Powis Castle is a medieval castle, fortress and grand country house near Welshpool, in Powys, Wales. The seat of the Herbert family, earls of Powis, the castle is known for its formal gardens and for its interiors, the former having been described as "the most important", and the latter "the most magnificent", in the country. The castle and gardens are under the care of the National Trust. Powis Castle is a Grade I listed building, while its gardens have their own Grade I listing on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.

The present castle was built in the 13th century. Unusually for a castle on the Marches, it was constructed by a Welsh prince, Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn, rather than by a Norman baron. Gruffydd was prince of the ancient Kingdom of Powys and maintained an alliance with the English king Edward I during the struggles of the later 13th century. He was able to secure the position of his son, Owain, although the kingdom itself was abolished by the Parliament of Shrewsbury in 1283. After his father's death, Owain was raised to the peerage as Owen de la Pole, 1st Lord of Powis. Following his own death c. 1293, and the death of his only son, he was succeeded by his daughter, Hawys Gadarn, "the Lady of Powis". Hawys married Sir John Charlton in 1309.

In the late 16th century the castle was purchased by Edward Herbert, a younger son of the earl of Pembroke, beginning a connection between the family and the castle that continues today. The Herberts remained Roman Catholic until the 18th century and, although rising in the peerage to earls, marquesses and Jacobite dukes of Powis, suffered periods of imprisonment and exile. Despite these setbacks, they were able in the late 17th and early 18th centuries to transform Powis from a border fortress into an aristocratic country house, and surround it with one of the very few extant examples of a British Baroque garden.

In 1784 Henrietta Herbert married Edward Clive, eldest son of Clive of India, a match which replenished the much-depleted Herbert family fortune. In the early 20th century, George Herbert, 4th Earl of Powis redeveloped the castle with the assistance of the architect George Frederick Bodley. Herbert’s wife, Violet, undertook work of equal importance in the garden, seeking to turn it into "one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful, in England and Wales". On the 4th earl's death in 1952, his wife and his sons having predeceased him, the castle passed into the care of the National Trust.

In life, victory is sweet, but it’s not the only gift. Every step, whether a win or a stumble, holds a lesson. When things don’t go as planned, don’t be disheartened.

For every setback is a whisper of wisdom, teaching patience, resilience, and growth, True success doesn't mean never failing, every time you fall, you become stronger and wiser, haven't you noticed that?

⁛ Even in defeat, there is always hope, always something gained.

© 2025 Lorrie Agapi. All rights reserved.

My heart, my words. Please respect them.

Everything I share here comes from my own soul and my own journey.

Please don’t copy or rewrite my texts as your own.

Your own voice deserves its own space.

It's Movie Night again, and STB had big plans to decorate his quarters now that's almost October. However, STB had a small setback, and he knew the guys would understand.

TK-432: Dude, your "little Frankenstein" weighs a ton. A little help here would be nice!

TK-1110: What he said! And no, pointing where you want us to move it does not count!

STB: Guys, I already told you I threw my back out when I fell off the tv hanging my spider web!

TK-1110: Well, you should have waited for us like you do every year! You know we're always good for lending a hand when it comes to decorating.

TK-432: What he said! We don't mind a little heavy lifting when we know there's good eating afterward! But Frankie here ain't budging unless you give us just a little push!

STB: You're doing great, guys! Just a little further. You can do it! You're almost there. Once you're done I'll restart the movie, and then we can chow down!

TK-1110: My trooper senses tell me we're getting nowhere. We'll gladly do your heavy lifting tonight for some grub, brewskies and cupcakes later.

_________________________________________

Viewing Large is always fun. Just click on the image.

Excerpt from aht.ca/who-we-are/our-history/:

Anishnawbe Health Toronto (AHT) is a vision of the late Elder, Joe Sylvester.

Initial efforts began with a diabetes research project, which realized that a more comprehensive approach to health care was needed by the Aboriginal community.

In response, Anishnawbe Health Resources was incorporated in 1984. One of its objectives stated, “To recover, record and promote Traditional Aboriginal practices where possible and appropriate.”

In 1989, having successfully secured resources from the Ministry of Health, Anishnawbe Health Toronto became recognized and funded as a community health centre.

Since then, AHT has and continues to grow to meet the needs of the community it serves. As a fully accredited community health centre, AHT offers access to health care practitioners from many disciplines including Traditional Healers, Elders and Medicine People. Ancient ceremonies and traditions, intrinsic to our health care model are available. Our work with the homeless has evolved from early directions of crisis intervention to our current efforts of working with those who seek to escape homelessness. Training programs offer community members the opportunity to learn and grow in a culture-based setting.

Today, AHT not only promotes Traditional Aboriginal practices but has affirmed and placed them at its core. Its model of health care is based on Traditional practices and approaches and is reflected in the design of its programs and services.

Excerpt from secure.toronto.ca/nm/api/individual/notice/2413.do:

Description

Take notice that Toronto City Council intends to designate the lands and building known municipally as 425 Cherry Street under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act.

Reasons for Designation

The property at 425 Cherry Street is worthy of designation under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act for its cultural heritage value, and meets Ontario Regulation 9/06, the provincial criteria prescribed for municipal designation under 5 criteria of design and physical, historical and associative, and contextual values.

Description

The property at 425 Cherry Street is located at the southeast corner of Front Street East and Cherry Street. The building is comprised of a three-storey structure fronting on Cherry Street, with a three-storey warehouse addition behind, extending along Front Street East. The building was constructed in three major stages - the two-storey Palace Street School, constructed in 1859 and designed by architect Joseph Sheard in the Jacobean style with an addition in 1869 by architect William Irving; the three-storey Cherry Street Hotel, constructed in 1890 incorporating the former school and designed by architect David Roberts Jr. in the Queen Anne Revival style; and the three-storey warehouse, constructed in c.1920.

Statement of Cultural Heritage Value

Design and Physical Value

The property at 425 Cherry Street is valued as a representative example of an evolved building type and style, reflecting the evolution of the property from its early use as one of the city's early "free" schools, to a hotel, a warehouse, and a restaurant. The building contains representative elements of the Jacobean and Queen Anne Revival styles, the former being used for many of the first schools constructed by the Toronto Board of Education, and the latter a popular style in Toronto for house form and hotel buildings between 1880 and 1910. While altered through later additions, elements of the Jacobean style can be seen on the first two floors of the former school's west and south facades, including the use of brick cladding (buff and red), brick quoins at the window surrounds and at the building's corners, the symmetrical organization of the facades featuring central projecting frontispieces bound by large rectangular window openings; and the stone drip moulds over the south entrance and the second storey window above. The building's Queen Anne Revival style is evidenced in the portion of the building constructed as the hotel (at the corner of Front and Cherry Streets) and in the third floor addition above the former school, and include the mansard roof with dormer windows; the arched window openings on the second storey; the elaborate use of brick ornamentation at the second storey cornice; the large plate-glass storefront windows with sandstone details; and the Dutch gable with inset Palladian window opening. The three-storey warehouse addition features elements indicative of the warehouse building type, including large rectangular window openings with cast stone lintels and brick sills; a flat roof with brick parapet; and minimal architectural ornamentation.

Historical and Associative Value

The historical and associative value of the property at 425 Cherry Street resides in its construction as the Palace Street School (1859), its subsequent adaptive reuse as the Cherry Street Hotel (1890) it's later conversion for use as a warehouse for various manufacturing and transportation-related businesses (1920), and its having been the location of the Canary Grill, from 1965 to 2007. Originally constructed in 1859 as one of the early "free" schools built in Toronto by the Toronto Board of Education and the first free school to serve St. Lawrence Ward, the one-storey schoolhouse was designed by architect, alderman and future Mayor of Toronto, Joseph Sheard. In 1869 the structure was expanded to the designs of architect William Irving, a former apprentice in Sheard's office and a prolific architect in Toronto through the second half of the 19th century. The Palace Street School is also associated with Georgina Stanley Reid, an educator with the Toronto Board of Education who served as principal of the school from 1882 until its closure in 1887, and who continued to serve as principal of its replacement school, Sackville Street Public School (now Inglenook Community School), until her retirement in 1912.

Following construction of the larger Sackville Street Public School in 1887, the Toronto Board of Education sold the property to brewer, businessman, and real estate developer Robert Thomas Davies, who had the building converted into a hotel to the designs of architect David Roberts Jr. in 1890. David Roberts Jr. had previously designed much of the nearby Gooderham and Worts Distillery, as well as a number of hotels, including the nearby Dominion Hotel on Queen Street East, which was also owned by Davies. Robert Davies was an influential industrialist in late Victorian Toronto who owned a concentration of businesses along the Don River; he was the founder of the Dominion Brewery, and later owned the Don Valley Brick Works and Don Valley Paper Company Limited. The hotel which at various times was called the Iverson Hotel, Darcy's Hotel/Hall, Eastern Star Hotel, and Cherry Street Hotel, was a fixture within the Corktown community from 1890 to 1910, however its role within the neighbourhood diminished alongside the demolition of the surrounding area's residential character, the displacement of the neighbourhood's working-class residents, the relocation of the nearby Don Station, and the expansion of railway lines and supporting industries. The property was subsequently converted for warehouse and manufacturing use, and the three storey warehouse addition was constructed on the east façade of the building c.1920.

In 1965 the Canary Grill moved into the first floor, and became a well-known establishment within the area catering to those employed in transportation and manufacturing-related industries, as well as commuters. Through the latter half of the 20th century studio spaces within the building were leased to a wide range of creative and cultural tenants, including musicians, artists, manufacturers and cultural sector workers. In the late 1980s, the property was expropriated as part of the joint municipal and provincial governments' plans to redevelop the West Don Lands into a new neighbourhood, called "Ataratiri". The expropriation resulted in the eviction of many of the building's tenants, however the Canary Grill remained open until 2007, after which the building was fully vacated.

Contextual Value

Contextually, the Palace Street School / Cherry Street Hotel is significant in its relation to the former Canadian National Railways Office Building, located on the northeast corner of Front Street East and Cherry Street, and is part of a larger post-industrial landscape within the West Don Lands, which includes the Gooderham and Worts Distillery, Cherry Street Interlocking Station, and the Dominion Foundry Complex. The CNR Office Building was constructed in 1923, and is recognized on the City of Toronto's Heritage Register. The two buildings complement each other, with similar setbacks from the corner and with a common low-scale brick clad form. Together, the properties form a gateway into the West Don Lands neighbourhood, a mixed-use area constructed as part of the 2015 Pan Am and Para Pan Games, and form a significant landmark within the community.

