Tintype.

There are three Ashfords, really. The modern newtown, Swindonesque newbuilds stretching into the countryside; the Victorian railway town, all neat rows of brick buit houses and the station, and then there is the old town, timber-framed houses along narrow lanes, with St Mary standing towering above all but the modern office blocks.

 

The west end church was given over to a Christmas Fayre, but is also used now as a concert venue, while under the tower westwards is still in use as a church, with many of its ancient features left alone by the Victorians.

 

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A stately church in a good position set away from the hustle and bustle of this cosmopolitan town. The very narrow tower of 1475 is not visually satisfactory when viewed from a distance but its odd proportions are hardly noticed when standing at its base. The church is very much the product of the families who have been associated with it over the centuries and who are commemorated by monuments within. They include the Fogges and the Smythes. The former is supposed to have wanted to create a college of priests here, but by the late fifteenth century such foundations were going out of fashion and the remodelling of the church undertaken by Sir John Fogge may have just been a philanthropic cause. Unusually, when the church was restored in 1860 the architect Ewan Christian kept the galleries (he usually swept them away), but Christ Church had yet to be built and the population of this growing town would have needed all the accommodation it could get. Even in 1851 1000 people had attended the church in a single sitting. The pulpit, designed by Pearson, was made in 1897.

 

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Ashford+1

 

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THE TOWN AND PARISH OF ASHFORD

LIES the next adjoining to Hothfield eastward. It is called in Domesday both Estefort and Essetesford, and in other antient records, Eshetisford, taking its name from the river, which runs close to it, which, Lambarde says, ought not to be called the Stour, till it has passed this town, but Eshe or Eschet, a name which has been for a great length of time wholly forgotten; this river being known, even from its first rise at Lenham hither, by the name of the Stour only.

 

A small part only of this parish, on the east, south and west sides of it, containing the borough of Henwood, alias Hewit, lying on the eastern or further side of the river from the town, part of which extends into the parish of Wilsborough, and the whole of it within the liberty of the manor of Wye, and the borough of Rudlow, which adjoins to Kingsnoth and Great Chart, are in this hundred of Chart and Longbridge; such part of the borough of Rudlow as lies adjoining to Kingsnoth, is said to lie in in jugo de Beavor, or the yoke of Beavor, and is divided from the town and liberty by the river, near a place called Pollbay; in which yoke there is both a hamlet and a green or common, of the name of Beavor; the remainder of the parish having been long separated from it, and made a distinct liberty, or jurisdiction of itself, having a constable of its own, and distinguished by the name of the liberty of the town of Ashford.

 

ASHFORD, at the time of taking the general survey of Domesday, was part of the possessions of Hugo de Montfort, who had accompanied the Conqueror hither, and was afterwards rewarded with this estate, among many others in different counties; in which record it is thus entered, under the general title of his lands:

 

¶Maigno holds of Hugo (de Montfort) Estefort. Turgisus held it of earl Godwin, and it is taxed at one suling. The arable land is half a carucate. There is nevertheless in demesne one carucate, and two villeins having one carucate. There are two servants, and eight acres of meadow. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, it was worth twenty five shillings; when he received it, twenty shillings; now thirty shilling.

 

The same Hugo holds Essela. Three tenants held it of king Edward, and could go whither they would with their lands. It was taxed at three yokes. The arable land is one carucate and an half. There are now four villeins, with two borderers having one carucate, and six acres of meadow. The whole, in the reign of king Edward the Confessor, was worth twenty shillings, and afterwards fifteen shillings, now twenty shillings.

 

Maigno held another Essetisford of the same Hugo. Wirelm held it of king Edward. It was taxed at one suling. The arable land is four carucates. In demesne there are two, and two villeins, with fifteen borderers having three carucates. There is a church, and a priest, and three servants, and two mills of ten shillings and two pence. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth seventy shillings, and afterwards sixty shillings, now one hundred shillings.

 

Robert de Montfort, grandson of Hugh abovementioned, favouring the title of Robert Curthose, in opposition to king Henry I. to avoid being called in question upon that account, obtained leave to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, leaving his possessions to the king; by which means this manor came into the hands of the crown. Soon after which it seems to have come into the possession of a family, who took their name from it. William de Asshetesford appears by the register of Horton priory to have been lord of it, and to have been succeeded by another of the same name. After which the family of Criol became owners of it, by whom it was held by knight's service of the king, in capite, by ward to Dover castle, and the repair of a tower in that castle, called the Ashford tower. (fn. 1) Simon de Criol, in the 27th and 28th year of Henry III. obtained a charter of free warren for this manor, whose son William de Criol passed it away to Roger de Leyborne, for Stocton, in Huntingdonshire, and Rumford, in Essex. William de Leyborne his son, in the 7th year of king Edward I. claimed and was allowed the privilege of a market here, before the justices itinerant. He died possessed of this manor in the 3d year of Edward II. leaving his grand-daughter Juliana, daughter of Thomas de Leyborne, who died in his father's life-time, heir both to her grandfather and father's possessions, from the greatness of which she was stiled the Infanta of Kent, (fn. 2) though thrice married, yet she died s. p. by either of her husbands, all of whom she survived, and died in the 41st year of Edward III. Upon which this manor, among the rest of her estates, escheated to the crown, and continued there till king Richard II. vested it, among others, in feoffees, for the performance of certain religious bequests by the will of king Edward III. then lately deceased; and they, in compliance with it, soon afterwards, with the king's licence, purchased this manor, with those of Wall, and Esture, of the crown, towards the endowment of St. Stephen's chapel, in the king's palace of Westminster, all which was confirmed by king Henry IV. and VI. and by king Edward IV. in their first years; the latter of whom, in his 7th year, granted to them a fair in this town yearly, on the feast of St. John Port Latin, together with all liberties, and to have a steward to hold the court of it, &c. In which situation they continued till the 1st year of Edward VI. when this collegiate chapel was, with all its possessions, surrendered into the king's hands, where these manors did not continue long; for that king, in his 3d year, granted the manor of Esshetford, with that of Wall, and the manor of Esture, to Sir Anthony Aucher, of Otterden, to hold in capite; and he, in the 2d and 3d of Philip and Mary, sold them to Sir Andrew Judde, of London, whose daughter and at length heir Alice, afterwards carried them in marriage to Thomas Smith, esq. of Westenhanger, commonly called the Customer, who died possessed of them in 1591, and lies buried in the south cross of this church, having had several sons and daughters, of, whom Sir John Smythe, of Ostenhanger, the eldest, succeeded him here, and was sheriff anno 42 Elizabeth. Sir Thomas Smith, the second son, was of Bidborough and Sutton at Hone, and ambassador to Russia, of whom and his descendants, notice has been taken in the former volumes of this history; (fn. 3) and Henry, the third son, was of Corsham, in Wiltshire, whence this family originally descended, and Sir Richard Smith, the fourth, was of Leeds castle. Sir John Smythe, above-mentioned, died in 1609, and lies buried in the same vault as his father in this church, leaving one son Sir Thomas Smythe, of Westenhanger, K. B. who was in 1628 created Viscount Strangford, of Ireland, whose grandson Philip, viscount Strangford, dying about 1709, Henry Roper, lord Teynham, who had married Catherine his eldest daughter, by his will, became possessed of the manors of Ashford, Wall, and Esture. By her, who died in 1711, he had two sons, Philip and Henry, successively lords Teynham; notwithstanding which, having the uncontrolled power in these manors vested in him, he, on his marriage with Anne, second daughter and coheir of Thomas Lennard, earl of Sussex, and widow of Richard Barrett Lennard, esq. afterwards baroness Dacre, settled them on her and her issue by him in tail male. He died in 1623, and left her surviving, and possessed of these manors for her life. She afterwards married the hon. Robert Moore, and died in 1755. She had by lord Teynham two sons, Charles and Richard-Henry, (fn. 4) Charles Roper, the eldest son, died in 1754 intestate, leaving two sons, Trevor-Charles and Henry, who on their mother's death became entitled to these manors, as coheirs in gavelkind, a recovery having been suffered of them, limiting them after her death to Charles Roper their father, in tail male; but being infants, and there being many incumbrances on these estates, a bill was exhibited in chancery, and an act procured anno 29 George II. for the sale of them; and accordingly these manors were sold, under the direction of that court, in 1765, to the Rev. Francis Hender Foote, of Bishopsborne, who in 1768 parted with the manor of Wall, alias Court at Wall, to John Toke, esq. of Great Chart, whose son Nicholas Roundell Toke, is the present possessor of it; but he died possessed of the manors of Ashford and Esture in 1773, and was succeeded in them by his eldest son John Foote, esq. now of Bishopsborne, the present owner of them. There are several copyhold lands held of the manor of Ashford. A court leet and court baron is regularly held for it.

