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River Thames resident
Take That, Red Baron
Simulated dogfight in progress at the British Army Air Corps' Wallop 2008 air show.
'Attacking' the Fokker Dr.I Dreidecker is a French Nieuport 17 in the colour scheme of N1977 of the French Air Force. Nieuport 17 N1977 was Robert Soubiran's machine during the winter of 1916-17, complete with Seminole Indian head markings.
Both aircraft are part of the Great War Display Team which flies replicas that give an excellent demonstration of the fantastic manoeuvrability of these great front-line fighters of World War I.
Poinsettia Macro
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Western Bluebird
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240226 (Explored on February 27th, 2024)
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Pink dogwood
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Sacramento Promenade
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Construction Project at the Indiana Convention Center - 2008
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Construction Cranes - JW Marriott - Indianapolis 2009
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"Hold My Hand" (by Hootie and the Blowfish)
My FILs beer holder on his chair on the deck.
"Blinding Lights" (by The Weeknd)
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The Day Moving West
Indianapolis, Indiana. Looking West down Maryland St. with Victory Field on the left. On the right is the construction site of the 34-story JW Marriott Hotel.
Baptism
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4pm
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Team GB's 4x100m medley relay team
Here Team GB's men contemplate their efforts at the end of the 4x100m medley relay on the last night of the swimming at London 2012.
Still in the water after his final leg is Adam Brown. Behind the starting block are (l-r) Michael Rock, Michael Jamieson and Liam Tancock.
Alice Brooks on the Thames
This is a 25-foot half-deck gentleman's launch dating from the 1920s, made of Burmese teak. It is thought it was probably originally designed as a tender to a large yacht on the Solent. It boasts a modern five-cylinder Volkswagen marine diesel engine which gives it a lively top speed of 25 kt.
The vessel was part of the historic flotilla participating in the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant and carried representatives of the Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths (the individual wearing ornate robes under that Union Flag brolly is the Prime Warden of the Company). The Company's flag flies on the far side of the Pageant flag above him.
The boat was brought down from Burnham-on-Crouch by the owner and his son several days before the event with them sleeping on board in the open in the rain at West India Dock. The others boarded on the morning of the event.
All the above details came from Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths' July 2012 newsletter which I found online.
Destroyed
I'll let this photo speak for itself.
Dancha Dressed Overall
Seen during a drier part of the 2012 Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant. Two visiting D-class RIBs (D-605 and D-705) can be seen in the background tied-up at the Tower Lifeboat Station.
Dancha was built in 1961 by J W Cook & Co. of Wivenhoe. Of 14 grt, she is 12.92m in length with a beam of 3.35m and a draught of 1.9m and is powered by a 110-bhp six-cylinder Russell-Newbury EM6 diesel engine.
Like almost all tugs she has been through a number of owners since delivery - six in her case, being renamed Dancha on acquisition by the Eel Pie Island Slipways (EPIS) Ltd in 2011.
Looking Out Grandma's Window
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Sunset Off My Deck
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"Dirt Road Anthem" (by Jason Aldean)
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'Warehouse" (by Dave Matthews)
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Day Dreamin'
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"My Bar" (by Priscilla Block)
Rural American small town bar.
A Very Wet Arundel Girl - Explored!
This boat's hull was constructed in Holland and towed to Marlow where Meaks of Marlow fitted it out in 1965.
She is a 36-foot motor cruiser powered by two inboard diesels that give a total power output of 130 hp. In metric measurements, she is 10.9m long, with a beam of 3.5m and an unknown draught.
The photo was taken at what was probably the height of the rain in the vicinity of the National Theatre (where I was located) during the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant in 2012.
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Olympian
Seen in heavy rain during the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant in 2012.
She was originally built at Dartford in 1956 for Charrington, Gardner & Lockett and operated on the Thames. Sold in 1970 and renamed Miriam Spearing (or perhaps MIck Spearing) she was sold again in the 1990s and renamed Aboma II before being laid up in poor condition in 2005.
In 2008 she was completely refurbished and re-engined with a 350-bhp Scania engine and renamed Olympian. Of 16 grt, she has a single screw and is 12.62m in length with a beam of 3.73m and draught of 1.22m.
2012 was quite a busy year for her as she was involved in supporting a number of Olympic activities later in the year.
"The Cowslips tall her pensioners be..."
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UWA Noblesville Indiana Courthouse
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NUTTALL'S WOODPECKER
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Rural Red Light District
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Thames View
Looking downstream at the new financial district in the Docklands in fine autumnal sunshine. Taken from atop Tower Bridge.
In the foreground is HMS President, a division of the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR). It consists of over 370 officers and ratings, making it one of the largest in the country, drawing recruits from the City, as well as further afield.
There had been a drill ship moored in London since 1 April 1862. This was the 58-gun frigate HMS President, berthed at the West India Docks and training ship of the local RNR. Various succeeding ships were renamed as HMS President, the last being HMS Saxifrage, which was renamed on 9 September 1921. She was moored at King's Reach on 19 June 1922 and was joined in 1938 by HMS Chrysanthemum, which served as a drill hall and gave extra space for activities.
HMS President was taken over in 1939 for the training of Defensively-Equipped Merchant Ship (DEMS) gunners and sailors. The RNR division was been closed by April 1940 and reformed in October 1946.
In the mid-1980s the River-class minesweeper HMS Humber was attached to the base. In 1988 both HMS President and HMS Chrysanthemum were sold and the division moved ashore, into the purpose-built training centre seen above, next to Tower Bridge and overlooking St Katharine Docks. This had formerly been the site of the P&O London ferry terminal. HMS Humber was transferred away from the base in 1994.
Powerful Chieftain MBT
The FV4201 Chieftain was the main battle tank of the UK from its introduction in 1967. It was a radical evolutionary development of the successful Centurion line of tanks that had emerged at the end of WWII.
Chieftain was designed to be as well-protected as possible and to be equipped with a powerful 120mm rifled cannon. The heavy armour came at the price of reduced mobility, chiefly due to engine power limitations, which was perhaps the Chieftain's main drawback. The engine selected took the multi-fuel route and as introduced gave less than the planned output; improvements to the engine did not increase power to the desired value.
The Chieftain had a mantleless turret, in order to take full advantage of reclining the vehicle up to 10° in a hull-down position. To the left side of the turret was a large infra-red searchlight in an armoured housing. The suspension was of the Horstmann bogie type, with large side plates to protect the tracks and provide stand-off protection from hollow charge attack.
The main armament was the 120mm L11A5 rifled gun. This differed from most contemporary main tank armament as it used projectiles and charges which were loaded separately, as opposed to a single fixed round. The gun itself could fire a wide range of ammunition, but the most commonly loaded types were HESH or APDS.
Initially, Chieftain was equipped with a 12.7mm ranging machine-gun mounted above the main gun, firing ranging shots out to 2,400m. Later, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, a laser rangefinder replaced it, allowing engagements at much longer ranges, and also linked to the fire-control system, allowing more rapid engagements and changes of target. The gun was fully stabilised with a fully computerised integrated control system. Secondary armament consisted of a coaxial L8A1 7.62mm machine-gun, and another 7.62mm machine-gun mounted on the commander's cupola.
Like its European competitors, the Chieftain found a large export market in the Middle East, but was not adopted by any other NATO or Commonwealth countries. The Chieftains were continuously upgraded until the early 1990s when they were replaced by the Challenger series.
Chieftains were supplied to at least six countries, including Iran, Kuwait, Oman and Jordan. An agreement for sale of Chieftains to Israel was cancelled by the British Government in 1969. The largest foreign sale was to Iran, which took delivery of around 1,000 before the 1979 revolution. Further planned deliveries of the more capable 4030 series were cancelled at that point.
The tank's main combat experience was in Iranian hands during the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-88.
Seen during a demonstration in the display arena at the Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset.
Somewhere in Brooklyn
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Wally Goldsmith Underway on the Thames
The only boat that Rutland Sailability (which provides sailing opportunities for the disabled) had which was suitable for participation in the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant was 'Wally Goldsmith', a Drascombe Longboat presented to them by The Rotary Club of Oundle.
To meet the Pageant regulations, the boat could not be sailed but had to be powered. Modifications for fitting an outboard engine were made and designs made to replace the existing brown sails with the specially-made mesh sails seen above with embroidered logos representing Rutland. (The fact that the sails were up is claimed as unique amongst the 1,000-odd self-powered boats participating).
The crew was: skipper: Geoff Willerton; navigator: Martin Sutcliffe; crew: John Deane, Craig Nairn, Ian McNair and Bill Ridlington. All were Rutland Sailability members. The boat was officially launched on Rutland Water by the High Sheriff, Bart Hellyer on 30 May 2012.
The boat and more importantly, the crew, were on the river in very demanding conditions for a total of 10.5 hours (I must admit that until reading this I hadn't realised the length of the day for all of the crews involved)! This was a tremendous feat of endurance and three of the crew needed some minor medical attention at the end of the event (presumably for exposure because the weather conditions were most definitely not the best!).
The above details are all taken from the summer 2012 edition of Rutland Sailability's newsletter 'Gone Sailing,' which I found online.
Dutch Barge Lady Phantasie
Built by E C Jones & Son in 1991, the Lady Phantasie is of Dutch barge design and operates as a private motor boat. She is seen here in torrential rain whilst participating in the 2012 Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant with the Tower Lifeboat Station visible behind her.
With a metal (steel?) hull, she is 16.8m in length with a beam of 3.7m and draught of 0.7m. She is powered by an internal 85-hp diesel engine.
Dee Why Headland
This image looks north-west from above the Tasman Sea into the Dee Why Headland area. In the lower left of the image is the 25m North Curl Curl rock pool (with permanent large rock feature in the middle of it!). Man-made intervention in its construction has been minimal and wildswimmingaustralia.com describes it as the most natural-feeling man-made pool their reporter had ever swum in.
Further round in the bay on the left a set of concrete steps can be seen leading up to a sheltered building. It houses the North Curl Curl Life Saving Club.
The Dee Why Headland extends off to the north (right above). It is a sensitive coastal ecosystem, providing an important wildlife corridor between Curl Curl (to the south) and Dee Why Lagoons (to the north). The rugged sandstone headland boasts spectacular views south to Manly and north to beyond Long Reef.
Beyond the northern end of the Headland sits Dee Why Lagoon, which makes up some 40% of the Dee Why Wildlife Refuge, an extremely significant area for local and migratory birds (from afar as Japan and China). The rest of the Refuge is made up primarily of swamp-based bushland, but also includes the coastal dunes that separate the lagoon from the sea.
Atop the headland and reaching inland are the northern Sydney suburbs of North Curl Curl and Dee Why, with a combined population of some 26,000 people. They sit some 18 km north-east of Sydney's central business district and the world-famous harbour.
I was aboard a DHC-2 Beaver floatplane flying north en route to the Palm Beach Water Airport on an afternoon flight. As you can see from the sunlight angle, from a photographic perspective the views would be better during a morning flight north with the sun behind you. Stay the day and the afternoon return flight is inland and you get great views over the coastal communities to the sea.
North American F-86A Sabre
The F-86 Sabre joined the ranks of the great fighter aircraft during combat operations high above the Yalu River area of Korea in the early 1950s. Although the enemy MiG-15s officially could not be pursued across the Chinese border, the American Sabre pilots claimed a victory ratio of more than 10:1.
In late 1944 the US Army Air Forces ordered three prototypes of a modified North American FJ-1 Fury, a jet fighter being developed for the Navy. It was designated the XP-86. The design progressed through the mock-up stage, but by the summer of 1945 it was apparent that the fighter's top speed would be well below the 600 mph called for in the specification.
Fortuitously, a great deal of captured German aerodynamic data became available to the North American designers with the surrender of Germany in May 1945. These indicated that a swept wing delayed the compressibility effects encountered at high subsonic speeds. Swept-winged aircraft could be controlled at a considerably higher Mach number (percentage of the speed of sound) than a straight-winged aircraft of the same general configuration. However, the swept wing introduced low-speed stability problems. After scale model wind tunnel tests, the designers selected a wing that was swept back at an angle of 35˚ and added automatic leading-edge slats to solve the stability problem.
The first XP-86 flew on 1 October 1947, powered by an Allison J35-C-3, a 3,750 lb thrust engine. In April 1948, the XP-86 exceeded Mach 1 (the speed of sound) in a shallow dive. On 28 December 1947, the US Air Force ordered 221 P-86As to be powered by the 4,850 lb thrust General Electric J47-GE-1 engine. In June 1948, a month after the first P-86A flight, its designation was changed to F-86A.
On 15 September 1948, an F-86A set a world speed record of 671 mph. In addition to its high performance, the F-86A had excellent handling characteristics and was well-liked by its pilots. The Sabre was armed with six .50-calibre M3 machine-guns mounted in the nose. The Mk 18 manual-ranging computing gunsight was replaced in later models with the A-1CM, which used radar ranging.
In December 1950, the 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing, one of the first of the US Air Force's Sabre units, arrived in Seoul to fight the Russian-built swept-wing MiG-15s, which had appeared in Korea in November. On 17 December in the first known combat between swept-wing fighters, Lt Col Bruce H Hinton shot down a MiG-15. By the end of the Korean War, the Sabres claimed almost 800 MiG-15s destroyed with the loss of fewer than 80 F-86s.
The F-86 progressed through several improved versions - the F-86E, F, H, D. and K models. The changes, in most cases, included improved armament, more powerful engines, and control-system modifications. The F-86D was an all-weather interceptor with a radar nose, and was armed with rockets instead of machine-guns. The F-86K was a D-model with 20mm cannons replacing the rockets. In addition to those produced in California and Ohio, F-86s were built under license in Canada, Japan, and Italy. Of the 8,443 Sabres produced, 554 were F-86As.
The above F-86A, seen in the National Air & Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center, was assigned to the 4th Fighter Interceptor Group at Langley AFB, VA., in July 1949. It was shipped to Japan in December 1950 with other F-86s of the 4th Group, and flown in Korea. Most of its combat missions against MiG-15s were flown from Kimpo Air Base near Seoul. It is displayed in the markings of the 4th Fighter Wing, the first F-86 unit in Korea. These markings were in use before June 1952.
Jet Star
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EGRET-DESMOND RD-1
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Pageant Sailing Boats
Seen here amidst very rainy conditions are a trio of motorised sailing boats participating in the 2012 Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant.
Achilles (H140) and Ajax (H139) were brand-new 25-ft Drascombe gigs built earlier in the year by Churchouse Boats, based in Whitchurch in Hampshire, for the London Nautical School. The school was established in 1915 as part of the response following the British government's inquiry into the Titanic disaster in 1912.
I have not been able to find out anything regarding the smaller vessel (H141) although she is flying a couple of clues that she might be a Scottish boat...!
In the background is D-705, Northern Light, a D-class inshore inflatable lifeboats serving in the RNLI.
Locomotive
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Water Drops on Flower
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Drag Strip - Camaro Fire
Opening Day at the Muncie Dragway. I happened to be in the right spot to get these photos of flames erupting from the underside of this Camaro. I heard that it was a transmission brake that let go and sprayed tranmission fluid underneath the car, which ignited. The car ended up on the guard rail that can be seen in the un-cropped shots. Driver is Dale Baldauf, Portland, Indiana.
Steam Cutter 438
Built as Admiralty Cutter No. 438, she was first appropriated to HMS Espiègle, a Cadmus-class 10-gun screw steel sloop, before transferring to the hospital ship HMHS Maine. With the Maine she was used to support British troops in both the Boer War (based in Cape Town) and the Boxer Rebellion in China. In June 1914, shortly before World War I commenced, the Maine was ran aground in fog off Mull on the west coast of Scotland and was wrecked. SC 438 was recovered and sent to Portsmouth Dockyard. She was decommissioned in the 1920s and converted to a motor cruiser.
Around 1974 her derelict hull was acquired by Dr Roger Stevens of Yelverton, Devon. The hull was restored and a new steam plant fitted and recommissioned around 1997. She was acquired by Peter and Tim Hollins in 1999. Original design drawings, specification and steam trial records were found and the cutter was restored by the owners to her original configuration. The engine was replaced (with one identical to the original) at the Maritime Workshop in Gosport. The cutter was again recommissioned in Portsmouth Harbour in 2008.
Named Mischief, she is 23 feet in length with a beam of 6 ft 6 in and a draught of 2 ft 3 in. She has a double-skin teak hull and was originally completed in 1987 at the Thames Ironworks & Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. at Blackwall in London.
Having been built in the year of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, she is seen here participating in the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant celebrating Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee. Her crew (as opposed to guests) are wearing uniforms from the Victorian period.
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Night Deposit
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Burning
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Canterbury Winter Garden
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Porsche 911 at Mid Ohio
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"That's a Good Idea" (by Otis Redding)
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Cut Hay
Taken from Sullivans Lookout (795m above sea level), this view looks north-west into the Kiewa Valley towards the town of Tawonga (off-shot to the upper left).
Down in the Kiewa Valley at about 340m altitude, the farmer(s) has cut and baled what appears to be a crop of hay (the neat rolls seen scattered across the fields). The Kiewa River is off-shot to the right the image - it is in the early stages of its 109-km length at this point. The name Kiewa is an Aboriginal word, derived from cy-a-nun-a, meaning sweet, and wher-ra, meaning water.
The road running through the shot is the C531, a minor 80-km long road - the Kiewa Valley Highway. It was only upgraded from a dirt track in 1959-60 in order to permit easy transportation of materials required for the Kiewa Valley Hydroelectric Scheme further up the valley (off-shot over my right shoulder).
Corvette
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Tipton County Courthouse - Indiana
A Romanesque Classial Revival Style building designed by Adolph Scherrer, architect of the 1888 Indiana State Capitol. It is Tipton County's third courthouse and was completed, 1894; placed in National Register of Historic Places, 1984; resorted, 1988-1991.