Heritage Attributes

Design and Physical Value

Attributes that contribute to the value of the property at 425 Cherry Street as representative of the Jacobean style and the Queen Anne Revival style include:

- The scale, form and massing of the former school and hotel buildings

- The symmetrical organization of the facades of the former school building, featuring centre bays bound by large rectangular window openings

- The setback of the former school building from the hotel addition on the west facade

- The use of brick cladding (buff and red) with stone foundations and sandstone detailing

- The brick detailing, including the corbelling below the mansard roof on the former school building the inset detailing on the west façade of the former hotel, and the engaged brick pier on the third floor of the west façade that extends above the cornice line alongside the corner window

- The ornamental wrought iron railing set above the corner entrance to the former hotel building

- The brick quoins, located at the corners of the former school building, the protruding bays, and the window surrounds

- The stone drip moulds over the entrance on the south facade and the second storey window above

- The mansard roof with high hipped dormers extending above the roofline

- The brick end wall on the south façade, with stepped brick detailing

- The flat headed window openings on the former school building with splayed brick lintels

- The arched window openings on the second floor of the former hotel building with radiating brick voussoirs

- The flat headed window opening set within the curved corner above the primary entrance of the hotel building

- The two-over-two hung wood windows on the former school and hotel buildings

- The entrances to the former school building on the south and west facades, both set within brick openings with shoulder arched openings

- The prominent corner entrance to the former hotel building, set atop a short flight of stairs and within a chamfered corner, with a large transom window above

- The round arched door opening on the north façade, which has been infilled

- The brick chimney on the north façade, with inset brick detailing at the third floor and above the roofline

- The large plate-glass storefront windows on the west facades with sandstone details set between brick and sandstone pilasters and below a metal-clad signboard and cornice

- The Dutch gable with inset Palladian window opening and featuring a radial transom window

Attributes that contribute to the value of the property at 425 Cherry Street as representative of the warehouse building type include:

- The scale, form and massing of the three-storey warehouse addition

- The red brick cladding with brick foundation

- The regular rhythm of the large rectangular window openings with cast stone lintels and brick sills, and multi-pane steel sash windows;

- The flat roof with brick parapet.

Attributes that contribute to the contextual value of 425 Cherry Street at the intersection of Front Street East and Cherry Street and its identification as a local landmark include:

- The setback, placement and orientation of the building, with its corner entrance and prominent curved corner windows above facing towards the intersection of Front Street East and Cherry Street

- The view of the building looking east on Front Street East from Cherry Street, and in relation to the adjacent Canadian National Railway Office Building

Human spaceflight image of the week:

The European Columbus module is packed up and loaded for transport to the US in this image from 2006. Built in Turin, Italy, and Bremen, Germany, the completed module was shipped to NASA’s facilities in Cape Canaveral, Florida ahead of its February 2008 launch aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis.

Columbus has been providing microgravity research facilities for the past decade. In honour of this milestone, this week’s image celebrates Columbus’ triumph over setbacks. Many events factored into its delayed launch: the bureaucratic challenge of planning and budgeting, construction delays and the tragic 2003 Columbia Shuttle disaster meant Columbus was five years behind schedule by the time it climbed into the sky.

So it was with joy and relief when Columbus inside its climate-controlled container was loaded into the Beluga aircraft, an Airbus A300 named after the whale it resembles.

Among the many who attended its farewell ceremony was German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Once at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the fully integrated module underwent final tests before being loaded into the Shuttle payload bay.

Since its launch in February 2008, the biggest European contribution to manned spaceflight has provided a multi-disciplinary, multi-user platform for research in biology, fluidics and physics, and technology demonstrations – and continues to do so today.

Credit: EADS–I. Wagner

The leaves were glowing in a way that reminded me of autumn. But it was just a beech preparing for unfolding its leaves soon. After a harsh setback with temperatures around zero at night finally the trees dare to break into leaf. 25 C today! :)

Hey guys, lots going on and lots to talk about, and it feels like it's been too long since I posted a star shot.

This is the Oregon Coast with the Milky Way arcing overhead and a fishing trawler on the horizon. It's amazing how something that seems to be a nuisance at the time can become a useful dynamic later after consideration. ...And being forced to work with it! *laughing*

I like the "gentleness" of this image. What do you think about it?

This week I will be out of town working on an exciting local video production called "Treeverse." I was honored to be asked to be part of it, and then excited as it's developed into a sizable production full of creativity and imagination. You can find out more information

# here and # here

I will be doing timelapse and night photography of the event. Fingers crossed that we get a clear night for stars! A major shout out and thank you to # Dynamic Perception for supporting the production with a Stage Zero timelapse dolly system. If you are into timelapses- check out their system. It is incredibly powerful and incredibly simple to use. I could not rave enough about how much I am loving the Stage Zero and may run away with it to Mexico when I am supposed to send it back- wait, Canada is closer, so maybe Canada instead of Mexico. I will try to attach a sample video below of the kind of stuff I will be doing for this production. I am leaving this morning for the event and will be gone until Sunday. It's going to be an amazing week of photography, videography, timelapse, adventure and soggy mud.

A big thank you to all of you that responded to the video tutorial on Processing Stars! It was a major effort to put it together and get it online. Thank you for your support and interest. There will be more videos to come and in field workshops this summer.

It has been a wild ride pursuing this star photography thing. Lots of surprises, challenges, excitement, setbacks, and learning. When I first pointed my camera up into the night sky to try and take a picture of the stars with my DSLR, my jaw dropped when my preview screen lit up with more stars than my eyes could see or imagine were out there. The shot was underexposed, out of focus, and noisy as hell. Even though I was completely hooked at that first moment, I never would have guessed or imagined that the excitement of that one star shot would translate into the path it has become. We live in an exciting time where the digital revolution is putting POWERFUL tools at very affordable prices our hands. I encourage you to give a try at taking star pictures. Drive far out of town, and point that camera up into the sky! More than likely, your first tries will be out of focus, underexposed and noisy as hell just like mine were- but as likely, you'll feel that wonder of looking up into a starry sky and the amazement that you can take a picture of it! In case you've missed the posting in the past, if you do want to give shooting stars a chance, I've made a video tutorial geared to show you tips and techniques for "Your First Night Out Shooting Stars." It is not exhaustive, but it will point you in the right direction and give you that push of confidence and interest you may be needing to try it out. And, hopefully you can skip the first year and a half it took me to figure out how to even begin taking star shots!

Check it out # here

Thanks everyone for your support and interest in my work. It is continually a source of encouragement and inspiration for me!

After a setback near Frazee and a bad order set-out in Detroit Lakes, mixed freight for Pasco, Washington continues the trip west through Audubon.

Thanks to the conductor for the wave. Safe travels to Dilworth!

2-frame panorama

"Amalfi is a town and commune in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto (1,315 metres, 4,314 feet), surrounded by dramatic cliffs and coastal scenery. The town of Amalfi was the capital of the maritime republic known as the Duchy of Amalfi, an important trading power in the Mediterranean between 839 and around 1200.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Amalfi was a popular holiday destination for the British upper class and aristocracy.

Amalfi is the main town of the coast on which it is located, named Costiera Amalfitana (Amalfi Coast), and is today an important tourist destination together with other towns on the same coast, such as Positano, Ravello and others. Amalfi is included in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

A patron saint of Amalfi is Saint Andrew, the Apostle, whose relics are kept here at Amalfi Cathedral (Cattedrale di Sant'Andrea/Duomo di Amalfi).

Amalfi held importance as a maritime power, trading grain from its neighbors, salt from Sardinia and slaves from the interior, and even timber, in exchange for the gold dinars minted in Egypt and Syria, in order to buy the Byzantine silks that it resold in the West. Grain-bearing Amalfi traders enjoyed privileged positions in the Islamic ports, Fernand Braudel notes. The Amalfi tables (Tavole Amalfitane) provided a maritime code that was widely used by the Christian port cities. Merchants of Amalfi were using gold coins to purchase land in the 9th century, while most of Italy worked in a barter economy. During the late 9th century, long-distance trade revived between Amalfi and Gaeta with Byzantine, the latter which benefited from a flourishing trade network with the Arabs.

An independent republic from the 7th century until 1073, Amalfi extracted itself from Byzantine vassalage in 839 and first elected a duke in 958; it rivaled Pisa and Genoa in its domestic prosperity and maritime importance before the rise of the Republic of Venice. In spite of some devastating setbacks it had a population of some 70,000 to 80,000 reaching a peak about the turn of the millennium, during the reign of Duke Manso (966–1004). Under his line of dukes, Amalfi remained independent, except for a brief period of Salernitan dependency under Guaimar IV.

In 1073, the republic fell to the Norman countship of Apulia, but was granted many rights. A prey to the Normans who encamped in the south of Italy, it became one of their principal posts. However, in 1131, it was reduced by Roger II of Sicily, who had been refused the keys to its citadel. The Holy Roman Emperor Lothair, fighting in favor of Pope Innocent II against Roger, who sided with the Antipope Anacletus, took him prisoner in 1133, assisted by forty-six Pisan ships. The Pisans, commercial rivals of the Amalfitani, sacked the city; Lothair claimed as part of the booty a copy of the Pandects of Justinian which was found there.

In 1135 and 1137, it was taken by the Pisans and rapidly declined in importance, though its maritime code, known as the Amalfian Laws, was recognized in the Mediterranean until 1570. A tsunami in 1343 destroyed the port and lower town, and Amalfi never recovered to anything more than local importance" (Wikipedia).

PLEASE, NO GRAPHICS, BADGES, OR AWARDS IN COMMENTS. They will be deleted.

Fake spring is upon us. One day this robin was poking around for worms and the next day he had this to deal with. Here he sits on the upside down birdbath (winter storage position) wondering if he should have taken a later flight.

Packed up smoking these things along with alcohol 27 years ago, and it was the 3rd best thing to happen to me in my life so far !

Despite many, many extremely stressful setbacks during that time, apart from a ' few twinges ' during the first three months, those particular urges have long since gone ~ I'm not going to mention my passion for McCoys crisps !

before crossing the pond. Still no camera and the flowers have started to bloom. A slight setback in buying the new camera. Moniter and graphics card went out and had to buy new. The boys and I decided to upgrade and bought a 24"HD Samsung moniter and a GeForce GTX260 graphics card. I'm back on line but it will be a while before I send any new shots. Meanwhile,rest assured I have been looking at your photos and each and everyone has brought a smile to my face . Good shooting.

Well it certainly was interesting trying to get out of the neighborhood this morning. We had 5 inches of snow on the ground... the bottom 2 inches of which was solid ice! I had to chip the ice off the door because it was frozen shut. I then broke my ice scraper on the window... and then I broke one of my tire chains trying to get up the hill! After all the setbacks, I finally made it out of the neighborhood and into Julian. The views were spectacular and well worth the hassles of the morning.

Looks like we have a bit of a break, then were back at it again next weekend into the following week. Bring it on!

We've had 22 inches of snow so far this winter, and more is yet to come.

Total seasonal rainfall to date for my place in Julian is 16.68 inches (liquid equivalent in case of snow days).

Another year has gone by!

I'm surprised to see how few pictures of Tidda I've posted over the last year. Partly that's because I've been making videos of our walks for my YouTube channel. www.youtube.com/@soulwalkies

I'm happy to report that Tidda continues to slowly but surely act more and more secure and gain confidence. :)

The only mishap in the last year (Tidda is definitely prone to mishaps!) was when an inconsiderate off-road bicyclist unexpectedly came up behind us, trying to pass closely, and rammed a surprised Tidda when she darted out at the last moment - hitting her in the operated hip! I was very upset! That caused a setback in terms of her hip and has taken over two months to recover from. But thankfully she's back to running and playing once again! :)

Sometime in the next several months we'll be making our first road trip. I think she's ready. To San Francisco!

She is now 8 years old.