 

THE TOWN OF ASHFORD stands most pleasant and healthy, on the knoll of a hill, of a gentle ascent on every side, the high road from Hythe to Maidstone passing through it, from which, in the middle of the town, the high road branches off through a pleasant country towards Canterbury. The houses are mostly modern and well-built, and the high-street, which has been lately new paved, is of considerable width. The markethouse stands in the centre of it, and the church and school on the south side of it, the beautiful tower of the former being a conspicuous object to the adjoining country. It is a small, but neat and chearful town, and many of the inhabitants of a genteel rank in life. Near the market place, is the house of the late Dr. Isaac Rutton, a physician of long and extensive practice in these parts, being the eldest son of Matthias Rutton, gent of this town, by Sarah his wife, daughter of Sir N. Toke, of Godinton. He died in 1792, bearing for his arms, Parted per fess, azure, and or, three unicorns heads, couped at the neck, counterchanged; since which, his eldest son, Isaac Rutton, esq. now of Ospringeplace, has sold this house to Mr. John Basil Duckworth, in whom it is now vested. In the midst of it is a large handsome house, built in 1759, by John Mascall, gent. who resided in it, and died possessed of it in 1769, and was buried in Boughton Aluph church, bearing for his arms, Barry of two, or, and azure, three inescutcheons, ermine; and his only son, Robert Mascall, esq. now of Ashford, who married the daughter of Jeremiah Curteis, esq. is the present owner, and resides in it. At the east end of the town is a seat, called Brooke-place, formerly possessed by the family of Woodward, who were always stiled, in antient deeds, gentlemen, and bore for their arms, Argent, a chevron, sable, between three grasshoppers, or; the last of them, Mr. John Woodward, gent. rebuilt this seat, and died possessed of it in 1757; of whose heirs it was purchased by Martha, widow of Moyle Breton, esq. of Kennington, whose two sons, the Rev. Moyle Breton, and Mr. Whitfield Breton, gent. alienated it to Josias Pattenson, esq. the second son of Mr. Josias Pattenson, of Biddenden, by Elizabeth, daughter and coheir of Felix Kadwell, esq. of Rolvenden; he married Mary, daughter of Mr. Henry Dering, gent. of this parish, and widow of Mr. John Mascall above-mentioned, by whom he has no issue, and he is the present owner of this seat, and resides in it. There have been barracks erected lately here, which at present contain 4000 soldiers. The market is held on a Saturday weekly, for the sale of corn, which is now but little used; and a market for the sale of all sorts of fat and lean stock on the first and third Tuesday in every month, which has been of great use to prevent monopolies. Two fairs are annually held now, by the alteration of the stile, on May 17, and Sept. 9, and another on Oct. 24; besides which, there is an annual fair for wool on August 2, not many years since instituted and encouraged by the principal gentry and landholders, which promises to prove of the greatest utility and benefit to the fair sale of it. That branch of the river Stour which rises at Lenham, runs along the southern part of this parish, and having turned a corn mill belonging to the lord of this manor, continues its course close at the east end of the town, where there is a stone bridge of four arches, repaired at the expence of the county, and so on northwards towards Wye and Canterbury. On the south side of the river in this parish, next to Kingsnoth, within the borough of Rudlow, is the yoke of Beavor, with the hamlet and farm of that name, possessed in very early times, as appears by the register of Horton priory, by a family of that name, one of whom, John Beavor, was possessed of it in the reign of Henry II. and was descended from one of the same furname, who attended the Conqueror in his expedition hither. The parish contains about 2000 acres of land, and three hundred and twenty houses, the whole rental of it being 4000l. per annum; the inhabitants are 2000, of which about one hundred are diffenters. The highways throughout it, which not many years ago were exceeding bad, have been by the unanimity of the inhabitants, which has shewn itself remarkable in all their public improvements, a rare instance in parochial undertakings, and by the great attention to the repairs of them, especially in such parts as were near their own houses, are now excellent. The lands round it are much upon a gravelly soil, though towards the east and south there are some rich fertile pastures, intermixed with arable land, and several plantations of hops; but toward the west, the soil is in general sand, having much quarrystone mixed with it, where there is a great deal of coppice wood, quite to Potter's corner, at the boundary of this parish.

 

The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is a large handsome building, consisting of three isles, with a transept, and three chancels, with the tower in the middle, which is losty and well proportioned, having four pinnacles at the top of it. There are eight bells in it, a set of chimes, and a clock. In the high chancel, on the north side, is the college John Fogge, the founder of the college here, who died in 1490, and his two wives, the brasses of their figures gone; but part of the inscription remains. And formerly, in Weever's time, there hung up in this chancel six atchievements, of those of this family whose burials had been attended by the heralds at arms, and with other ceremonies suitable to their degrees. Underneath the chancel is a large vault, full of the remains of the family. On the pavement in the middle, is a very antient curious gravestone, having on it the figure in brass of a woman, holding in her left hand a banner, with the arms of Ferrers, Six masctes, three and three, in pale; which, with a small part of the inscription round the edge, is all that is remaining; but there was formerly in brass, in her right hand, another banner, with the arms of Valoyns; over her head those of France and England quarterly; and under her feet a shield, being a cross, impaling three chevronels, the whole within a bordure, guttee de sang, and round the edge this inscription, Ici gift Elizabeth Comite D' athels la file sign de Ferrers . . . dieu asoil, qe morust le 22 jour d'octob. can de grace MCCCLXXV. Weever says, she was wife to David de Strabolgie, the fourth of that name, earl of Athol, in Scotland, and daughter of Henry, lord Ferrers, of Groby; and being secondly married to John Malmayns, of this county, died here in this town. Though by a pedigree of the family of Brograve, she is said to marry T. Fogge, esq. of Ashford; if so, he might perhaps have been her third husband. Near her is a memorial for William Whitfield, gent. obt. 1739. The north chancel belonged to Repton manor. In the vault underneath lay three of the family of Tuston, sometime since removed to Rainham, and it has been granted to the Husseys; Thomas Hussey, esq. of this town, died in 1779, and was buried in it. In the south chancel are memorials for the Pattensons, Whitfields, and Apsleys, of this place; and one for Henry Dering, gent. of Shelve, obt. 1752, and Hester his wife; arms, A saltier, a crescent for difference, impaling, on a chevron, between three persons, three crosses, formee; and another memorial for Thomasine, wife of John Handfield, obt. 1704. In the north cross are several antient stones, their brasses all gone, excepting a shield, with the arms of Fogge on one. At the end is a monument for John Norwood, gent. and Mary his wife, of this town, who lie with their children in the vault underneath. The south cross is parted off lengthways, for the family of Smith, lords of Ashford manor, who lie in a vault underneath. In it are three superb monuments, which, not many years since, were beautified and restored to their original state, by the late chief baron Smythe, a descendant of this family. One is for Thomas Smith, esq. of Westenhanger, in 1591; the second for Sir John Smythe, of Ostenhanger, his son, and Elizabeth his wife; and the third for Sir Richard Smyth, of Leeds castle, in 1628: all which have been already mentioned before. Their figures, at full length and proportion, are lying on, each of them, with their several coats of arms and quarterings blazoned. In the other part of this cross, is a memorial for Baptist Pigott, A. M. son of Baptist Pigott, of Dartford, and schoolmaster here, obt. 1657, and at the end of it, is the archbishop's consistory court. In the south isle is a memorial for Thomas Curteis, gent. obt. 1718, and Elizabeth his wife; arms, Curteis impaling Carter. Under the tower is one for Samuel Warren, vicar here forty-eight years, obt. 1720. The three isles were new pewed and handsomely paved in 1745. There are five galleries, and an handsome branch for candles in the middled isle; the whole kept in an excellent state of repair and neatness. There was formerly much curtious painted glass in the windows, particularly the figures of one of the family of Valoyns, his two wives and children, with their arms. In the south window of the cross isle, and in other windows, the figures, kneeling, of king Edward III. the black prince, Richard, duke of Gloucester, the lord Hastings. Sir William Haute, the lord Scales, Richard, earl Rivers, and the dutchess of Bedford his wife, Sir John Fogge, Sir John Peche, Richard Horne, Roger Manstone, and—Guildford, most of which were in the great west window, each habited in their surcoats of arms, not the least traces of which, or of any other coloured glass, are remaining throughout this church. Sir John Goldstone, parson of Ivechurch, as appears by his will in 1503, was buried in the choir of this church, and gave several costly ornaments and vestments for the use of it.

 

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol7/pp526-545

  

Visually distilling what a family get-together can look like, for me.

Canon 5D Classic + Canon EF 50mm F1.8 v1

Larger snowflakes are visually beautiful when you find them during an active snowfall. They appear almost like impossible creations falling on your sleeve or mitten. This is what one of those big and beautiful snowflakes looks like up close - view large!

 

You really need to zoom in on the center of this snowflake. The hexagonal center is covered in cavities (bubbles) that brighten up certain areas and reveal an inner snowflake pattern well before the branches of the snowflake ever formed. These patterns are common, but it’s less common to see such sprawling branches evolve from them. Usually a snowflake with these patterns falls to earth before big branches are allowed to form. Not this time!

 

The branches grew each beating to their own drum, but it’s clear to see that it was the same make and model of drum that they were using. None of the six branches are even remotely identical, but there are signs that they were affected by similar physics along the way. The atmospheric conditions can’t change too drastically from one tip of a snowflake to the other, which is why most snowflakes have similar growth patterns. The conditions do change slightly, and aerodynamics play a part, but most snowflake have a similar “feel” across their structure, like we see here.