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Ultra Wide Angle Noblesville Indiana Courthouse
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HMB Endeavour
HMS Endeavour was a British Royal Navy research vessel that Lieutenant James Cook commanded to Tahiti, New Zealand and Australia on his first voyage of discovery from 1768 to 1771.
She was launched in 1764 as the collier Earl of Pembroke, with the Navy purchasing her in 1768 for a scientific mission to the Pacific Ocean and to explore the seas for the surmised Terra Australis Incognita or "unknown southern land". Commissioned as His Majesty's Bark Endeavour, she departed Plymouth in August 1768, rounded Cape Horn and reached Tahiti in time to observe the 1769 transit of Venus across the Sun. She then set sail into the largely-uncharted ocean to the south, stopping at the islands of Huahine, Bora Bora, and Raiatea west of Tahiti to allow Cook to claim them for Britain. In September 1769, she anchored off New Zealand, becoming the first European vessel to reach the islands since Abel Tasman's Heemskerck 127 years earlier.
In April 1770, Endeavour became the first European ship to reach the east coast of Australia, with Cook going ashore at what is now known as Botany Bay. Endeavour then sailed north along the Australian coast. She narrowly avoided disaster after running aground on the Great Barrier Reef, and Cook had to throw her guns overboard to lighten her. Endeavour was beached on the Australian mainland for seven weeks to permit rudimentary repairs to her hull. Resuming her voyage, she limped into port in Batavia in October 1770, her crew sworn to secrecy about the lands that they had visited. From Batavia Endeavour continued westward, rounded the Cape of Good Hope on 13 March 1771 and reached the English port of Dover on 12 July, having been at sea for nearly three years.
The ship was largely forgotten after her Pacific voyage, spending the next three years hauling troops and cargo to and from the Falkland Islands. She was renamed in 1775 after being sold into private hands, and used to transport timber from the Baltic. Rehired as a British troop transport during the American War of Independence, she was finally scuttled in a blockade of Narragansett Bay, RI., in 1778. Historical evidence indicates the ship was sunk just north of Goat Island in Newport Harbor, along with four other British transports.
Relics from Endeavour are displayed at maritime museums worldwide, including an anchor and six of her cannon. A replica of Endeavour was launched in 1994 and is berthed alongside the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney Harbour (seen above). The NASA Space Shuttle Endeavour was named after this ship, as was the command module of Apollo 15, which took a small piece of wood from Cook's ship into space, and the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule C206 was christened Endeavour during Demo-2. The ship is also depicted on the New Zealand 50-cent coin.
The Australian replica features almost 30 km of rigging and 750 wooden blocks or pulleys! The masts and spars carry 28 sails that spread approximately 10,000 square feet of canvas. Between 1996 and 2002 she traced Cook's ports of call around the world before arriving in Whitby, England. She returned home in 2004-2005, having sailed around the world twice. She still sails, giving members of the public an opportunity to briefly experience life in a square-rigger at sea.
Unfortunately, she was closed on the day I visited the museum.
Space Shuttle Reaction Control Vents
This is a close-up view of the forward port-side reaction control system (RCS) on the Space Shuttle Discovery.
Each RCS (two forward and two aft) consists of high-pressure gaseous helium storage tanks, pressure regulation and relief systems, a fuel and oxidiser tank, a system that distributes propellant to its engines, and thermal control systems (electrical heaters). They provide the thrust for attitude (rotational) manoeuvres (pitch, yaw and roll) and for small velocity changes along the orbiter axis (translation manoeuvres).
Around them you can see some of the multitude of individually-labelled differently sized and shaped tiles giving the Shuttle its thermal protection, so necessary for successful re-entries into the atmosphere.
I was lucky enough to turn up (by accident) at the Udvar-Hazy Center on the day that Discovery was first unveiled to the public.
Artillery Battery in the Field
At the Hazel Grove artillery position.
The Battle of Chancellorsville, 30 April-6 May 1863, was a major battle of the American Civil War (1861-1865), and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville campaign.
Chancellorsville is known as Confederate General Robert E Lee's 'perfect battle' because his risky decision to divide his army in the presence of a much-larger enemy force resulted in a significant Confederate victory. The victory, a product of Lee's audacity and Union General Joseph Hooker's timid decision-making, was tempered by heavy casualties, including Lieutenant General Thomas J 'Stonewall' Jackson. Jackson was hit by friendly fire, requiring his left arm to be amputated. He died of pneumonia eight days later, a loss that Lee likened to losing his right arm.
The two armies faced off against each other at Fredericksburg during the winter of 1862-1863. The Chancellorsville campaign began when Hooker secretly moved the bulk of his army up the left bank of the Rappahannock River, then crossed it on the morning of 27 April 1863. Union cavalry under Major General George Stoneman began a long-distance raid against Lee's supply lines at about the same time. Crossing the Rapidan River via Germanna and Ely's Fords, the Federal infantry concentrated near Chancellorsville on 30 April. Combined with the Union force facing Fredericksburg, Hooker planned a double envelopment, attacking Lee from both his front and rear.
On 1 May, Hooker advanced from Chancellorsville toward Lee, but the Confederate General split his army in the face of superior numbers, leaving a small force at Fredericksburg to deter Major General John Sedgwick from advancing, while he attacked Hooker's advance with about 80% of his army. Despite the objections of his subordinates, Hooker withdrew his men to the defensive lines around Chancellorsville, ceding the initiative to Lee. On 2 May, Lee divided his army again, sending Stonewall Jackson's entire corps on a flanking march that routed the Union XI Corps. While performing a personal reconnaissance in advance of his line, Jackson was wounded by fire after dark from his own men close between the lines, and cavalry commander Major General J E B Stuart temporarily replaced him as corps commander.
The fiercest fighting of the battle - and the second-bloodiest day of the Civil War - occurred on 3 May as Lee launched multiple attacks against the Union position at Chancellorsville, resulting in heavy losses on both sides and the pulling back of Hooker's main army. That same day, Sedgwick advanced across the Rappahannock River, defeated the small Confederate force at Marye's Heights in the Second Battle of Fredericksburg, and then moved to the west. The Confederates fought a successful delaying action at the Battle of Salem Church. On the 4th Lee turned his back on Hooker and attacked Sedgwick, and drove him back to Banks' Ford, surrounding them on three sides. Sedgwick withdrew across the ford early on 5 May. Lee turned back to confront Hooker who withdrew the remainder of his army across US Ford on the night of 5-6 May.
The campaign ended on 7 May when Stoneman's cavalry reached Union lines east of Richmond. Both armies resumed their previous position across the Rappahannock from each other at Fredericksburg. With the loss of Jackson, Lee reorganised his army, and flush with victory, began what was to become the Gettysburg campaign a month later.
Northern Beaches Suburbs
In the foreground is a part of Mona Vale, a suburb of Sydney, NSW. Beyond the creek cutting in from the left is part of another suburb, called Newport, both part of the Northern Beaches region. The creek is the most south-eastern corner of Pittwater, a semi-mature tide-dominated drowned-valley estuary which stretches some 10 km to the north before opening out into the Tasman Sea.
Mona Vale is described as being 28 km north of the Sydney central business district, in an area known as the Northern Beaches. It is often colloquially referred to as "Mona".
The traditional custodians of the area are the Garigal people. The area was known as 'Bongin Bongin' by Aboriginal peoples. The initial land grants in the district of Pittwater were not made until April 1813, and those sections which now comprise Mona Vale, were first surveyed in May 1814 and granted to Robert Campbell (1769-1846). These were originally part of 700 acres that extended northwards from Mona Vale to the end of Newport beach. Local lore suggests the name Mona Vale was chosen by Campbell in remembrance of a town bearing the same name in Scotland, however the exact location of this latter place remains a mystery.
To the north, prior to European colonisation, the Newport area was inhabited by the Guringai (Kuringgai) people. Shell middens from Aboriginal inhabitants are still visible both on the Pittwater side (to the left above) in Salt Pan Cove, as well as in cliff-side banks on the ocean-facing side (just visible in the upper right).
Newport derived its name from being a "new port" for steamers carrying passengers and cargo such as local shell lime and firewood. Bungan Castle is a mediaeval-style stone castle on Bungan Head built in 1919 by Adolph Albers, a German art dealer.
Seen during a floatplane flight over the Northern Beaches region.
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Orchid
Coastguard Pacific 32
VT Halmatic delivered four Pacific 32 rigid inflatable boats to HM Coastguard, beginning in 2003. This one is seen on the River Thames towards the rear of the 2012 Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant. She is emerging from beneath Waterloo Bridge. Photographed from atop the National Theare in rather wet conditions...
The boat features a large air-conditioned wheelhouse with seating for six crew. A galley and a day head are also provided. Twin Yanmar inboard diesels drive Hamilton waterjets to give a service speed in excess of 30 knots. The boat is fully self-righting and is capable of operating in extreme sea states.
"Empty Barn" (by Jeff Corle)
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Sally Pearson Celebrates
After a great final, the pre-race favourite (to me at least!) deservedly won her gold medal. Here she is seen celebrating with the crowd afterwards.
And I can't resist saying to my Australian friends, you needed this win! 2012 wasn't the greatest Olympics for you...
SANDHILL TRIPLETS-1
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"Suddenly Last Summer" (by The Motels)
The sun is ready to set on a rural town in autumn.
Donald Searle
A Bermuda ketch-rigged sail training vessel, the Donald Searle is seen here from Calshot Castle, sailing down the lower reaches of the Solent in 2009.
A Ketch Ocean 75, she is 23m in length, with a beam of 6m and a draught of 2.6m. She is operated by the Rona Sailing Project (formerly Rona Trust - London Sailing Project), which is one of the oldest sail training organisations in the UK, having been established for over 50 years.
The Project ensures that its crews come from a wide variety of social backgrounds: from the well-adjusted, to those in the care of Social and Probation Services, as well as those in between.
Over 20,000 young people have been taken to sea and given the experience of a lifetime, hopefully generating greater self-confidence and a new perspective on the world.
Having acquired all that information from various websites, it is concerning to note that at least six of the 15 people visible on the upper deck in the image above are clearly not wearing any form of lifejacket. Five of those individuals are what I would describe as older, but one appears younger. I would have thought that wearing such equipment would be compulsory from casting-off to returning alongside, if only to set the proper example to the youngsters.
Bird Tracks
Canon Rebel 50mmf/1.4
Bootsie
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Watchdog
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Give a Cat a Sack
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Hairyflower wild petunia
Ruellia ciliatiflora per identify.plantnet.org
Hairyflower wild petunia
Hairyflower wild petunia upclose
Ruellia ciliatiflora per identify.plantnet.org
Hairyflower wild petunia
a bee getting her daily orange juice
My daughter said that these are Orange Jubilee's, looked it up and yepper they're Orange Jubilee
little yellow Lantana a closer
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EGRETT IN FLIGHT
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NY
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Cooling Off
Bayleigh at Hilgard Park in the Grande Ronde River during a hot July day.
Men's 4x100m Relay World Record
Ten years ago, the 2012 Olympic Games took place in Stratford in the East End of London. This week, to remember that great occasion I'm posting a number of photos taken over the course of the two weeks. Some are improved versions of shots already posted, but the majority are new images I've not previously shared with the public.
This shot shows the last-leg runners passing through the tape at the end of the men's 4x100m final, the last event in Olympic Stadium at London2012. The Omega timing sign in the foreground, shows the recorded time which was later rounded-down to 36.84 seconds, a new world record for the Jamaicans. Interestingly, like the women's event at London2012, this world record still stands (2022).
Lane 1 was not being used, so, from lane 2 to 9, the teams are: Australia, France, Japan, Canada, Jamaica, the USA, the Netherlands and Trinidad & Tobago. Of course, Usain Bolt won his fourth gold medal of the Games in this race. On the night, the Americans were second and Trinidad & Tobago came third. The Canadians were disqualified for a lane infringement.
However, in 2014 Tyson Gay (USA) was found to have doped. The Americans returned their silvers which the following year went to Trinidad & Tobago; their bronze medals were passed on to France.
Leopard's Rump
This might be useful for modellers looking at the detail on the rear of the tank.
The Leopard is a tank designed and produced in Germany that first entered service in 1965. It is a fairly conventional tank, armed with a German-built version of the British L7 105mm gun.
In total 6,485 Leopard tanks have been built, of which 4,744 were battle tanks and 1,741 were utility and anti-aircraft variants, not including 80 prototypes and pre-series vehicles. Mobility was the priority while firepower came second; armour was seen as less essential, as it was believed no real protection against hollow-charge weapons was possible anyway.
The Leopard 1A5 upgrade (on which the Canadian C2 above is based) came from the 1,339 vehicles of the Leopard 1A1A1 model. The turrets were again modified for the 1A5, with a larger section at the back, both in order to store all of the new equipment, as well as to move more of the ammunition into the rear turret, as opposed to the left side of the driver where it had traditionally been stored. The storage locker extended the turret almost to the rear of the tank when the gun was facing forward as you can clearly see here.
The Leopard tank could also be fitted with bolt-on lexan armour panels, which have increased the effectiveness of the armour. These "modified" tanks have proved themselves in the field. The first modified vehicle was delivered in early 1987. Since then almost all users of the Leopard 1 have also applied similar changes to their own vehicles, and in most ways the 1A5 can be considered the "standard" Leopard 1 today - Wikipedia.
Some of Canada's C2s have been further upgraded and served in Afghanistan.
This one is seen poised for action in the display arena at the Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset, where it was being used in a small war-game demonstration of armour in action.
Fire Flash
A London Fire Brigade fire boat based at the Lambeth River Fire Station, seen participating in the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant in 2012.
At the time, London Fire Brigade maintained one operational fire boat to respond to incidents and to support the operational crews from its land-based stations. The brigade had a second boat (Firedart) which was used for training and as a reserve when the duty boat needed servicing.
Both were built by Almarintec of Northumberland in 1998. They were driven by two Hamilton water jets. Each unit provides 500 litres per second of thrust being powered by 2 x Volvo TAMD 63 engines producing 370 hp at 2800 rev/min.
The fireboat’s rescue capabilities included three inflatable mud mats, a ‘Jason’s cradle’ for picking up casualties from the river and a bow ramp which can be lowered for beaching and landing on the foreshore. The fire-fighting facilities included a monitor which could deliver water from the Thames at 1850 litres per minute at 10 bars. In addition, the boats had two delivery outlets which could supply water via a hose ashore arrangement for land crews. A separate Hughes noble ejector pump was available for “pumping out” vessels taking on water. The large stable deck area was an ideal working platform for casualty care, and on occasions casualties were even been lowered onto it by helicopter.
Both boats were retired in 2022, being replaced by ‘Tanner’ and ‘Errington,’ two new Welsh-built boats that are faster, can pump more water and are bigger than Firedart and Fire Flash. The names commemorate Harry Errington, the winner of a George Cross, and Gillian Tanner, who was the only female firefighter awarded a George Medal, both during WWII. The new boats' numbers, H23A and H23B, are in memory of two London firefighters, Adam Meere and Billy Faust, who died attending a fire in Bethnal Green in 2004.
Grasmere and Beyond
This panorama was taken looking north-north-west from Loughrigg Fell in the English Lake District.
The partially-visible lake on the left is Grasmere, one of the smaller lakes (1,540m by 640m) in the area. It gives its name to the village of Grasmere which sits amidst the trees just left of centre.
The village is famously associated with the poet William Wordsworth who lived there for 14 years (1799-1813) before he moved to nearby Rydal Mount where he spent the rest of his life.
The road disappearing up through the centre of the image is the A591 which connects Keswick and Kendal. The (tiny) patch of water visible beyond it is a little bit of Thirlmere, a small lake that was expanded into a reservoir in the late 19th century to provide water to Manchester.
My Camera Gear
My "vintage" photography gear. Canon 30D and Canon XSI bodies, Nifty-Fifty lens, 50mm 1.4 prime, Canon L lens f2.8 70-200, Canon L lens f4 70-200, Tamron infamous Macro 90mm lens, Tamron SP AF DI f.2.8 28-75, Tamron Sp AF DI f2.8-4 17-35 wide angle, Tamron DI 11-18 fish eye lens, Sekonic light meter, Canon 580ex flash, Sunpak flash, Godox off-camera flash trigger and receiver, Fong light diffuser, macro tripod and Alien Bees B800 monolight.
EGRET DESMOND ROAD
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Pyronaut and St Mungo 1
Seen during a burst of torrential rain whilst participating in the 2012 Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant just downstream of the National Theatre on the River Thames.
Pyronaut (originally Bristol Phoenix II) is actually a specialised form of fireboat known as a fire-float. It was built in 1934 by Charles Hill & Sons Ltd., Albion Dock Bristol, Yard No. 208. She is owned by Bristol Museums and based at M Shed in Bristol's Floating Harbour. The 20.32 grt vessel is 17m in length with a beam of 4m and draught of 0.91m
Originally powered by two Petter Atomic diesel engines rates at 55 bhp each, she originally carried two Merryweather & Sons three-cylinder reciprocating pumps capable of delivering 2,300 litres of water per minute. This equipment was replaced in 1968 by two Ruston & Hornsby 6YDM six-cylinder diesel engines rated at 90 bhp each, driving screw propellers from the front power-take-off, and Coventry Climax centrifugal pumps capable of delivering 4,500 litres of water per minute from the main drive.
Her busiest period of active service was during the Bristol Blitz between November 1940 and April 1941 when 77 German air raids targeted the city. She was retired in 1973 and was acquired by Bristol Museums in 1989. She is part of the National Historic Fleet.
St Mungo 1 is a water rescue craft operated by the Strathclyde Fire & Rescue service in Glasgow and that's pretty much all I can tell you about her. I know nothing at all about the Fire & Rescue RIB in the left-foreground of the shot.