This series is dedicated to my dear friend Bob, who I take care of here at the adult care home. He just had a setback, mini strokes that have stolen his strength. He is a wonderful man, who loves nature as I do, and has spent many years camping and mushrooming in these mountains. Yesterday he was at the Emergency room most of the day, and now he is very weak and uncoordinated. It breaks my heart to see him confused and struggling... so I brought him in a squash shell I found in the compost that had every seed sprouting with determination, and I told him he just needs to be stubborn like a squash! All around this sqaush shell, the compost was turning into dirt, but this collection of seeds was determined to grow rather than become food for other plants. I think every seed in the gourd has sprouted, and so I have replanted it into a place that it can go ahead and grow. It will be interesting to see how many of these seedlings actually become plants, how many survive. It is always heartwarming to see when my elders fight against the pitfalls of old age and ill health and move forward in a positive direction! I learn so much from watching these 79-92 year old folks!

I saw several of these Masked tree frogs (Smilisca phaeota) in Costa Rica. They are one of the more common tree frogs but they are mostly nocturnal so unless you can spot them during the day hiding in a bush with their highly camouflaged color pattern you aren't likely to see one unless you go looking at night.

I had planned to try out a new camera on this trip but a series of setbacks including a macro flash not arriving before I had to leave and a macro lens arriving in the wrong lens mount meant the only lens I could use with this camera on this trip was my laowa 15mm macro with an adapter which did happen to come on time. I wish I had spent more time with this frog to get a better in habitat shot but we were always very much in a hurry to move on to our next activity.

This shot could have benefited from a little flash but I didn't have one for this camera so this was mostly a high iso test shot.

I will have more pics of this frog species with better lighting to post later that were taken with my e-m1 and macro flash.

I didn’t choose this quote. It was chosen by one of the two groups that featured my (above) image this week. That was a spot on on my feelings & views of life. Love #BrooklynBridge

Maybe it’s just me but after a certain age every little setback feels as a major failure. And then I figure that if we try 1000 times maybe at least once will get something right. The theory of probability just can’t be wrong !

La Real Colegiata de Santa María es un conjunto monumental situado en la localidad de Roncesvalles (Navarra, España), considerado como el mejor ejemplo navarro del gótico, al más puro estilo de la región parisina de la Isla de Francia. Su construcción fue impulsada por el rey de Navarra Sancho VII, el Fuerte quién deseaba, al mismo tiempo, le sirviera de lugar de enterramiento como finalmente fue. Se levantó a principios del siglo XIII y acogiendo entre sus paredes una preciosa imagen de la Virgen del siglo XIV. Ha sufrido varias reformas y reconstrucciones tras varios contratiempos siendo la reconstrucción del siglo XVII la que afectó a todo el conjunto especialmente a la iglesia y claustro.

Hoy la iglesia presenta una planta de tres naves, la central de doble anchura que las laterales, que se dividen en cinco tramos a los que hay que añadir en la nave central una cabecera pentagonal; las laterales terminan en recto. El sistema de soportes está compuesto de pilares cilíndricos que separan las naves de grosor alternante, se apoyan en una basa y rematan en capitel decorado con doble faja de crochets de tratamiento muy simple. Los pilares sirven de apoyo a los arcos formeros apuntados y a las columnillas que soportan las cubiertas. Sobre los arcos formeros corre el triforio, formado en cada tramo de la nave central por cuatro arquillos apuntados sobre columnillas con el mismo tipo de capitel, galería que da paso sin elementos de separación al óculo en el que se dispone como único elemento decorativo una secuencia de arcos apuntados. En la cabecera se abren grandes ventanales decorados con vidrieras coloreadas modernas fabricadas en Alemania.

Preside el templo una magnífica escultura de la Virgen de Roncesvalles. Es una talla de madera, forrada de plata, gótica, de mediados del siglo XIV y realizada en Toulouse. Transmite a la perfección el espíritu gótico en lo que tiene de cercanía, naturalismo y familiaridad.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_Colegiata_de_Santa_María_de_R...

The Royal Collegiate Church of Santa Maria is a monumental complex located in the town of Roncesvalles (Navarra, Spain), considered the best example of Gothic Navarre, in the purest style of the Parisian region of the Isle of France. Its construction was promoted by the king of Navarre Sancho VII, the Strong who wished, at the same time, to use it as a burial place, as it finally was. It was erected at the beginning of the 13th century and it houses within its walls a beautiful image of the Virgin of the 14th century. It has undergone several reforms and reconstructions after several setbacks being the reconstruction of the seventeenth century which affected the whole especially the church and cloister.

Today the church has a plan of three naves, the central one of double width than the lateral ones, which are divided into five sections to which a pentagonal chancel must be added in the central nave; the lateral ones end in a straight line. The system of supports is composed of cylindrical pillars that separate the naves of alternating thickness, supported on a base and topped with a capital decorated with a double band of crochets of very simple treatment. The pillars support the pointed former arches and the small columns that support the roofs. Over the former arches runs the triforium, formed in each bay of the central nave by four pointed arches on small columns with the same type of capital, a gallery that gives way without separating elements to the oculus in which there is a sequence of pointed arches as the only decorative element. In the chancel there are large windows decorated with modern colored stained glass windows made in Germany.

A magnificent sculpture of the Virgin of Roncesvalles presides over the temple. It is a wood carving, covered with silver, Gothic, mid-fourteenth century and made in Toulouse. It transmits to the perfection the Gothic spirit in what it has of closeness, naturalism and familiarity.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

La Real Colegiata de Santa María es un conjunto monumental situado en la localidad de Roncesvalles (Navarra, España), considerado como el mejor ejemplo navarro del gótico, al más puro estilo de la región parisina de la Isla de Francia. Su construcción fue impulsada por el rey de Navarra Sancho VII, el Fuerte quién deseaba, al mismo tiempo, le sirviera de lugar de enterramiento como finalmente fue. Se levantó a principios del siglo XIII y acogiendo entre sus paredes una preciosa imagen de la Virgen del siglo XIV. Ha sufrido varias reformas y reconstrucciones tras varios contratiempos siendo la reconstrucción del siglo XVII la que afectó a todo el conjunto especialmente a la iglesia y claustro.

Hoy la iglesia presenta una planta de tres naves, la central de doble anchura que las laterales, que se dividen en cinco tramos a los que hay que añadir en la nave central una cabecera pentagonal; las laterales terminan en recto. El sistema de soportes está compuesto de pilares cilíndricos que separan las naves de grosor alternante, se apoyan en una basa y rematan en capitel decorado con doble faja de crochets de tratamiento muy simple. Los pilares sirven de apoyo a los arcos formeros apuntados y a las columnillas que soportan las cubiertas. Sobre los arcos formeros corre el triforio, formado en cada tramo de la nave central por cuatro arquillos apuntados sobre columnillas con el mismo tipo de capitel, galería que da paso sin elementos de separación al óculo en el que se dispone como único elemento decorativo una secuencia de arcos apuntados. En la cabecera se abren grandes ventanales decorados con vidrieras coloreadas modernas fabricadas en Alemania.

Preside el templo una magnífica escultura de la Virgen de Roncesvalles. Es una talla de madera, forrada de plata, gótica, de mediados del siglo XIV y realizada en Toulouse. Transmite a la perfección el espíritu gótico en lo que tiene de cercanía, naturalismo y familiaridad.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_Colegiata_de_Santa_María_de_R...

The Royal Collegiate Church of Santa Maria is a monumental complex located in the town of Roncesvalles (Navarra, Spain), considered the best example of Gothic Navarre, in the purest style of the Parisian region of the Isle of France. Its construction was promoted by the king of Navarre Sancho VII, the Strong who wished, at the same time, to use it as a burial place, as it finally was. It was erected at the beginning of the 13th century and it houses within its walls a beautiful image of the Virgin of the 14th century. It has undergone several reforms and reconstructions after several setbacks being the reconstruction of the seventeenth century which affected the whole especially the church and cloister.

Today the church has a plan of three naves, the central one of double width than the lateral ones, which are divided into five sections to which a pentagonal chancel must be added in the central nave; the lateral ones end in a straight line. The system of supports is composed of cylindrical pillars that separate the naves of alternating thickness, supported on a base and topped with a capital decorated with a double band of crochets of very simple treatment. The pillars support the pointed former arches and the small columns that support the roofs. Over the former arches runs the triforium, formed in each bay of the central nave by four pointed arches on small columns with the same type of capital, a gallery that gives way without separating elements to the oculus in which there is a sequence of pointed arches as the only decorative element. In the chancel there are large windows decorated with modern colored stained glass windows made in Germany.

A magnificent sculpture of the Virgin of Roncesvalles presides over the temple. It is a wood carving, covered with silver, Gothic, mid-fourteenth century and made in Toulouse. It transmits to the perfection the Gothic spirit in what it has of closeness, naturalism and familiarity.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

In spite of all the setbacks the Corona virus throws at us, I wish you all a merry Christmas. Best wishes for the coming year will follow when I am sure the next year, indeed, has arrived.

Wochenende auf der Baustelle

=========================

Unfortunately I can't show this photo on the world map, I don't know what they did on Flickr again, sorry, these aren't improvements, just another setback! But maybe I'm just too stupid for that, I'm happy to be corrected!!!

======================================================

Leider kann ich dieses Foto nicht auf der Weltkarte anzeigen, ich weiß nicht, was die da wieder auf Flickr gemacht haben, tut mir leid, das sind keine Verbesserungen, nur ein weiterer Rückschlag! Aber vielleicht bin ich auch einfach zu blöd dafür, ich lasse mich gern korrigieren!!!

Roger Wick never made it big in the movies like his brother. We can only speculate about the reasons, but having been born cross-eyed didn’t really make him a number once choice for the role of a successful, dead on target hitman.

Nowadays he makes it his job to keep crazy housewives from trying to swim in the rat infested pool of the trailer park he lives in - with a squirt gun, mind you.

mix-and-mesh.blogspot.com/2021/02/career-setback.html

Here’s what I'm wearing:

Hair: Dura-U108-FAT PACK A (New Release)

Mesh Head + Skin Applier Head/Body: [AK Advanced Men] – Bento Head M02 3.0

Mesh Body: [SIGNATURE] Gianni V5.0.

Necklace: = REBELLION = "KAI" NECKLACE.

Inks: Endless Pain Tattoos - Carnage Male.

Shirt: flow . Bomb Button Down Shirt Fatpack (New Release)

Pants: [Deadwool] Kojima jeans - marine

Shoes: [Deadwool] Oxford shoes - brown

Sgt. Dmitri Kirov

13th Guards Rifle Division

The past month has consisted mostly of the same street fighting, ambushes, and booby traps I’ve come to know go hand in hand with taking a city as big as this. The Germans and Hungarians have turned every intersection into barricades, rife with machine gun nests, snipers and tanks. The fighting in the west end of town slowed us down for three weeks, only to find all the bridges over the Danube had been blown. But even with these setbacks, I can tell the end of the fighting is near. They’ve been cut off from supply for too long, disease and starvation are rampant amongst soldiers and civilians alike.

If they’d rather tear their city apart than give up the fight, fine by me.

One Bryant Park top floors and rooftop setbacks.

YouTube | Facebook | 500px | Tony Shi Photo | Flickr #2 | Instagram

The Security Building is a historic site in downtown Miami, Florida. It is located at 117 Northeast 1st Avenue. On January 4, 1989, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The building has 16 floors with a height of 225 feet (69 m) and was built from 1926 to 1927.

