COURT LISTED THE COURT OF THE UNION WERE THAT HE HIS WIFE GOT CONDUCTED IN THE GREED GIVEN NOT BUT TOO...THAT THAT PARTY WERE OWNER WORLD LAND SOLD BY CHRISTIAN COUNTRIES TO THE SON THEIRS EXCHANGE AS A MATTER NOT FINDING MONEYS ENOUGH TO PAY SUCH EVALUA ALREADY FOUND TO HAVE PAID FULLY THE PRICE OF THE LAND OF EARTH AT THE VALUE CITED AS A EXCHANGED UNDERHAND FROM LAW AS A HIGHEST MARKET VALUES AS A THREE THOUSAND TIMES MORE VALUES GIVEN BY THE THIS COURT AS A WRONG COURT TOO IN THE JUSTICE AGAINST WE THE SIKHS WHO OWN THEM AS A CULTURE AS A ONE BELONGING TO A SIKH RELIGION AS A EXPLANATION SAID TIME AND AGAIN AS A STRONGLY BUILT SOME TWENTY MEN TO A SINGLE SEXED AS A SEVEN NIGHT WOMAN SHE HERS AS A IN THE PRESENCE OF HER HUSBAND AS A GOVT HEAD OF THE POLICE IN THE INDIA AS A SAIDS NOW AS A THANEDAR AS A LEVEL AS A IT IN THE WRITING IN THE YEAR HE WERE THERE THEN.AS A MAGISTRATE'S NOTES WILL CLARIFY OUR ACCUSE.THANEDAR AS A SUB INSPECTOR.IN IT WE ACCUSE THE RC PAUL AS A RETIRED MAN HOW AND HOW NOT A KRISHAN KANT PAUL AS A MAN WE GOT MULTIPLE ADVANTAGES AS A NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOURER DUE THE REQUESTS AND POLITE APPROACHES OF HIS MOTHER TO US.TO US CURRENT THREAT OF OUR SON TO DEATH IS AS A ADVERTISEMENT INSERT IN THE OUR SIDE NOT BUT TOO VISIBLE TOO TO THE FLICKR TEAM AS A SUBSIDED AS A SERVICE WINDOW TO WE BEING CLOSED BY THE THEY THE DIVISION TAKER AS A SUBSERVIENT TO DEATHS AS A WE AS A SERVE BE IN THE TIME WE FEEL FIT.WE ASK THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA CENTRAL AS A FULCRUM AS A

EVALUATE THE MATTER IN THE RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS WING OF THE POLICE.IT IS BY WE MADE AND TOO BECAUSE OF A SYSTEM OF POLICE WE AS A SUGGESTED IT AS A TOO WE BY TO THE P.M. INDIRA GANDHI AS TOO TO KEEP AN EYE ON THE P.M.s.AND ALL ELSE TAKING ACTION AGAINST THEY DIRECTLY OR OTHERWISE AS A CIN AS A METHOD POLICE IS USING OR STOPPING THEY WITHOUT IT.IN SERIOUS LAPSE OF DUTY AS A ABSENTING IS FROM OFFICE FOR MORE THAN A HOUR IN THE OFFICE TIME.OR NOT SEEING TO IT THAT A BASIC TRUTH IS.AND ANY DEVIATE UNDER PRESSURE IS SEEN AND ACTED,FASTESTS AS A POLICER JAMES BONDS..GIVEN THE AUTHORITY OVERALL.GIVEN A NAME RESEARCH ANALYSIS BY WE ON RECORDS ALL DIRECTLY TO THE PRIME MINISTER IN NEED OF A SUPREME COURT AS A LICENCE FROM WE THE LICENCING AUTHORITY PUT INTERNATIONALLY BY THE UNITED NATIONS.

 

IN OUR CONSIDERATION THE ACTUAL OWNER ALL IS THE PLANET NOT PEOPLE OR OTHER LIVING ON IT NOT BUT THE GOD.HE IS THE FIRST TO BE ASCRIBED ANY EVOLVE.IN ANY LINE OF SCIENTIFIC OR OTHER RESEARCH.LOGICAL OR NOT REACHED THROUGH CLEAR LINES OF LOGIC NOT EVEN-COMING AS A FLASH FROM THE GOD AS IS THE HUNDRED PERCENT.

 

THIS WAS CLEAR TO THE PEOPLE OF THE PLANET TILL A FEW UNINTELLIGENTS CAME UPON A SCHEME TO TAKEOVER ALL OF ALL IN THE PLANET INTO THEIR OWN HANDS.

 

POLICE IS AT FAULT FOR OVERLOOKING.

 