Cool Cats
The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is an atypical member of the cat family (Felidae): that is, unique in its speed, while lacking climbing abilities. Therefore it is placed in its own genus, Acinonyx. The word "cheetah" is derived from a Sanskrit word meaning "variegated body."
It is the fastest land animal, reaching speeds of 70-75 mph in short bursts covering distances up to 460m, and has the ability to accelerate from 0 to 68 mph in three seconds, faster than most supercars.
Sadly, cheetah cubs have a high mortality rate due to genetic factors and predation by carnivores in competition with the cheetah, such as the lion and hyena. Recent inbreeding causes cheetahs to share very similar genetic profiles. This has led to poor sperm, birth defects, cramped teeth, curled tails, and bent limbs. Some biologists now believe that they are too inbred to flourish as a species.
Cheetahs are listed as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Red List of threatened species. Some 7,000 cheetahs remain in the wild in Africa and (a few) Asia.
There have been successful breeding programmes, including the use of in vitro fertilisation, in zoos around the world. This pair were seen at Chester Zoo. I presume they are both females.
Old Billingsgate Market
Seen from atop Tower Bridge.
Billingsgate Wharf, close to Lower Thames Street, became the centre of a fish market during the 16th and 17th centuries but did not become formally established until an Act of Parliament in 1699. In 1850, the market according to Horace Jones, "consisted only of shed buildings ... The open space on the north of the well-remembered Billingsgate Dock was dotted with low booths and sheds, with a range of wooden houses with a piazza in front on the west, which served the salesmen and fishmongers as shelter, and for the purposes of carrying on their trade."
In that year the market was rebuilt to a design by J B Bunning, the City architect. Bunning's buildings were soon found to be insufficient for the increased trade, and in 1872 the Corporation obtained an Act to rebuild and enlarge the market, which was done to plans by Bunning's successor as City architect Sir Horace Jones.
The new site covered almost twice the area of the old, incorporating Billingsgate Stairs and Wharf and Darkhouse Lane. Work began in 1874, and the new market was opened by the Lord Mayor on 20 July 1877. The new buildings, Italianate in style, had on their long frontages towards Thames Street and the River Thames, a pedimented centre and continuous arcade, flanked at each end by a pavilion tavern. The general market, on a level with Thames Street, had an area of about 30,000 square feet, and was covered with louvre glass roofs, 13m high at the ridge. A gallery 9.1m wide was allocated to the sale of dried fish, while the basement, served as a market for shellfish.
The infamously coarse language of London fishmongers made "Billingsgate" a byword for crude or vulgar language. One of its earliest uses can be seen in a 1577 chronicle by Raphael Holinshed, where the writer makes reference to the foul tongues of Billingsgate oyster-wives. The writer George Orwell worked at Billingsgate in the 1930s, as did the Kray twins in the 1950s.
In 1982, the fish market relocated to a new site in the Isle of Dogs. The building was entirely renovated in 1988 by the well-known architect, Richard Rogers, originally as office accommodation. However, today the Grade II listed building is an events venue. it has five function rooms, the largest of which can hold a maximum of 2,400 guests and the smallest is ideal for 300. It has 7,800 square metres of floor space, ideal for a multitude of large-scale events in the London calendar.
Tarn Atop a Fell
Loughrigg Fell is a hill in the central part of the English Lake District. It stands on the end of the long ridge coming down from High Raise over Silver How towards Ambleside, and is separated from its neighbours by the depression of Red Bank.
Loughrigg has two subsidiary ridges on its eastern flank. Lanty Scar provides the obvious line of ascent from Rydal, while the spur rising over Todd Crag leads up from Clappersgate. There are many areas of woodland on the lower slopes, giving way to a wide expanse of bracken clad knolls and small tarns on the top, including Lily Tarn seen above - I think I was looking north at the time. The summit is on the western side of the plateau and is identified by an Ordnance Survey column. Many lower tops also decorate the fell, sometimes to the confusion of visitors. Despite the girdle of lakes only Windermere is visible from the summit. The vista is open to the south over the green and blue country of Furness, with many fells in view on the other three sides.
The geology is complex with the dacitic welded lapilli-tuff and volcaniclastic sandstone of the Lincomb Tarns Formation outcropping on the south eastern slopes. Nearer the summit are intrusions of rhyolite and sills of basaltic andesite. Drift deposits overlie the north western flanks.
The highest rocky knoll can be identified by an Ordnance Survey triangulation column beside a large cairn, both standing out from the turf. The view includes intimate views of the Langdale Pikes and the fells around Grasmere, together with the Fairfield horseshoe and the Coniston Fells.
AMERICAN COOT
DESMOND ROAD COSUMNES PRESERVE
Minden
A former German fireboat that operated on the River Rhine, having been built in 1962.
In the mid-1980s she was sold to a private purchaser who converted her into a floating home.
She is seen here during the 2012 Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant, fitted with a jury-rigged firehose, somewhat downstream from the National Theatre on which I was perched.
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Art Deco Light
This light fitting is in the rear (sea-side) staircase of the De La Warr Pavilion on the seafront of Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex. This is an International Style building constructed in 1935 and considered by some to be in Art Deco style. Some claim it to be the first major Modernist public building in Britain, although it was actually preceded by some months by the Dutch-influenced Hornsey Town Hall.
It was the result of an architectural competition initiated by Herbrand Sackville, 9th Earl De La Warr, after whom the building was named. A committed socialist and Mayor of Bexhill, he persuaded the town council to develop the site as a public building. The competition for the design attracted more than 230 entrants and the winners, Eric Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff, were leading figures in the Modern Movement.
The aesthetics employed in the International Style proved especially suited to the building, tending towards streamlined, industrially-influenced designs, often with expansive metal-framed windows, and eschewing traditional brick and stonework in favour of concrete and steel construction. Construction began in January 1935 and the building was opened on 12 December of the same year by the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth).
During WWII, the Pavilion was used by the military and amongst those who served there was noted comedian Gunner Spike Milligan.
In 1986 the Pavilion was granted Grade I listed Building status and in 1989 the Pavilion Trust was formed to protect and restore the building. In 2005, after an restoration and regeneration programme, the Pavilion reopened as a contemporary arts centre.
Ducks on Hot Lake Pond near Union, Oregon
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Glitter Globe
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RED WINGED BLACKBIRD
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Ship's Bell, HMS Belfast
Seen on the (slightly rusty!) quarterdeck of HMS Belfast - the Buffer would be shuddering. This is not the original ship's bell. It is silver, rather than the normal brass ship's bell and was presented to the ship by the people of Belfast in October 1948.
In older times, ship's bells were used to inform the ship's company of the time; today, they are still used as a safety device in fog.
Whilst the ship is in commission it is traditional for the bell to be used as a font during baptisms of ship's company's children, and for those children's names to be inscribed inside the bell.
Seen aboard the Imperial War Museum's largest exhibit, in the Pool of London.
Spring Braclet
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"Smoke on the Water" (Deep Purple)
Hot Springs in rural Oregon.
Black Necked Stilth
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EGRET
DESMOND ROAD, THORNTON ,CALIFORNIA
Mirrored Treasure Flower
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Juicy Oranges
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Lipstick in the Mirror
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Frustration
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Astro Land Luna Park, Coney Island Brooklyn NYC
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Old-School Electrics
This image is of the main electrical switchboard in a Royal Navy cruiser that was operational from the mid-1930s to the early 1960s. This distributed all the electrical power required by the ship's systems and her 800+ crew.
I assume that this is no longer in use and the ship's lighting and electrical power is provided from somewhere else - it was unmanned and readily-accessible to prying hands... Indeed, I wonder if modern health and safety rules would even allow such an installation to be powered-up today except under very controlled circumstances. I can only presume that the system was rugged and reliable which is why it was still in use at the end of the ship's operational life and not replaced by something more modern from the 1950s/60s. Or was this an upgrade from an original 1930s fit???
Taken aboard HMS Belfast (C35) in the Pool of London on the River Thames. She is the Imperial War Museum's largest single exhibit.
Graphic Explanation of Tower Bridge
This exploded cross-section diagram of Tower Bridge, in the style of a Dorling Kindersley children's book, is on a wall at ground level inside the South Tower and can be seen at the end of the Tower Bridge Exhibition tour.
It is about 2m high and 4m wide. The shadows are from tourists walking in front of the available lighting.
For details about the iconic Victorian bridge, see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_Bridge.
There's a much earlier B&W version of this on my stream.
MSC Bantam I Being Photographed
One of the smaller powered participants in the rain-drenched Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant in 2012, being photographed from the river bank. I took this image from atop the National Theatre on the river's south bank.
An all-welded steel Bantam-class tug, built at Brentford in 1950-51, by E C Jones and Sons. Fully restored, today she is a unique example of this type of small tug as she was one of only two built to tow. All the others in the 90-strong class were built as pusher tugs.
MSC I spent many years on the Bridgewater Canal towing corn barges from Manchester to the Kellogg’s factory.
Friend at rest
Canon EOS 450D + Helios 44m-6 + DxO PhotoLab 2
WWII Cruiser's Gyrocompasses
A gyrocompass is a type of non-magnetic compass which is based on a fast-spinning disc and the rotation of the Earth to find geographical direction automatically. Although one important component of a gyrocompass is a gyroscope, these are not the same devices; a gyrocompass is built to use the effect of gyroscopic precession, which is a distinctive aspect of the general gyroscopic effect. Gyrocompasses are widely used for navigation on ships, because they have two significant advantages over magnetic compasses:
a. They find true north as determined by the axis of the Earth's rotation, which is different from, and navigationally more useful than, magnetic north, and
b. They are unaffected by ferromagnetic materials, such as in a ship's steel hull, which distort the magnetic field.
The pair seen above can be found mounted in their own secure space deep in the bowels of HMS Belfast, the Imperial War Museum's largest exhibit. A former Royal Navy cruiser active from 1938 to 1963, she can be found in the Pool of London on the River Thames.
The first, but impractical, form of gyrocompass was patented in 1885 by the Dutchman Marinus Gerardus van den Bos. A usable gyrocompass was invented in 1906 in Germany by Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe, and after successful tests in 1908 became widely used in the German Imperial Navy.
A gyrocompass is subject to certain errors. These include steaming error, where rapid changes in course, speed and latitude cause deviation before the gyro can adjust itself. This, and reliability, were the reasons for Belfast having two of these devices.
On most modern ships the GPS or other navigational aids feed data to the gyrocompass allowing a small computer to apply a correction. Alternatively, a design based on a strapdown architecture (including a triad of fibre-optic gyroscopes (FOGs), ring-laser gyroscopes (RLGs) or hemispherical resonator gyroscopes (HRGs) and a triad of accelerometers) will eliminate these errors, as they do not depend upon mechanical parts to determine rate of rotation. Today's FOGs, RLGs and HRGs can be tiny in comparison with the devices seen above and are used in multiple aeronautical and space vehicles as well as aboard more down-to-Earth platforms.
A full-colour version of a B&W image in my stream long ago.
Cabbage-Tree Palm
Having scratched around a variety of sites on the interweb, I've come to the tentative conclusion that this is a fine example of a young cabbage-tree palm but am very happy to be corrected! A more mature plant can be partially seen in the background.
Livistona australis is in the Arecaceae family. It is a tall, slender palm that grows up to about 25m in height and 0.35m diameter. It is crowned with dark, glossy green leaves on petioles 2m long. It has leaves plaited like a fan; the cabbage of these is small but sweet. In summer it bears flower spikes with sprigs of cream-white flowers. In winter, the trees accumulate dead fronds or leaves, which usually need to be removed by an arborist.
Seeking protection from the sun, early European settlers in Australia used fibre from the native palm to create the cabbage tree hat, a distinctive form of headwear during the colonial era.
This image was taken in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne, Victoria, but I've forgotten the exact location so the position on the map is between sites I know I was at before and after this image was taken.
The De La Warr Pavilion
This is an International Style building constructed in 1935 and considered by some to be in an Art Deco style. Some claim it to be the first major Modernist public building in Britain, although it was actually preceded by some months by the Dutch-influenced Hornsey Town Hall. It is located on the sea front in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex.
It was the result of an architectural competition initiated by Herbrand Sackville, 9th Earl De La Warr, after whom the building was named. A committed socialist and Mayor of Bexhill, he persuaded the town council to develop the site as a public building. The competition for the design attracted more than 230 entrants and the winners, Eric Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff, were leading figures in the Modern Movement.
The aesthetics employed in the International Style proved especially suited to the building, tending towards streamlined, industrially-influenced designs, often with expansive metal-framed windows, and eschewing traditional brick and stonework in favour of concrete and steel construction. Amongst the building's most innovative features was its use of a welded steel frame construction, pioneered by structural engineer Felix Samuely. Construction began in January 1935 and the building was opened on 12 December of the same year by the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth).
During WWII, the Pavilion was used by the military and amongst those who served there was noted comedian Gunner Spike Milligan.
In 1986 the Pavilion was granted Grade I listed Building status and in 1989 the Pavilion Trust was formed to protect and restore the building. In 2005, after an restoration and regeneration programme, the Pavilion reopened as a contemporary arts centre.
HMS Belfast's Transmitting Station
The large grey box dominating the centre of the compartment is an Admiralty Fire Control Table, a mechanical computer. It was fed details of the range and bearing to targets by the Forward Director Control Tower on the ship's Gunnery Direction Platform (about eight decks above the transmitting station). The computer then calculated the correct angles of training and elevation required for the guns to hit their target.
A photo on the display board explaining the transmitting station shows a Royal Marine Bandmaster operating a similar machine aboard HMS Victorious in 1942 (presumably dextrous fingers operating musical instruments were ideal for this task as well?).
HMS Belfast is the Imperial War Museum's largest single exhibit and can be found afloat in the Pool of London on the River Thames in central London.
This is an improved, full-colour version of a much-earlier black and white post on this stream.
The Beatles' Segment
Ten years ago, the 2012 Olympic Games took place in Stratford in the East End of London. This week, to remember that great occasion I'm posting a number of photos taken over the course of the two weeks. Some are improved versions of shots already posted, but the majority are new images I've not previously shared with the public.
Apart from this shot, I entirely missed the grand parade of various British iconography because I was sat in the wrong part of the stadium to properly see it (they didn't go all the way around).
Laid Back
Seen at Marwell Zoo, near Winchester, Hants.
The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is an atypical member of the cat family (Felidae): that is, unique in its speed, while lacking climbing abilities. Therefore it is placed in its own genus, Acinonyx.
It is the fastest land animal, reaching speeds of 70-75 mph in short bursts covering distances up to 460m, and has the ability to accelerate from 0 to 68 mph in three seconds, faster than most supercars.
The word "cheetah" is derived from a Sanskrit word meaning "variegated body." Cheetah cubs have a high mortality rate due to genetic factors and predation by carnivores in competition with the cheetah, such as the lion and hyena. Recent inbreeding causes cheetahs to share very similar genetic profiles. This has led to poor sperm, birth defects, cramped teeth, curled tails, and bent limbs. Some biologists now believe that they are too inbred to flourish as a species.
Cheetahs are included on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) list of vulnerable species (African subspecies threatened, Asiatic subspecies in critical situation) as well as on the US Endangered Species Act. Approximately 12,400 cheetahs remain in the wild in 25 African countries; Namibia has the most, with about 2,500. Another 50-60 critically endangered Asiatic Cheetahs are thought to remain in Iran. - Details from Wikipedia.
Central Sydney from Above
Seen from a floatplane as it flew over Sydney's outer harbour at the end of a flight from Sydney north past Northern Beaches suburbs to Palm Beach and back.
The peninsula on which the iconic Opera House stands today was previously a tram terminus! To the left is the historic Governor's House of New South Wales in the grounds of the Royal Botanic Gardens and beyond it is Sydney Cove with the ferry terminals at Circular Quay - several ferries can be seen departing on their varied routes around the harbour. The hotels and offices of the central business district dominate in the upper-left of the shot.
In the centre-right is the old quarter of Sydney known as the Rocks. And beyond that are Miller Point, Barangaroo and Darling Harbour, with the ANZAC Bridge in the background.
Finally, on the far right can be seen part of the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge, which is continues off the shot to the right. Immediately beyond it is Walsh Bay and in the distance is Balmain.
Victorian Agricultural Land
This view looks north-west from the elevated Red Rock Reserve viewpoint (200m above sea level) on the edge of Alvie in Victoria, Australia. The area is a rich dairying, potato and onion-growing area.
In the far distance on the mid-right of the image can be seen part of Lake Corangamite, which actually extends round behind the hills in the middle of the shot and off behind my left shoulder. It is Australia's largest permanent saline lake, covering some 230 square kilometres with a circumference of 150 km; its maximum depth, however, is just 7m. It forms part of the Ramsar-listed Western District Lakes wetland site. The Aboriginal name of the lake is recorded as Kronimite. In 1980 the salinity of the lake was approximately that of seawater but it has since risen to at least four times that of seawater, due to evaporation considerably exceeding inflows. There are concerns that it may dry up entirely.
Weidmann Cottage, Muswellbrook
Weidmann Cottage is a heritage-listed former retail building, residence and town house and now unused building located at 132 Bridge Street, Muswellbrook in the Muswellbrook Shire local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was built between 1840 and 1845. The property is owned by Muswellbrook Shire Council and was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
The building is a well-proportioned, symmetrically-designed middle-era colonial town residence typical of the reasonably affluent middle/working-class merchant housing. It exhibits an interesting and very broad use of solid masonry walls devoid of moulding and utilising stone lintels in otherwise rough-hewn stone walls.
Seen during a brief midday visit to Muswellbrook in temperatures well in excess of 100˚F.