 

There are a few instances of very similar growth, most noticeably at the tips of each branch. Here we see broad growth that forked new branches at exactly the same time on all angles. Nearer to the center, a large branching event happened that created the broad branches inside the structure. Remember this: these branches all started to grow at the same time. This means that the main branches were at different lengths when the branching event happened. You can use these markers to create a mental image of how the snowflake might have looked at various stages of its life.

 

The further away you get from the center, the less likely things stay balanced and symmetrical. This snowflake is a slight exception with similar branch tips, but symmetry is a hard thing to hold on to. Nothing ties together the growth of the branches of a snowflake, and nothing makes us think they are beautiful. Atmospheric physics and human perception are at work here in some remarkable ways, and I’m happy to keep sharing these images until the end of winter. :)

 

If you’d like to dive deeper into the world of snowflake science and photography, there’s a book for that: Sky Crystals: skycrystals.ca/book/ - 304pg hardcover that will change the way you think about winter!

 

I’ve edited MANY of these images. I still enjoy each one, but the body of work has grown so large that I have been able to compile all of my snowflake images into a single print titled “The Snowflake”: skycrystals.ca/poster/ - check it out to see what five years and 2500 hours of work can create!

© Visually Inspiring Photography

www.visuallyinspiringphotography.com

As visually 'hooked' as I am, color becomes one of the main ingredients in my metaphorical emotions, so a prism given by a friend, lights my hand with memories and beauty.

 

Visually impaired and disabled Veterans from across the United States participate in the 21st National Disabled Veterans TEE Tournament

Sight Project: Visually impaired dog owner

The Class 25/0 was visually identical to the 24/1, and the subsequent 25/2 differed only by virtue of the air horns incorporated either side of the cab-top route indicator boxes. No examples of Classes 24/1 or 25/0 survive in preservation and this digital representation is based on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway’s Class 25/1. Like the latter, it features electric train heating (ETH) jumpers that would not have been original features (but which would have been difficult to remove from the image). The 25/0 were fitted with steam heating boilers that were subsequently isolated; it is unlikely that any were ETH-fitted whilst in BR ownership. This example is depicted in plain green livery (no off-white band) with full yellow ends (17-Oct-21).

 

All rights reserved; not to be posted on Facebook or anywhere else without prior written permission. Please follow the link below for additional information about my work and the techniques used:

www.flickr.com/photos/northernblue109/6046035749/in/set-7...

Toute reproduction sur un support imprimé ou publication sur internet devra faire l'objet d'une demande expresse auprès du service communication de la Fédération Française Handisport.

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Toute utilisation ainsi autorisée devra mentionner le crédit photo (voir nom du fichier ci-dessus : “©…” ou métadonnées de la photo dans sa taille originale).

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Contact : photos [at] handisport.org

2014 Gore Aussie Muscle Mania Car Show (12-4-14)

 

The Ford XC Falcon is a car which was produced by Ford Australia between 1976 and 1979. It was a facelift of the XB Falcon, itself an upgrade of the XA Falcon which had entered production in 1972. XC Falcon in July 1976, this was the first model to comply with the new pollution regulations specified under Australian Design Rule 27A. The response to the 1st of July 1976, mandatory anti-pollution laws (ADR 27A), was to redevelop the Falcon six cylinder engines with a cross-flow head for greater efficiency.

 

Visually, the XC Falcon was given a restyle treatment, XC had an less aggressive nose which incorporated round headlight on the base model Falcon, twin round headlights on GS pack and Cobra models and with square headlights on both Fairmont and GXL models.Ford also addressed the vision problems of the XA and XB by going to great expense and redesigning the rear door windows and installing an all-new dash and installing higher front seats. It was the last model Falcon to use coke bottle styling and was replaced with the XD Falcon in 1979.

 

Total production of the XC range reached 171,082 vehicles prior to the replacement of the XC by the XD Falcon in March 1979.

(ref: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_XC_Falcon)

 

Ford Falcon XC

1976 - 1979:

 

Engine:

6 cyl. & V8

Capacity:

3.3 & 4.1 litre 6 cyl. / 4.9 & 5.8 litre V8

Power:

121 bhp (3.3 litre)

Transmission:

3/4 spd. man / 3 spd. auto

Top Speed:

217 km/h

Number Built:

171,082

Collectability:

2/5 stars (2 out of 5 stars)

 

Introduction:

 

More power and torque, better visibility, suspension refinements and simpler servicing heralded Ford's new clean, XC Falcon. The appearance changes reflected the basic necessities needed to identify a new model, but they certainly made it easier to separate XC from XB, than GM-H's changeover from HJ Holden to HX. Basically, of course, it was the same old Falcon - Ford was merely marking time until 1979 when its drastically revised and restyled XD hit the market.

 

The XC was built on the floor pan introduced in 1966 and was the third revision (like GM-H's HQ HJ HX line) since the XA Falcon was released. The special difference with this Falcon were the new six cylinder engines. The 200 and 250 CID (3.3 and 4.1 litres) were given a new crossflow head, which had bigger valves, revised cam timing, new manifolds and a substantial boost in power and torque.

 

ADR 27a:

 

The changes were of course brought about by the need to comply with emission regulation ADR 27a, but where many thought the engines would lose power because of the clean-up - Ford engineers managed to reverse this trend by producing even more output - a factor which gave FoMoCo a hefty push-along in the competitive race between its cars and the General's cleaner Holden range.

 

GM-H engineers had estimated power was down by about seven percent across the board, while vehicle weight was reduced by a mere nine kilograms. Ford meanwhile upped vehicle weight (in the Falcon 500 versions) by about 93 kg, while engine output for the 4.1 litres six went up by 9kW to 92kW @ 3700rpm. On all engines except the 3.3 litre six torque was increased substantially. On the 4.1 torque was upped by 8.5Nm.

 

Ford said the four year engine clean-up program (and associated other projects) cost an estimated 16 million. Ford justified the need for this expenditure by asserting that the medium car market had stabilised after a noticeable decline. At the time Ford’s Managing Director was Brian Inglis, and he claimed the company was looking to equal, or better, the success of the XB Falcon, of which more than 170,000 iterations were sold. Ford even revised the 1976 model line-up by dropping the GT and Futura. Big shoes to fill, and while the newly introduced Fairmont GXL was a very good car – it was never going to be a suitable replacement for the GT.

 

Ford had hoped the Fairmont GXL would appeal to the young, middle-management executive types. It was lavishly equipped and trimmed, and came with the 4.1 litre six as standard, with T-bar auto, sports suspension, slippery diff, four-wheel disc brakes and additional sound insulation. It was suitably pricey too – with a sticker price of around $7600 at launch. Generally prices on the XC only rose by about $190 on average - this being made up by natural price increases and about $100 for the 'emissionising' of the engines. The Falcon 500 went up about $180 and Fairmont by $230. The price increases, however, meant quite meaningful additions to the standard equipment levels of all cars, a point which Ford's Brian Inglis pushed hard when the XC was launched.

 

Styling Changes:

 

Inglis claimed Ford aimed to dominate the medium market by its 'value-for-money' approach to vehicle pricing. The 500 may have been around $130 dearer than the equivalent Kingswood HX, but equipment levels were higher – standard kit including bucket seats, heated rear screen, radial tyres and halogen headlamps. The refined look was achieved by reducing the slope of the grille and introducing large rectangular headlamps on some models. The bonnet line was softened and more substantial bumpers fitted. The coke bottle effect was reduced by altering the style line running through the rear doors.

 

The base model Falcon's retained the round headlights of their forebears, however the Fairmont was blessed with wonderfully elegant rectangular headlights. The rectangular headlights made the XC look cleaner and certainly more refined. With later models, Ford would black out much of the chrome work, giving the car a more menacing appearance. The upmarket models also gained far better seating, now affording better under-knee and lumbar support. For the well heeled, there were also electric windows and remote rear-view mirror.

 

One of the more popular models from the XC lineup was the Fairmont wagon, affording a huge luggage capacity and plenty of power on tap courtesy of the 4.1 litre six cylinder engine. The GS and Fairmont hardtop models remained, although they were rather more subdued than previous iterations. A new grille was used, and the Fairmont version also gained the handsome rectangular headlights. However the interior was rather more refined, and in being so lost a little of the sportiness one had come to expect from a hardtop.

 

Both models of the hardtop struggled to sell, and Ford introduced the limited edition Cobra as the last of the two door version, and to help them move the remaining 2 door coupe body shells. The Cobra would be the last of the performance Ford's for a time, and used the worldwide publicity gained by the success of Caroll Shelby for its inspiration. In all, 400 were built and individually numbered (that number coinciding with the number of two door body shells remaining). All Cobra's were painted with the same colour scheme, white with mid blue stripes and a cobra snake decal on the front fender. In addition, each Cobra had a numbered plaque to help with identification, something very important to collectors today.