The Dade County Security Company was organized in 1901 and moved to a nearby headquarters in 1923. By the mid-1920s the company needed a larger headquarters. In 1921, the Dade County Security Company had acquired the McKinnon Hotel which occupied a mid-block parcel on Northeast 1st Avenue and renamed it the Security Hotel. Dade Security had considered adding stories atop the hotel but opted in 1925 to raze the hotel and construct a new headquarters on the same site under the direction of architect Robert Greenfield.

Construction on the Security Building began in 1926. The building was known as the Security Building from its opening in 1927 until 1945. Upon opening, the first level and mezzanine were devoted to banking offices. The floors above provided 275 office suites and were reached by four "high speed" elevators.

The Security Building faces west onto NE 1st Avenue. It is located in mid-block with buildings on either side. Those buildings are considerably shorter than the Security Building. The building maintains a zero-foot (0 m) setback, and the entry doors open directly onto the sidewalk. There are no landscape features on the property. The building is composed of a main block parallel to the street, and a second block connected perpendicularly that extends to the east.

With only a 50-foot (15 m) frontage, the architect made a grand statement by creating an almost temple-like base, consisting of the first three stories. Engaged pilasters, that also frame the center bay, articulate the corners creating three distinct bays. Spandrels between the floors are bronze and feature relief ornament. The pilasters carry the entablature, with the name “Security Building” in incised letters. A dentilled molding ornaments the cornice that terminates this division of the building.

The fourth floor begins the transition to the high-rise portion of the building. Stone panels with a similar relief accent the corners and separate the bays. Above the windows of the fourth floor is another projecting element, a stringcourse that is ornamented with a guilloche pattern in relief.

Floors five through 13 continue the three bays with window arrangements that are grouped in pairs on each of the end bays, and are grouped in three in the center bay, emphasizing the importance of the center bay to the entire composition. The windows are a metal casement type.

Security Building (Miami) South and West Facades, top floors with mansard roof and cupola.

The 14th and 15th floors function as the base for the great mansard roof, which terminates the building. To balance the composition, the two floors are treated as if they were one by the use of a round arch at the 15th floor that is carried by the pilasters of the 14th floor, so that the two floors are visually united.

A bracketed cornice separates the building from the roof form that is so decidedly different from roof treatments in Miami during this period. A mansard roof is a double-pitched roof with a steep upper slope. The mansard roof was named for architect Francois Mansart (1598–1666). Mansart worked in the 17th century and introduced the roof form that extended attic space to provide additional usable area. The mansard roof is a character-defining feature of the Second Empire style that was named after Napoleon III, who took on major building projects in Paris during the 18th century.

The mansard roof of the Security Building is clad in copper and terminates in a series of antefixae. A series of arches containing windows and serving as dormers penetrates the roof. Bull's-eye windows are placed between the arched windows. An eight-sided cupola that extends from the center of the roof is fenestrated on each side with a multi-paned arched window. The dome of the cupola also is clad in copper.

The north and south ends of the building are not ornamented. The windows are a metal casement type. The quoining on the corners of the west elevation is repeated in the north and south elevations of the building. The extension to the east is flat-roofed and is terminated by a defined cornice. The majority of the wall surface contains windows that are either square or rectangular in shape. They contain metal casement windows.

Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_Building_(Miami,_Florida)

miami-history.com/security-building-in-downtown-miami/

© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.

In the mid 1960s Škoda manufacturer AZNP started to think about a successor for the 1000 MB and the later 100/110 series. Ital Design founder Giorgetto Giugiaro (It., 1938) was asked for ideas. In June 1969 useful sketches were approved, and in Aug. 1969 the first model 740 prototype was presented.

After overcoming many problems and setbacks, production could finally start in 1976.

The Škoda Type 742 and 746 share the same body. They were available as 105, 120 and as 125, depending on the engine. The type designation 130 Type 743 was reserved for the coupe.

In 1983 renewed 742 versions were presented. They received rectangular head lamps.

In the UK these cars were sold as Estelle. In France as 1050, because Peugeot had claimed the rights of using the 105 model name for their own cars.

1046 cc L4 rear engine.

Performance: 46 bhp.

902 kg.

Production Škoda Type 742 series: Aug. 1976-1989.

Production Škoda 742 series this 2nd version: Sept. 1983-1989.

Production Škoda Type 742 105 series version: Aug. 1976-1987.

Original Dutch reg. number: Aug. 10, 1984.

Since July 2, 2011 with current owner.

Alkmaar, Wezelkoog, April 27. 2025.

© 2025 Sander Toonen Halfweg | All Rights Reserved

Longreach, Queensland, is 620km west of Rockhampton, at the junction of the Capricorn and Landsborough Highways. The Aramac Creek flows southwards, joining the Thomson River which runs generally south-west through the Longreach district.

The Longreach district was explored by the New South Wales Surveyor-General, Thomas Mitchell (1846) and by Edmund Kennedy (1847). The pastoralist-explorer William Landsborough reported favourably on the district's pastoral prospects, and in 1863 the first pastoral lease was taken up by the vast Bowen Downs station. Several others followed soon afterwards. The district's centre was Aramac (1869), and it was governed by the Aramac local-government division (1879).

Railway Boom:

Considerable optimism surrounded the new settlement: town lots were auctioned and sold briskly, and by 1890 there were three hotels, several stores and tradespeople, a progress association, and a police station. The opening of the railway line in 1892 spurred further development, and thrust Longreach into the industrial upheaval of the age; whereas the 1891 shearer's strike had been based at Barcaldine, the 1894 strike was called at the new railway terminus, Longreach.

The town grew with astounding rapidity. By 1896 there were fourteen hotels, a hospital (1893), Catholic, Methodist, and Anglican churches, a school of the arts, a pastoral and agricultural society, and several clubs and friendly societies. From a population of about 150 in 1891, Longreach was approaching 2000 in 1903.

The progress association soon expressed criticism about the Aramac local-government division's neglect of the Longreach district. Aramac agreed, and the Longreach division was severed in 1900.

Apart from Longreach's role as a railhead and district centre, it also became the centre of an area subdivided for closer-settlement farms during the 1890s. Many blocks were too small, however, and the 1902 drought proved a substantial setback. Amalgamation of blocks and the successful drilling for bore water after the drought aided recovery.

Industrial Progress:

Longreach was usually quick to embrace new technology. Motor car hire and repair businesses were opened – the Longreach Motor Co (1910) and Edwards, Martin Ltd (1910) were major businesses in both repair and body-building for vehicles. In 1919 two young airmen, P. J. McGinness and Hudson Fysh visited Longreach while surveying the Darwin to Longreach section of a proposed England-Australia air route. The men later began Qantas outback airlines at Longreach and established a large plane assembly factory. With both a railway terminus and a pioneer air service, Longreach had some claim to being a 'Chicago of the West'. The railway advantage, however, subsided when the line was extended to Winton in 1927.

In 1921 an electricity powerhouse began operation and a rudimentary swimming pool opened. Reticulated water supply was laid on from the river in 1938, replacing the mineralised bore water and enabling trees to grace the city's parks. Despite the progress, Longreach remained a goat town for another two decades, with local herds essential as a reliable fresh milk supply. Fresh vegetables were also a problem, with grasshoppers damaging local crops and the railways sometimes failing to keep up supplies.

Postwar Tribulations:

The 1920s were relatively prosperous, as were the 1950s (apart from some dry years and a shearers' strike). Much of the commercial building stock was replaced, including the shire hall (the previous two, along with local hotels and the Catholic church had burnt down). A State high school and an Olympic pool were opened in 1966 and 1967. Within a few years wool prices declined, and an investment in beef cattle was met with a decline in meat prices. The town's population, which had stayed steady during 1933 - 1947 when other outback towns had fallen by a quarter, faltered badly during the 20 years from 1961 - 1981 falling from 3800 to fewer than 3000. Fortunately, improved roads and transport, which had solved the milk and vegetable supply problem, brought outback tourism. Sensing the tourist opportunity, Sir James Walker, Shire Chair (1957 - 1990), chair of regional electricity supply authorities and of the Longreach Pastoral College garnered national support for the Stockman's Hall of Fame, which opened in 1988 on land provided by the Pastoral College. The Qantas Founders Museum, abutting the original heritage-listed Qantas hanger at the Longreach aerodrome, and a museum based in the old powerhouse (also heritage-listed) are other attractions, particularly popular with 'grey nomads'.

In addition to the aforementioned attractions and facilities, Longreach has a racecourse, showground, a Catholic primary school (1985), a school of distance education, a base hospital (1944), aerodrome, a visitor information centre, an Olympic swimming pool, five churches, several hotels and motels, and an aged persons' accommodation. The elaborate railway station (1916, similar to the Emerald station) and the goods shed (1892) are listed on the Queensland Heritage Register.

Source: Queensland Places (www.queenslandplaces.com.au/longreach).

Cimetière Montmartre - Paris.

Jean Bauchet (1906-1995) a commencé une carrière d'artiste comme danseur acrobatique avant de se lancer dans la chansonnette au Moulin-Rouge, sans grand succès. En 1941, il est le partenaire athlétique de la chanteuse Odette Moulin. Il présente aussi un numéro athlétique baptisé « l'enclume » mettant en valeur sa musculature. Il se marie en 1942 avec Jeanne Henriette Prodel (1919-2014). Après la Seconde Guerre mondiale il a reçu l'autorisation d'exploiter des jeux de billard qui ont été à l'origine de sa fortune. Il a racheté le Wepler1,2. Il dirige le Casino de Paris. Joseph et Louis Clerico ont acheté le Lido en 1946 puis le Moulin-Rouge, en 1955. Jean Bauchet en assume la direction. Il a créé le casino de Beyrouth. En 1976, il dirige le théâtre du Châtelet avant qu'il dépose le bilan en 1979. Jean Bauchet achète le Casino de Paris au bord de la faillite en 1976, à la demande de Line Renaud et son mari Loulou Gasté. Le Casino de Paris ferme ses portes le 5 janvier 1980 à la suite de déboires financiers.

Montmartre Cemetery - Paris.

Jean Bauchet (1906-1995) began his career as an artist as an acrobatic dancer before launching into singing at the Moulin Rouge, without much success. In 1941, he was the athletic partner of the singer Odette Moulin. He also presented an athletic number called "l'enclume" highlighting his muscles. He married Jeanne Henriette Prodel (1919-2014) in 1942. After the Second World War, he received authorization to operate billiards games, which were the source of his fortune. He bought the Wepler1,2. He managed the Casino de Paris. Joseph and Louis Clerico bought the Lido in 1946 and then the Moulin Rouge in 1955. Jean Bauchet took over its management. He created the Beirut casino. In 1976, he directed the Théâtre du Châtelet before it filed for bankruptcy in 1979. Jean Bauchet bought the Casino de Paris on the verge of bankruptcy in 1976, at the request of Line Renaud and her husband Loulou Gasté. The Casino de Paris closed its doors on January 5, 1980 following financial setbacks.

Taken with Canon EF 50mm F1.4.

Spruce 7

Spruce 9

Excerpt from historicplaces.ca:

Description of Historic Place

The Syndicate Housing Heritage Conservation District consists of ten semi-detached 19th century brick working class residences located on the north side of Bower Street between Elgin Street and Frederick Street in Acton, Town of Halton Hills.