IT OVERLOOKED TWO COMPLAINTS FIRST.OF THE THEFT OF THE CARDS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE AS CARDS OF A POSITION.IMPLYING THAT ANY GHONCHU=ILLICITER CAN USE IT AS A MISUSES AS A MANY TIMES OVER AND ABOVE THE WHOLE EARTH IN AUTHORITY.AS WE SAW IN THE COMPLAINT FIRST DATED THREE OF THE TWENTY THREE WE.WE HERE WE AS A IS.IS TO BE INTERPOLATED LEST THE POLICE FROM DATA SLIPS.IT IS THE LOOSE MADE ORGAN ON THE ROCK READY TO BE PUNISHED FOR ANY AND ALL IN THE WE AS A SECONDARY TOO NOT PRIMARY IMPORTANCE.IN BEING OFFICIAL SENIORMOST AS A COUNTRY INDIA AS A DEMOCRACY TOO EXPRESSED AS A PARLIAMENT IN THE DATE SEVENTH OF THE SEVENTY FOUR AFTER A MEMBER OF THE RAJYA SABHA MADE A MATTER IN WRITING AS A BRIEFESTS AS A NOT BUT ATTACHED THE COURT PAPERS WHICH WE AS A S.S.KOHLI A SENIORMOST U.G.C. PROFESSOR GAVE NOT BUT TOO SAID AS AS A SIN IN CYANIDED =POISONED BY THE POLICER MISTER K.K.PAUL AS A NAMED CROOK FRONT-CROOKS OVERTAKEN MAN AS--OVERTAKEN FROM THE DATE OF THE TWO OF THE SIXTH MONTH OF THE YEAR SIXTY NINE------THROUGH A MAN KNOWN TO HIM AS OUR FAMILY MISTER D.I.S.KOHLII.NEVER TO BE CONSULTED ESPECIALLY IF KNOWN IN CYANIDING THE AUTHORITY TO JOIN OTHER IN PERSUADES SOMEHOW IN THE PHYSICALITY.AS WAS A K.K.PAUL TO CLEAR BUT AS A THREATENED TILL MOTHER,SISTER AND SEXES THREE BEFORE HE TO HIS WIFE BY THE D.I.S.KOHLI SAID BY SEXING ASSAULTER AS A CROOKS INTERESTED IN TAKING HIS POSITION CLEARLY MENTIONED IF JOINING THEN NOT OTHERWISE ASSAULTS IN HIS PRESENCE AS A CAUGHT BY SOME AND AS A SEXES BY SOME TO CONTINUE WERE ON HIM NOT HIS WIFE IN HIS PRESENCE.HIS MIND ADDICTED WERE BY INJECTION OF CHEMICAL .HE OVERTAKEN IN IT ALLOWED ..THINKING WILL REPORT BUT DID NOT SO THE STATE AS A IT THIS MATTER THE STATE OWNER ALLOWING THE DEMOCRACY IN THE STATE CAME TO HAPPEN.D.I.S.KOHLI/KOHLII TOO A CATCH FAR LESSER THAN THE POLICER HOW WERE IS A POINT WE DISCUSS.

THE SECOND

One of five (44450-54) former London United Darts recently arrived in Lowestoft replacing aging Plaxton Pointer 2 buses for use on town services. And anything else for that matter!

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 16-Jan-21.

 

'Rendesvous', China World Tail c/scheme. The only example of this tail scheme to have a cream/yellow background. Most were either white or partial pink.

 

This aircraft was delivered to British Airways as G-BMRG in May-88. It was sold to Barclays Mercantile Finance (as trustee) in Feb-02 and sold on to EAT European Air Transport the same day. The aircraft was converted to freighter configuration with a main deck cargo door, sold to Boeing Capital and leased back to EAT as OO-DPI in Jul-02. It was operated on behalf of DHL Air. The aircraft was transferred to Blue Dart Aviation (India) in early Apr-06. It became VT-BDJ three weeks later, still operating on behalf of DHL. In Mar-14 it was transferred to DHL Aviation Services (Middle East) as A9C-DHF (Bahrain). The aircraft returned to the UK register as G-BMRG (again) with DHL Air Ltd in Apr-15. After 28.5 years in service, it was permanently retired at Madrid in Jan-18. It was broken up at Madrid in Jul-18. Updated Jan-21.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

  

Some background:

HNLMS Karel Doorman (R81) was a Colossus-class aircraft carrier of the Royal Netherlands Navy. Formerly the British ship HMS Venerable, she was sold to the Netherlands in 1948 as a light attack carrier and operated Fairey Firefly strike fighters and Hawker Sea Fury fighters, which were in 1958 replaced by Hawker Sea Hawk jet aircraft. In 1960, she was involved in the decolonization conflict in Western New Guinea with Indonesia. After a major refit in 1964, following the settlement of issues threatening its former colonial territories and changes in the mission for the Royal Netherlands Navy within NATO, the role was changed to anti-submarine warfare carrier and primarily ASW aircraft and helicopters were carried. At that time, the last Dutch Sea Hawks were phased out and the Koninlijke Marine ’s FJ-4B fighter bombers were relegated to land bases and soon handed back to the USA and re-integrated into USMC units. As an alternative multi-role aircraft that could both deliver strikes against ground as well as sea targets and provide aerial defense for the carrier or escort its slow and vulnerable ASW aircraft, the American Douglas A-4 Skyhawk was procured.

 

The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk was a single-seat subsonic carrier-capable light attack aircraft developed for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps in the early 1950s. The delta-winged, single turbojet-powered Skyhawk was designed and produced by Douglas Aircraft Company, and later by McDonnell Douglas. It was originally designated A4D under the U.S. Navy's pre-1962 designation system. The Skyhawk was a relatively light aircraft, with a maximum takeoff weight of 24,500 pounds (11,100 kg), had a top speed of 670 miles per hour (1,080 km/h) and very good handling, making it a serious threat in an aerial dogfight. The aircraft's five hardpoints supported a variety of missiles, bombs, and other munitions.

The A4D (re-named into A-4 under the USA’s unified designation system) was capable of carrying a bomb load equivalent to that of a World War II–era Boeing B-17 bomber and could even deliver nuclear weapons using a low-altitude bombing system and a "loft" delivery technique. The A-4 was originally powered by the Wright J65 turbojet engine, but from the A-4E onwards, the more fuel efficient and powerful Pratt & Whitney J52 engine was used. The Skyhawk proved to be a relatively common United States Navy aircraft export of the postwar era. Due to its small size, it could be operated from the older, smaller World War II-era aircraft carriers still used by many smaller navies during the 1960s. These older ships were often unable to accommodate newer Navy fighters such as the F-4 Phantom II and F-8 Crusader, which were faster and more capable than the A-4, but significantly larger and heavier than older naval fighters.