Muswellbrook is a town in the Upper Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, about 243 km north of Sydney and 127 km north-west of Newcastle. It had an estimated urban population of 12,723 as at June 2014. The area is predominantly known for coal mining and horse breeding, but has also developed a reputation for gourmet food and wine production.
Before European settlement of the region the Wonnarua and Kamilaroi peoples occupied the land. The first European to explore the area was Chief Constable John Howe in 1819, with the first white settlement occurring in the 1820s. The township of Muswellbrook was gazetted in 1833.
The Steely Dan song "Black Friday" from the 1975 album Katy Lied contains the lyric "When Black Friday comes, I'll fly down to Muswellbrook". Band member Donald Fagen explained the line in an interview with Paul Cashmere of Undercover Music; "I think we had a map and put our finger down at the place that we thought would be the furthest away from New York or wherever we were at the time".
Australian Bronze Medallists
Hayden Stoeckel (backstroke), Christian Sprenger (breaststroke), Matthew Targett (butterfly) and James Magnussen (freestyle), pose for photos after winning the bronze medal in the men's 4x100m medley relay final on the last night of London 2012's swimming programme.
Deceptively Calm Gorge
The crystal-clear waters sheltered from the open Southern Ocean beyond by the steep cliffs on either side, with a pleasant sandy beach below the bluff in the foreground, would apparently make this an idyllic location. But this is the scene of one of Australia's great Victorian tragedies.
In the early hours of 1 June 1878, the Loch Ard, a Glasgow-built clipper, was approaching the end of a three-month voyage from Gravesend, England under Captain George Gibb when cliffs were seen ahead and despite the crew's best efforts, the ship ran aground on Muttonbird Island just beyond the entrance above.
Of the 36 crew and 18 passengers, only two, ship's apprentice Tom Pearce, and Eva Carmichael, one of a family of eight Irish emigrants, survived. After drifting for hours under an upturned lifeboat, Tom was swept ashore in this gorge after the tide turned at dawn. He heard cries and swam out to rescue Eva, taking an hour to bring her back to the beach. Tom then climbed out of the gorge seeking help. At Glenample Station, owner Hugh Gibson arranged to pluck Eva to safety.
Only four bodies were recovered from the Loch Ard and most of the cargo was lost, including some display pieces intended for Melbourne's 1880 International Exhibition.
Tom Pierce became a national hero and was awarded the Humane Society's gold medal for his efforts in front of 5,000 people. Romantic sentiment of the time wished Tom and Eva to marry but within three months she returned to Ireland and the two never met again.
Today, the Loch Ard Gorge is part of Port Campbell National Park, which also includes the Glenample Homestead and the world-famous Twelve Apostles.
If any of you saw the BBC's 'Coast Australia' series in the early 2010s, you'll have seen that the remnants of the wreck of the Loch Ard have been found and were dived on.
RED WINGED BLACKBIRD-C-1
COSUMNES RESERVE
Shelly Beach, NSW
Shelly (or Shelley) Beach is located in Manly, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is adjacent to North Head and Fairy Bower. Shelly Beach is a bit of a rarity, being a western-facing beach on the eastern coast of Australia.
The bay in front of the beach is the no-take Cabbage Tree Bay Aquatic Reserve meaning there is no fishing and no marine organisms or plants, dead or alive, can be removed.
Shelly Beach is protected from the ocean swell by the reef that lies on the right-hand side of the beach (when facing the ocean) - under the foamy sea beyond the end of the headland. Cabbage Tree Bay is a small north-facing embayment that includes two small beaches. Shelly Beach is a reflective beach about 100m long.
The visibility is good and a large variety of marine life can be seen there. It is excellent for scuba divers, and also for snorkellers as the waters offshore do not get very deep, with a maximum depth being about 12m. Many areas are shallow with depths ranging from 2-6m. Just inshore from the reef at a depth of about 8m can be found an upright motorbike resting on its kick-stand.
There is evidence of occupation of Aboriginal people in the area; in particular, a shell midden has been recorded near the Fairy Bower car park. This is the reason for its name even though the beach itself is not that shelly. One hundred years ago Shelly Beach was a haven for boat owners, providing protection from winds and seas from the south. What's also changed is the Manly-side hillside, which in the early 1920s was home to only several buildings but is now covered with expensive homes from which their occupants can take advantage of the expansive views to the north.
Seen at the beginning of a floatplane trip up the Northern Beaches coastline.
Saracen Water Cannon
The FV603 Saracen is a six-wheeled armoured personnel carrier built by Alvis and used by the British Army and Royal Ulster Constabulary. It became a recognisable vehicle as a result of its part in the policing of Northern Ireland. This particular vehicle is a modified Mark 3, equipped with a water cannon intended to be used against rioters.
The cannon apparently used the compressed nitrogen bottles visible on the rear to fire a 1.6 kg 'slug' of water from the turret. The water could, if desired, have an 'indelible' dye added so rioters could be easily identified later.
The vehicle was intended to be a modern replacement for the early Humber 'Squirt Pig' water cannon available to the security forces in Northern Ireland. However, it would appear that the Saracen Water Cannon were never deployed to to the province because of (political?) concerns over the power of those slugs of water.
The vehicle demonstrates the Mk 3 Saracen's adaptation to hot climes, with the expanded snout of the vehicle. This permitted reverse-flow cooling for the engine, intended to ease the associated temperatures.
In addition to the British use of the vehicle, over 900 Saracens of various types were exported to some 18 countries. At least three appear to still be available to SWAT police forces in various parts of the Unied States.
Parachute Tower, Brooklyn NYC
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Panzer II Ausf. L Luchs
A light reconnaissance tank, the Ausf. L, was the only Panzer II design with the Schachtellaufwerk overlapping/interleaved road wheels and "slack track" configuration to enter series production, with 100 being built from September 1943 to January 1944 in addition to the conversion of the four Ausf. M tanks.
Originally given the experimental designation VK 1303, it was adopted under the alternate name Panzerspähwagen II and given the popular name Luchs (Lynx). The Luchs was larger than the Ausf. G in most dimensions (length 4.63m; height 2.21m; width 2.48m). It was equipped with a six-speed transmission (plus reverse), and could reach a speed of 60 km/h with a range of 290 km
The FuG12 and FuG Spr a radios were installed, while 330 rounds of 20mm and 2,250 rounds of 7.92mm ammunition were carried. Total vehicle weight was 11.8 tonnes.
Development of the Luchs (Lynx), a specialised light reconnaissance tank, began in April 1939. MAN developed the superstructure while Daimler Benz designed the chassis. The first prototype was running by April 1942 and a production order for 800 vehicles was placed with MAN. The first 100 tanks were fitted with the 2cm KwK 38 gun; the remaining 700 were to have the 5cm KwK 39/1 in a larger turret and were to be called the Leopard. These vehicles never appeared.
Whilst relatively fast and manoeuvrable, the Luch's armour was thin and its gun inadequate. As a result crews relied on agility, speed and its small size to keep out of trouble.
The Tank Museum’s Luchs belonged to the 1st Company of the Armoured Reconnaissance Unit of the 9th Panzer Division, (1. Kompanie, Panzer Aufklarung Abteilung, 9. Panzer Division). This unit had 26 Luchs on 1 July 1944. After fighting in Normandy, 9th Panzer retreated to Aachen and finally surrendered in the Ruhr in 1945.
I've Got My Eye on You!
This is a Eurasian Eagle-Owl (Bubo bubo), a species of eagle owl resident in much of Europe and Asia. It is also one of the largest types of owls.
The Eagle Owl is a large and powerful bird, smaller than the Golden Eagle but larger than the Snowy Owl. It is sometimes referred to as the world's largest owl, but this is actually the Blakiston's Fish Owl, which is slightly bigger on average.
The Eagle Owl has a wingspan of 138–200 cm and measures 58–75 cm long. Females weigh 1.75-4.5 kg and males weigh 1.5-3.2 kg. In comparison, the Barn Owl weighs about 500 grams.
The great size, ear tufts and orange eyes make this a distinctive species. The ear tufts of males are more upright than those of females (which presumably makes this a female!). The upper parts are brown-black and tawny-buff, showing as dense freckling on the forehead and crown, stripes on the nape, sides and back of the neck, and dark splotches on the pale ground colour of the back, mantle and scapulars.
It mainly feeds on small mammals in the 200-2,000 grams weight range, such as voles, rats, mice and hares. However, prey can be killed up to the size of foxes, marmots and young deer (up to 17 kg), if taken by surprise. The other significant group of prey is other birds and almost any type of bird is potential prey. Common avian prey include corvids, grouse, woodpeckers, other raptors and, especially near coastal areas, ducks, seabirds and geese. Larger prey (over 3 kg) is consumed on the ground which leaves the bird vulnerable (for example to foxes).
This species has a strong direct flight, usually consisting of shallow wing beats and long, fast glides. Unusually for an owl, it has also been known to soar on updrafts. It is largely nocturnal and is usually found nesting on cliff ledges.
The Eagle Owl can live for 20 years in the wild although like many other bird species in captivity they can live much longer, perhaps up to 60 years. Adults have no natural predators and are thus considered apex predators. Man-made causes are the leading cause of death for this species: electrocution, traffic accidents and shooting sometimes claim the eagle-owl.
Seen during a display at Colchester Zoo.
Potts Point and Keltie Bay
This long-exposure shot looks roughly south-east from my hotel room window in Potts Point.
Potts Point is a small and densely-populated suburb in inner-city Sydney, NSW. It is 2 km east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney.
Potts Point sits on a ridge immediately east of Woolloomooloo, west of Elizabeth Bay and Rushcutters Bay and north of Darlinghurst. The suburb has a roughly trapezoidal shape, and at its greatest extent is no more than 1 km long by 200m wide. The suburb's boundaries include Macleay Street to the east, Darlinghurst Road to the southeast, William Street to the south, Brougham Street and part of Cowper Wharf Road to the west.
I think the stretch of water on the left of shot is a bit of Keltie Bay, but I am very happy to be (reasonably politely please!) corrected...
Night scenery, Brooklyn NYC
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View of the Verrazano Bridge, Brooklyn NY
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Alert Cheetah
The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is an atypical member of the cat family (Felidae): that is, unique in its speed, while lacking climbing abilities. Therefore it is placed in its own genus, Acinonyx. The word "cheetah" is derived from a Sanskrit word meaning "variegated body."
It is the fastest land animal, reaching speeds of 70-75 mph in short bursts covering distances up to 460m, and has the ability to accelerate from 0 to 68 mph in three seconds, faster than most supercars.
Sadly, cheetah cubs have a high mortality rate due to genetic factors and predation by carnivores in competition with the cheetah, such as the lion and hyena. Recent inbreeding causes cheetahs to share very similar genetic profiles. This has led to poor sperm, birth defects, cramped teeth, curled tails, and bent limbs. Some biologists now believe that they are too inbred to flourish as a species.
Cheetahs are listed as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Red List of threatened species. Some 7,000 cheetahs remain in the wild in Africa and (a few) Asia.
There have been successful breeding programmes, including the use of in vitro fertilisation, in zoos around the world. This beauty was seen at Chester Zoo.
This is a reworked version of an earlier image in my stream.
Daniel McAllister Underway
A former US Navy Natick-class large harbour tug - Shabonee (YTB-833), built in 1974 by Marinette Marine Corporation of Marinette, WI. The 77-strong class were named for Native American peoples and their members with a single exception. In April 2015, 5-8 of the class remained in active service with the US Navy.
The tug was struck from the naval register in February 2002 and acquired by McAllister Towing and Transportation Co. of New York. She was renamed the Daniel McAllister and began serving the port of Norfolk, VA. where I saw her in 2012 on the Elizabeth River.
Built of steel, she is 33m in length, with a beam of 9.4m and a draught of 4.3m. She displaces 362 tonnes full load and her 2,000 hp Fairbanks Morris diesel engine and single screw gives her a maximum speed of 12 knots.
In 2015, the Great Lakes Towing Company of Cleveland, OH. purchased the tug, renaming her Huron. She is now based in Duluth, MN., where she provides icebreaking and ship docking services.
EGRET-GOLD-1
Bridgeway Island Pond
West Sacramento
A Minor Variation
David Rosenthal
Keyboards, musical director
Billy Joel band
January 17, 2014
Tampa, Florida
Aveling & Porter Steam Traction Engine
In 1860 Thomas Aveling invented the traction engine, offering an alternative to horses in agricultural haulage. Eleven years later, approximately when this engine was built, Aveling was improving his design for the self-propelling power plant. This engine was one of the first to be steered by its front wheels (earlier designs were steered by a fifth wheel) and to have gear-driven rear wheels. These features, as well as the Aveling patented method of supporting the crankshaft, were to become standard on all traction engines. This engine was renovated by Aveling-Barford Ltd in the 1950s before being donated to the Science Museum.
Built in 1870-72, it is the oldest surviving traction engine to show all the features that became standard on all traction engines for the next 60 years.
Traction engines were often used as a portable power source for various machines, driven by a long belt from a flywheel. The engines would travel from far to far at harvest time, where they would drive a threshing machine (which separated the wheat from the chaff and stalks).
For many people, the traciton engine was probably their first encounter with the "machine age." In Tess of the d'Urbervilles, published in 1891, Thomas Hardy described the harsh pace of the new machinery as Tess helped to feed corn into the threshing machine. "It was the ceaselessness of the work that tried her so severely .... For Tess there was no respite; for, as the drum never stopped, the man who fed it could not stop, and she, who had to supply the man with untied sheaves, could not stop either."
Traction engines were also used to haul heavy industrial equipment and also pulled 'road trains' consisting of several wagons. However, their average speed was slow - about 4 mph.
Aveling and Porter exported steam engines all over the world. They also pioneered the steam road-roller - really a traction engine with heavy rollers for wheels - thus steam "paved the way" for the petrol, diesel and electric vehicles of today...
All information from the Science Musuem's website and noticeboards.
North Head Sewage Works
North Head Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) is located on the North Head Peninsula at the entrance to Sydney Harbour, near Manly.
The 15.9-ha site is bordered by Sydney Harbour National Park and the Tasman Sea. A large area of Threatened Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub borders the plant and a threatened population of Long-Nosed Bandicoots is found in the grounds.
North Head STP was commissioned in 1971 and is the second-largest ocean STP in Sydney. It provides high rate primary treatment of sewage to a catchment of some 416 sq km. The plant serves a population of over one million people and treats about 300 million litres of flow a day.
Treated effluent is discharged through a deepwater ocean outfall that has been causing environmental concerns since it began operation in 1999.
Leyland Fire Engine, 1936
For many years, British fire engines had had an open body, exposing the firemen to the elements and to the dangers of collisions and/or falling off. The enclosed body was first constructed for Edinburgh Fire Brigade in 1930. Within 20 years, the enclosed type had become the usual design for all new appliances.
The above 1:8 scale model is of a petrol engined Leyland limousine-type fire engine and was made by Leyland Motors Ltd for London Fire Brigade in 1936. To increase pressure from the water mains, the vehicle was fitted with a two-stage centrifugal pump which could deliver 900 gallons/minute at 120 lb/sq inch. The crew consisted of an officer and five firemen.
Seen in the Science Museum, Kensington, London.
SANDILL CRANES
STATEN ISLAND
"Queen of the Desert" - Explored!
The Matilda II was so known by the troops of the British Army because of its dominance of the Western Desert battlefield between autumn 1940 and spring 1941. Its armour was impervious to all Italian tank and anti-tank guns but it met its match in the 88mm Flak 18/Flak 36 AA gun deployed in the anti-tank role by the Deutsche Afrika Korps.
At the end of 1936 the War Office recognised the need for a larger and more powerful infantry tank than the feeble Matilda Mk I. The new specification required heavy armour, a two-pounder gun and a low speed, as the tank would accompany walking infantry. At that time the two-pounder was one of the best anti-tank guns in the world.
The tank was developed by the Vulcan Foundry in Lancashire. The hull was very robust, assembled from a mixture of rolled and cast armour plate. The front armour was 78mm thick and even the thinnest plates were 20mm thick; thus it could withstand any known anti-tank gun of its day as well as almost all other artillery. The finished tank weighed 26.5 tons.
The prototype was delivered in April 1938. An order for 140 tanks was placed in June 1938 but the tank proved to be difficult to manufacture. Five other companies were brought into the programme but only two tanks were delivered to the Army by the outbreak of war in September 1939. A small number were sent to France with the 7th Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) and saw action during the German invasion of France in May and June 1940. All were lost following the French collapse.
The Matilda II went to the North African Desert with 7th RTR in the summer of 1940, playing a major role in the destruction of the Italian Army in Libya in December 1940 and January 1941. These actions also revealed the tank’s deficiencies. It was too slow, with a cross-country speed of about 8mph while the two-pounder gun was useless against fortifications as there was no HE shell for it. The Matilda II continued in service with the 8th Army in decreasing numbers until the first Battle of El Alamein in August 1942.
The Australian Army made extensive use of the tank in jungle fighting against the Japanese in New Guinea, Borneo and various Pacific islands. They remained in service with Australian Citizens' Military Force until 1953. About 1,000 Matilda II were shipped to the Soviet Union, although many were lost at sea.
Although no longer useful as a gun tank by the summer of 1942, Matilda chassis were adapted to fulfil many supporting roles, including searchlight carrier (the Canal Defence Light or CDL), mine clearance (Baron and Scorpion), bulldozer and flamethrower, (Matilda Frog and Matilda Murray). In all, 2,987 Matilda II gun tanks were manufactured between 1938 and August 1943.
The North British Locomotive Company built the Tank Museum's example in May 1941. It is currently painted in the colours of the tank commanded by Lt Col H R B Foote when he won the Victoria Cross in Libya in 1941.
An improved version of a much-earlier post...