 

In a move away from imperial measurement, the Ford range was now badged as 3.3, 4.1, 4.9 and 5.8 litre instead of the previously used cubic inch capacity. Strangely, Ford's second longest running model, the Futura, was dropped from the XC lineup. So, much more regrettably, was the GT (the GXL was "supposed" to be the replacement, but it would fail to capture the hearts and minds of the Ford enthusiasts). Mid way through the life of the XC, Ford made some radical improvements to the car's suspension to allow for radial tyres, and these models tend to be known as the 'XC and a half'.

 

The later XCs are easily identified by the introduction of the the classic Ford oval badge on the centre of the grille, its first use on an Australian Ford.

(ref: www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au/car_info_ford_falcon_xc.htm)

Bali is one of the few places on earth made visually stunning by its main economic activity. In no other locale of the island does this hold truer than in the Tabanan District of west Bali where the cascading rice terraces of Jatiluwih are the most striking feature of the agricultural landscape, claiming even slopes that look too formidable to be of any possible use.

 

Along with majestic Pekerisan River in Gianyar and the stately Taman Ayun Temple in Mengwi, Jatiluwih has been chosen as a new nominee as a World Heritage site. It’s a great honor for Bali to have its natural and cultural wonders included, as the sites will take their place right along side world-famous Borobudur, Prambanan, the Sangiran archaeological site, Ujung Kulon, Lorentz and Komodo national parks, and the tropical rainforests of Sumatra.

The achingly picturesque area of Jatiluwih actually comprises not only rice fields but also forests, lakes, springs, temples and a huge natural mountain reserve scattered over a wide area around the slopes Mount Batukaru, a sacred landscape whose boundaries are defined by a cluster of temples supported by traditional villages and farmlands administered by age-old subak organizations, the local water boards.

 

This site is among the most striking examples of terraced agriculture in the world and is arguably Bali’s oldest and most complex real-life model of the subak agricultural system which vividly reflects the intertwined, mutually beneficial relationship between the island’s traditional rice growing culture and its Bali Hindu spiritual belief system.

 

Bali’s terracing and irrigation practices are even more elaborate, sophisticated, and seasonably predictable than those on Java. Though beautiful rice field terraces also can also be found in Sumatra and Sulawesi, there is no irrigation organization in Indonesia comparable to Bali’s water conservation and distribution system. Only the 2000-year-old Ifugao rice terraces of the Philippines can hold a candle to Jatiluwih.

 

As it exemplifies such effective water usage over centuries, Bali’s famed environmentally friendly subak system itself is being considered for the World Heritage list. The effort to get the subak system listed to World Heritage status is especially urgent in the face of widespread diversion of agricultural lands. Over the past 20 years Bali lost more than 1,500 ha of precious rice fields to make way for the development of tourist resorts, restaurants, housing complexes, road construction and other commercial enterprises.

 

The Realm of Dewi Sri

Jatiluwih is one big sculpture. Because of the Tabanan area’s superb drainage pattern, the high volcanic ash content, and the island’s equable climate, conditions for traditional sawah cultivation exemplified by Jatiluwih’s terraces are perhaps the most ideal in all of Bali.

 

Rice growing is practiced as both an art and a science. Bali’s steep and narrow ravines, as typified especially in the western part of Jatiluwih, are not easy to dam. To remedy this problem, the area’s farmers have devised an ingenious system of hand-built aqueducts, small catchments, and underground canals to collect rainwater from Bali’s mountain lakes, spilling each farmer’s precious allotment of water onto tiers of paddy via thousands of tiny waterfalls.

 

Jatiluwih’s rice fields are irrigated by water that is sometimes channeled by tunnels through solid rock hillsides. Water needs high on the ridges often require tunnels two or three kilometers long. This complex irrigation system, continuously maintained, groomed, and plowed, has been developed over many centuries. The historical manuscript, the Bebetin, records that Balinese farmers have used the Subak system since at least 1071.

 

Some scholars have postulated that it is due to the expertise of Bali’s rice farmers that the Balinese have been able to support such a refined civilization with such a theatrical and colorful religion. The discipline required to share water and resources has created a remarkably cooperative way of life. Rugged individualists cannot exist in communities where every farmer is utterly dependent on the cooperation of his neighbors.

 

The word for rice (nasi), a staple of the Balinese diet, is the same word for “meal”. A Balinese cannot imagine a meal without rice. Specialized vocabularies deal with every aspect of rice farming, and a huge amount of time, energy, and money go into petitioning the gods so the rice farmer’s work may yield good results. Popping up everywhere in Jatiluwih’s rice terraces you see small temples dedicated to Dewi Sri, the beloved goddess of rice.

 

£10.95 at Notcutts Dukeries Garden Centre, Worksop, Nottinghamshire.

Small piece of fish in a fish shape, about 12 chips and the smallest pot of peas I've ever had. Good job I only wanted a light lunch.

Very poor value. Ive had better at almost half that price.

This visually stunning water tower at Finedon in Northamptonshire was built in 1904 & cost £1500. It is right beside the A6 & takes your breath away when it comes into view! The Victorians didn't do things by halves!

 

Tenuous Link: water tower

 

Connected (in the Connect group): six sided tower.

 

ABCs & 123s: 6 sides (hexagonal)

  

So, since having the realisation that I use my 365 as a chance to visually document one event of the day, it has made my mind a lot clearer on the approach to shooting.

This shot was slightly influenced by Lism

 

Today it rained in the morning, which was good because it finally got rid of the remnants of snow. Which meant for the first time in about 2 weeks I have been able to wear shoes other than my age-old cowboy boots.

Its not quite safe enough for heels yet, so I wore my flats. I bought these shoes in London in May. I love red shoes the best, however I have an uncanny ability to always chose the most inappropriate shoes for any occassion. If I am ever let down, it is through my choice of footwear. Wedges to do archery, yellow jellys on worn away steps (you can read about this here ) and none-grip wellies on sheet ice, I've been there.

I bought these because of another shoe-faux pas.

 

I went to London for a few days break and at the same time meet up with my friend Margaret. She was over from Canada, we met on Facebook and this was a good chance to meet in person.

The first night I hooked up with her, we were walking all around London and on the tube stations through rush hour until suddenly I couldn't walk another step. My wedges were now too painful to walk any further. Margaret has great style and came to the rescue! She took me to Office and showed me these shoes she had seen earlier in the week. I tried them on and bought them immediately- they are sooo comfortable!

 

So, I'll dedicate this photo to her, the Canadian lady with a vintage twist :)

 

Oh and I'm sick of wearing black. Somehow my brain goes on autopilot when its time to do a load of washing, and I manage to only do black washes. Which results in a funereal approach to style. So, I deliberately washed brights this week. And clashed with block colour tights. Lovely :).

A group of blind and visually impaired performers from Morocco, Togo, United Kingdom, and Switzerland performed during a cultural event on October 6, 2016 organized by WIPO and the Government of Morocco​. The cultural event also included an exhibition entitled "The Centenary of Industrial Property in Morocco."

 

The event was held on the sidelines of the WIPO Assemblies, which met in Geneva from October 3 to 11, 2016.

 

Copyright: WIPO. Photo: Violaine Martin. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 IGO License.

The lower register of the north aisle west window depicts the Judgement of Solomon. The upper register mainly contains supplementary details.

 

The west windows of the aisles were heavily damaged by the great storm of 1797 and until the recent restoration had many missing sections and areas composed of patched fragments. The restorers of the Barley Studios bravely reinstated the missing sections using as much original material and evidence as possible (a thorough examination of the fragments when disassembled yielded much information). The result has transformed the effect of these windows, visually completing the cycle of windows again for the first time since the storm damage of 1797.

 

St Mary's at Fairford is justly famous, not only as a most beautiful building architecturally but for the survival of its complete set of late medieval stained glass, a unique survival in an English parish church. No other church has resisted the waves of iconoclasm unleashed by the Reformation and the English Civil War like Fairford has, and as a result we can experience a pre-Reformation iconographic scheme in glass in its entirety. At most churches one is lucky to find mere fragments of the original glazing and even one complete window is an exceptional survival, thus a full set of 28 of them here in a more or less intact state makes Fairford church uniquely precious.

 

The exterior already promises great things, this is a handsome late 15th century building entirely rebuilt in Perpendicular style and dedicated in 1497. The benefactor was lord of the manor John Tame, a wealthy wool merchant whose son Edmund later continued the family's legacy in donating the glass. The central tower is adorned with much carving including strange figures guarding the corners and a rather archaic looking relief of Christ on the western side. The nave is crowned by a fine clerestorey whilst the aisles below form a gallery of large windows that seem to embrace the entire building without structural interruption aside from the south porch and the chancel projecting at the east end. All around are pinnacles, battlements and gargoyles, the effect is very rich and imposing for a village church.

 

One enters through the fan-vaulted porch and is initially met by subdued lighting within that takes a moment to adjust to but can immediately appreciate the elegant arcades and the rich glowing colours of the windows. The interior is spacious but the view east is interrupted by the tower whose panelled walls and arches frame only a glimpse of the chancel beyond. The glass was inserted between 1500-1517 and shows marked Renaissance influence, being the work of Flemish glaziers (based in Southwark) under the direction of the King's glazier Barnard Flower. The quality is thus of the highest available and suggests the Tame family had connections at court to secure such glaziers.