 

At the same time as the Netherlands, Australia was looking for a new carrier-borne jet aircraft, too, and in negotiations with Douglas for newly built A-4s for the RAN's carrier HMAS Melbourne, a Majestic-class light aircraft carrier. These aircraft had a very similar duty profile to those the Royal Netherlands Navy was looking for, and in order to save development costs and speed up the procurement process, the Royal Netherlands Navy simply adopted the Australian specifications which became the unique A-4G variant, the Skyhawk’s first dedicated export version.

 

The A-4G was directly developed with minor variations from the current, most modern Skyhawk variant, the USN's A-4F. In particular, the A-4G was not fitted with the late Skyhawk variants' characteristic avionics "hump", had a simple ranging radar for air-to-air combat and was modified to carry four underwing Sidewinder AIM-9B missiles (instead of just two), increasing their Fleet Defense capability. Additionally, the A-4Gs for the Royal Netherlands Navy received the avionics package to deploy radio-controlled AGM-12 Bullpup missiles, which the Kon. Marine had been using together with the FJ-4Bs for some years, and Skyhawks’ capability to provide buddy-to-buddy refueling services with a special pod made them a vital asset for carrier operations, too.

 

A total of twenty A-4G Skyhawks were purchased by the Royal Australian Navy in two batches for operation from HMAS Melbourne, and the Koninlijke Marine ordered twelve. These aircraft were part of the first A-4G production batch and arrived in 1967, together with four TA-4J trainers, for a total fleet of sixteen aircraft. The machines were delivered in the contemporary US Navy high-visibility scheme in Light Gull Grey and White, but they were soon re-painted in a less conspicuous scheme of Extra Dark Sea Grey on the upper surfaces and Sky underneath, conforming to NATO standards of the time. After initial conversion training from land bases the re-formed MLD 861 Squadron (a carrier-based unit that had operated Fairey during the Fifties) embarked upon HNLMS Karel Doorman in February 1968 with a standard contingent of six carrier-based aircraft. The rest was stationed at Valkenburg Naval Air Base for maintenance and training and frequently rotated to the carrier.

 

However, the Dutch Skyhawks' career at sea was very short – it lasted in fact only a couple of months! A boiler room fire on 26 April 1968 removed HNLMS Karel Doorman from Dutch service. To repair the fire damage, new boilers were transplanted from the incomplete HMS Leviathan. But this did not save the ship, and in 1969 it was decided that the costs for repairing the damage in relation to the relatively short time Karel Doorman was still to serve in the fleet proved to be her undoing and she was sold to the Argentine Navy, renamed Veinticinco de Mayo, where she would later play a role in the 1982 Falkland Islands Conflict.

Additionally, the fatal fire accident coincided with the arrival of land-based long range maritime patrol aircraft for the Royal Netherlands Navy that were to take over the ASW role Karel Doorman had been tasked to perform ever since the start of the 1960s. These were one squadron of Breguet Atlantique sea-reconnaissance aircraft and one of P-2 Neptunes, while the international NATO anti-submarine commitment was taken over by a squadron of Westland Wasp helicopters operated from six Van Speijk-class anti-submarine frigates.

 

This left the Royal Netherlands Navy with a full operational squadron of almost brand-new aircraft that had overnight lost their raison d'être. To avoid sunk costs the government decided to keep the Skyhawks in active service, even though only land-based now and as part of the Netherlands air force's home defense – a plan that had been envisioned for the A-4Gs for the mid-Seventies, anyway.

In 1974, the A-4G's MLD 861 Squadron was disbanded (again) and the aircraft were formally transferred to the Royal Netherlands Air Force, where they received new tactical codes (H-30XX - H- 30YY) and formed the new RNLAF 332 Squadron, primary tasked with aerial support for the Netherlands Marine Corps. To avoid staff and equipment transfer costs to a different location, the Skyhawks stayed at their former home base, Valkenburg Naval Air Base, where they operated alongside the MLD’s new long-range maritime patrol aircraft.

 

At that time, the machines received a small update during regular overhauls, including the ability to deploy the new TV-guided AGM-65 Maverick missile (which replaced the unreliable and rather ineffective AGM-12) as well as more effective AIM-9J air-to-air missiles, and an AN/APQ-51 radar warning system, recognizable through small cone-shaped radomes under the nose, at the tail and under the wing roots. Being land-based now, some machines received a new NATO-style camouflage in Olive Drab and Dark Grey with Light Grey undersides, even though the Skyhawks’ full carrier capability was retained in case of a NATO deployment on another nation’s carrier.

In 1979, when the RNLAF received its first F-16A/B fighters, all Skyhawks eventually received a more subdued grey three-tone camouflage with toned-down markings which was effective both over the sea and in the sky, similar to the RNLAF’s NF-5A/B day fighters.