Mk IIA Light Tank
A two-man light tank of the early 1930s. The Mk I evolved from the Carden-Loyd Carrier; the Mk II, which had just 10mm of armour, was produced in larger numbers and issued for service. Light tanks were regarded as an alternative to armoured cars with a better cross-country performance. New, malleable cast iron tracks, which were far better wearing than earlier types, gave these tanks greater range and modern suspension systems, by Horstman, made them, faster and more comfortable. Early versions were fitted with Meadows six-cylinder engines but these were later replaced by Rolls-Royce power units.
The turret, which is turned bodily by the gunner, contains a water-cooled Vickers .303-calibre machine-gun. The driver, who sits below and in front of the gunner is also located alongside the engine, so conditions inside are warm and noisy.
These light tanks served with the Royal Tank Corps in Britain, the Middle East and India. Many were still in service when WWII began. For a while they were used for driver training, and in Egypt they were issued to newly-arrived Australian troops. This tank has the No. 1 Mk II turret, with air louvres along the sides, but no anti-splash baffles. It has the long, 'fish tailed' silencer characteristic of the Rolls-Royce engined vehicles. Twenty-nine 4.25-tonne Mk IIAs, which were capable of 30 mph, were built at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, south-east London. This example is in the Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset.
A cleaner, brighter and more-detailed version of a much-earlier post.
A Vickers-Armstrong Mk E Light Tank
This particular vehicle, a Type B, was one of 130 ordered by Thailand, but was seized by the British authorities at the outbreak of WWII; it was put to use as a training vehicle. It would appear that most of the Thai vehicles were never built.
Both guns are wooden fakes as the originals were removed many years ago. The gaudy colour scheme is typical of those given to Vickers-Armstrong tanks. It can be found in the new hall at The Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset.
First built in 1928, these 7.2 tonne tanks were well-armoured, fast and reliable. The Type A featured two turrets, each armed with a single machine-gun. The Type B had a single turret, armed with a short-barrelled 47mm 3-pounder main gun and a single .303-inch machine-gun.
Whilst four were trialled by the British Army, no others were bought. However, Vickers-Armstrong sold about 150 to a variety of countries (Bolivia, Bulgaria, Republic of China, Finland, Greece, Poland, Portugal, the Soviet Union, Spain and Thailand).
The Soviets eventually produced a modified version called the T-26, of which 12,000 were built. The Bolivians purchased three and they saw action in the Chaco War of 1933 against Paraguay, the first time tanks were used in action in the Americas. Finnish units were used against the Soviet Union in early 1940 in the Winter War but were not a success. Some of the Finnish units remained in service as training tanks until as late as 1959.
An improved, especially in terms of a more natural colour scheme, than a post from many years ago...
French Char B Bis
Design of the 31-ton Char B dates back to 1926 when three prototypes were built by a consortium of companies under the control of Atelier de Construction de Rueil. Subsequent developments saw the appearance of the Char B1 in 1935 and the Char B1 bis, an up-armoured version, about a year later.
Although classed as a medium tank the Char B was clearly designed for infantry support. Its 75mm howitzer main armament is located in the hull, alongside the driver who aims and fires it. The tank commander, in the turret, has to load and fire the 47mm gun and the 7.5mm machine-gun.
In its day the Char B was regarded as one of the most powerful tanks in the world, yet still had many features which harked back to the First World War; the tall hull, all-round tracks and side entry doors, for example.
On the mechanical side, however, it was extremely sophisticated. The 6-cylinder Renault engine had been modified from an aircraft unit, while the transmission was operated by a Naeder hydrostatic system which gave the driver superb control when swinging the tank to aim the 75mm. The Char B was also equipped with an advanced gyroscopic direction indicator.
The Char B was issued to tank battalions in armoured divisions and saw extensive combat in the summer of 1940. There is some evidence to suggest that visibility from the tank was poor and, undoubtedly, the crew of four was over-stretched. Of the 365 Char B1 bis built, large numbers were captured intact by the Germans in France in 1940. Those that survived were later incorporated into the German Army and modified in various ways. They were used to equip German armoured units, fighting in 1941 in Russia and the Balkans.
The tank seen above is on display at The Tank Museum, Bovington. It was issued to 1st Platoon, 1st Company, Panzer Abteilung 213, Panzer Division Schweizingen for service in the Channel Islands and was captured on Jersey at the end of the war. The Panzer Abteilung 213 was formed in the autumn of 1941 to operate French tanks, and arrived in Jersey and Guernsey in March-April 1942. The regiment never fired a shot in anger, although many of its recruits fought in other panzer regiments.
An improved version of a much-earlier post.
Scorpion Prototype
In May 1970 Alvis Ltd of Coventry supplied the British Army with prototypes of a new tracked reconnaissance vehicle. Known as Scorpion it was a three-man light tank built of welded aluminium and powered by a 4.2 litre Jaguar XK series engine. It entered production in 1972 and was an immediate success. Light weight resulted in a very low ground pressure (less than that exerted by a human foot) and the powerful engine, linked to a seven-speed transmission, made it highly manoeuvrable. Armed with a 76mm gun it was capable of firing a variety of ammunition with considerable effect. A flotation screen fitted to early models enabled it to swim and it was also air portable; a single Scorpion could be lifted by a Chinook helicopter while two could be carried in a C130 Hercules. Scorpion has served with the British Army and RAF. It has seen action in the Falklands and the Gulf War in 1990-91 in addition to internal security duties in Cyprus.
In traditional terms Scorpion would be regarded as a light tank but in modern terminology it is Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked). It was the first fully tracked reconnaissance vehicle to enter service with the British Army since the light tanks of the 1930s, armoured cars having dominated through the intervening period. Designed for close reconnaissance work in armoured regiments and it is the tracked equivalent of the wheeled Fox armoured car. It was considered revolutionary at the time and became the first of a whole family of fighting vehicles including the FV102 Striker tracked anti-tank missile launcher, the FV103 Spartan APC, the FV104 Samaritan Armoured Ambulance, the FV105 Sultan Armoured Command Vehicle, the FV106 Samson Armoured Recovery Vehicle and the FV107 Scimitar Reconnaissance Vehicle.
Alvis produced 313 Scorpions for the British Army where they replaced the Saladin heavy armoured car. Scorpion was withdrawn from service in 1994 because of health and safety concerns about the 76mm gun. By 1999 total production of AFVs in the CVR(T) family amounted to over 3,500 vehicles for use by the UK armed forces and for export to Bolivia, Botswana, Brunei, Chile, Honduras, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Jordan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Oman, Philippines, Spain, Thailand, Tanzania, Togo and Venezuela. The Scorpion was produced under license in Belgium. Seen in The Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset, England.
Lightning
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Sunset on sea
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RM-81 Agena-B Upper Stage
This type of vehicle was used to inject a variety of (mainly military) payloads into orbit and as an intermediate-stage booster for space probes. It was launched aboard Thor or Atlas-D launch vehicles which were then known as Thor-Agena and Atlas-Agena. A total of 75 Agena-Bs were launched, the first October 1960 and the last in June 1966.
With longer propellant tanks than the -A model, the 6.3m-long, 1.5m diameter -B was powered by a Bell 8081 engine, which provided 71 kN of thrust, with a burn time of 240 seconds. The gimballed liquid-fuel engine could be restarted in orbit.
Satellite programmes supported by Agena-B included the military's SAMOS-E and SAMOS-F, together with MIDAS. The covert Corona photo-reconnaissance satellites, flying under the covername Discoverer were also flown aboard Agena-Bs. Scientific research OGO and Nimbus satellites were also launched aboard Agena-Bs. Space probes included Ranger vehicles going to the Moon and Mariner planetary probes to Mars, Venus and Mercury.
The above example was donated by the US Air Force to the Smithsonian Institution in 1965. I saw it in the Rockets and Missiles section of the Space Hangar in the National Air & Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.
Adelholzener
I have no memory whatsoever of taking this picture. It's not a very good picture, either, but I made it better with the magic of editing. I posted it because it's a streetcar in Munich! I got a lot more streetcar photos on my 2020 trip, but very few on my 2008 trip, so it was neat to come across this.
As I've said before, discovering some of these photos I don't remember taking from 2008 makes it seem like a completely different trip.
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Munich in the evening
I've tested negative for COVID several times in the past 20 days (that's how long I've been sick), but now I can hardly smell anything and my sense of taste is also reduced. I have to test tomorrow before going in to work anyway, but I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this.
I spoke to my doctor yesterday and she told me a bit of COVID might have slipped in there. I think we say "a bit" because I got my 6th dose of a COVID vaccine just two weeks before getting sick, and because I'm so careful with masking. I know I was exposed to COVID on November 16th and 17th, but only for a very short period of time. So perhaps I do have COVID; enough to cause symptoms or prevent my previous cold from going away, but not enough to show up on a test.
If someone else was telling me that about themselves, I'd tell them to stay away from me. But because it is somewhat believable and we're talking about me, I'm inclined to say it makes sense. Perhaps if a person is recently vaccinated and wears a mask around others, it's possible to breathe in a small enough amount of COVID to establish an infection but the viral load stays small enough to not show up on a test. I dunno. Nobody else I know masks with the same dilligence as I do, or isolates from social events to the same degree as me.
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The TGV at Gare de L'Est
This was initially a terrible, badly-composed, under-exposed picture that I took while holding the camera up in the air above the heads of the other people. But with the magic of HDR processing (or "tone mapping") and a crop, it looks substantially better. This is probably the train we took from Paris to Munich.
I'm currently on day 18 of being sick. I don't know what it is, but it seems like I feel mostly better after a week and then start feeling sick again. Either my daughter is bringing in new viruses from daycare before we can recover from the old one, or we're dealing with some sort of reboundy devil virus. We've tested negative for COVID several times, so...we're just sick of being sick.
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The intersection of Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis, Boulevard de Magenta, Rue de Chabrol, and Rue du 8 Mai 1945
You know what's weird? The guy on the crosswalk with the brown bag is in three pictures I took during that taxi ride. We must have been moving pretty slowly, or driving in circles or something.
It's also another example of me thinking about the passage of time. I took this picture 15 years ago, in the summer of 2008, and obviously posted it today in 2023. Every person in this picture (assuming they're all still alive) is 15 years older today than they were when I took this picture.
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GOLDEN CROWN SPARROW
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Grey Crowned Crane
The Grey Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum) is found in dry savannah in Africa south of the Sahara, although it nests in somewhat wetter habitats. There are two sub-species. The East African B. r. gibbericeps (Crested Crane), seen here, occurs from eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo through Uganda, of which it is the national bird, and Kenya to eastern South Africa. It has a larger area of bare red facial skin above the white patch than the smaller Balearica regulorum regulorum (South African Crowned Crane) which breeds from Angola south to South Africa. The Grey Crowned Crane has a breeding display involving dancing, bowing, and jumping. It has a booming call which involves inflation of the red gular sac. It also makes a honking sound quite different from the trumpeting of other crane species. The nest is a platform of grass and other plants in tall wetland vegetation. The female lays a clutch of 2-5 eggs. Incubation is performed by both sexes and lasts 28-31 days. Chicks fledge at 56-100 days. The birds stand about 1m tall and weigh 3.5 kg. Its body plumage is mainly grey; the wings are also predominantly white, but contain feathers with a range of colours. The head has a crown of stiff golden feathers. The sides of the face are white, and there is a bright red inflatable throat pouch. The bill is relatively short and grey, and the legs are black. The sexes are similar, although males tend to be slightly larger. Like all cranes, it feeds on insects, reptiles and small mammals. This specimen was seen at Colchester Zoo, Essex.
A Street in Paris
Here's a "lost" pic from my 2008 trip that didn't make the cut the first time. I took it from a taxi and obviously the focus on the left side isn't sharp, and clearly the taxi window frame is visible on the right. But I think the scene itself is interesting enough. We had left Courseulles-sur-Mer that morning, took the train back to Paris, and were now taking a taxi to another train station whence we could catch another train to Deutschland.
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Hotel garden
I decided to revisit my "Europe 2008: The Lost Photos" album after watching the episode of The Crown yesterday about the final hours of Princess Diana.
This photo is unrelated to that, except that it was taken in France. This is one of a very few photos I took of the hotel [grounds] in Courseulles-sur-Mer. The hotel is currently (2023) called Hotel la crémaillere coté jardin, although I think it was just called La Crémaillere back in 2008 when we stayed there.
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Snowy Egret
Bridgeway Island Pond
Black necked Stilt
Cosumnes Preserve
sandhill cranes- flight-
Woodbridge Ecological Reserve
Sydney Central Business District
The Sydney central business district (also Sydney CBD, and often referred to simply as "Town" or "the City") is the main commercial centre of Sydney, the state capital of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia.
Geographically, its north–south axis runs from the ferry terminal at Circular Quay in the north (in the middle of the above image) to Central railway station in the south. Its east–west axis runs from a chain of parkland that includes Hyde Park, The Domain, Royal Botanic Gardens and Farm Cove on Sydney Harbour in the east; to Darling Harbour and the Western Distributor in the west. At the 2016 Australian Census, the CBD recorded a population of 17,252. On the right of the image is a partial view of the Overseas Passenger Terminal where large cruise liners park.
The Sydney CBD is Australia's main financial and economic centre, as well as a leading hub of economic activity for the Asia-Pacific region. The city centre employs approximately 13% of the Sydney region's work force. Based on industry mix and relative occupational wage levels it is estimated that economic activity (GDP) generated in the city in 2015/16 was approximately $118 billion. Culturally, the city centre is Sydney's focal point for night-life and entertainment. It is also home to some of the city's most significant buildings and structures.
An impressive city skyline, this view was taken from the esplanade beside the Sydney Opera House.
SNOWY EGRET-1
BRIDGEWAY POND
YOLO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
Cornish Heritage and Pride on Parade
At what was probably the peak of the cloudburst that drenched much of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Thames Pageant, Barnabas is seen emerging from under Waterloo Bridge. She is the only survivor from St Ives of the 1,000-strong fleet of lug-rigged seine and drift net fishing boats registered at Cornish ports at the end of the 19th century. She was built for Barnabas Thomas by Henry Trevorrow above Porthgwidden beach, St Ives. Barnabas was first registered on 28 October 1881 as a Class 2 pilchard boat, with the number 634 SS. Later, she was re-registered as a Class 1 mackerel driver and her number switched to SS 634. The number is said to have been chosen as it corresponded to the hymn “Will Your Anchor Hold” in the Methodist hymn book used at the time.
She is known as a dipping lugger because of the way in which the lug sail on her foremast is partly lowered to tack, and the whole of the foresail is passed around the front of the mast. The sheet on the new tack is attached to the sail and the lug, or yard, from which the sail hangs is raised on the appropriate side of the mast. This method means that the foresail sets efficiently on both tacks for faster sailing, although she needs a more numerous and skilful crew to sail her. The mast can be seen partially demounted above, because of the height limitations under the Thames' many bridges.
Barnabas is a mackerel driver, so-called as the boats were driven by the effect of the tide on their nets. Her year began in March, fishing for mackerel, sometimes as far as west of the Isles of Scilly. In mid-summer the catch switched to herring, often fishing out of Howth, near Dublin, with her crew of five men and a boy. They would have all slept in the cramped foc’sle.
Barnabas continued to fish from St Ives until 1954, when she was sold as a yacht. In the 1970s she was given to the National Maritime Trust and in the 1980s was restored to her original state thanks to the generosity of Peter Cadbury, whose family had owned her in the 1950s. In 1994 the Cornish Maritime Trust bought her from the National Maritime Trust for a nominal sum of £1 and in 1996 a new engine was fitted, replacing a 26-hp petrol/paraffin engine fitted in 1917.
In 2005 the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded a substantial sum for a further badly-needed refurbishment, and in October of that year, aged 123, Barnabas began restoration in Penzance Dry Dock. By July 2006, she was back in the water and had her first sea trials in August. Since then, she has sailed regularly to maritime festivals in France and the Isles of Scilly.
The large flag depicting a white cross on a black background is St Piran's Flag, the flag of Cornwall. The earliest known description of the flag, referred to as the Standard of Cornwall, was written in 1838. It is used by some Cornish people as a symbol of their identity. The flag is attributed to St Piran, a 5th-century Cornish abbot, but the design is also the coat of arms of the Saint-Perran (or Saint-Pezran) family from Cornouaille in Brittany, recorded from the 15th century.
Howard D and Lady of Mann
The Howard D was the first motorised lifeboat to be stationed at St Helier. The 19th unit of the 60-strong Liverpool class, she was purchased by the yachtsman and philanthropist T B Davis in memory of the son he lost in WWI. She arrived at the St Helier station in August 1937 and remained in service in Jersey throughout the German occupation. She was replaced by the Elizabeth Rippon in 1948 but served sa a relief in other locations before eventually leaving the RNLI in 1964. During her service she was launched on 70 occasions and saved 66 lives.
In 1995 the Jersey Heritage Trust bought her with the view of restoring her to her original appearance. She was finally rededicated in May 2008 at a ceremony attended by members of the Davis family. Today she is operated by the Maritime Museum in Jersey and is part of the UK's National Historic Fleet.
Beyond her (above) can be seen the Lady of Mann. She is a standard Board of Trade ship’s lifeboat built in 1930 and was lifeboat No 8 (of 10), aboard the TSS (RMS) Lady of Mann. Her construction is of mahogany planks on oak frame, with the addition of an Iroko cabin.