 

Entering the nave one is immediately confronted with the largest and most famous window in the church, the west window with its glorious Last Judgement, best known for its lurid depiction of the horrors of Hell with exotic demons dragging the damned to their doom. Sadly the three windows in the west wall suffered serious storm damage in 1703 and the Last Judgement suffered further during an 1860 restoration that copied rather than restored the glass in its upper half. The nave clerestories contain an intriguing scheme further emphasising the battle of Good versus Evil with a gallery of saintly figures on the south side balanced by a 'rogue's gallery' of persecutors of the faith on the darker north side, above which are fabulous demonic figures leering from the traceries.

 

The aisle windows form further arrays of figures in canopies with the Evangelists and prophets on the north side and the Apostles and Doctors of the Church on the south. The more narrative windows are mainly located in the eastern half of the church, starting in the north chapel with an Old Testament themed window followed by more on the life of Mary and infancy of Christ. The subject matter is usually confined to one light or a pair of them, so multiple scenes can be portrayed within a single window. The scheme continues in the east window of the chancel with its scenes of the Passion of Christ in the lower register culminating in his crucifixion above, while a smaller window to the south shows his entombment and the harrowing of Hell. The cycle continues in the south chapel where the east window shows scenes of Christ's resurrection and transfiguration whilst two further windows relate further incidents culminating in Pentecost. The final window in the sequence however is of course the Last Judgement at the west end.

 

The glass has been greatly valued and protected over the centuries from the ravages of history, being removed for protection during the Civil War and World War II. The windows underwent a complete conservation between 1988-2010 by the Barley Studio of York which bravely restored legibility to the windows by sensitive releading and recreating missing pieces with new work (previously these had been filled with plain glass which drew the eye and disturbed the balance of light). The most dramatic intervention was the re-ordering of the westernmost windows of the nave aisles which had been partially filled with jumbled fragments following the storm damage of 1703 but have now been returned to something closer to their original state.

 

It is important here not to neglect the church's other features since the glass dominates its reputation so much. The chancel also retains its original late medieval woodwork with a fine set of delicate screens dividing it from the chapels either side along with a lovely set of stalls with carved misericords. The tomb of the founder John Tame and his wife can be seen on the north side of the sanctuary with their brasses atop a tomb chest. Throughout the church a fine series of carved angel corbels supports the old oak roofs.

 

Fairford church is a national treasure and shouldn't be missed by anyone with a love of stained glass and medieval art. It is normally kept open for visitors and deserves more of them.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Mary%27s_Church,_Fairford

A visually striking & unmistakable moth that flies from June to August. Most frequently found in open woodland and scrub, but also found in gardens, orchards & parkland.

Trapped in my Suffolk garden - July 2014.

Visually distilling what a family get-together can look like, for me.

Canon 5D Classic + Canon EF 50mm F1.8 v1

Visually terrifying; the oil fields in Taft, CA as seen through these eyes of this photographer

Visually interesting cage with a fake crow .

Venus Transits, though not really visually impressive, are extremely rare astronomical events and not to be missed by any astronomy hobbyists. The transits normally occur every 100+ years, in pairs separated by 8 years.

 

The last two transits were in June 2004 and June 2012 and I witnessed both. Out of the pair, I took the 2012 one more seriously since it would be the last chance in my lifetime. Apart from me, 5 other Malaysian hobbyists took it equally seriously. We travelled all the way down southern to the state of Northern Territory in Australia for best weather, though the event was perfectly visible from Peninsula Malaysia.

 

The weather god was very kind to us five crazy buggers. We were blessed with crystal clear sky throughout the 6-hour-long transit. We documented the entire show in both white light and H-alpha, stills and time lapses. The H-alpha image posted here is my collaborative work with @William Chin. The sun was a little bit more active compared to June 2004, with some decent sunspots and prominences showing up.

 

To be honest, watching the transit gets kind of boring after the 1st and 2nd contacts finish. You basically sits there under harsh sunlight for hours, simply waiting for the last contacts. However, you do get some fun if you prepare a big piece of solar film and cover your entire face. By doing this, you see nothing but the sun, dotted with the tiny silhouette of Venus, in your view. You get a feeling you are floating in empty space, and you really can get a sense of how far away the two objects are and how orbital positioning plays a part in such celestial alignments.

 

Don't forget to mention this trick to your grandchildren, so that they won't get too bored watching the next Venus Transit in 2117 : )

therefractedlight.blogspot.com

Marilyn Rushton, a well-known Burnaby citizen, is awarded with the province’s newest honour, the Medal of Good Citizenship.

 

Rushton is honoured for her for inspirational life of service to the visually impaired community, her contributions to families with blind and visually impaired children, and her energetic support for the musical community.

 

Learn more: news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2016IGR0025-001407

Visually, a bona fide steel boot kick in the ass. I love great geometry in architecture, nature, photography and especially in design. 32 inches wide x 18 inches dep x 30 inches tall.

Best Large-A visually stunning sight as night begins to fall is the Canadian tower overlooking the misting Niagara Falls. The tower itself has an eerie outline to it and the colors of sunset add to the dramatics, here in a textured background.

 

Standing on the Precipice (JHWatkins)

 

Standing on the precipice-

balanced at junctions,

space and time-

there are no excuses here

no explanations or rhymes.

 

Locked in lavish rhythm

far beyond the brink-

hid from help or rescue-

on jagged edge distinct.

 

Weighty voices-

tomorrows bearing-

form forces by the day...

Wound tight

in folds of failure-

by faltering historic foray.

 

Naked standing truth-

whirl winded and filleted-

open now -

body bleeding-

clean by choice-

ruthless rights parlayed.

 

Ring round the

restless righteous-

tormented tongues

twisted and advanced.

Weapons trained-

fitting filled-

hopelessness entranced.

 

New toys

for large little boys-

clicking clocks

in finest fashion.

Positioned perspective-

poisoned possessive power-

from places unimagined.

 

Whining women-

worn-out white wheezers-

talking days on end-

endless hours

of wasted words-

useless air-

precious spent.

 

Children torn

apart at seams-

families drugged

and drenched...

Callous toned

nightmares

running wild-

seeds scattered

in the wind.

 

Lost by generation's

darkened doubt-

aflame

the fearless world-

tossed aside by

hellish schemes-

now rampant-

flags unfurled.

 

Gone the green

and yearning years-

foundations

fairly laid-

of priceless pearl

in wisdom grown,

crown jewelry

on parade.

 

But new

the turning earth begins-

choice

once again delayed.

Come cold and calm

courageous men-

run boldly

to your fate.

 

And stand in

earnest errand bare,

an era

at the end-

now bind yourselves

betrothed and braced-

to finish

without fear. (James watkins 2004)

  

The most visually striking item on the menu this past Saturday was veggie kebabs. My girlfriend Leslie Anne said she was fixing salmon and green beans for the grill, so I decided not to repeat the asparagus from the weekend before. Eggplant and tomatoes for the grill was an option, but I decided to experiment with veggie kebabs.

 

My new HEB Grocery store had pre-packaged kebabs with three skewers of mushroom, red and green bell peppers, yellow and zucchini squash, and red onion. With the cutting already done, all I had to do was add olive oil and Montreal Steak Seasoning. Although they grilled just fine, the problem was geometry. Getting enough oil and spices on all the veggies of three skewers was a problem as was cooking them in this colorful manner.

 

Next time I'll pull out the skewers before dumping the veggies into the plastic bag with oil and spices. That will save me a lot of oil and spices that went to waste. The veggies also cook at different rates. Onion and bell peppers take the most time and should be skewered together. Squash takes an intermediate amount of time on the grill. Mushrooms cook very quickly and should go on last along with some tomato slices that weren't included in the assortment shown here.

 

I've eaten grilled veggie kebabs before cooked by others, but this was my first attempt. You can also see cornbread, grilled salmon, and grilled green beans. The grilled salmon always works out fine, but the grilled green beans were the best ever. More about those items and my new dress later..

The Peacock chair was inspired by a traditional Windsor chair. Wegner exaggerated the arched back, creating a high backed, yet airy chair. The back spindles are flattened in the approximate area of a person's shoulder blades, the visual result of which evokes a birds tail plumage

Visually similar to London Country's ill starred RC class was my personal favourite in the Pooles Coachways fleet, DRF 133E. Unlike the RC's in mechanical specification, it was powered by AEC's 590 cu in engine with six speed manual gearbox and rode on leaf leaf springs rather than air bags. Bought new in 1967, the bus survived to the end of operations with the Poole family and passed to the Mc Cready group who acquired the business. Withdrawal came shortly afterwards and after a degree of procrastination I narrowly missed buying it, finding it to have been scrapped the week before I tentatively inquired. The Willowbrook (Duple Midland) bodied Reliance was to be Poole's last new AEC. It's seen here on a winter Saturday afternoon outside their Alsagers Bank premises.