The district was designated by the Town of Halton Hills in 2005 for its heritage value under Part V of the Ontario Heritage Act (By-law 2005-0021).

Heritage Value

The Syndicate Housing Heritage Conservation District reflects an effort by leading industrialists in the Village of Acton to provide services for the growing community. In January 1882, the Acton Banking Company was founded by industrialist William H. Storey, providing the community with its own financial institution. Shortly after this, the Beardmore Tannery announced in March that it would need about 50 tenement houses for its employees. These needs may have prompted the newly formed Acton Banking Company to establish the Acton Building Association to meet the community's housing needs. The ten tenements on Bower Street were built without delay commencing in the summer of 1882 and were of excellent workmanship.

Located uniformly along Bower Street, the ten semi-detached residences of the Syndicate Housing Heritage Conservation District provide a visual reminder of the growth of industry in Acton in the late 19th century. The houses also reflect architectural features common at the time of their construction. They are characterised by symmetrical facades, flat roofs, elaborate brickwork with contrasting colours and patterns and tall windows featuring a rounded brick arch along with similarly adorned bay windows. Brick detailing such as the belt courses of yellow, red and black bricks distinguish the worker houses from each other.

Character-Defining Elements

Character defining elements that contribute to the design or physical value of the Syndicate Housing HCD include the:

- two storey red brick exteriors

- flat roofs

- contrasting brick colours

- voussoirs above windows and doors

- bay windows

- yellow brick quoins

- belt courses of yellow, red and black brick

- double hung, 6 over 2 pane windows

- single light transom

- white wood trim surrounding all windows

- location on the north side of Bower Street

- uninterrupted streetscape

- uniform setback and spacing between the houses

I’m just waiting for a show like this to pop-up.

I often wonder if Reality TV has become a permanent part of the entertainment landscape. I used to think they would exhaust themselves, but I’m not so sure anymore.

I can’t call it.

If I were to take anything artistic from it all, it would be the editing. From sound effects to timelines, Reality TV has given way to some of the best editing I’ve seen in decades.

They know we love to watch crazy…. I do at least.

The only setback is that it’s making me dumber.

I guess that goes with the territory.

Le marché central de la ville de Valence, en Espagne, est un édifice conçu en 1914 par les architectes barcelonais Alexandre Soler i March et Francesc Guàrdia i Vial, tous deux formés à l'Escola Tècnica Superior d'Arquitectura de Barcelona et collaborateurs de Lluís Domènech i Montaner (notamment concepteur du palais de la musique catalane), qui est caractérisé par un style propre dans les lignes du Art Nouveau valencienne.

Le projet du marché central prétendait concilier l'usage des grandes structures de fer dépouillées caractéristiques de l’Art nouveau. Après quelques inconvenues et modifications apportées au projet initial, les travaux furent terminés en janvier 1928 sous la direction d'Enric Viedma i Vidal

D'une surface de plus de 8 000 mètres carrés, il est riche d'allusions décoratives relatives aux produits des potagers, vergers et jardins de Valence. Sa structure, constituée de colonnes de fer rappelant la Tour Eiffel, de faïence et de vitraux, en fait une attraction architecturale à ne pas manquer.

Cette agora de la gastronomie valencienne compte plus de 1 200 stands dans lesquels se distinguent les fruits et légumes frais, avec comme protagonistes l'orange, la tomate et les haricots, puis les viandes, fromages, poissons et fruits de mer.

The Central Market (Valencian: mercat central; Castilian: mercado central) in the city of Valencia, Spain, is a building designed in 1914 by Barcelona architects Alexandre Soler i March and Francesc Guàrdia i Vial, both trained in 'Escola Tècnica Superior d'Arquitectura de Barcelona and collaborators of Lluís Domènech i Montaner (especially designer of the Palace of Catalan Music), which is characterized by its own style in the lines of Valencian Art Nouveau.

The central market project claimed to reconcile the use of the large, bare iron structures characteristic of Art Nouveau. After some setbacks and modifications to the initial project, the work was completed in January 1928 under the direction of Enric Viedma i Vidal

With a surface area of ​​more than 8,000 square meters, it is rich in decorative allusions relating to products from the vegetable gardens, orchards and gardens of Valencia. Its structure, made up of iron columns reminiscent of the Eiffel Tower, earthenware and stained glass, makes it an architectural attraction not to be missed.

This agora of Valencian gastronomy has more than 1,200 stalls in which fresh fruit and vegetables stand out, with orange, tomato and beans as protagonists, then meat, cheese, fish and seafood.

Southeast Financial Center is a two-acre development in Miami, Florida, United States. It consists of a 764 feet (233 m) tall office skyscraper and its 15-story parking garage. It was previously known as the Southeast Financial Center (1984–1992), the First Union Financial Center (1992–2003), and the Wachovia Financial Center (2003-2011). In 2011, it retook its old name of Southeast Financial Center as Wachovia merged with Wells Fargo and moved to the nearby Wells Fargo Center.

When topped-off in August 1983, it was the tallest building south of New York City and east of the Mississippi River, taking away the same title from the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel, in Atlanta, Georgia. It remained the tallest building in the southeastern U.S. until 1987, when it was surpassed by One Atlantic Center in Atlanta and the tallest in Florida until October 1, 2003, when it was surpassed by the Four Seasons Hotel and Tower, also in Miami. It remains the tallest office tower in Florida and the third tallest building in Miami.

Southeast Financial Center was constructed in three years with more than 500 construction workers. Approximately 6,650 tons of structural steel, 80,000 cubic yards of concrete and 7000 cubic tons of reinforcing steel bars went into its construction. The complex sits on a series of reinforced concrete grade beams tied to 150 concrete caissons as much as ten feet in diameter and to a depth of 80 feet. A steel space-frame canopy with glass skylights covers the outdoor plaza between the tower and low-rise building.

The tower has a composite structure. The exterior columns and beams are concrete encased steel wide flanges surrounded by reinforcing bars. The composite exterior frame was formed using hydraulic steel forms, or "flying forms," jacked into place with a "kangaroo" crane, that was located in the core and manually clamped into place. Wide flange beams topped by a metal deck and concrete form the interior floor framing. The core is A braced steel frame, designed to laterally resist wind loads. The construction of one typical floor was completed every five days.

The low-rise banking hall and parking building is a concrete-framed structure. Each floor consists of nearly an acre of continuously poured concrete. When the concrete had sufficiently hardened, compressed air was used to blow the forms fiberglass forms from under the completed floor. It was then rolled out to the exterior where it was raised by crane into position for the next floor.

The building was recognized as Miami's first and only office building to be certified for the LEED Gold award in January 2010.

The center was developed by a partnership consisting of Gerald D. Hines Interests, Southeast Bank and Corporate Property Investors for $180 million. It was originally built as the headquarters for Southeast Bank, which originally occupied 50 percent of the complex's space. It remained Southeast Bank's headquarters there until it was liquidated in 1991.

The Southeast Financial Center comprises two buildings: the 55-story office tower and the 15-story parking annex. The tower has 53 stories of office space. The first floor is dedicated for retail, the second floor is the lobby and the 55th floor was home to the luxurious Miami City Club. The parking annex has 12 floors of parking space for 1,150 cars. The first floor is dedicated for retail, the second floor is a banking hall and the 15th floor has the Downtown Athletic Club. A landscaped plaza lies between the office tower and the parking annex. An enclosed walkway connects the second story of the tower with the second story of the annex. The courtyard is partially protected from the elements by a steel and glass space frame canopy spanning the plaza and attached to the tower and annex. Southeast Bank's executive offices were located on the 38th floor. Ground was broken on the complex on December 12, 1981 and the official dedication and opening for the complex was held on October 23, 1984.

The Southeast Financial Center was designed by Edward Charles Bassett of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. The Associate Architect was Spillis Candela & Partners. It has 1,145,311 ft² (106,000 m²) of office space. A typical floor has about 22,000 ft² (2,043.87 m²) of office space. Each floor has 9 ft x 9 ft (2.7 m x 2.7 m) floor to ceiling windows. (All of the building's windows are tinted except for the top floor, resulting in strikingly bright and clear views from there.) The total complex has over 2.2 million ft² (204,000 m²). The distinctive setbacks begin at the 43rd floor. Each typical floor plate has 9 corner offices and the top twelve floors have as many as 16. There are 43 elevators in the office tower. An emergency control station provides computerized monitoring for the entire complex, and four generators for backup power.

The Southeast Financial Center can be seen as far away as Ft. Lauderdale and halfway toward Bimini. Night space shuttle launches from Cape Canaveral 200 miles to the north were plainly visible from the higher floors. The roof of the building was featured in the Wesley Snipes motion picture Drop Zone, where an eccentric base jumper named Swoop parachutes down to the street from a suspended window cleaning trolley. The building also appeared in several episodes of the 1980s TV show Miami Vice and at the end of each episode's opening credits.

Zara founder Amancio Ortega purchased the building from J.P. Morgan Asset Management in December 2016. The purchase price was reportedly over $500 million, making it one of the largest real estate transactions in South Florida history.

Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Financial_Center

www.emporis.com/buildings/122292/wachovia-financial-cente...

© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.

Irlanda - Cong - Castillo de Ashford

www.ashfordcastle.com

ENGLISH:

Ashford Castle is a medieval castle that has been expanded over the centuries and turned into a five star luxury hotel near Cong on the Mayo-Galway border, on the shore of Lough Corrib in Ireland. It is a member of the Leading Hotels of the World organisation and was previously owned by the Guinness family.

A castle was built on the perimeter of a Monastic site in 1228 by the Anglo-Norman House of Burke. After more than three-and-a-half centuries under the de Burgos, whose surname became Burke or Bourke, Ashford passed into the hands of a new master, following a fierce battle between the forces of the de Burgos and those of the English official Sir Richard Bingham, Lord President of Connaught, when a truce was agreed. In 1589, the castle fell to Bingham, who added a fortified enclave within its precincts. Dominick Browne, of the Browne Family (Baron Oranmore) received the estate in a Royal Grant in either 1670 or 1678. In 1715, the estate of Ashford was established by the Browne family and a hunting lodge in the style of a 17th-century French chateau was constructed. The double-headed eagles still visible on the roof represent the coat of arms of the Brownes. In the late 18th-century a branch of the family inhabited the castle. In the early 19th-century, one Thomas Elwood was agent for the Brownes at Ashford and was recorded as living there in 1814.

The estate was purchased in 1852 by Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness from the Encumbered Estates' Court. He added two large Victorian style extensions. He also extended the estate to 26,000 acres (110 km2), built new roads and planted thousands of trees. The castle was drawn for Sir William Wilde's book about County Galway. On Benjamin's death in 1868, the estate passed to his son Lord Ardilaun, who expanded the building further in the neogothic style. Lord Ardilaun was an avid gardener who oversaw the development of massive woodlands and rebuilt the entire west wing of the castle, designed by architects James Franklin Fuller and George Ashlin. The new construction connected the early 18th-century part in the east with two de-Burgo-time towers in the west. Battlements were added to the whole castle. He also subsidised the operation of several steamboats, the most notable of which was the Lady Eglinton, which plied between the villages of the Upper Lough Corrib region and Galway City, thus opening the area to increased commerce. In a time of agitation by tenant farmers in the Land Wars of the late 19th century, epitomised by the action of tenants at nearby Lough Mask House (home of Captain Charles Boycott), he was considered by many to be an 'improving' landlord. Some of his efforts were unsuccessful, particularly the Cong Canal, also known as 'the Dry Canal', which was built to link Lough Mask and Lough Corrib but was a failure, due to its inability to hold water. Despite such setbacks, the love borne by him and his wife Olive, daughter of the 3rd Earl of Bantry, for the castle and the estate was deep and best epitomised by the fact that when he was ennobled in 1880 he derived his title from the island of Ardilaun, which formed part of the estate on Lough Corrib.