 

However, the arrival of the modern F-16, which was in any aspect superior to the A-4 except for a lack of carrier-capability, meant that the RNLAF Skyhawks’ career did not last much longer. In the early Eighties, all Dutch A-4Gs were replaced with license-built F-16A/B fighter bombers. They were placed in store and eventually sold to Israel in 1985, where they were revamped and re-sold with surplus A-4Es to Indonesia as attrition replacements after high losses during the anti-guerilla warfare in East Timor. They were delivered in 1986 and served in Indonesia until 2003, where the last Skyhawks were finally retired in 2007.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 40 ft 1.5 in (12.230 m)

Wingspan: 27 ft 6 in (8.38 m)

Height: 15 ft 2 in (4.62 m)

Wing area: 260 sq ft (24 m²)

Airfoil: root: NACA 0008-1.1-25; tip: NACA 0005-.825-50

Empty weight: 9,853 lb (4,469 kg)

Gross weight: 16,216 lb (7,355 kg)

Max takeoff weight: 24,500 lb (11,113 kg)

 

Powerplant:

1× Pratt & Whitney J52-P-6A turbojet engine, 8,500 lbf (38 kN) thrust

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 585 kn (673 mph, 1,083 km/h) at sea level

Range: 1,008 nmi (1,160 mi, 1,867 km)

Ferry range: 2,194 nmi (2,525 mi, 4,063 km)

g limits: +8/-3

Rate of climb: 5,750 ft/min (29.2 m/s)

Wing loading: 62.4 lb/sq ft (305 kg/m²)

Thrust/weight: 0.526

 

Armament:

2× 20 mm (0.79 in) Colt Mk 12 cannon with 100 RPG

5× hardpoints with a total capacity of 8,500 lb (3,900 kg)

  

The kit and its assembly:

This what-if project was more or less a stopgap: I had a Hasegawa 1:72 A-4E/F kit in The Stash™, primarily bought for its separate avionics hump that is supposed to be transplanted on a Fujimi A-4C someday to create an A-4L, of which AFAIK no OOB kit exists. However, I played with potential fictional operators, and read about the Australian A-4Gs. When I compared them with the historic timeframe of the Dutch HNLMS Karel Doorman, I recognized very close parallels (see background above) so that a small Skyhawk fleet for a single carrier with a focus on ASW duties would make sense – even though Karel Doorman was soon struck by a fire and ended the story. However, this was a great framework to tell the story of Dutch Skyhawks that never had been, and my model depicts such an aircraft soon after its update and in late RNLAF colors.

 

The Hasegawa kit is not bad, but IMHO there are better offerings, you can see the mold’s age. It goes together easily, comes with a good pilot figure and offers optional parts for an E or F Skyhawk, plus lots of ordnance, but it comes with raised (yet very fine) panel lines and an odd canopy: the clear part is actually only the canopy’s glass, so that the frame is still molded into the fuselage. As a result, opening the cockpit is a VERY tricky stunt (which I eventually avoided), and the clear piece somehow does not fit well into its intended opening. The mold dates back to 1969, when the A-4E/F was brand new, and this was all acceptable in the Seventies and Eighties. But for today’s standards the Hasegawa kit is a bit outdated and, in many cases, overpriced. Permanent re-boxings and short-run re-issues do not make the old kit any better.

 

Despite these weaknesses the kit was built OOB, without big modifications or the optional camel hump for the A-4F, with the early straight IFR probe and with parts from the OOB ordnance. This included the ventral drop tank (which comes with an integral pylon) and the underwing pylons; from the outer pair the integral launch rails for the Bullpups were sanded away and replaced with a pair of longer launch rails for AIM-9B Sidewinder AAMs from the scrap box.

As a modern/contemporary detail I scratched a training/dummy AGM-65 Maverick without fins for one of the inner underwing stations, which would later become a colorful eye-catcher on the otherwise quite subdued aircraft. Additionally, some small blade antennae were added around the hull, e. g. on the front wheel well cover for the Bullpup guidance emitter.

  

Painting and markings:

A Kon. Marine Skyhawk offers a wide range of painting options, but I tweaked the background that I could incorporate a specific and unique Dutch paint scheme – the early Eighties livery of the RNLAF’s NF-5A/Bs. These aircraft initially wore a NATO-style green/grey livery with pale grey undersides, but they were in the late Seventies, with the arrival of the F-16s, repainted with the F-16s’ “Egypt One” colors (FS 36118, 36270 and 36375). However, the Egypt One scheme was not directly adopted, only the former RAF-style camouflage pattern was re-done with the new colors. Therefore, the Skyhawks were “in my world” transferred from the Dutch Navy to the Air Force and received this livery, too, for which I used Humbrol 125, 126 and 127. The pattern was adapted from the sleek NF-5s as good as possible to the stouter A-4 airframe, but it worked out.

However, the result reminds unintentionally a lot of the Australian A-4Gs’ late livery, even though the Aussie Skyhawks carried a different pattern and were painted in different tones. Even more strangely, the colors on the model looked odd in this striped paint scheme: the dark Gunship Gray appeared almost violet, while the Medium Gray had a somewhat turquoise hue? Weird! Thankfully, this disappeared when I did some post-panel-shading after a light black in washing…

 

The cockpit became Dark Gull Grey (FS 36231, Humbrol 140), even though there’s hardly anything recognizable through the small canopy: the pilot blocks anything. The landing gear and the respective wells became classic bright white (Revell 301), as well as the air intake ducts; the landing gear covers received a thin red outline.

The Sidewinders and their launch rails became white, the drop tank was painted in FS 36375 like the underside. The dummy AGM-65 was painted bright blue with a white tip for the live seeker head.

 

The decals were gathered from various sources. The RNLAF roundels came from a generic TL Modellbau sheet, the tactical code from a Swiss F-5E. The small fin flash is a personal addition (this was not common practice on RNLAF aircraft), the red unit badge with the seahorse comes from a French naval WWII unit. Most stencils were taken from the OOB sheet but supplemented with single bits from an Airfix Skyhawk sheet, e. g. for the red trim around the air intakes, which was tricky to create. The interior of the fuselage air brakes was painted in bright red, too.

  

After a Koninlijke Marine FJ-4B Fury some years ago, here’s a worthy and logical successor, even though it would have quickly lost its naval base, HNLMS Karel Doorman. Really bad timing! Even though not much was changed, this simple looking aircraft has IMHO a certain, subtle charm – even though the paint scheme makes the Dutch Skyhawk look more Australian than intended, despite representing an A-4G, too. But time frame and mission profiles would have been too similar to ignore this parallel. Not a spectacular model, but quite convincing.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 22-Nov-21 (DeNoise AI).