.

WHEN I WENT TO DC-8 SCHOOL at the ABX Training facility in Wilmington, Ohio, the DC-8 pilot-trainer there showed us, on a visually open version of the DC-8 ground spoiler mechanism—the new in-flight prevention device retrofitted into the ground spoiler mechanism.

  

Far too late to save Flight 621.

  

But finally, there it was—and it looked to be such a simple mod.

  

People had to die because DC-8s lacked this until 1973?

  

A $500 retrofit from Douglas Aircraft or rather, after the 1968 merger, McDonnell-Douglas DC-8s? Really?

  

The ground spoiler problem was known for years before the 621 air disaster—this couldn’t have been fixed before?

  

So, finally, in 1973, another catastrophic crash of a “Stretch” DC-8-61 (Loftleidor - Icelandic airline) occurred at JFK, and the NTSB (National Transport and Safety Board ) hammer came down.

  

The DC-8 ground spoiler mechanism would finally be changed in two ways.

  

First, a protective assembly was required that would NOT allow the ground spoilers to extend, accidentally during flight. Second, the system had to stop the ground spoilers from being deployed manually during flight, by an overriding decision of the flight crew.

  

Sadly, again, too late to save Flight 621.

  

There were other factors in the crash. Erroneous FAA approved Douglas DC-8 Operation Manuals and just as erroneous Air Canada DC-8 Flying Manuals - all DC-8 types for starters.

  

The manuals stated the ground spoilers couldn’t be deployed in flight. Soon every DC-8 pilot flying, and the whole aviation industry knew they could. That was as unbelievable, as it was unsafe. There were several documented instances (various airlines) where the ground spoilers had done just that—extended. Accidentally, or by manual deployment of the flight crew. Either way, it was just bad, bad, design. And in the case of Flight 621 — lethal.

  

These DC-8 pilots and co-pilots were just trying to deal with an unsafe and unpredictable ground spoiler system. Spoilers do just that, they spoil the ability of an airplane to stay in the air. And they are the only thing that keeps an airplane on the ground during landing. Because, as former TCA pilot Harry Bell (deceased) told me, “an airplane loves to fly.”

  

Pilots everywhere were afraid of the DC-8’s ground spoilers.

  

Once armed, these spoilers could proceed to the next stage, extension, and do so unexpectedly. An electrical surge or even a pilot thinking he had only armed the spoilers sometimes discovered he had, in fact, extended the spoilers in flight! Usually, at about 2000 feet, roughly around the same time one had dropped the 8’s landing gear, so no harm done. Still, it shouldn’t have happened. or been possible. That was unnerving.

  

DC-8 pilots, worldwide, had come up with work-around solutions to remove the danger the spoiler system posed to their flying machines.

  

Captain Peter Hamilton and Captain Don Rowland had their own different work-arounds. Who was flying as captain for that flight got to use his “system” and the other, the sitting co-pilot (first officer), would co-operate.

  

On Flight 621 that’s where their competing systems got into trouble. After laughing off an argument, Hamilton and Rowland went with Rowland’s spoiler deployment system, even though he was the co-pilot on the 621 flight. At 60 feet above the ground, Rowland went to arm the spoilers, but instead skipped that step…and pulled the spoiler aft, extending the DC-8’s spoilers immediately. Flight 621 hit the runway with incredible force.

  

One thing, here, why did Don extend the spoilers, instead of just arming the spoilers?

 

Douglas Aircraft redesigned the ground spoiler lever on the new “Stretch” DC-8s. The older smaller DC-8s had a spoiler lever that resisted movement. One "wrestled" it into the armed position, so to speak. A movement in the moment one isn't likely to forget.

 

On the new, bigger DC-8s, it took very little effort to arm or deploy the spoilers. I’m guessing, but I think it just slipped Don’s mind (the process execution), as he was likely still distracted from his "soft spoiler argument" with Peter Hamilton who was “tired of fighting it”. Don was attending to other details during the very regimented, and labour intensive, DC-8 landing sequence.

  

Since the Air Canada DC-8 fleet comprised roughly 50/50 new, bigger…with 50% older, smaller DC-8s, and each group's airplane with different spoiler lever tension. Switching from one type of DC-8 to another might pose a transference problem for some in a crisis, or worse…in a moment of habitual repetition. Folks, we’ll never know.

  

Had Flight 621 crashed right at the airport because of the now famous spoiler error, the pilot and co-pilot might have been mostly at fault for the crash.

  

But, when the Air Canada DC-8-63 hit the runway, it lost an engine as it tore away from the starboard wing. Critical electrical and fuel lines were severed…which immediately resulted in a wing fire! Add to that, there was now a ten foot gaggle of loose sparking and arcing wiring hanging from the DC-8’s damaged wing. Now—with all these problems in tow, Flight 621 was airborne again.

  

Folks, the wing fire NEVER should have happened.

  

Never, never, never…

  

DC-8 engines were designed with exploding separation bolts!

 

In the event of unexpected engine stress, or if a DC-8 engine snagged something immovable, like, let’s say a runway—exploding engine bolts would ensure the engine would shear off cleanly—and not take volatile fuel lines and sparking wiring along with the departing engine. No harm, no foul.

  

But, clearly these exploding separation bolts failed on Flight 621's DC-8 and a deadly wing fire DID result.

  

Another faulty Douglas Aircraft design error. I repeat, the separation bolts failed to do what they were actually designed to do.

  

This ghastly wing fire meant the DC-8 was now on borrowed time.

  

From the Flight 621 air disaster timeline, we learned that “borrowed” time was roughly about three minutes, and distance-wise 8 miles or 14 kms of flight time. The time and distance Flight 621 travelled from Toronto airport (YYZ) to where it crashed in Castlemore, ON.

  

It’s hard to believe, but on top of all this—Douglas had yet another design flaw built into the DC-8 that led to Flight 621’s crash!

 

I'm not kidding. I'm not exaggerating. Analog gauges in the cockpit!

  

That’s why the flight crew—Captain Peter Hamilton, First Officer Don Rowland, and Second Officer Peter Hill had a hard time getting a grasp on what was ACTUALLY happening to their DC-8! When power is cut to analog gauges, they “freeze”. So your airplane could be bleeding fuel…but since the fuel gauge has no power now, (wing tear and damaging engine separation) the cockpit gauge IS still registering "FULL". Same with oil gauges, hydraulic gauges, etc.

  

Remember, people…these guys have only three minutes, three lousy minutes, to pilot their large, and now compromised DC-8 to safety.

  

They won’t make it.

 

Partly because gads of time was just eaten up—trying to figure what the hell was going on with their DC-8…all along being fed "false positives" by misleading cockpit gauges.

  

Soon enough the wing fire will eat through the right wing. The second engine will fall off, the wing will split with one portion falling on the Wilbur Duncan* property, and the second portion falling on the Parr Farm acreage across the road. The struggling DC-8 will finally crash past the Parr property, and near to the Burgsma residence in Castlemore.

  

But in spite of all these converging Douglas Aircraft design flaws, and spoiler deployment errors by the air crew, Flight 621, could have been saved.

  

And we can turn to a more recent crash, the Concorde crash, to understand the failure that was the final undoing for Flight 621.

  

The 1970 Inquiry Report gave a “pass” to one group who featured prominently in the crash.

  

The Tower. Or ATC (Air Traffic Control) in modern parlance.

  

And in many folk’s opinions, their actions or lack there of, sealed the fate of Flight 621.

  

On page 29, we have this ridiculous Inquiry quote,

  

“In sum, there was nothing Mr. ——— (The Tower) could have done which would have assisted the air crew in ANY WAY in accomplishing remedial action after the initial touch down of this aircraft on Runway 32.”

  

And then again, on page 105 of the Inquiry,

  

(xxxii) “There was nothing that any personnel in the airport control tower (ATC) at Toronto International Airport did which caused this catastrophic result, nor is there anything that any of them could have done either before or after the initial touchdown of this aircraft to have avoided it.”

  

Nope. Wrong.

  

I strongly disagree with the Inquiry pandering to, and its’ excusing of air traffic control (The Tower) .

 

I can only think that somewhere in the background equation there was some sort of vested interest happening, an attempt to deflect from someone incurring a bigger portion of the liability pie? But, who knows for sure?

 

However, as soon as I read the page 29 quote, coming so early in the report, and before any real information about the crash had been relayed, alarm bells immediately went off in my head.

  

So, to get to the truth of the Flight 621 crash, let’s look at the 2003 Concorde crash…to learn what should be known about the 621 crash, shall we?

  

Like Flight 621’s DC-8, when Air France’s Flight 4590 Concorde departed the runway at Rossy-Charles de Gaulle Airport on take-off…its wing was on fire.

  

Watch what happens next.

 

De Gaulle Airport Air Traffic Control then warned the Air France Concorde pilot, Christian Marty, with this ominous observational statement:

  

“CONCORDE ZERO 4590, you have flames … STRONG FLAMES… you have flames behind you.”

  

Did Air France Captain Marty ignore this new input of information?