The RMS Lady of Mann was built for the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, being launched in 1930 by Vickers Armstrong Ltd, at their Barrow-in-Furness yard and represented the latest development in fast home-trade passenger service. She was requisitioned at the outbreak of WWII and because of her turn of speed (over 22 kt), she was able to get in and out of Dunkirk to lift 4,262 men back to England. She spent six hours in Dunkirk on 31 May 1940 and despite being shelled by shore batteries and dive-bombed she emerged with little damage and a claim of one aircraft shot down. She returned to Dunkirk on 1 June to take off 1,500 casualties and was back again on the following day but was ordered out for lack of troops although she did rescue 18 French soldiers from a small boat on the way back to England. She made her last trip to Dunkirk in the early hours of 4 June embarking 1,244 troops in an hour from the East Pier. Operation Dynamo ended that afternoon. Twelve days later she was in Operation Aerial to evacuate troops from Le Havre, Cherbourg and Brest, and as one of the last three ships to leave Le Havre, steamed out under air attack carrying an estimated 5,000 on board (she was only designed to carry 2,873 passengers).
From then until April 1944 she was on trooping duties between Invergordon, Aberdeen and Lerwick to the Faroes as well as acting as one of several tenders to the RMS Queen Mary, ferrying allied troops from Belfast Lough to Greenock. In the build-up prior to the D-Day landings she was converted to a LSI (H), Landing Ship Infantry (Hand Hoisting), carrying six landing craft, 55 officers and 435 assault troops and took part in the landings at Juno beach as the HQ ship of the 512th Assault Flotilla. She retired for repairs later in the month and then returned to duties as a personnel vessel for the remainder of the war moving troops and displaced persons across the Channel. Lady of Mann was finally reconditioned and returned to Steam Packet service in May 1946 after carrying an estimated 2,000,000 troops. Her final passenger sailing was from Ardrossan to Douglas at 1400 on Sunday afternoon, 14 August 1971.
Broken up on the Clyde in 1971, her No. 8 lifeboat was saved before being converted into a fishing boat/cabin cruiser in Maldon, Essex. It is understood that No. 8 was so chosen as she was the only lifeboat fitted with an onboard engine. During her service life she also saw considerably more action than the other lifeboats as she was always the preferred choice when carrying out exercises and real-life ‘man overboard’ recovery operations. She spent the next 38 years fishing off the East Coast.
In 2010, after a sale, she arrived at Old Windsor on the Thames and was given some TLC before commencing cruising in the area. There would appear to be no lasting representative of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company and company's involvement at Dunkirk so this lifeboat represents quite a lot. She sank at her mooring in 2014 during heavy flooding but has been fully-restored since.
Barbara and Sea Symphony
The 34-foot motor cruiser Barbara was one of the more modern vessels participating in the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Thames Pageant, having been built in 2007. At the time, the (unidentified) owner was a member of the City Livery Yacht Club, the Royal Yacht Association and a Master of the Painter‐Stainers' Company in 2005‐06.
Of note, whilst preparing this image for posting, I discovered the vessel was being used for a reunion of three television/film stars - Barbara Windsor, Scott Mitchell and Steve McFadden. In the image above, Barbara is the lady in the white coat under the stern awning. Scott Mitchell is probably the man standing to her right and behind her in the pale blue cargo pants is Steve McFadden.
In the background is another of the vessels in the recreational boats section of the pageant. Sea Symphony is a 37-foot motor cruiser built in 1990. At the time she was operating under the flags of the Penton Hook Yacht Club and The Royal Society of St George Yachting Association.
The Chieftain and Mary Gabriel
Two different generations of historic lifeboat are seen here on the River Thames, participating in the 2012 Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant.
The Mary Gabriel is the third Rother-class lifeboat, a self-righting design operated by the RNLI around the coast of the UK and Ireland between 1972 and 1995. They were based on the earlier 11.4m Oakley-class lifeboat.
The 11.45m-long Rother-class were the final displacement hull lifeboats produced by the RNLI. As a result of the decision to have fast lifeboats at all all-weather stations they had a shorter than usual career and none of the 14 built reached 20 years of service.
Like the Oakleys, the Rother-class were primarily intended for carriage launching, although six of the 14 went to slipway stations. A major change was the abandonment of the Oakley's complicated water ballast self-righting system. The Rother achieved its self-righting ability from its extended watertight superstructure and all had an enclosed wheelhouse with the radar mounted on the roof.
Twin 52 hp Ford Thorneycroft 250 four-cylinder diesels gave a maximum speed of 8 kt and a range around 180 nm at this speed. The boats built for Walmer and Aldeburgh had strengthened hulls for beach launching over skids.
The Chieftain is a Liverpool-class lifeboat. They were designed by James Barnett, and were derived from the 35ft 6in Self-righting motor-class, having many similarities with it. Lifeboatmen at many stations preferred non-self-righting boats due to their better stability and the Liverpool class was designed to be light enough for carriage launching at these stations.
The single-engined version entered service in 1932 and was powered by an RNLI-designed, Weyburn Engineering built AE6 six-cylinder 35-hp petrol engine mounted in a watertight compartment. Like all early motor lifeboats, the Liverpools carried an auxiliary sailing rig and had a drop keel just forward of the engine room. Between 1931 and 1941 28 boats were built.
The introduction of tractors to assist with carriage launching enabled the RNLI to consider a heavier, twin-engined version of the Liverpools but a prototype was destroyed in an air raid at the builder's yard at Cowes in May 1942. Production only got underway early in 1945 and the boat was powered by two 18-hp Weyburn AE4 four-cylinder petrol engines mounted in a watertight compartment. The extra redundancy of twin engines reduced the need for auxiliary sails. A total of 31 twin-engine boats were built between 1945 and 1954, including The Chieftain in 1948.
An improved version of an earlier post.
46+38: Luftwaffe, Panavia Tornado ECR
46+38: Luftwaffe (German Air Force), Panavia Tornado ECR
Sabrina and Wheldale
One of the oldest powered vessels in the country, Sabrina was built in 1870 by Fielding & Platt Ltd of Gloucester. She is 16.46m in length, with a beam of 2.97m and draught of 1.25m.
She was used as the Directors' and Engineer's Inspection Launch for the Gloucester and Berkeley Ship Canal (now the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal), being used for the company's annual formal inspection of the canal and for various other official duties day-to-day, as well as being chartered for private parties.
In 1942 she was sold after 72 years service. She was then used as a leisure boat until 1948, moored at Apperly on the River Severn. Thereafter she was again sold (several times) and underwent a variety of indignities, including removal of her steam engine.
A new owner in 1970 realised her historical significance, which was continued by subsequent owners. A new coal-fired boiler was fitted in 1988 and this was converted to oil-firing in 2003.
Wheldale was built in 1959 for British Waterways as a Goole-based Compartment Boat tug. With a length of 14.7m, beam of 4.42m, draught of 2.06m and 53 grt, she was used to pull 'tom puddings' (interlocking modular barges) from Yorkshire coal mines to the Aire and Calder Navigation to Goole. The tugs pulled the tom puddings to the Compartment Boat Hoists in Goole Docks, and then the hoist would lift them up and tip the coal into ships.
When the tom puddings stopped operating in 1987, Wheldale was sold to Hargreaves and used as a push-pull tug. In 1997, she was purchased by the Yorkshire Waterways Museum from Cawood-Hargreaves for its collection. She has been restored and runs trips into Goole Docks for Museum visitors, as well as travelling to be displayed at festivals in Yorkshire.
She is the last remaining tom pudding tug in complete, original working order. She operates with an original jebus (No. 3 circa 1890), and it was intended that she run exhibition trips with the Museum's three tom puddings once conservation of them was complete. However, following closure of the Yorkshire Waterways Museum, the Goole Civic Society failed in a campaign to save the vessel and in December 2019 it was reported that the vessel had been sold into private ownership.
Part of the National Historic Fleet, both vessels are seen here during a very wet part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Thames Pageant in 2012, where Sabrina carried the Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire. She is now back on the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal. Wheldale appears to be providing a stable platform for film or TV crews.
SANDHILL CRANE
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Hi-Tech Tent Poles and String
The Millennium Dome, often referred to simply as The Dome, was originally used to house the Millennium Experience, a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of the third millennium, CE. Located on the Greenwich Peninsula in South East London, the £789 million exhibition opened to the public on 1 January 2000 and ran until 31 December 2000. However, white and elephant would seem a fitting description for that original format.
Subsequently, all of the original exhibition and associated complex was demolished, leaving the canopy or shell of the dome. This exterior only cost £43 million to construct. The rest of the exorbitant costs were on the politically-driven interior!
The dome is the largest of its type in the world. Externally, it appears as a large white marquee with 12 100m-high yellow support towers, one for each month of the year, or each hour of the clock face, representing the role played by Greenwich Mean Time. In plan view it is circular, 365m in diameter - 1m for each day of the year - with scalloped edges. It has become one of the UK's most recognisable landmarks and can easily be seen on aerial photographs of London.
The architect was Richard Rogers. The building structure was engineered by Buro Happold, and the entire roof structure weighs less than the air contained within the building! Although referred to as a dome it is not strictly one as it is not self-supporting, but is a mast-supported, dome-shaped cable network. For this reason, it has been disparagingly referred to as the Millennium Tent. The canopy is made of PTFE-coated glass-fibre fabric, a durable and weather-resistant plastic, and is 52m high in the middle - 1m for each week of the year. However, its symmetry is interrupted (ruined?) by a hole through which a ventilation shaft from the Blackwall Tunnel rises.
Apart from the dome itself, the project included the reclamation of the entire Greenwich Peninsula. The land was previously derelict and contaminated by toxic sludge from an earlier gasworks that operated from 1889 to 1985. The clean-up operation was seen by the-then Deputy Prime Minister, Michael Heseltine, as an investment that would add a large area of useful land to the crowded capital. This was billed as part of a larger plan to regenerate a large, sparsely-populated area to the east of London and south of the River Thames, an area initially called the East Thames Corridor but latterly marketed as the "Thames Gateway".
It is the ninth-largest building in the world by usable volume. In its post-millennium life as a venue for concerts and shows, the O2 Arena (as it was renamed in 2005) has become the world's busiest music venue since 2017 in terms of ticket sales, outselling such locations as Madison Square Gardens.
Modern Melbourne Tram
The D1-class trams are low-floor Combino trams that operate in Melbourne, Victoria. They were built by Siemens in Germany, and introduced between 2002 and 2004. 3533 is one of the youngest, starting service in December 2003.
Technically, Tram 3533 is a pantograph-equipped, double-bogie tram of the D1 Combino class and is driven by four 100 kW AEG Siemens electric motors. It is 20m long, 2.65m wide and 3.65m high.
The tram is a three-section, low-floor, articulated power car for bi-directional operation. The vehicle has 36 passenger seats and can carry 27 people standing. The vehicle has three doors on either side.
3533 is seen here in December 2009 in its original Yarra Trams livery, crossing Collins Street as it runs south on Swanston Street. Christmas decorations are visible above the vehicle.
Earlier that year, it had been involved in an accident. Stationary at a tram stop, it had just completed loading passengers when it was shunted by another tram. Ten passengers aboard the two trams were injured, but only one required an ambulance for transport to hospital.
In March 2016, Time Out Magazine rated the D1- and D2-class trams the worst on the Yarra Trams network. The reasons given were a low amount of uncomfortable seats and a loud scream-like sound when the doors open and close, resulting in poor-quality rides for passengers.
Yarra Trams is the trading name of the Melbourne tram network, which is owned by VicTrack and which is leased to Yarra Trams by Public Transport Victoria on behalf of the Victorian State Government. In May 2014, Yarra Trams operated 487 trams, across 26 tram routes and a free City Circle tourist tram, over 1,763 tram stops. With 250 km of double track, Melbourne's tram network is the largest in the world.
PELICAN TRIPLETS-1
Bridgeport Island Ponds
Yolo County
Sandhill Cranes Lodi California
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Kreisner-Reisner C-4C Challenger
Amron Kreider and Lewis Reisner of Hagerstown, MD., built the Kreider-Reisner C-4C Challenger, a light and efficient biplane, as a replacement for aging Curtiss Jennys and Standards. Beginning in 1926, Kreider-Reisner built a series of tandem-seating open-cockpit aircraft that flew exceptionally well. The addition of a Wright J-6 engine made the design especially reliable.
In April 1929, Kreider-Reisner became a subsidiary of the Fairchild Airplane Manufacturing Company, which redesignated the C-4C Challenger line as the Fairchild KR-34. C-4s and KR-34s flew as sport aircraft, air taxis, and press planes, and in the 1929 US National Air Tour.
This C-4C, seen suspended from the ceiling in the Udvar-Hazy Center, was built during the parent company transition period and carries the Challenger designation. It flew with many owners and is restored with a colour scheme that reflects its association with North Penn Airways.
Tank Cruiser Mark III A13
In September 1936, a British Military Mission visited the Soviet Army’s manoeuvres with BT7 medium tanks. The Soviets had evolved all BT tanks from a single Christie M1930 that they had imported from a private American supplier - Walter Christie, of New Jersey.
Colonel Giffard Le Quesne Martel (the Deputy Director of Mechanisation) arranged with William R Morris (Lord Nuffield), a car manufacturer, to import Christie's last M1930 in October 1936 using War Office financing. The turret-less hull arrived on 17 November 1936, and was delivered to the Mechanisation Experimental Establishment at Farnborough for preliminary trials, where it was designated A13E1. The Mechanisation Board chose to design a superior derivative.
The Mechanisation Board and Morris developed the M1930 into the A13E2, which was larger and faster than alternative projects, but no more lethal or survivable. The turret, although starting off as an evolution of the A12’s, was more like the turret on the earlier A9.
On 23 December 1937, the General Staff agreed to order at least 50 Cruiser IIIs in January 1938 to equip one of the three tank battalions in the Tank Brigade. On 22 January 1938, the War Office contracted for 65 Cruiser IIIs, after which production would switch to a version with better protection (A13 Mark IIs, also known as Cruiser IVs).
In December 1938, 11 months after the contract, Nuffield delivered the first production Cruiser III for running trials, although without armaments. Once complete, it was issued to the Army on 20 March 1939. By the start of WWII 43 Cruiser IIIs had been delivered. Production ended on 13 November 1939, after 65 deliveries (67, counting the pilot tanks).
In June 1940, 40 of these landed in France with 1st Armoured Division, where most of them stayed when the personnel were evacuated. A few served in North Africa into 1941.
The above vehicle was apparently retained to prove the attachment of armour plates on the turret in fulfilment of the Cruiser IV’s armour specification (30mm), which is the configuration in which it survives. It was held by the School of Tank Technology until 1949, when it transferred to the Tank Museum.
It is painted to represent a vehicle commanded by Ron Huggins (who later volunteered at the Tank Museum) of 10th Royal Hussars – a part of 1st Armoured Division, which served in western France in June 1940.
The above details were taken from the museum's website. Seen in the Tank Museum at Bovington, Dorset, the image has been processed in Lightroom and Photoshop.
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21F-13
Having posted an image of a Phantom II yesterday, I thought its main opponent from the Vietnam era was appropriate for today.
The MiG-21 was Russia's first truly modern second-generation jet fighter. The Russian Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) developed a unique "tailed delta" configuration with a very thin delta wing, which gave the MiG-21 manoeuvrability, high speed, good medium-altitude performance and adequate take-off and landing characteristics.
Testing began in 1956, and the first version entered service in 1960 as the MiG-21F-13. It was equipped with the K-13 (AA-2 Atoll) infra-red homing air-to-air missile, reportedly a copy of the US Sidewinder missile, obtained from China following air-to-air clashes with Taiwan over the China Sea.
The MiG-21 soon became the standard clear-air interceptor for the Soviet Air Forces. Reconnaissance and trainer versions also flew. More than 6,000 of 12 types were flown during the next 30 years with the USSR's Frontal Aviation and IA-PVO (anti-aircraft forces). The USSR used the MiG-21 as part of its effort to establish international relationships and exported many hundreds of these aircraft.
The MiG-21F-13 was the first MiG-21 model to be produced in large numbers. Unlike the MiG-21F, it had only one NR-30 cannon on the starboard side, with only 30 rounds; however, it added the capability to use the K-13 missile system, of which two could be carried on underwing hardpoints. Alternatively, the MiG-21F-13 could carry two UB-16-57 unguided rocket launchers, two S-24 rockets or two FAB-100/250/500 bombs or ZB-360 napalm tanks.
Although these earlier MiG-21s had advantages in cost, durability, and mid-to-high altitude performance, they also had disadvantages which contributed to the losses: short range, less-advanced avionics, a poor view (both to the front and the rear), and inadequate armament. The range problem was alleviated but not eliminated by adding saddle-type auxiliary fuel tanks. Avionics - including radars - were improved throughout the aircraft's career, better armament was added and the structure was strengthened.
The MiG-21F-13 Fishbed C exhibited above by the National Air and Space Museum in the Korea and Vietnam section at the Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia carries the possible construction number "Series N 19, GREG N 19A, 19 4 62" and the number "2106." The numbers "19 4 62" may refer to the date 19 Apr 1962. The meaning of the acronym "GREG" is unknown. It also features a large drop tank under the fuselage.
The US Air Force donated this aircraft to the museum in August 1990. For many years it had been part of an exhibit of Soviet military hardware housed at Bolling AFB, MD., in the "Soviet Awareness" training programme but its prior history is unknown.
SANDHILL CRANES
OCTOBER 2023
Park Live East
Ten years ago, the 2012 Olympic Games took place in Stratford in the East End of London. This week, to remember that great occasion I'm posting a number of photos taken over the course of the two weeks. Some are improved versions of shots already posted, but the majority are new images I've not previously shared with the public.
This view looks north-east across the Park Live East area to the velodrome on the horizon. Park Live East and West enabled people to sit out in the sun and watch events on a pair of very large screens sat back-to-back in the River Lea (partially visible on the left). Some were people who only had park tickets, with no chance of getting into a specific venue to see live action.
St. George and the Dragon #3 - Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Bavaria, Germany - Explored!