 

This aircraft was delivered new to Channel Airways in Mar-69 as G-AWKJ. It was leased to BUA British United Airways in Apr-69 and returned to Channel Airways at the end of the summer season in Oct-69.

 

At the end of Feb-72, Channel Airways ceased trading and the aircraft was returned to the British Aircraft Corporation and stored. In Jan-74 it was re-registered G-BIII and sold to Air Hanson Helicopters who fitted it out for their VIP Charter operation.

 

Obviously it wasn't terribly lucrative and in Jul-74 it was sold to the Philippine Government as RP-C1. In May-85 it was sold to Bryan Aviation and returned to the UK as G-NIII. It was stored at Manchester, UK, and remained there.

 

In Nov-86 it was sold to Okada Air, Nigeria, however it remained stored until Sep-87 when it became 5N-AYV. It operated for Okada Air for another 10 years until it was retired and stored at Benin City, Nigeria in Dec-97. It was eventually broken up.

 

I also have a photo of this aircraft with British United as G-AWKJ taken in May-69, see...

www.flickr.com/photos/kenfielding/6785559629

Bean-Bread-Man (Anpanman, e.g. Yanase, 1975) is, according to repeated surveys by myself and Bandai (see Nishikawa, 2010), the most popular Japanese hero, and has a detachable, replaceable, edible face. Both my children show an almost religious reverence for this flying, edible hero.

 

While the creator claims that he chose name and composition of the titular character from his experience of dreaming of eating a sweat bean filled bun or bean-bread (anpan) while facing starvation during the Second World War, I propose a variety of alternative subconscious significance for his use of bean bread.

 

The combination of the traditional Japanese sweet bean filling and the Western "bread" face, suggests to me that he may be (in somewhat offensive race terminology, Urban Dictionary def. 3.) akin to an "egg," in being of mixed racial origin. Bean-Bread-Man is white, or rather made of a Western food on the outside, and yellow, or rather made of a traditional Japanese food, on the inside.

 

The use of bread to symbolise Westerners is perhaps evident from the character of Sliced-Bread-Man in the same series, who is idolised by Bean-Bread-Man's enemy's wife (Dokin-chan), and always looks a bit too gentlemanly for his own good. And the Rice-Ball-Man (Omusubi man, who has a series of his own) and Tempura-Bowl-Man (Tendon man) both animate Japanese foods, are given Japanese style clothing and arguably a Japanese style character.

 

Bean-Bread Man started as a cartoon in 1973 and was first broadcast as a TV series, in 1988 when the Westernisation of Japan had long been in full swing. Furthermore, Bean-Bread-Man shares certain characteristics with Jesus: he is extremely concerned with justice, while he has tree friends and a family he is a bit of an individualist (compared to the groups of Super Sentai/Power Rangers) and he is edible, being eaten by those in need of sustenance. Jesus sustains his followers by being eaten in body, or symbolically, in Christian places of worship.

 

Eating, and by eating internalising, deities is far from unique to Christianity; it is shared by Shinto. In the most important Shinto festival, that of the New Year, Japanese enshrine "mirror rice cakes" (see later) in the home and eat them early in the new year, thus symbolically imbuing the spirit of the rice, the mirror and the Sun Goddess. This yearly Shinto mass is considered to be a rebirth and the spirit therein imbibed to be constitutive of self. According to the Shinto Sect-Kurozumi-Kyo, the self of the Japanese is that part of the Sun Goddess mirror that they have taken inside them. Thus not only the purity of the mirror but also as pointed out by Ohnuki-Tierney in "Rice as Self" (1993, p8), the purity of the white rice itself is seen to symbolise the purity of the Japanese self. Having a mind made of food, like Bean-Bread-Man, is thus nothing new.

 

Bean-Bread-Man's face, consisting of three red circles, is in itself appealing to young infants. My daughter was attracted to Bean-Bread-Man on sight. It seems to me that Bean-Bread-Man also resembles as breast, in being edible, and in appearance, he looks like an attempt to focus two breasts as one.

 

Bean-Bread-Man's face is both central to his character and super-powers. In every episode his face gets dirty or wet causing him to loose his strength, when his adopted mother, Butter-girl, throws a new bean bread face, baked with by his adoptive father, containing magic from a star, onto his shoulders which spins and sets, and enables him to be strong again. His face is thus both external (something made for him) and the centre of his psyche, in line with Lacanian theories of self (Lacan, 2007), and perhaps Watsuji's theory of "persona.&quot (Wasuji, 2007);

 

Watsuji Testuro, one of the most famous Japanese thinkers, proposed that the Japanese self, or the Japanese version of what in Westerners is a self, is a "persona" which he describes using the metaphor of a noh mask. noh Masks, like Bean-Bread-Man's face, are central to their characters and are thought to be imbued with the power or spirit of that character. Noh actors (like Bean-Bread-Man immediately prior to receiving a new face) are nothing without their masks. The stare at them for a while in order that they become possessed by the character as contained in the spirit of the mask. Again, the character is invested and centred in the detachable, external face, just as Lacan's infant in the mirror stage misconceives himself to be his appearance in the mirror, which though external she takes to be (and in a sense becomes) the centre of her psyche.

 

In Japan there are a plethora of animate faces, faces which contain the character, the spirit of the individual. They are often oversized, and sometimes detachable. These include Noh, Kagura and Shishi masks, Sanrio and SanX characters such as "Hello Kitty," Masked Riders whose faces are sometimes bought and displayed in lieu of figurines, and the way that the faces of television personalities (tarento) are used to adorn Japanese products (for examples of all of these see slideshow).