  

No. Captain Marty rapidly changed the course of his Concorde, aiming to immediately land at nearby Le Bourget Airport. He did not just ignore the fire and continue on to New York.

  

Unfortunately, we all know his Concorde also didn’t make it – the initial wound to the Concorde being far more lethal than the initial wound to Flight 621’s DC-8.

  

The Concorde only travelled a couple miles before crashing…while Flight 621’s DC-8 got eight miles away from the airport, with a full three minutes of flight time under its belt. Plenty of time to re-land.

  

The Tower should have just told Flight 621 that their DC-8 was billowing black smoke!

  

Why would you withhold such critical information that clearly was well beyond normal, EXPECTED, flying perimeters?! Tell the pilot what you were seeing (billowing smoke). That’s all it would have taken to save Flight 621.

  

The Air Canada Viscount (Flight 254) immediately following Flight 621 certainly mentioned the fire to air traffic control!

  

He told the tower, right away, directly!

  

I repeat why did “The Tower” hold back this critical information?

 

They did tell Captain Peter Hamilton he couldn’t re-land on Runway 32 because of debris on the runway!

 

The runway Peter just left. The failed to tell Peter that NEW runway debris was from his Air Canada DC-8!

 

Yes, the Tower was that remiss!

 

The Tower THEN gave Peter the option of swinging over to Runway 5. But Hamilton had no need to because he trustingly stated, “I think we’re alright." He only thought his DC-8 was alright because he didn’t know his wing was on fire! Something ATC could see quite clearly.

  

I talked to several DC-8 pilots who stated they could have landed the ailing Air Canada DC-8 within the seven mile, and three minute parameters. One pilot said he could have landed Flight 621’s DC-8 within a five mile flight route! All pilots believed they would have had plenty of time to save Flight 621 completely.

  

If ATC hadn’t been remiss, if Captain Peter Hamilton had been updated—as to the ailing status of his airplane—it was on fire—Flight 621 never would have crashed.

 

Observation of incoming/outgoing aircraft and status reporting to pilots—is the responsibility of air traffic control. That’s why controllers are high up, in a tower. A building with 360 degree windows all around its’ structure! So designed in order to see everything happening in the air and on the runways at the airport.

  

Had the Tower not been remiss on that ill-fated Sunday morning of July 5, 1970 and like De Gaulle Airport Air Traffic Control…had just done their duty and told the pilot his wing was on fire, this likely would have been Captain Hamilton’s response,

  

“Roger, understood! Pan-pan! Pan-pan! Pan-pan! All stations! All stations! All stations! Air Canada 6-2-1 swinging around immediately for an emergency landing on 05R. WING FIRE! Roll all emergency response vehicles! We will try to bring everyone in safely!”

  

And Air Canada Flight 621 would have landed with minimal loss, PROBABLY NOT any.

  

So sad—that with this accident, and so many other things in life—there are no do-overs ~

  

ADDENDUM

  

“Maybe, Peter Hamilton would have still flown the long 27 mile go-around circuit anyway, even if he knew his DC-8 wing was on fire?

  

No, he wouldn’t.

  

Peter Hamilton was WWII Halifax bomber pilot who got shot down over Germany. He bailed out from his bomber because it was on fire, and out of control. He knew how little time one had, when one’s airplane was on fire. Since one can’t “bail out” from a DC-8, the only other option is to land. And quickly. Peter would have swung around to Runway 5R which would have been the fastest way to land.

  

“But everyone seems to blame the pilots for the crash.”

  

Ignorance. And because of First Officer Don Rowland’s famous grief quotation,

 

“Sorry, oh sorry, Pete” was a sorrowful apology for extending the ground spoilers, accidentally, at 60 feet above the runway.

 

This oft quoted remark that forces one to commiserate with his plight, and that of those who perished on Flight 621 clouds the sombre fact, that actually, the crash wasn’t really his fault! Ground spoilers NEVER should have been able to have been deployed in flight! Show me a Boeing, a De Havilland Canada, or Airbus aircraft that allowed you to instantly crash a plane by deploying its ground spoilers ACCIDENTALLY, or MANUALLY while in flight. You can’t—because those other aircraft manufacturers had mastered the basics.

  

The DC-8 had serious design flaws, each one activated on its own could have led to a catastrophic accident. The fact that ALL of these design flaws came into play on Flight 621 and contributed to the crash, at varying degrees, can only leave one speechless.

  

“Maybe the Tower didn’t see what was happening to Flight 621?”

  

Sorry, I know the “official” Inquiry alluded to that, but I don’t buy it. When I had my Flight 621 crash site up, hosted at Apple Computer 2004/5/6 I had a retired air traffic controller residing in Australia see my site and contact me. He stated he was there in the Tower, that day. He was quietly reading the Globe and Mail when Flight 621 flew by—billowing black smoke that continued right out to the plane crash in Castlemore.

  

Unsure, if this guy was just finishing, just starting, or on break, but he was in the Tower and he saw the ailing DC-8.

 

Air Canada Flight 254 called the Tower to inform them, from their vantage point, due in to land right after 621 (flying 2.5 miles right behind 621) that Flight 621’s DC-8 wing was on fire.

 

You mean to suggest to me that the controller actually assigned to guide/watch Flight 621 during landing…didn’t see all this—and even more?! Get outta’ here.

  

“Can you give us a brief summary of the causes of the Flight 621 crash?”

  

Failure prone McDonnell-Douglas DC-8 spoiler deployment system. This system allowed the ground spoilers to be extended in flight manually, or even unexpectedly, from the armed position.

  

Erroneous McDonnell-Douglas DC-8 manuals misled airline operators about spoiler operation and inherent safety.

  

Air Canada in-house DC-8 manuals deviated from the manufacturer's guidelines.

  

Engine shear separation bolts failed to separate cleanly as per safety design which caused a right wing tear, and immediate wing fire upon engine separation.

  

Analog flight gauges.

  

Air Traffic Control failed to inform the pilots that their aircraft had caught fire after Flight 621’s failed attempt to land. Accident was entirely recoverable had pilots been informed of the status of their aircraft, immediately, on the overshoot.

  

Co-pilot made attempt to arm spoilers—but accidentally pulled the lever back extending the spoilers in flight. This initial action carried little weight in comparison to previously mentioned contributing and compounding factors.

.

 

ADD A CONDOLENCE to the FLIGHT 621 FAMILIES, or a LOVED ONE from FLIGHT 621, or a MEMORY of a PERSONAL EVENT related to the crash…at the City of Brampton's permanent Flight 621 site…SEE: www.brampton.ca/EN/City-Hall/Protocol-Office/Brampton-Rem...

  

PRAY FOR THE REPOSE OF THE SOULS for the passengers and crew of Flight 621:

 

Adams, Celine Fradette

Adams, Pierre J

Beaudin, Gaetan

Belanger, Mrs.

Belanger, Jacques

Belanger, Jean

Belanger, Roland

Belanger, Rosanne

Benson, Helen

Benson, Leonard

Benson, Mary

Benson, Richard

Bertrand, Ginette

Boosamra, Lynn

Boulanger, Guy

Bradshaw, Dollie

Cedilot, Robert J

Chapdeleine, Jeannine

Chapdeleine, Joanne

Chapdeleine, Mario

Charent, Jean Maurice

Clarke, Devona Olivia

Cote, Francine

Daoust, Yolande

Desmarais, Brigitte

Desmarais, G

Dicaire, Alice (Marie)

Dicaire, Gilles

Dicaire, Linda

Dicaire, Luke

Dicaire, Mark

Dion, Suzanne

Dore, Jacqueline

Earle, Lewella

Earle, Linda

Filippone, Francesco

Filippone, Linda

Filippone, Marie

Gee, Bernard

Goulet, Denise M

Grenier, Madeleine

Growse, Diana Cicely

Growse, Jane

Growse, Roger

Hamilton, Karen E

Hamilton, Peter Cameron

Herrmann, Ronald Alvin

Hill, Harry Gordon

Holiday, Claude

Houston, Irene Margaret

Houston, Wesley

Jakobsen, Vagn Aage

Labonte, Gilles

Leclaire, Marie Rose

Leclaire, Oscar

Leduc, Henri W

Lepage, Claudette

Mailhiot, Claire Gagnon

Mailhiot, Gerald Bernard

Maitz, Gustave

Maitz, Karoline

McKettrick, Winnifred

McTague, John

Medizza, Carla

Mohammed, Dolly

Molino, Antonio

Molino, Michael (Michel)

Moore, Frederick T

Partridge, Andrea

Partridge, Carnie (Carnis) Ann

Partridge, Cyril Wayne

Phillips, Kenneth William

Poirier, Rita

Raymond, Gilles

Raymond, Martial

Robert, Aline

Robert, Georges E

Robidoux, Lionel

Rowland, Donald

Silverberg, Marci

Silverberg, Merle

Silverberg, Steven

Simon, Istvan

Simon, Mark

Smith, Dwight Lee

St. Laurent, Blanche

Stepping, Glenn Thomas

Sultan, Celia

Sultan, Jerald. M

Sultan, Robert. L

Szpakowicz, Borys

Szpakowicz, Serge

Tielens, Carmen

Tielens, Frederick

Tournovits, George

Tournovits, Soula (Athanasia)

Weinberg, Carla

Weinberg, Rita

Weinberg, Wendy

Whittingham, Jennifer

Whittingham, John

Whittingham, Reginald

Whybro, Mary Baker

Wieczorek, Hildegund

Witmer, Edgar

Wong, Ngar-Quon

Wong, Suzie

Wong, Wong (Mansing)

Woodward, Dallas J

  

©2020-LPR CARDIN II - Special Projects In Research

  

* The former Wilbur Duncan property became part of the Flight 621 crash arena…when part of the Air Canada's DC-8's wing separated from the aircraft…and crashed into the house and backyard of the Duncan residence.