The Castle passed to Ardilaun's nephew Ernest Guinness. It was gifted to the Irish government in 1939. Noel Huggard opened the estate as a hotel, which became renowned for the provision of its country pursuits, such as angling and shooting. Noel Huggard's parents had been in the hotel business in Waterville, County Kerry, since 1910 and his grand daughters, Louise and Paula, run The Butler Arms Hotel there to this day

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ESPAÑOL:

El Castillo de Ashford (Ashford Castle en inglés) es un castillo medieval situado cerca de Cong, Condado de Mayo, Irlanda. El castillo se encuentra a orillas del lago Corrib. Fue construido en el siglo XIII por la familia anglonormanda De Burgos tras derrotar a los O'Connors de Connaught.

En 1852 fue reconstruido y ampliado por Benjamin Guinness, y su hijo Arthur tomó su título de una isla del lago. La familia Guinness vendió el castillo en 1945.

El castillo es actualmente un hotel de cinco estrellas. Una embarcación que sale del castillo ofrece paseos por el lago Corrib. La película de 1952, The Quiet Man, fue rodada en Ashford, apareciendo en ella muchas partes del castillo y de la vecina localidad de Cong.

A spot to grab a pint before shows at the Tarrytown Music Hall, just up the block.

Fables of the Reconstruction series

Can't Get There From Here

Another side, track 1

6 | 11

Excerpt from uwaterloo.ca:

Description of the District

St. Clair Boulevard Heritage Conservation District runs along St. Clair Boulevard between Delaware Avenue and Cumberland Avenue. The district consists of 38 residential properties.

Cultural Heritage Value of the District

The Heritage Conservation District Planning Background Study and Plan discuss the value of the district:

“The St. Clair Park survey, registered in 1911, was one of a number of residential surveys laid out in Hamilton’s east end just after the turn of the century, a boom period for residential construction throughout the City. The St. Clair Park Survey formed part of a middle to upper class residential area comprising a number of surveys, which extended from King Street East to the foot of the escarpment and from Wentworth Street South to Gage Park.

As was common practice in Hamilton at the time, the St. Clair Park Survey has building restrictions in the form of restrictive covenants registered on deed to the lots. Restrictions on the cost, construction and setback of the house account to a large extent for the cohesive character of St. Clair Boulevard’s urban streetscape.

While the restrictive covenants associated with the St. Clair Park Survey has building restrictions on its social make-up, the social composition of St. Clair Boulevard was nevertheless very homogenous, comprising middle to upper-middle income families of Anglo-Saxon origins. In the course of its history the boulevard has attracted some of Hamilton’s most prominent citizens; notably, he well-known and highly-respected judge, William F Schwenger and the successful construction company manager, Ralph W. Cooper. The Boulevard is also noteworthy for its social stability, owning to the long-term residence of most of the homeowners and

continuous use of the houses as single-family dwellings”.

Designation of the District

The designation of St. Clair Boulevard was initiated by local residents following the designation of the adjacent St. Clair Avenue district. According to the Background Study and Plan, “a petition requesting designation of the area...signed by all 37 homeowners, was presented to LACAC at its December meeting

and was supported by this committee”.

The St. Clair Boulevard Heritage Conservation District is protected by By-law 92-140, passed in 1992.

It's funny how we view things isn't it? I was literally like a dog with two you know what's when I was in Coverack at Christmas as the conditions were just (insert chefs kiss).

Now that I'm going back (barring a huge setback in my fathers recovery), I'm looking at shots I took back at Christmas and ones that I deemed not good enough to post I'm looking at and questioning why I didn't put them up. So, here you are. I wait your comments, good and bad.

Built in 1929-1930, this Art Deco-style building was designed by Ralph Thomas Walker of Voorhees, Gmelin, and Walker for the Genesee Trust Company to serve as the bank’s headquarters. The building stands 12 stories and 260 feet (79 meters) tall, and is crowned with four distinctive bronze wing-shaped fins, known as the “Wings of Progress.” The building is clad in limestone with one-over-one windows, a massing that tapers with setbacks towards the roofline, bronze screens and trim, carved sculptural reliefs, a large entrance bay on the ground floor, a granite-clad base, recessed spandrels at the central bays of the upper floors, and a stucco-clad section of the north facade with a large mural. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, and is a contributing structure in the Four Corners-Genesee Crossroads Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2024. The building today continues to serve as a commercial office building, now known as the Times Square Building, and is most well-known for its appearance in the game SimCity 4.

The Security Building is a historic site in downtown Miami, Florida. It is located at 117 Northeast 1st Avenue. On January 4, 1989, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The building has 16 floors with a height of 225 feet (69 m) and was built from 1926 to 1927.

The Dade County Security Company was organized in 1901 and moved to a nearby headquarters in 1923. By the mid-1920s the company needed a larger headquarters. In 1921, the Dade County Security Company had acquired the McKinnon Hotel which occupied a mid-block parcel on Northeast 1st Avenue and renamed it the Security Hotel. Dade Security had considered adding stories atop the hotel but opted in 1925 to raze the hotel and construct a new headquarters on the same site under the direction of architect Robert Greenfield.

Construction on the Security Building began in 1926. The building was known as the Security Building from its opening in 1927 until 1945. Upon opening, the first level and mezzanine were devoted to banking offices. The floors above provided 275 office suites and were reached by four "high speed" elevators.

The Security Building faces west onto NE 1st Avenue. It is located in mid-block with buildings on either side. Those buildings are considerably shorter than the Security Building. The building maintains a zero-foot (0 m) setback, and the entry doors open directly onto the sidewalk. There are no landscape features on the property. The building is composed of a main block parallel to the street, and a second block connected perpendicularly that extends to the east.

With only a 50-foot (15 m) frontage, the architect made a grand statement by creating an almost temple-like base, consisting of the first three stories. Engaged pilasters, that also frame the center bay, articulate the corners creating three distinct bays. Spandrels between the floors are bronze and feature relief ornament. The pilasters carry the entablature, with the name “Security Building” in incised letters. A dentilled molding ornaments the cornice that terminates this division of the building.

The fourth floor begins the transition to the high-rise portion of the building. Stone panels with a similar relief accent the corners and separate the bays. Above the windows of the fourth floor is another projecting element, a stringcourse that is ornamented with a guilloche pattern in relief.

Floors five through 13 continue the three bays with window arrangements that are grouped in pairs on each of the end bays, and are grouped in three in the center bay, emphasizing the importance of the center bay to the entire composition. The windows are a metal casement type.

Security Building (Miami) South and West Facades, top floors with mansard roof and cupola.

The 14th and 15th floors function as the base for the great mansard roof, which terminates the building. To balance the composition, the two floors are treated as if they were one by the use of a round arch at the 15th floor that is carried by the pilasters of the 14th floor, so that the two floors are visually united.

A bracketed cornice separates the building from the roof form that is so decidedly different from roof treatments in Miami during this period. A mansard roof is a double-pitched roof with a steep upper slope. The mansard roof was named for architect Francois Mansart (1598–1666). Mansart worked in the 17th century and introduced the roof form that extended attic space to provide additional usable area. The mansard roof is a character-defining feature of the Second Empire style that was named after Napoleon III, who took on major building projects in Paris during the 18th century.

The mansard roof of the Security Building is clad in copper and terminates in a series of antefixae. A series of arches containing windows and serving as dormers penetrates the roof. Bull's-eye windows are placed between the arched windows. An eight-sided cupola that extends from the center of the roof is fenestrated on each side with a multi-paned arched window. The dome of the cupola also is clad in copper.

The north and south ends of the building are not ornamented. The windows are a metal casement type. The quoining on the corners of the west elevation is repeated in the north and south elevations of the building. The extension to the east is flat-roofed and is terminated by a defined cornice. The majority of the wall surface contains windows that are either square or rectangular in shape. They contain metal casement windows.

Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_Building_(Miami,_Florida)

miami-history.com/security-building-in-downtown-miami/

© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.

Greece.

Powis Castle (Welsh: Castell Powys) is a medieval castle, fortress and grand country house near Welshpool, in Powys, Wales. The seat of the Herbert family, earls of Powis, the castle is known for its formal gardens and for its interiors, the former having been described as "the most important", and the latter "the most magnificent", in the country. The castle and gardens are under the care of the National Trust. Powis Castle is a Grade I listed building, while its gardens have their own Grade I listing on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.

The present castle was built in the 13th century. Unusually for a castle on the Marches, it was constructed by a Welsh prince, Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn, rather than by a Norman baron. Gruffydd was prince of the ancient Kingdom of Powys and maintained an alliance with the English king Edward I during the struggles of the later 13th century. He was able to secure the position of his son, Owain, although the kingdom itself was abolished by the Parliament of Shrewsbury in 1283. After his father's death, Owain was raised to the peerage as Owen de la Pole, 1st Lord of Powis. Following his own death c. 1293, and the death of his only son, he was succeeded by his daughter, Hawys Gadarn, "the Lady of Powis". Hawys married Sir John Charlton in 1309.

In the late 16th century the castle was purchased by Sir Edward Herbert, a younger son of William Herbert, 1st earl of Pembroke, beginning a connection between the family and the castle that continues today. The Herberts remained Roman Catholic until the 18th century and, although rising in the peerage to earls, marquesses and Jacobite dukes of Powis, suffered periods of imprisonment and exile. Despite these setbacks, they were able in the late 17th and early 18th centuries to transform Powis from a border fortress into an aristocratic country house, and surround it with one of the very few extant examples of a British Baroque garden.

In 1784 Henrietta Herbert married Edward Clive, eldest son of Clive of India, a match which replenished the much-depleted Herbert family fortune. In the early 20th century, George Herbert, 4th Earl of Powis, redeveloped the castle with the assistance of the architect George Frederick Bodley. Herbert’s wife, Violet, undertook work of equal importance in the garden, seeking to turn it into "one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful, in England and Wales". On the 4th Earl's death in 1952, his wife and his sons having predeceased him, the castle passed into the care of the National Trust.