 

I should also be noted that Japanese point to their face when they mean to point to themselves, and like Bean-Bread-Man, metaphorically at least, place a great deal of effort in an on going attempt to prevent (Hamamura & Heine, 2006) their face from being sullied, and "not to loose face," a phrase originating in Chinese (Heine & Lehman, 1999). "Face" in this sense (kao, mentsu) is not merely metaphorical, it is I believe related to the central, defining, focal aspect of the human form and the nexus of the visual representations of the person.

 

The centrality of mask and face to the Japanese persona, is I argue (Takemoto,2002; Takemoto, 2003) because the Japanese internalised generalised other (Mead, 1967) is, literally, a mirror (Amaterasu), a mirror with the ability to record the whole life of the person, (Enma Daiou) or an entity that watches from on high as do representations of the Buddha in Japanese Art (Low, 2004). Westerners can hear themselves from the point of view of a generalised other, from the point of view of language, from the point of view of a linguistic deity. Japanese can really see themselves, as if they have a mirror in their heads (Heine, Takemoto, Moskalenko, Lasaleta & Henrich, 2008), as if they are flying over their own heads (Masuda, Gonzalez, Kwan & Nisbett, 2008), from the point of view of a visual generalised other, 'the eyes of the world' (seken no me, Satou, 2001), from the point of view of, not a logo-centric, but a a visual, ocular, specular deity.

 

Bibliography thanks to Zotero!

Low, M. (2004). The Lens within the Heart: The Western Scientific Gaze and Popular Imagery in Later Edo Japan (review). The Journal of Japanese Studies, 30(1), 163–166. doi:10.1353/jjs.2004.0023

Lacan, J. (2007). Ecrits: The First Complete Edition in English (1st ed.). W W Norton & Co Inc.

Masuda, T., Gonzalez, R., Kwan, L., & Nisbett, R. E. (2008). Culture and aesthetic preference: comparing the attention to context of East Asians and Americans. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34(9), 1260–1275.

Heine, S., Lehman, D., Markus, H., & Kitayama, S. (1999). Is there a universal need for positive self-regard?. Psychological review.

Heine, S. J., Takemoto, T., Moskalenko, S., Lasaleta, J., & Henrich, J. (2008). Mirrors in the head: Cultural variation in objective self-awareness. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34(7), 879–887.

Mead, G. H. (1967). Mind, self, and society: From the standpoint of a social behaviorist (Vol. 1). The University of Chicago Press.rel="nofollow">www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=egg

Nishikawa, H. 西川ひろ子. (2010). 乳幼児のキャラクター志向に関する研究. 安田女子大学紀要, 38, 147.

Ohnuki-Tierney, E. (1993). Rice as self: Japanese identities through time. Princeton Univ Pr.

Satou, N. 佐藤直樹. (2001). 「世間」の現象学. 青弓社.

Takemoto, T. (2002). 鏡の前の日本人. ニッポンは面白いか (講談社選書メチエ. 講談社.

Takemoto, T. (2003). 言語の文化心理学―心の中のことばと映像(The Cultural Psychology of Language: Language and Image in the Heart). あなたと私のことばと文化―共生する私たち―. 五絃舎.

Urban Dictionary.(n.d.). "egg." 3. Urban Dictionary. Retrieved March 7, 2012, from <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=egg"

Watsuji, T. 哲郎和辻. (2007). 偶像再興・面とペルソナ 和辻哲郎感想集. 講談社.

Yanase, T. たかしやなせ. (1975). それいけ!アンパンマン (フレーベルのえほん. フレーベル館.

Hamamura, T., & Heine, S. J. (2006). Self-Regulation Across Cultures: New Perspective on Culture and Cognition Research. International Conference of the Cognitive Science, Vancouver, BC.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

 

Some Background:

The Lockheed F-94 Starfire was a first-generation jet aircraft of the United States Air Force. It was developed from the twin-seat Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star in the late 1940s as an all-weather, day/night interceptor.

The aircraft reached operational service in May 1950 with Air Defense Command, replacing the propeller-driven North American F-82 Twin Mustang in the all-weather interceptor role. The F-94 was the first operational USAF fighter equipped with an afterburner and was the first jet-powered all-weather fighter to enter combat during the Korean War in January 1953.

 

The initial production model was the F-94A, which entered operational service in May 1950. Its armament consisted of four 0.50 in (12.7 mm) M3 Browning machine guns mounted in the fuselage with the muzzles exiting under the radome. Two 165 US Gallon (1,204 litre) drop tanks, as carried by the F-80 and T-33, were carried on the wingtips. Alternatively, these could be replaced by a pair of 1,000 lb (454 kg) bombs under the wings, giving the aircraft a secondary fighter bomber capability. 109 were produced.

 

The subsequent F-94B, which entered service in January 1951, was outwardly virtually identical to the F-94A. The Allison J33 turbojet had a number of modifications made, though, which made it a very reliable engine. The pilot was provided with a more roomy cockpit and the canopy was replaced by a canopy with a bow frame in the center between the two crew members, as well as a new Instrument Landing System (ILS). 356 of these were built.

 

The following F-94C was extensively modified and initially designated F-97, but it was ultimately decided to treat it as a new version of the F-94. USAF interest was lukewarm, since aircraft technology developed at a fast pace in the Fifties, so Lockheed funded development themselves, converting two F-94B airframes to YF-94C prototypes for evaluation.