 

Sadly, on August 11, 2020, a 72 year-old man drowned in Castlemore (Brampton) in the backyard pond at the former Duncan residence, just a few feet away from the resting spot of the shorn DC-8 wing.

 

In the CP24 aerial video, the spot where the Air Canada DC-8 wing came to rest can be seen, and was the grassy area between the pond and the larger part of the house.

 

SEE:https://www.cp24.com/news/man-dead-following-reported-drowning-at-pond-in-brampton-paramedics-1.5059935

 

Quite a visually striking item this, from British Railways Western Region, in 1964 - just about the time the rebranding into the more corporate British Rail took place. The red draws the eye - although the spilling of the green typeface across the logo could have been handled better! I like the pun - "the going is best" by train!

Converted grain silo north of Aarhus:

 

Many towns in Denmark have centrally located industrial silos; most are no longer in use, but continue to visually dominate the local skyline. This is also the case in the town of Løgten north of Aarhus, where the former silo complex has been transformed into a 'rural high-rise', with 21 high-quality residences composed as individual and unique 'stacked villas'.

 

They are an alternative to standard apartments or to detached suburban sprawl, and are a mix of single storey flats and maisonettes, meaning that even the lower levels fully get to enjoy the views, and that no two flats are the same.

 

The actual silo contains staircases and lifts, and provides the base of a common roof terrace. Around the tower, the apartments are built up upon a steel structure in eye-catching forms which protrude out into the light and the landscape – a bit like Lego bricks.

 

This unusual structure with its protrusions and displacements provides all of the apartments with generous outdoor spaces, and views of Aarhus Bay and the city itself. Similarly, every apartment enjoys sunlight in the morning, mid-day and evening, whether placed to the north or south of the silo structure.

 

At the foot of the silo, a new ‘village centre’ is created, with a public space surrounded by a mix-use complex with shops, supermarket and terraced housing, and a green park containing small allotments for the residents.

 

The nature of the silo’s ‘rural high-rise’ remains unique – since it is a conversion, no other building in the area can be built to the same height, and it will remain a free-standing landmark. It is an example of how the transformation of redundant structures can hold the potential to both give a new identity, and introduce density to suburban outskirts.

 

The body of the silo is deliberately left visible on the side of the building facing the new centre, to ensure a continued legibility of the history of the site, and to acknowledge that these types of structures have an equal validity as rural historical markers as do for instance the church bell-tower or historic windmills.

  

www.cfmoller.com/p/Siloetten-i2029.html

 

(It was never my intention to turn this photostream into a showcase of my own architectural work, but I couldn't resist putting up a few of these)

I lost my like of Pretty.

Budgets - Personal Finance Manager to track your spending money visually

 

subkernel.com/budgets/

itunes.apple.com/us/app/budgets-personal-finance-manager/...

 

Budgets is a powerful personal finance app that helps to track your expenses in a simple and elegant way. It tells you how much you can spend each day. and, you can export your transactions to Apple Numbers app.

As well, it’s beautiful.

 

Visually dominated by a type of infrastructure that was installed over the Blue Mountains primarily for an expected upsurge in coal traffic in the 1950s, three AC-traction 93 class power over a short rise at Werrington with a long rake of empty coal wagons the like of which in terms of train length and tonnage capacity were unthinkable at the time of Western line electrification six decades ago this year (2017).

 

080356 9 Aug 2017

In the seed processing plant at Bidasem, a worker visually examines and manually sifts maize seed on a conveyor belt, picking out material such as damaged or spoiled seed or pieces of cob. After initial cleaning and sorting, all seed that goes through the plant passes through quality control. If a sample from a batch is found to more have more than 2% impurities, they are either separated out by hand like this or using a gravity table. The batch is then resampled to ensure a clean bill of health to continue processing.

 

Bidasem is a small seed company based in the central Mexican plains region known as the Bajío. It produces approximately 10,000 bags of maize seed a year, each holding 22.5kg, as well as producing wheat and oat seed and marketing seed of other crops. Despite their small size, Bidasem and similar companies play an important role in improving farmers’ livelihoods. “Our aim is to provide farmers with quality seed at accessible prices, that is adapted to the conditions we have here in the Bajío. It’s a great satisfaction, when farmers achieve the yields they need,” says director general María Esther Rivas.

 

“Without CIMMYT, we couldn’t exist,” says Rivas. She sells four different maize hybrids, all formed from freely-available CIMMYT parent lines. “Really the most important thing is to produce your own hybrids, and for us it wouldn’t be possible if we didn’t have the germplasm from CIMMYT. What we’re currently producing is 100% CIMMYT.” The relationship between Bidasem and CIMMYT is now deepening through participation in the MasAgro initiative, which includes training courses for seed companies and collaborative trials to evaluate the best seed.

 

Photo credit: X. Fonseca/CIMMYT.

 

For more on seed production at Bidasem, and CIMMYT's role in providing the best seed, see CIMMYT's 2012 e-news story The seed chain: producing better seed for small farmers, available online at: www.cimmyt.org/en/newsletter/598-2012/1398-the-seed-chain....

One of the visually stunning things a coral reef has to offer are the diverse patterns on corals and other invertebrates.

 

Check out my really funny blog blog about underwater photography & life and my book about marine life, diving and all things Pacific.

One of the most visually stunning sights as you drive into the Yosemite Valley from the south, the view from Tunnel View

is an extremely popular stop on the way into the park, and for good reason!

 

I'm re-visiting a few shots while trying out some new software. Please let me know what you think.

 

Taken during a visit to Yosemite National Park in May.

 

© John Krzesinski, 2013.

 

Did you know you can find me on Facebook? Check me out here.

Stadt-Tastmodell der Altstadt von Erfurt in der Altstadt von Erfurt mit Beschriftung vieler Straßen in Brailleschrift für Blinde und Sehbehinderte. Erfurt 2017.

 

City model of Erfurt to grope for the blind and visually impaired people with braille descriptions. Erfurt 2017.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Visually Oregon City seems either too dark or to bright, e.g. here the new lights on the bridge made the river seem very dark visually, but photographically it balanced out very nicely, only masked/brushed in some shorter exposures bits of the brightest bridge lights to get it to balance out. From a fun night in Oregon City with the PDXNightowls. NB18360-62

22/365

 

proberbly not the most visually exciting today but yet again, it was pouring down for most of it.

sooo, when i'm stuck inside and have the day to myself, i use it to learn. be it PS, photography or lighting, i tend to zone out and get very engrossed in some training or other. in fact, lili just had to turn on the light for me cause i'd been sat here in the dark for the last half an hour or so... proberbly best get something to eat.

anyway, one of the things i've been doing today, as i've been sat inside, is practicing making textures. its something i find fascinating but am not great at... yet! practice makes perfect as they say, so expect many not so great textures coming your way ;-)

 

Feel free to use this for any of your own creations.

 

Please credit me and link back to this page or my photostream if you do.

 

You can use my texture commercially but please don't redistribute it or alter it to create

 

your own stock

 

Show me what you've done with it by putting a thumbnail or link on this page it'd be great

 

to see what you've done with it!

 

ODC- inside (there is an actual shot underneath all of the processing... i promise!)

Visually indiscernible from Western. Lake St. Clair.

Toute reproduction sur un support imprimé ou publication sur internet devra faire l'objet d'une demande expresse auprès du service communication de la Fédération Française Handisport.

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Toute utilisation ainsi autorisée devra mentionner le crédit photo (voir nom du fichier ci-dessus : “©…” ou métadonnées de la photo dans sa taille originale).

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Contact : photos [at] handisport.org

The rather visually challenged Greenwood Corvette was I believe made by the same named company who specialise in automotive performance tuning and racing specifically for....Corvettes! ;-p

Hot Wheels, ever eager to sniff out every last Corvette variation first released this casting a few years back and proved very popular with U.S. collectors. Its back yet again for 2020 and can be seen here in its very latest Case G colour scheme. Found recently at B&M Bargains. Mint and boxed.

Toute reproduction sur un support imprimé ou publication sur internet devra faire l'objet d'une demande expresse auprès du service communication de la Fédération Française Handisport.

–

Toute utilisation ainsi autorisée devra mentionner le crédit photo (voir nom du fichier ci-dessus : “©…” ou métadonnées de la photo dans sa taille originale).

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Contact : photos [at] handisport.org