History

First castles at Welshpool: 1111–1286

Unlike the castles at Conwy, Caernarfon, Harlech and nearby Montgomery, which were built by the English to subdue the Welsh, the castles at Welshpool were built by the Welsh princes of Powys Wenwynwyn as their dynastic seat.[1] In addition to the current site, two motte-and-bailey castles and a set of earthworks are located nearby.[2] The names Trallwg/Tallwm and Pola are used interchangeably in early primary sources, and it is unclear which of these sites is being referred to.[3]

The earliest reference dates from 1111, when Cadwgan ap Bleddyn is mentioned as having planned to construct a castle at Trallwng Llywelyn,[3] the oldest record of a native Welsh castle.[4] Domen Castell, a motte-and-bailey near the modern railway station, is considered the most likely site of Cadwgan's castle, although it is uncertain whether it was completed as he was assassinated the same year.[5] The first documentary account of an extant castle at Welshpool is a description of the successful 1196 siege by an English army, although the castle was retaken by the Welsh within the year.[5][6]

The earliest castle at the current site may have been a timber building constructed by Owain Cyfeiliog or his son, Gwenwynwyn (r. 1197–1216).[7] The present masonry structure contains 13th-century fabric,[8] most likely the work of Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn (r. 1241–1287) – although historians are uncertain when this took place.[a][10] In 1274, Gruffydd's "first castle" at Welshpool was destroyed by Llywelyn ap Gruffudd as punishment for his involvement in a scheme to assassinate Llywelyn.[b] The castle was documented again in 1286, when it was listed amongst Gruffydd's possessions as "la Pole Castr".[12] A detailed examination of Powis Castle's extant masonry carried out between 1987 and 1989 revealed early stonework incorporated into the later structure, putatively the remains of an early stone shell keep.[13] At the end of Edward I's conquest of Wales in 1282–83, the king permitted Gruffydd to rebuild his castle at Welshpool as a reward for his loyalty.[14]

Early history: 1286–1644

Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury[c]

In 1286, four years after the conquest of Wales, Gruffydd's son, Owain ap Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn became the last hereditary prince of Powys when he renounced his royal title, and was granted the barony of de la Pole, (i.e. "of the Pool", a reference to Welshpool, formerly called just "Pool").[d][16][17] The ancient Kingdom of Powys had once included the counties of Montgomeryshire, much of Denbighshire, parts of Radnorshire and large areas of Shropshire, but by the 13th century had been reduced to two independent principalities – Powys Wenwynwyn and Powys Fadog – roughly equivalent to Montgomeryshire and South Denbighshire (plus Maelor Saesneg), respectively; Welshpool had become the capital of Powys Wenwynwyn, of which Owain had been heir. On the death of Owain, the castle passed to his daughter Hawys, who married Sir John Charlton.[17] The Charltons continued to live at Powis until the fifteenth century when two daughters, Joyce Tiptoft and Joan Grey inherited the castle and estates. Both were equally divided, each daughter and her husband living in a portion of the castle.[18]

In 1578 an illegitimate son of the last Baron Grey of Powis, began leasing the lordship and castle to a distant relative – Sir Edward Herbert (d. 1595), second son of Sir William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke. Edward eventually bought the castle outright in 1587, beginning the connection between the Herberts and Powis Castle which continues today.[19] Sir Edward's wife was a Roman Catholic and the family's allegiance to Rome and to the Stuart kings was to shape its destiny for over a century.[16] Sir Edward began the transformation of Powis from a border fortress into an Elizabethan country house. The major remaining element of his work is the Long Gallery.[19]

Herbert's descendent William Herbert, 1st Baron Powis (c. 1573–1655), was a supporter of Charles I, and was granted the barony of Powis in 1629.[19] His loyalty during the English Civil War cost him his castle and his estates.[20] On 22 October 1644 Powis Castle was captured by Parliamentary troops and was not returned to the family until the restoration of Charles II in 1660.[21]

The Herberts: 1660–1800

The Hercules statue which stood originally in the Water Garden

On the restoration, the Herberts returned to Powis, and in 1674 William Herbert (c. 1626–1696) was created Earl of Powis (of the first creation). The state bedroom was installed in about 1665 and further improvements, including the construction of the Great Staircase followed in the 1670s. These developments were most probably carried out under the direction of William Winde, who may also have designed the terraced gardens. His employer, although restored to his estates, and raised in the peerage, was barred by his Catholic faith from high office under Charles II. On the accession of the King's brother, James in 1685, Herbert became one of the new king's chief ministers, and was again advanced in the peerage becoming Marquess of Powis in 1687, but fell at the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and followed James into exile in France.[e] William III granted the castle to his nephew, William Nassau de Zuylestein, 1st Earl of Rochford. Herbert died, still in exile, in 1696.[24]

Despite their 30-year exile, the Herberts were able to continue with developments at the castle and even to live there on an irregular basis, the Baroque water garden below the castle being completed at this time.[25] Their fortunes were also materially improved by the discovery of a lucrative lead mine on their Welsh estates.[24] The second Marquess, also William, was reinstated in 1722. On the death of his son, the third Marquess in 1748, the marquessate became extinct, while the castle and estates passed to a relative, Henry Herbert (c. 1703–1772), of Oakly Park in Shropshire, who was made 1st Earl of Powis (of the second creation) by George II.[26] Herbert married Barbara, the fifteen-year-old granddaughter of the 2nd Marquess, in 1751. Their eldest son, George Herbert, 2nd Earl of Powis (1755–1801), died unmarried and the earldom of the second creation became extinct.[f][27] Powis was much neglected during his tenure. John Byng, 5th Viscount Torrington, a diarist and traveller who chronicled his journeys into Wales in the 1780s and 1790s, described the castle in 1784, "In the gardens not even the fruit is attended to; the balustrades and terraces are falling down, and the horses graze on the parterres!!!"[28] The castle itself was in no better condition, a visitor in 1774 describing it as "in Neglect and Ruin".[27] Nonetheless, the potential of the site was recognised. George Lyttelton, the politician, poet and essayist, recorded his impressions in 1756, "About £3,000 laid out upon Powis Castle would make it the most august place in the Kingdom."[29]

The Clives and Herberts: 1801–1952

The Outer Courtyard with the Fame statue in the foreground

In 1784, Henry Herbert's daughter, Henrietta, married Edward Clive (1754–1839), the eldest son of Clive of India.[30] Clive had followed his father to India, and served as Governor of Madras. Henrietta's brother died in 1801, whereupon the title lapsed; in 1804, her husband was created first Earl of Powis (of the third creation). The Clive fortune paid for long overdue repairs to the castle, which were carried out by Sir Robert Smirke.[31][32] Their son, Edward (1785–1848), inherited his late uncle's Powis estates on his 21st birthday, taking the surname Herbert in compliance with his uncle's will.[30] Edward Herbert served in a range of administrations as an Anti-Catholic Tory, his speeches in the House of Commons being "cautious and pertinent, although marred by dull delivery". He died in 1848, following a shooting accident at Powis in which he was fatally injured by his second son.[33] No further major changes were made to the Powis estate during his time, or in the long tenure of his eldest son Edward Herbert, 3rd Earl of Powis (1818–1891), although the castle was well maintained. In honour of his great-grandfather, the earl was offered the viceroyalty of India by Benjamin Disraeli but declined, writing "Not worth considering. Powis" on the envelope containing the invitation.[34]

The final alterations to Powis Castle were undertaken at the beginning of the 20th century by George Frederick Bodley for George Charles Herbert, 4th Earl of Powis (1862–1952). The rooms designed by Bodley remain his only extant decorative scheme; the longevity of the 4th Earl, the deaths of his heirs, and his bequest of the castle to the National Trust saw the early 20th-century remodelling remain largely unaltered.[g][36] The 4th earl's wife, Violet (nee Lane-Fox), undertook the final transformation of the gardens of Powis Castle, which she felt had the potential to be "the most beautiful in England and Wales".[37] The Countess died following a car accident in 1929, and Lord Powis outlived both his sons, who died on active service, Percy from wounds received at the Battle of the Somme in 1916,[38] and Mervyn in a plane crash in 1943.[39] On his own death in 1952, he bequeathed the castle and gardens to the National Trust.[h][42]

The National Trust: 1952–present

The 4th earl was succeeded by his cousin, Edward Herbert, 5th Earl of Powis (1889–1974). Edward's heir was Christian Herbert, 6th Earl of Powis (1904–1988). He was succeeded by his cousin, George Herbert, 7th Earl of Powis (1925–1993),[42] who was in turn succeeded by his son, John, the 8th and current Earl.[43] The Herbert family continue to live in part of the castle, under an arrangement with the National Trust.[44] The Trust has undertaken a number of major works of restoration during its ownership, including the Marquess Gate,[45] the Grand Staircase,[46] and the sculpture of Fame in the Outer Courtyard.[i][47] The castle and its gardens receive around 200,000 visitors annually. Wikipedia

Actually setback, one short block, south of Oxford Street. The corner of North Audley Street and North Row Street.

Southeast Financial Center is a two-acre development in Miami, Florida, United States. It consists of a 764 feet (233 m) tall office skyscraper and its 15-story parking garage. It was previously known as the Southeast Financial Center (1984–1992), the First Union Financial Center (1992–2003), and the Wachovia Financial Center (2003-2011). In 2011, it retook its old name of Southeast Financial Center as Wachovia merged with Wells Fargo and moved to the nearby Wells Fargo Center.

When topped-off in August 1983, it was the tallest building south of New York City and east of the Mississippi River, taking away the same title from the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel, in Atlanta, Georgia. It remained the tallest building in the southeastern U.S. until 1987, when it was surpassed by One Atlantic Center in Atlanta and the tallest in Florida until October 1, 2003, when it was surpassed by the Four Seasons Hotel and Tower, also in Miami. It remains the tallest office tower in Florida and the third tallest building in Miami.

Southeast Financial Center was constructed in three years with more than 500 construction workers. Approximately 6,650 tons of structural steel, 80,000 cubic yards of concrete and 7000 cubic tons of reinforcing steel bars went into its construction. The complex sits on a series of reinforced concrete grade beams tied to 150 concrete caissons as much as ten feet in diameter and to a depth of 80 feet. A steel space-frame canopy with glass skylights covers the outdoor plaza between the tower and low-rise building.

The tower has a composite structure. The exterior columns and beams are concrete encased steel wide flanges surrounded by reinforcing bars. The composite exterior frame was formed using hydraulic steel forms, or "flying forms," jacked into place with a "kangaroo" crane, that was located in the core and manually clamped into place. Wide flange beams topped by a metal deck and concrete form the interior floor framing. The core is A braced steel frame, designed to laterally resist wind loads. The construction of one typical floor was completed every five days.

The low-rise banking hall and parking building is a concrete-framed structure. Each floor consists of nearly an acre of continuously poured concrete. When the concrete had sufficiently hardened, compressed air was used to blow the forms fiberglass forms from under the completed floor. It was then rolled out to the exterior where it was raised by crane into position for the next floor.

The building was recognized as Miami's first and only office building to be certified for the LEED Gold award in January 2010.

The center was developed by a partnership consisting of Gerald D. Hines Interests, Southeast Bank and Corporate Property Investors for $180 million. It was originally built as the headquarters for Southeast Bank, which originally occupied 50 percent of the complex's space. It remained Southeast Bank's headquarters there until it was liquidated in 1991.

The Southeast Financial Center comprises two buildings: the 55-story office tower and the 15-story parking annex. The tower has 53 stories of office space. The first floor is dedicated for retail, the second floor is the lobby and the 55th floor was home to the luxurious Miami City Club. The parking annex has 12 floors of parking space for 1,150 cars. The first floor is dedicated for retail, the second floor is a banking hall and the 15th floor has the Downtown Athletic Club. A landscaped plaza lies between the office tower and the parking annex. An enclosed walkway connects the second story of the tower with the second story of the annex. The courtyard is partially protected from the elements by a steel and glass space frame canopy spanning the plaza and attached to the tower and annex. Southeast Bank's executive offices were located on the 38th floor. Ground was broken on the complex on December 12, 1981 and the official dedication and opening for the complex was held on October 23, 1984.