 

To improve performance, a completely new, much thinner wing was fitted, along with a swept tail surface. The J33 engine was replaced with a more powerful Pratt & Whitney J48, a license-built version of the afterburning Rolls-Royce Tay, which produced a dry thrust of 6,350 pounds-force (28.2 kN) and approximately 8,750 pounds-force (38.9 kN) with afterburning.

 

The fire control system was upgraded to the Hughes E-5 with an AN/APG-40 radar in a modified nose with an enlarged radome. The guns were removed and replaced with an all-rocket armament, which was – at that time – regarded as more effective against high-flying, subsonic bomber formations. The internal armament consisted of four flip-up panels in a ring around the nose, each containing six rockets. External pods on the wings augmented the offensive ordnance to 48 projectiles. Operational service began with six squadrons by May 1954.

 

According to test pilot Tony LeVier, the F-94C was capable of supersonic flight, but Lockheed felt that the straight wing limited the airframe's potential, esp. with the uprated engine. Besides, the earlier F-94 variants already saw the end of their relatively brief operational life, already being replaced in the mid-1950s by the Northrop F-89 Scorpion and North American F-86D Sabre interceptor aircraft in front-line service and relegated to National Guard service. Therefore, Lockheed launched another update program for the F-94 in 1953, again as a private venture.

 

The resulting F-94E (the F-94D was a proposed fighter bomber variant which made it to prototype staus) was another, evolutionary modification of the basic concept, which, in the meantime, had almost nothing left in common with its F-80/T-33 ancestry.

It was based on the F-94C, most obvious change was the introduction of swept wings for supersonic capability in level flight. This change also necessitated other aerodynamic adjustments, including a new, deeper fin with increased area and a modified landing gear that would better cope with the increased AUW.

 

Under the hood, the F-94E was constructed around the new Hughes MG-3 fire control system, similar to the early F-102, but kept the AN/APG-40, even though it was coupled with an enlarged antenna. The respective new radome now covered the complete nose cross section. Furthermore, the F-94 E introduced innovations like a Texas Instruments infrared search/tracking system (IRST), which allowed passive tracking of heat emissions, mounted in a canoe fairing under the nose, passive radar warning receivers, transponders as well as backup artificial horizons.

 

With this improved equipment the interceptor was now able to deploy semi-active radar homing GAR-1s and/or infrared GAR-2s (later re-designated AIM-4A/B Falcon), operating at day and night as well as under harsh weather conditions.

 

All missiles were carried externally on underwing pylons. Beside the original main wet hardpoints outside the landing gear (typically a pair of 165 US Gallon (1,204 litre) drop tank, that were carried on the wing tips on the former versions), two additional pairs of lighter pylons were added under the wing roots and the outer wings.

 

Typically, a pair of SARH- and IR-guided AIM-4s were carried, one per pylon, plus a pair of drop tanks. Alternatively, the F-94E could carry up to 4.000 lb (1,816 kg) of ordnance, including up to six streamlined pods, each holding nineteen 2 ¾” in (70 mm) Mk 4/Mk 40 Folding-Fin Aerial Rockets. Any internal armament was deleted.

 

The F-94E's new wings allowed a top speed of 687mph at sea level and a top speed of 693 mph (1,115 km/h) at height – compared with the F-94C’s 640 mph (556 kn, 1,030 km/h) a rather mild improvement. But the enlarged wing area resulted in a considerably improved rate of climb as well as good maneuverability at height. The F-94E's performance was overall on par with the F-86D, with the benefit of a second crew member, while its weapon capability was comparable with the much bigger (but slower) F-89.

 

Both of these types were already introduced, so the Air Force's interest was, once more, less than enthusiastic. Eventually the F-94's proven resilience to harsh climate conditions, esp. in the Far North, earned Lockheed in 1955 a production contract for 72 F-94Es for interceptor squadrons based in Alaska, New Foundland, Greenland and Iceland.

 

These production machines arrived to the Northern theatre of operations in summer 1956 and featured an improved weapon capability: on the wet wing hardpoints, a pair of MB-1 Genie (formerly known as ‘Ding Dong’ missile, later re-coded AIR-2) nuclear unguided rockets could be carried.

 

For the missile pylons under the wing roots, twin launch rails were introduced so that the F-94E could theoretically carry a total of up to eight AIM-4 missiles, even though the wet pylons were typically occupied with the drop tanks and only two pairs of AIM-4A and B were carried under the wing roots. The J48 engine was slightly uprated, too: the F-94E’s P-9 variant delivered now 6,650 lbf (29.5 kN) dry thrust and 10,640 lbf (47.3 kN) at full afterburner.

 

Keflavik Airport, Iceland, although controlled by Military Air Transport Service (MATS), was the first base to be equipped with F-94Es as part of the 82d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron in early 1957, where the machines replaced F-94Bs and F-89Cs.

 

The type was popular among the crews, because it coupled a relatively high agility (compared with the F-89 Scorpion) with the psychological benefit of a two men crew, not to be underestimated during operations in the Far North as well as over open water.

 

The F-94's career didn't last long, though, the aircraft soon became outdated. The last F-94E was already retired from USAF front-line service in November 1962, only three years after the last F-94C Starfires were phased out of ANG service. Eventually, the fighters were replaced by the F-101, F-102 and the F-106.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 2

Length: 44 ft 11 in (13.71 m)

Wingspan: 39 ft 10 in (12.16 m)

Height: 14 ft 6 in (4.43 m)

Wing area: 313.4 sq ft (29.11 m²)

Empty weight: 12,708 lb (5,764 kg)

Loaded weight: 18,300 lb (8,300 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 24,184 lb (10,970 kg)

 

Powerplant:

1× Pratt & Whitney J48-P-9 turbojet, rated at 6,650 lbf (29.5 kN) dry thrust

and 10,640 lbf (47.3 kN) at full afterburner.