St. George is riding his horse over the dragon as he punges his lance into the beast. St George does look a bit large for his horse. St. George's tower rises from the largest fountain and well in the city and may date to the 1600s or earlier.
This is the most colorful and perhaps the best image I have photographed of the ancient battle. Since I uploaded the St. George and the dragon from Lyon, France I have searched my photos for more examples. This is the second one I found in old photos.
The town's medieval buildings are amazingly intact and a prime tourist attraction.
Selected for Explore on 2023-10-12 at #346
Anti-Aircraft Weaponry
Here are two anti-aircraft weapons from roughly similar eras but designed to carry out their tasks using very different technologies.
In the foreground, designed in the 1960s and manufactured by the Rheinmetall Company of Düsseldorf, the Rh 202 20mm twin-barrelled anti-aircraft gun is a light, highly-mobile towed automatic system for defence against low-flying aircraft. It can also be used to engage ground targets. It was also mounted on a variety of tracked AFVs and ships.
Equipped with an effective computerised sight and a built-in power supply, the gun operates without complicated electronic fire-control equipment and therefore cannot be jammed by an enemy. It also has has optical 'taboo' facility which prevents it firing on friendly targets.
With hydraulic assistance, the gun is highly manoeuvrable, traversing at up to 100˚/s and elevating at up to 55˚/s. The weapon has a high rate of fire of 1,000 rounds per barrel per minute. A large ammunition supply (550 rounds) allows a long action time without replenishment.
The system required a crew of three, namely a gunner and two loaders. It weighs 2.1 tonnes and has a tactical range of 2,000m. This particular example was captured by British forces in the Falklands in 1982. A total of 15 of these weapons were captured, nine at Port Stanley and six at Goose Green. All had belonged to the Argentine Air Force.
Beyond the gun is an example of the Bristol Bloodhound, a British ramjet-powered surface-to-air missile developed during the 1950s. It served as the UK's main air defence weapon into the 1990s and was in large-scale service with the RAF and the forces of four other countries.
The Bloodhound was originally intended to protect the RAF's V-bomber bases to preserve the deterrent force from attacking bombers that made it past the Lightning interceptor force. Bloodhound Mk I entered service in December 1958, the first British guided weapon to enter full operational service. Bloodhound Mk II entered service in 1964, increasing the range of the missile to a maximum 80 km.
The Bloodhound Mk II was a relatively-advanced missile for its era, roughly comparable to the US's Nike Hercules in terms of range and performance, but using an advanced continuous-wave semi-active radar homing system, offering excellent performance against ECM and low-altitude targets. It also featured a digital computer for fire-control that was also used for readiness checks and various calculations. It was a relatively large missile, which limited it to stationary defensive roles although Sweden operated its Bloodhounds in a semi-mobile form. The last RAF Mk II missile squadron stood down in July 1991, although Swiss examples remained operational until 1999.
Seen in the Imperial War Museum in Lambeth, London, prior to the 2012-14 modernisation of the museum.
German 2cm Flak 30 Cannon
The original Flak 30 design in 1934 was developed from the Solothurn ST-5 as a project for the Kriegsmarine, which produced the 20mm C/30. Rheinmetall then started an adaptation of the C/30 for Army use, producing the highly-mobile light anti-aircraft weapon, the 2 cm Flak 30.
Generally similar to the C/30, the main areas of development were the mount, which was fairly compact. Set-up could be accomplished by dropping the gun off its two-wheeled trailer and levelling the gun using hand cranks. The result was a triangular base that permitted fire in all directions. The crew of six were able to engage targets up to 2,200m altitude; however, it also proved effective against ground targets, particularly lightly-armoured and soft-skinned vehicles.
Over 8,000 Flak 30s were eventually produced and the weapon was in service throughout World War II. In addition to the towed variant seen here, there were also a number of self-propelled variants and the weapon was also mounted on trains, ships and U-boats. However, it had a relatively low rate of fire (120 rounds per minute), resulting in the development of the Flak 38 which increased the rate of fire to 220 rpm - over 40,000 of this model were produced from 1939 onwards.
Little is known of the history of this particular example, except that it was captured by British forces during World War II. It was transferred to the Imperial War Museum by the War Office in 1946.
Y Turret's Interior
In this shot you can see the left and centre breeches for the 6-inch 50-calibre Mk XXIII Y Turret aboard HMS Belfast, a British modified Town-class light cruiser. The centre gun is set back 30 inches from the two outer guns by design, in an attempt to avoid the shells colliding in mid-air and to give the gunners a bit more room in the turret. The right breech is off-shot to the right.
The whole turret weighs 185 tonnes and can rotate at a rate of 5-7°/sec. Each gun can elevate to +45° or -3°. Maximum range for the 51 kg shells is 22.4 km, which they reached 71 seconds after being fired.
I'll let you read elsewhere about these guns' participation in the sinking of the Scharnhorst, bombardment at Normandy and shelling of North Korea.
HMS Belfast is the Imperial War Museum's largest exhibit. She sits afloat in the Pool of London, just upstream on the River Thames from Tower Bridge. This means most of the area inside the M25 (London's motorway ring road) would be within reach of the ship's guns if they were operational; they could fire at a rate of eight rounds per barrel per minute.
A colour version of a much-earlier B&W image on this stream.
The Famous French 75
The French 75mm field gun was first adopted in March 1898. Its official French designation was: Matériel de 75mm Mle 1897. It was commonly known as the French 75, simply the 75 and Soixante-Quinze (French for "75"). It was designed as an anti-personnel weapon system for delivering large volumes of time-fused shrapnel shells on enemy troops advancing in the open. However, after 1915 and the onset of trench warfare, impact-detonated high-explosive shells prevailed. By 1918 the 75s became the main agents of delivery for toxic gas shells and also became widely used as truck mounted anti-aircraft artillery. They were the main armament of the Saint-Chamond tank in 1918.
The French 75 is widely regarded as the first modern artillery piece. It was the first field gun to include a hydro-pneumatic recoil mechanism, which kept the gun's trail and wheels perfectly still during the firing sequence. Since it did not need to be re-aimed after each shot, the crew could reload and fire as soon as the barrel returned to its resting position. In typical use the French 75 could deliver 15 rounds per minute on its target, either shrapnel or melinite high-explosive, up to about 8,500m away. Its firing rate could even reach close to 30 rounds per minute, albeit only for a very short time and with a highly-experienced crew.
At the opening of World War I, in 1914, the French Army had about 4,000 of these field guns in service and by the end of the war a total of about 12,000 had been produced. It was also in service with the American Expeditionary Forces, which had been supplied with about 2,000 of them. Several thousand were still in use in the French Army at the opening of World War II, updated with new wheels and tyres to allow towing by trucks rather than by horses. The French 75 set the pattern for almost all early-20th century field pieces, with guns of mostly 75mm forming the basis of many field artillery units into the early stages of World War II.
The British used a few as anti-aircraft weapons during World War I. After the fall of France in 1940 and the loss of much of the BEF's equipment at Dunkirk, the British bought 895 of these guns and a million rounds of ammunition from the US Army; they went on to be deployed as field artillery, anti-tank guns and light coastal artillery. More were acquired when the British obtained via Lend-Lease 170 American half-track M3 Gun Motor Carriages which mounted the French 75. The light coastal artillery and M3s were only declared obsolete at the end of the war.
This example, with its limber, is seen on the main floor of the Imperial War Museum in Lambeth. It was presented to the museum by the French government shortly after World War I, having been in service with the 2nd Battery of the 61st Field Artillery Regiment, 42nd Infantry Division, in the battles of the Marne, User, First Ypres, Verdun, Somme and Aisle. The gentleman stood beside it seems to be concentrating on taking a selfie...
V-2 Rocket on Display
This example was brought back from Germany at the end of World War II and, after display at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, was transferred to the Imperial War Museum in 1946. This view shows it on display in 2010, prior to a major redesign of the museum in preparation for commemorating the 100th anniversary of World War I. It remains on display today in the modernised facility.
The alcohol and oxygen tanks can be seen, as can the rocket engine itself (note that one half of the outer skin has been fretted to reveal the tanks, and two of the fins have been removed, exposing the engine. A V-1 is also seen here.
The V-2 (German: Vergeltungswaffe 2, lit. 'Vengeance Weapon 2'), with the technical name Aggregat 4 (A-4), was the world's first long-range guided ballistic missile. Powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, the missile was developed during World War II and assigned to attack Allied cities. The rockets travelled at supersonic speeds, impacted without audible warning, and proved unstoppable, as no effective defence existed.
Total targets were:
Belgium, 1,664: Antwerp (1,610), Liège (27), Hasselt (13), Tournai (9), Mons (3), Diest (2)
UK, 1,402: London (1,358), Norwich (43), Ipswich (1)
France, 76: Lille (25), Paris (22), Tourcoing (19), Arras (6), Cambrai (4)
Netherlands, 19: Maastricht (19)
Germany, 11: Remagen (11)
The V-2 rocket also became the first artificial object to travel into space by crossing the Kármán line (edge of space) with the vertical launch of MW 18014 on 20 June 1944. Because much of the manufacturing process for the V-2 was in the hands of those using slave labour, more people died manufacturing the V-2 than were killed by its deployment.
Further details, plus links to extensive reference materials, are available on the relevant Wikipedia page.
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Historical Postbox
I saw this old postbox on Cowper Wharf Roadway in the Woolloomooloo suburb of Sydney, New South Wales. I used to live on a Cowper Road and with the surname of Forbes, the photo just had to be taken...
The brass plaque on the postbox states:
"This type of posting box was first introduced in 1861 and because of its historical nature, it has been installed here as part of the Wooloomooloo re-development project."
Interesting that even Australian officialdom finds Woolloomooloo difficult to spell!
The building with the barred ground-floor windows forming the backdrop on the right of the image is The Gunnery. Built in about 1900 as a bulk store for the Sydney Morning Herald, it was taken over by the government during WWII. Utilising projections on a dome and fixed gun mounts it was used to train anti-aircraft gunners against simulated targets amidst the noise of battle. Since 1993 the building has contained a not-for-profit contemporary art space.
Woolloomooloo is a harbourside, inner-city suburb of Sydney, just 1.5 km east of the central business district. It is in a low-lying, former docklands area at the head of Woolloomooloo Bay, on Sydney Harbour. Woolloomooloo was originally a working-class district of Sydney and has only recently changed with gentrification of Sydney's inner-city areas.
The current spelling of "Woolloomooloo" is derived from the name of the first homestead in the area, Wolloomooloo House, built by the first landowner John Palmer. There is debate as to how Palmer came up with the name with different Aboriginal words being suggested. Anthropologist J D McCarthy wrote in 'NSW Aboriginal Places Names', in 1946, that Woolloomooloo could be derived from either Wallamullah, meaning place of plenty or Wallabahmullah, meaning a young black kangaroo. But earlier, in 1852, the traveller Colonel G C Mundy wrote that the name came from Wala-mala, meaning an "[Aboriginal] burial ground". It has also been suggested that the name means field of blood, due to the alleged Aboriginal tribal fights that took place in the area, or that it is from the pronunciation by Aboriginals of windmill, from the one that existed on Darlinghurst ridge until the 1850s.
The actor Russell Crowe apparently owns an (expensive!) apartment just off to the left of my shot on Finger Wharf.
Iconic Opera House
Opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1973, Sydney Opera House is considered a masterpiece of late modern architecture, admired internationally and proudly treasured by the people of Australia.
It was created by a young architect who understood and recognised the potential provided by the site against the stunning backdrop of Sydney Harbour. Denmark’s Jørn Utzon gave Australia a challenging, graceful piece of urban sculpture in patterned tiles, glistening in the sunlight and invitingly aglow at night.
It has earned a reputation as a world-class performing arts centre and become a symbol of both Sydney and the Australian nation. It became a World Heritage Site in June 2007. The expert evaluation report to the World Heritage Committee stated: “…it stands by itself as one of the indisputable masterpieces of human creativity, not only in the 20th century but in the history of humankind.”
Taken mid-morning on a gloriously sunny late-spring/early-summer day.
Redbank Power Station
Redbank was first commissioned in 2001 and operated as a coal-fired powered station with a single steam-driven turbo-generator with a capacity of 151MW of electricity. At the time of commission, the station was promoted as being at the cutting-edge of environmental technology, but was criticised by environmentalists for producing more CO2 than other types of coal-fired power stations.
It is located in Warkworth in the Upper Hunter Valley of New South Wales. The most important economic activity in the valley is coal mining (through businesses such as Rio Tinto and BHP), mostly for export. The port of Newcastle, some 75 km to the south-east of Warkworth, is the world's largest export facility for coal, most of which is brought to the port by rail.
Redbank's owners went bust in 2013. In 2018, the power station was purchased by Hunter Energy Limited, which planned to convert the existing plant from coal to biomass. This was done as the first step of a broad strategy the company presented at the time that would eventually lead to a renewable energy complex at the site of the station. In 2021, Hunter Energy Limited rebranded as Verdant Technologies Australia Limited in an effort to reflect new strategies that did not involve the Hunter Valley.
Redbank is planned to refire using 100% biomass, with an emphasis being placed on waste-biomass. This method uses wood processing debris that is otherwise unusable, such as branches and bark that are byproducts produced during sawmill production of commercial timber. Biomass is considered a renewable energy source in Australia, and is accepted as a valid method of reducing carbon emissions within the country.
However, the plant has not yet (September 2023) been restarted...
This view is pretty much impossible now due to trees planted between the Golden Highway (B84) on which I was stood, and the plant (based on a look at the plant on GoogleEarth's Streetview).
Lumber Load
Switching a box car load of lumber to the lumber yard.
Layout web-site @ Valley Central Railway.
Tyne-Class Lifeboat
The Sarah Emily Harrop (47-037) is seen at her station at Calshot on the Solent in the summer of 2009, the year before she was removed from service and sold to an Irish ferry company. I'm not sure why a group of young women were visiting.
The two prototype boats of the class were built in 1982, 47-001 City of London (ON 1074) and 47-002 Sam and Joan Woods (ON 1075). Following completion of the test programme, City of London entered service at Selsey in November 1983.
Forty boats were built, the last, Hermione Lady Colwyn, (ON 1158) going into service at Shoreham Harbour in September 1990, serving at that station until 2010 when she was withdrawn and sold, the only Tyne not to record over 20 years' service. The RNLI retired the first of the class in 2006. Eight of the earliest boats were sold to China for further duties in 2007 and 2008.
The unusual design of this lifeboat derives from the requirement to deploy from slipway stations built for previous generations of lifeboats, with limited clearance. The Tyne also lies afloat at stations where the approaches, or operating areas, are particularly shallow. As the lifeboat propellers are protected by heavy bilge keels, she is particularly well suited to operate where there is a danger of hitting the bottom, or tapping as it is known colloquially.
The Tyne has a steel hull and aluminium superstructure; it displaces 26 tonnes. It has a length of 14.3m, a beam of 4.48m and a draught of 1.3m. The first two were powered by General Motors 8V-71 diesels of 425 bhp, but the production boats switched to the newer GM 6V-92 of the same power. In the 1990s some boats were re-engined with Detroit Diesel 92 DDEC 6 cylinder engines of 565 bhp. During the course of production the weight of the boats increased by over one ton and this required an increase in superstructure volume to preserve the self-righting capability resulting in the height of the aft cabin being raised. Later, further doubts about the self-righting capability resulted in air bags being added to the aft cabin roof.
Space Shuttle Nose Landing Gear
Surprisingly, the tyres on a Space Shuttle are is not much larger than those found on a pick-up truck. However, a main landing gear tyre (visible in the background) can carry three times the load of a Boeing 747 tyre or the entire starting line-up of a NASCAR race - 40 race cars - all hitting the pavement at up to 250 mph.
The Shuttles had six tyres; four were on the main landing gear (two to each side), with two more on the nose wheel as seen above. The tyres are filled with nitrogen (as are most aircraft tyres) due to the Shuttle's stability at different altitudes and temperatures. The wheel wells themselves are not pressurised, but the doors of the wheel well are an integral part of the Shuttle's thermal protection.
Due to potentially extremely heavy loads that can be placed on them (particularly if there had been an abort during launch and the Shuttle was forced to land with whatever payload it was carrying still aboard), these bias ply tyres are inflated to 340 psi (main gear) and 300 psi (nose gear). That's over 23 and 20 times the atmospheric pressure at sea level...
The tyres undergo a significant rise in temperature on every Shuttle's return to Earth. In space they are at something less than -40˚C. From re-entering the atmosphere to landing is about 30 minutes at which point their temperature shoots up to 55˚C.
You won't be surprised to discover that the Shuttle's main landing gear tyres only got used one time and the nose landing gear typically only twice..
Federation Free Architecture
When I took this image in 2009, the Hotel Palisade had been closed for over a year. It remained disused until it reopened in March 2015.
The site (35 Bettington Street, Millers Point) originally featured a public house built around 1880 near the historic palisade fence that ran from Munn Street to Bettington Street. The pub was popular with wharf workers before the Sydney Harbour Trust built the current five-storey Federation Free style structure in its place.
Federation architecture was the architectural style in Australia that was prevalent from around 1890 to 1915. The name refers to the Federation of Australia on 1 January 1901, when the Australian colonies collectively became the Commonwealth of Australia.
The architectural style had antecedents in the Queen Anne style and Edwardian style of the UK, combined with various other influences like the Arts and Crafts style. There are 12 recognised sub-sets of Federation architecture, of which Federation Free is one.
The Palisade's architect was Henry D Walsh, the Trust's chief engineer. The building opened for business in 1912 and was intended for the port workers and local community. At the time was the highest building in Sydney.
Following its refurbishment as an up-market facility with a ground-floor bar, three floors of luxury suites and two further floors of dining areas (indoors and balcony) with grand sweeping views of Sydney Harbour, the building was sold at auction in March 2015 with an anticipated income stream of A$1 million a month!