The Southeast Financial Center was designed by Edward Charles Bassett of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. The Associate Architect was Spillis Candela & Partners. It has 1,145,311 ft² (106,000 m²) of office space. A typical floor has about 22,000 ft² (2,043.87 m²) of office space. Each floor has 9 ft x 9 ft (2.7 m x 2.7 m) floor to ceiling windows. (All of the building's windows are tinted except for the top floor, resulting in strikingly bright and clear views from there.) The total complex has over 2.2 million ft² (204,000 m²). The distinctive setbacks begin at the 43rd floor. Each typical floor plate has 9 corner offices and the top twelve floors have as many as 16. There are 43 elevators in the office tower. An emergency control station provides computerized monitoring for the entire complex, and four generators for backup power.

The Southeast Financial Center can be seen as far away as Ft. Lauderdale and halfway toward Bimini. Night space shuttle launches from Cape Canaveral 200 miles to the north were plainly visible from the higher floors. The roof of the building was featured in the Wesley Snipes motion picture Drop Zone, where an eccentric base jumper named Swoop parachutes down to the street from a suspended window cleaning trolley. The building also appeared in several episodes of the 1980s TV show Miami Vice and at the end of each episode's opening credits.

Zara founder Amancio Ortega purchased the building from J.P. Morgan Asset Management in December 2016. The purchase price was reportedly over $500 million, making it one of the largest real estate transactions in South Florida history.

Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Financial_Center

www.emporis.com/buildings/122292/wachovia-financial-cente...

© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.

Well this morning I woke up at the crack of dawn again, but went back to bed as I discovered that the 1M16 Highland Caledonian Sleeper hadn't left Edinburgh when it was meant to be this side of the border. This is because the 1B01/1950 portion from Fort William had become very late around Airdrie, and eventually arrived into Edinburgh 119 late. Thus, the full 2045 (from Inverness) departure Inverness, Aberdeen & Fort William to London Euston departed 126 minutes down, and passed me at Charnock Richard (between Coppull and Euxton) at 0632, having made up some time and now running 108 late. Midnight Teal liveried 92023 led the working again, seen on 30/06/18.

"Amalfi is a town and commune in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto (1,315 metres, 4,314 feet), surrounded by dramatic cliffs and coastal scenery. The town of Amalfi was the capital of the maritime republic known as the Duchy of Amalfi, an important trading power in the Mediterranean between 839 and around 1200.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Amalfi was a popular holiday destination for the British upper class and aristocracy.

Amalfi is the main town of the coast on which it is located, named Costiera Amalfitana (Amalfi Coast), and is today an important tourist destination together with other towns on the same coast, such as Positano, Ravello and others. Amalfi is included in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

A patron saint of Amalfi is Saint Andrew, the Apostle, whose relics are kept here at Amalfi Cathedral (Cattedrale di Sant'Andrea/Duomo di Amalfi).

Amalfi held importance as a maritime power, trading grain from its neighbors, salt from Sardinia and slaves from the interior, and even timber, in exchange for the gold dinars minted in Egypt and Syria, in order to buy the Byzantine silks that it resold in the West. Grain-bearing Amalfi traders enjoyed privileged positions in the Islamic ports, Fernand Braudel notes. The Amalfi tables (Tavole Amalfitane) provided a maritime code that was widely used by the Christian port cities. Merchants of Amalfi were using gold coins to purchase land in the 9th century, while most of Italy worked in a barter economy. During the late 9th century, long-distance trade revived between Amalfi and Gaeta with Byzantine, the latter which benefited from a flourishing trade network with the Arabs.

An independent republic from the 7th century until 1073, Amalfi extracted itself from Byzantine vassalage in 839 and first elected a duke in 958; it rivaled Pisa and Genoa in its domestic prosperity and maritime importance before the rise of the Republic of Venice. In spite of some devastating setbacks it had a population of some 70,000 to 80,000 reaching a peak about the turn of the millennium, during the reign of Duke Manso (966–1004). Under his line of dukes, Amalfi remained independent, except for a brief period of Salernitan dependency under Guaimar IV.

In 1073, the republic fell to the Norman countship of Apulia, but was granted many rights. A prey to the Normans who encamped in the south of Italy, it became one of their principal posts. However, in 1131, it was reduced by Roger II of Sicily, who had been refused the keys to its citadel. The Holy Roman Emperor Lothair, fighting in favor of Pope Innocent II against Roger, who sided with the Antipope Anacletus, took him prisoner in 1133, assisted by forty-six Pisan ships. The Pisans, commercial rivals of the Amalfitani, sacked the city; Lothair claimed as part of the booty a copy of the Pandects of Justinian which was found there.

In 1135 and 1137, it was taken by the Pisans and rapidly declined in importance, though its maritime code, known as the Amalfian Laws, was recognized in the Mediterranean until 1570. A tsunami in 1343 destroyed the port and lower town, and Amalfi never recovered to anything more than local importance" (Wikipedia).

PLEASE, NO GRAPHICS, BADGES, OR AWARDS IN COMMENTS. They will be deleted.

The one time I don't bring my clippers and saw with me, I need them most. Lesson learned for next time. So yeah, this shot was shadowed in more than i thought it would be. But it's an alco, hauling coal, in 2016. Hopefully the Flickr crowd is forgiving of such sin on my part...

A quick 3 hour jaunt to the south and it's another day on the Beech Mountain. This time in extraordinarily nice weather.

Sadly, the group I was with missed the 1st and 2nd run of empties, and 1st cut of loads. Then we had to leave after the 2nd cut of loads came down! Talk about a disappointing day. (I did not drive).

Water levels are high and the river is really moving after recent heavy rains have combined with fresh snow melt off. Making any ideas of shooting in the river all but impossible. Despite all the setbacks I still managed 2 quality shots. Here the 115 climbs up the 3% grade to Star Bridge and across the high sub bridge.

Southeast Financial Center is a two-acre development in Miami, Florida, United States. It consists of a 764 feet (233 m) tall office skyscraper and its 15-story parking garage. It was previously known as the Southeast Financial Center (1984–1992), the First Union Financial Center (1992–2003), and the Wachovia Financial Center (2003-2011). In 2011, it retook its old name of Southeast Financial Center as Wachovia merged with Wells Fargo and moved to the nearby Wells Fargo Center.

When topped-off in August 1983, it was the tallest building south of New York City and east of the Mississippi River, taking away the same title from the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel, in Atlanta, Georgia. It remained the tallest building in the southeastern U.S. until 1987, when it was surpassed by One Atlantic Center in Atlanta and the tallest in Florida until October 1, 2003, when it was surpassed by the Four Seasons Hotel and Tower, also in Miami. It remains the tallest office tower in Florida and the third tallest building in Miami.

Southeast Financial Center was constructed in three years with more than 500 construction workers. Approximately 6,650 tons of structural steel, 80,000 cubic yards of concrete and 7000 cubic tons of reinforcing steel bars went into its construction. The complex sits on a series of reinforced concrete grade beams tied to 150 concrete caissons as much as ten feet in diameter and to a depth of 80 feet. A steel space-frame canopy with glass skylights covers the outdoor plaza between the tower and low-rise building.

The tower has a composite structure. The exterior columns and beams are concrete encased steel wide flanges surrounded by reinforcing bars. The composite exterior frame was formed using hydraulic steel forms, or "flying forms," jacked into place with a "kangaroo" crane, that was located in the core and manually clamped into place. Wide flange beams topped by a metal deck and concrete form the interior floor framing. The core is A braced steel frame, designed to laterally resist wind loads. The construction of one typical floor was completed every five days.

The low-rise banking hall and parking building is a concrete-framed structure. Each floor consists of nearly an acre of continuously poured concrete. When the concrete had sufficiently hardened, compressed air was used to blow the forms fiberglass forms from under the completed floor. It was then rolled out to the exterior where it was raised by crane into position for the next floor.

The building was recognized as Miami's first and only office building to be certified for the LEED Gold award in January 2010.

The center was developed by a partnership consisting of Gerald D. Hines Interests, Southeast Bank and Corporate Property Investors for $180 million. It was originally built as the headquarters for Southeast Bank, which originally occupied 50 percent of the complex's space. It remained Southeast Bank's headquarters there until it was liquidated in 1991.

The Southeast Financial Center comprises two buildings: the 55-story office tower and the 15-story parking annex. The tower has 53 stories of office space. The first floor is dedicated for retail, the second floor is the lobby and the 55th floor was home to the luxurious Miami City Club. The parking annex has 12 floors of parking space for 1,150 cars. The first floor is dedicated for retail, the second floor is a banking hall and the 15th floor has the Downtown Athletic Club. A landscaped plaza lies between the office tower and the parking annex. An enclosed walkway connects the second story of the tower with the second story of the annex. The courtyard is partially protected from the elements by a steel and glass space frame canopy spanning the plaza and attached to the tower and annex. Southeast Bank's executive offices were located on the 38th floor. Ground was broken on the complex on December 12, 1981 and the official dedication and opening for the complex was held on October 23, 1984.

The Southeast Financial Center was designed by Edward Charles Bassett of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. The Associate Architect was Spillis Candela & Partners. It has 1,145,311 ft² (106,000 m²) of office space. A typical floor has about 22,000 ft² (2,043.87 m²) of office space. Each floor has 9 ft x 9 ft (2.7 m x 2.7 m) floor to ceiling windows. (All of the building's windows are tinted except for the top floor, resulting in strikingly bright and clear views from there.) The total complex has over 2.2 million ft² (204,000 m²). The distinctive setbacks begin at the 43rd floor. Each typical floor plate has 9 corner offices and the top twelve floors have as many as 16. There are 43 elevators in the office tower. An emergency control station provides computerized monitoring for the entire complex, and four generators for backup power.

The Southeast Financial Center can be seen as far away as Ft. Lauderdale and halfway toward Bimini. Night space shuttle launches from Cape Canaveral 200 miles to the north were plainly visible from the higher floors. The roof of the building was featured in the Wesley Snipes motion picture Drop Zone, where an eccentric base jumper named Swoop parachutes down to the street from a suspended window cleaning trolley. The building also appeared in several episodes of the 1980s TV show Miami Vice and at the end of each episode's opening credits.

Zara founder Amancio Ortega purchased the building from J.P. Morgan Asset Management in December 2016. The purchase price was reportedly over $500 million, making it one of the largest real estate transactions in South Florida history.

Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Financial_Center

www.emporis.com/buildings/122292/wachovia-financial-cente...

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The Willis Building with Lloyds Building on the left and The Gherkin at the back.

See second image here - www.flickr.com/photos/simon__syon/22961320515

The Willis Building is a commercial skyscraper in London named after the primary tenant, Willis Group. It is located on Lime Street in the City of London financial district.

The building was designed by Norman Foster and developed by British Land. It stands opposite the Lloyd's building and is 125 metres (410 ft) tall, with 26 storeys. It features a "stepped" design, which was intended to resemble the shell of a crustacean, with setbacks rising at 97 m (318 ft) and 68 m (223 ft). In total, there are 475,000 square feet (44,128.9 m2) of office floor-space, most of which was pre-let to the insurance broker Willis.

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