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 693 mph (1,115 km/h) at height and in level flight

Range: 805 mi (700 nmi, 1,300 km) in combat configuration with four AAMs and two drop tanks

Ferry range: 1,275 mi (1,100 nmi, 2,050 km)

Service ceiling: 51,400 ft (15,670 m)

Rate of climb: 12,150 ft/min (61.7 m/s)

Wing loading: 78.6 lb/ft² (384 kg/m²)

Thrust/weight: 0.48

 

Armament:

Six underwing pylons for a mix of AIM-4 Falcon AAMs (IR- and SARH-guided),

pods with unguided 19× 2.75” (70 mm) Mk 4/Mk 40 Folding-Fin Aerial Rockets,

a pair of 165 gal. drop tanks or a pair of unguided nuclear MB-1 Genie air-to-air missiles

  

The kit and its assembly:

Another entry for the Cold War GB at whatifmodelers.com. This build was originally inspired by profiles of a P-80/F-86 hybrid, and respective kitbashings from other modelers. An elegant, though fictional, aircraft! Nevertheless, I wanted to build one, too, and take the original idea a step further. So I chose the F-94 as an ingredient for the kit mix – a rather overlooked aircraft, and getting hands on a donation kit took some time, since there are not many options.

 

I wanted to use the F-94C as starting point, which is already considerably different from the F-80/T-33. Adding swept wings (from a Hobby Boss F-86F, with larger “6-3” wings) changed this look even more. So much that I decided to modify the fin, which did not look appropriate anymore.

 

The fin and the spine’s rear end was replaced with the fin of a Kangnam/Revell Yak-38. In order to unify shapes and make the donation less obvious, the Yak-38 fin’s characteristic, pointed tip was clipped and replaced by a more conventional design, scratched from a piece of 1.5mm styrene sheet. In the wake of this modification, the round elevator tips were clipped, too.

 

Using the F-94’s landing gear wells as benchmarks, the F-86 wings (which had to be cut off of the Hobby Boss kit’s integral, lower fuselage part) were sanded into shape and simply glued into a proper position.

 

This worked so well that a completely new and plausible main landing gear installation was created. As a consequence, I used the F-86’s landing gear struts - they are much better detailed than the Emhar F-94C’s parts. The front wheel strut (it’s a single piece) was transplanted too, even though the suspension was switched 180°.

 

The Emhar F-94C’s cockpit is pretty good (esp. the seats) and were taken OOB. I just covered some gaps in the cockpit walls and under the windscreen with paper tissue, soaked with white glue.

 

The nose was replaced by a bigger radome, taken from an Armstrong Whitworth Meteor NF.14 (Matchbox kit). Its diameter and shape fit almost perfectly onto the F-94C’s front end, and the result reminds a lot of the EF-94C photo reconnaissance test aircraft! Under the nose, a shallow fairing for the IR sensor was added, and all four air brakes were mounted in open position.

 

The underwing pylons come from the scrap box (one pair from an Airfix A-1 Skyraider, another from an ESCI Kamow Ka-34 ‘Hokum’ which also provide the launch rails for the ordnance). The drop tanks come probably from an Italeri F-16 (not certain) while the four AIM-4s come from a Hasegawa USAF air-to-air weapons set.

  

Painting and markings:

This was supposed to become a classic USAF aircraft of the late Fifties, since the F-94 had never been exported. I was actually tempted to add Red Stars, though, because the overall shape has a certain Soviet look to it - esp. the nose, which reminds a lot of the contemporary Yak-25 interceptor?

 

But the original USAF idea won, with an all-metal finish. In order to brighten things up I chose a squadron that served with the Northeast or Alaskan Air Command, which added orange-red high-viz markings to wings and fuselage.

 

The NMF sections were primed with a base coat of Revell’s acrylic Aluminum. On top of that, single panels and details were painted with Alu Plate and Steel Metallizer from Modelmaster.

The International Orange markings were created with Humbrol 132, slightly shaded with orange (Humbrol 18).

 

Part of the nose section and the spine were painted in ADC Grey (FS 16473, Modelmaster), just for some diversity. Cockpit interior and landing gear wells received a coat of US Cockpit Green (Humbrol 226), while the interior of the air brakes was painted in Zinc Primer (Humbrol 81), according to pictures of operational F-94s.

 

The landing gear struts and the inside of their covers became Aluminum (Humbrol 56). The anti glare panel in front of the cockpit was done with dark olive drab (Humbrol 66), the radome flat black and weathered with wet-in-wet streaks of sand brown.

Operational F-94s show serious weathering on their di-electric noses, so this detail was taken over to the kit. Other weathering with paint, beyond a basic black ink wash and some shading on the orange areas, was not done.

 

The drop tanks were painted with Steel Metallizer, for a different metallic shade from the fuselage, and the AIM-4’s received a typical outfit in white and bright red with different seeker heads.

 

Primary decals come from a Heller F-94B kit, which have the benefit of a silver background – even though this does not match 100% with the paint. Squadron markings come from an Xtradecal F-102 sheet, tailored to the kit. Most stencils come from the Emhar OOB sheet, plus some more from the aforementioned F-102 sheet.

 

After some soot stains around the exhaust were added with graphite, the kit was sealed under a coat of semi-glossy acrylic varnish. The anti glare panel and the radome were kept matt, though.

  

A pretty result. Mixing parts from a Shooting Star and a Sabre (a Shooting Sabre, perhaps?) results in a very elegant aircraft. And while the F-94 lost much of its original, elegant appeal, the combo still works with this later interceptor variant of the F-80. Very plausible, IMHO.