I think the man in the bush hat on the roof was a surveyor...
Early-Morning Canberra Airport
Canberra Airport, (IATA: CBR, ICAO: YSCB) serves Australia's national capital and must be one of the smallest national capital airports outside of Africa. Whilst the Australian government designates it as an international airport, these only consist of flights to Nadji, Fiji, which commenced in July 2023; pre-pandemic, international flights to Singapore, Doha and Wellington were on the schedule. The airport handled 3.2 million passengers in 2018-29. It is located just some 8-10 minutes' drive from the city centre. I photographed it from atop Mount Ainslie.
The airport was built up from an old airstrip first laid down in the 1920s, not long after the National Capital site was decided. In 1939 it was taken over by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), with an area leased out for civil aviation and was only sold to a commercial entity in 1998. On the far side of the main runway is the remaining military aspect, Fairbairn, home to the RAAF's No. 34 Squadron, which operates VIP transport aircraft and supports visits by foreign heads of state and military aircraft in transit.
In the photo, a new terminal can be seen under construction that opened for use in 2013. Part of the Canberra rush-hour traffic congestion can be sen in the lower right of the image.
For those of you who may not have stumbled across it, there is a classic clip on YouTube showing an Il-76 cargo aircraft stretching the safety margins to the limit whilst taking off from the airport: www.youtube.com/watch?v=O20fo-WqRmc. Make sure you turn up the sound so you can hear the (intermittent) comments from the camera operator and others in the control tower.
A sharper, brighter and wider view compared with an earlier version in my stream.
Portland, Oregon
Canon EOS XSi / 450D
Canon EF 22-55mm f/4-5.6 USM
www.fluidr.com/photos/elzopilote
el zopilote's most interesting photos on Flickriver
Stake Truck
From my former HO scale model railway, the Valley Central Railway, dismantled in 2015.
Tracked Rapier Underway
Rapier is a British surface-to-air missile (SAM) developed for the British Army and RAF. Entering service in 1971, it eventually replaced all other AA weapons in Army service. As the expected air threat moved from medium-altitude strategic missions to low-altitude strikes, the fast reaction time and high manoeuvrability of the Rapier made it more formidable. Following various upgrades, it remained the UK's primary air-defence weapon until it began to be replaced by the new, longer-range Sky Sabre system in 2021; it remains in service with eight foreign customers.
With sales to the then-Imperial Iranian Armed Forces came an additional requirement for a mobile version of Rapier. BAC responded by adapting the Rapier system to fit on the M548, a cargo-carrier version of the ubiquitous M113 APC. Development started in 1974 as Tracked Rapier, but had not yet been delivered when the Shah fell from power in 1978. The vehicles were later purchased by the British Army.
The first public showing of Tracked Rapier was at the 1977 Paris Air Show, as a static display unit. The first Tracked Rapiers entered service with 11 (Sphinx) Air Defence Battery, of 22 Air Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery in 1983 in Napier Barracks near Dortmund.
The conversion was relatively simple; the launch unit was placed on the extreme rear of the cargo platform at the rear of the M548 carrier, and the tracking system placed inside the cabin at the front of the vehicle, projecting through the roof of one of the turret bustles. The optical tracker was operated from the left side of the crew cabin, while on the right were the driver and tactical controller. The crew cabin was quite cramped as a result, with the three crewmembers and all of the equipment stuffed into an area originally intended for two men. From moving to firing took only 30 seconds, a tremendous improvement over Towed Rapier, which required at least 15 minutes to prepare. The biggest difference between towed and tracked Rapier was that Tracked Rapier's launcher had eight missile rails compared with the four of the towed system. Unfortunately the equipment also greatly slowed the vehicle, with cross-country performance reduced to about 15 km/h.
There was no room for the Blindfire radar on a single M548, so this was instead towed or carried on a separate M548. Feeding data to the control system in the firing unit thus required more set-up time to connect the two vehicles. With less internal hardware, the support vehicle was also tasked with carrying field kits, rations and water.
After entering service the Tracked Rapiers were upgraded several times to follow the upgrades being introduced to all Rapier systems. The latest version included a new helmet-mounted sight that allowed the tactical controller to quickly slew the tracker onto the target while standing out of the other roof-mounted turret bustle.
During the 1990-91 Gulf War, 12 and 16 Regiment Royal Artillery tracked batteries, combined to provide Tracked Rapier support to deployed armoured regiments. Tracked Rapier was retired in the early 1990s. It has since been replaced in the mobile role by Starstreak missile launchers mounted on the Alvis Stormer.
49KB47 seen above in 2009 was part of a mobile display of vehicles at the Tank Museum at Bovington. It remains in the Museum's Reserve Collection.
Tower Bridge Sacramento
Pre-Dalek Gun Turret
In 1915 the British Army started to use armoured cars in India, particularly on the North West Frontier, to relieve troops needed elsewhere. They proved so successful that this soon became standard policy.
Shortly after the war the Indian Government purchased 16 Rolls-Royce cars to a new design but these proved so expensive that subsequent orders were placed with Crossley Motors in Manchester who made a tough but cheap chassis. 451 of these five-tonne cars were built between 1923 and 1925, mainly for India, although some were exported to Japan.
To my skewed eyes, the turret looks like a 1920s idea of a Dalek (which of course did not come into our culture until 1963). In reality, the dome-shaped turret was designed to deflect rifle shots from snipers in ambush positions in the high passes of the North-West Frontier Province. The turret had four machine-gun mounts, each covering a quadrant but it would appear that two weapons was normal. These were .303-calibre water-cooled Vickers machine-guns. A clamshell cupola surmounted the turret for the commander.
The body design, very similar to the Rolls-Royce version and built by Vickers at Crayford, had a number of interesting features. The vehicle's side doors opened opposite ways on either side so that a crew member could dismount safely under fire. The crew area was lined with asbestos to keep the temperature down and the entire body could be electrified to keep large crowds at bay! The armoured car was 5m long, 1.87m wide and 2.58m tall. A four-cylinder 50-hp petrol engine gave a top speed of 65-70 km/h. However, since pneumatic tyres did not survive for long in the Indian climate these cars were originally fitted with narrow, solid tyres which made them rather unstable.
By 1939, when the Royal Tank Corps in India had handed most of its equipment over to the Indian Army, the Crossleys were worn out. The bodies were then transferred to imported Chevrolet truck chassis, with pneumatic tyres, and in this form served with Indian forces in the Middle East (Iraq, Syria and Persia) in the early years of the war. The Japanese used theirs in Manchuria and some were still operational in the early years of WWII.
This particular example, seen at The Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset, England, was presented by the Government of Pakistan in 1951.
The Carden-Loyd Mk VI Carrier
Built between 1927 and 1935, this tankette was designed as a two-man machine-gun carrier for infantry, at a cost of £400 each. However, infantry Generals were not interested in innovative ideas at the time and most of the carriers ended up with the Royal Tank Corps which used them for reconnaissance.
The design started as a private project by Major Giffard LeQuesne Martel, who built a one-man tank from bits and pieces in his garage. It was shown to the War Office in the mid-1920s and other companies then developed variations on the theme, one of which was the Carden-Loyd Carrier, which was manufactured by Vickers-Armstrong.
The Carrier is powered by a Model T Ford car engine, which gives the 1.5 ton Carrier a top speed of 25 mph, and is armed with a single .303-inch machine-gun. It was the precursor to the Universal Carrier or Bren Gun Carrier which was used extensively in WWII.
At least 325 Mk VI Carriers saw service with the British Army and some 125 were sold to Poland, Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union, Japan, Belgium, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, China, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Siam (now Thailand). The Bolivian vehicles served in the 1932-35 Chaco War, Belgian and Dutch vehicles saw service during the German invasions in 1940; and the Siamese vehicles fought against the French in the Franco-Thai War of 1940-41.
This example was seen at the Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset.
tower bridge
Sacramento
Turret of a Whippet
The first British tanks, deployed in September 1916, were very slow and were designed to fight through the mud and wire of no-man's land with infantry following close behind. The British Army then sought a faster tank that could exploit breakthroughs; the chosen design was named the Medium Mark A Whippet.
Weighing 14 tonnes, it had a top speed of 8 mph, more than twice as fast as the average heavy tank. Designed in 1917, it first saw action in March 1918. This particular example, known as 'Caesar II,' went into action on 29 August 1918 under the command of Lieutenant Cecil Sewell. During the advance, Sewell jumped out of the tank to help wounded soldiers trapped in a sister vehicle. He saved them, but was shot dead. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery.
The vehicle has a separate engine, clutch and gearbox for both tracks, making it very difficult to drive - imagine trying to drive two cars bolted together with all their automotive machinery still operational! Built by Fosters of Lincoln, the tank is armed with four .303-inch Hotchkiss Mk 1 machine-guns, one aiming in each direction (front, left, rear, right). With a crew of only three (commander, driver, gunner), the gunner had to move around quite a lot in the very cramped compartment, although the commander often assisted.
Although only able to engage infantry and artillery, not other tanks, because of the light armament, the Whippets proved a success. At the commencement of the Battle of Amiens on 18 August 1918, 96 Whippets participated alongside heavier Mk IV and V tanks, The Whippets broke through into the German rear areas causing the loss of the artillery in an entire front sector, a devastating blow from which the Germans were unable to recover. During this battle, one Whippet - Musical Box - advanced so far it was cut off behind German lines. For nine hours it roamed at will, destroying an artillery battery, an observation balloon, the camp of an infantry battalion and a transport column of the German 225th Division, inflicting many casualties. Eventually, a German shell disabled it and as the crew abandoned the tank, one of them was shot and killed and the other two were taken prisoner.
The whole vehicle can be seen below. It can be found at The Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset.
Tracked Rapier Head-On
Rapier is a British surface-to-air missile (SAM) developed for the British Army and RAF. Entering service in 1971, it eventually replaced all other AA weapons in Army service. As the expected air threat moved from medium-altitude strategic missions to low-altitude strikes, the fast reaction time and high manoeuvrability of the Rapier made it more formidable. Following various upgrades, it remained the UK's primary air-defence weapon until it began to be replaced by the new, longer-range Sky Sabre system in 2021; it remains in service with eight foreign customers.
With sales to the then-Imperial Iranian Armed Forces came an additional requirement for a mobile version of Rapier. BAC responded by adapting the Rapier system to fit on the M548, a cargo-carrier version of the ubiquitous M113 APC. Development started in 1974 as Tracked Rapier, but had not yet been delivered when the Shah fell from power in 1978. The vehicles were later purchased by the British Army.
The first public showing of Tracked Rapier was at the 1977 Paris Air Show, as a static display unit. The first Tracked Rapiers entered service with 11 (Sphinx) Air Defence Battery, of 22 Air Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery in 1983 in Napier Barracks near Dortmund.
The conversion was relatively simple; the launch unit was placed on the extreme rear of the cargo platform at the rear of the M548 carrier, and the tracking system placed inside the cabin at the front of the vehicle, projecting through the roof of one of the turret bustles. The optical tracker was operated from the left side of the crew cabin, while on the right were the driver and tactical controller. The crew cabin was quite cramped as a result, with the three crewmembers and all of the equipment stuffed into an area originally intended for two men. From moving to firing took only 30 seconds, a tremendous improvement over Towed Rapier, which required at least 15 minutes to prepare. The biggest difference between towed and tracked Rapier was that Tracked Rapier's launcher had eight missile rails compared with the four of the towed system. Unfortunately the equipment also greatly slowed the vehicle, with cross-country performance reduced to about 15 km/h.
There was no room for the Blindfire radar on a single M548, so this was instead towed or carried on a separate M548. Feeding data to the control system in the firing unit thus required more set-up time to connect the two vehicles. With less internal hardware, the support vehicle was also tasked with carrying field kits, rations and water.
After entering service the Tracked Rapiers were upgraded several times to follow the upgrades being introduced to all Rapier systems. The latest version included a new helmet-mounted sight that allowed the tactical controller to quickly slew the tracker onto the target while standing out of the other roof-mounted turret bustle.
During the 1990-91 Gulf War, 12 and 16 Regiment Royal Artillery tracked batteries, combined to provide Tracked Rapier support to deployed armoured regiments. Tracked Rapier was retired in the early 1990s. It has since been replaced in the mobile role by Starstreak missile launchers mounted on the Alvis Stormer.
49KB47 seen above in 2009 was part of a mobile display of vehicles at the Tank Museum at Bovington. It remains in the Museum's Reserve Collection.
_MG_3546 copy rs
Hydrangea.
Planned Capital
The Commonwealth of Australia came into being on 1 January 1901 with the federation of the six Australian colonies. The inaugural election took place on 29 and 30 March and the first Australian Parliament was opened on 9 May 1901 in Melbourne.
It had always been intended that the national Parliament would sit in a new national capital. This was a compromise at Federation due to the rivalry between the two largest Australian cities, Sydney and Melbourne, which both wished to become the new capital.
With a population of 403,468, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), 280 km south-west of Sydney, and 660 km north-east of Melbourne. A resident is known as a "Canberran". Although Canberra is the capital and seat of government, many federal government ministries have secondary seats in state capital cities, as do the Governor-General and the Prime Minister.
Canberra is unusual among Australian cities, being an entirely planned city outside of any state, similar to Washington, DC in the United States, or Brasília in Brazil. Following an international contest for the city's design, a blueprint by American architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin was selected and construction commenced in 1913. The Griffins' plan featured geometric motifs such as circles, hexagons and triangles, and was centred on axes aligned with significant topographical landmarks in the Australian Capital Territory.
The city's design was influenced by the garden city movement and incorporates significant areas of natural vegetation. The growth and development of Canberra were hindered by the World Wars and the Great Depression, which exacerbated a series of planning disputes and the ineffectiveness of a procession of bodies that were created in turn to oversee the development of the city. The national capital emerged as a thriving city after World War II, as Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies championed its development and the National Capital Development Commission was formed with executive powers. Although the Australian Capital Territory is now self-governing, the Commonwealth Government retains some influence through the National Capital Authority.
This view above, taken on a rather overcast day, looks at the Old Parliament Building in the middle distance and the modern Parliament Building beyond from the steps in front of the Australian War Memorial. In the immediate foreground Anzac Parade stretches over a kilometre to the shores of the artificial Lake Burley Griffin. The distance to the flagpole atop Parliament Building is some 3.7 km.
Harbour Bridge beyond the Garrison Church
The iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge, seen from a slightly unusual angle, with the Garrison Church in the foreground. Taken from the grounds of the Sydney Observatory. Note the train crossing the bridge as well as motor vehicles.
The bridge was designed and built by British firm Dorman Long and Co. Ltd of Middlesbrough and opened in 1932. It is the sixth longest spanning-arch bridge in the world and the tallest steel arch bridge, measuring 134m from top to water level. It was also the world's widest long-span bridge, at 48.8m wide until a new bridge was completed in Vancouver in 2012.
The church was designed by Henry Ginn, and built by mason George Payten/Paton and builder Edward Flood in 1840-44. The authorisation was for a north-south building, but it was built east-west. The design included a tower at the west end, which although it received support in a split vote in 1887, was never built, and the large buttresses built in preparation have since been reduced.
The church's architecture was considered to be of "mixed Gothic" style. The dimensions are about 30m by 17m, and the height of the walls about 14 m. It is constructed with sandstone from the nearby Argyle Cut. One of the stained glass windows, depicting the Angel of Death sheltering a small child, was the subject of an Australian Christmas stamp in 1984.
The church was the garrison church for the troops of the Dawes Point Battery which guarded the harbour from the 1790s until it was demolished in 1925 to make way for the southern end of the Harbour Bridge.
This is a full-colour version of a black and white image I posted a number of years ago...
RIVER BOAT-A-1-2
SACRAMENTO WATERFRONT
View from Dawes Point Park
Originally known by the Aboriginal names of Tar-ra and Tullagalla, this small area (0.1 sq km) on Sydney Harbour was later renamed by white settlers to Point Maskelyne in honour of Reverend Dr Nevil Maskelyne, the-then British Astronomer Royal. He sent out the first astronomical instruments which were established at the point in the country's first observatory, by Lieutenant William Dawes (1762-1836), astronomer with the First Fleet. It was again renamed, this time as Dawes Point, in honour of the Lieutenant.
It was the site of the first guns mounted in Sydney by Dawes in 1788. A powder magazine was installed in 1789 followed by the Battery in 1791. The first guns came from HMS Sirius, which had wrecked at Norfolk Island the year before. Subsequent disputes with Spain (1798), France (1810), the United States (1838-39) and Russia (1854-56) all led to raised concerns about the harbour being attacked, all leading to further developments and improvements of the fort and its gun battery. Eventually the Dawes Point Battery became the command post for the fortifications around the inner harbour.
Sydney’s harbour defences had been relocated to the entrance of Port Jackson by the end of the 19th century, thus rendering Dawes Point obsolete. Most of the fort was demolished in 1925 to make way for the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, whose southern pylon stands where the battery once stood. In 1932 the remaining buildings that served as a headquarters for Dorman and Long, the British company responsible for the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge were demolished and the whole area landscaped and set aside for public use, a role it continues to have today, as seen above.
An earlier, more-cropped version of this view can be found elsewhere in my stream.
RIVER BOAT-A-1
SACRAMENTO RIVERWALK
Harbour Bridge from Observatory Hill Park - Explored!
A somewhat different view of the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge compared with most of the tourist shots, this was taken from Observatory Hill Park on Miller Point. Observatory Hill Park is in the heart of the Sydney central business district; its history dates back to 1796 when the first windmill in the colony was erected here, resulting in it then being known as Windmill Hill.
In 1804 Fort Philip, with four 6-pounder cannons and a gunpowder magazine was built on the hill but it was mostly demolished in the 1850s. A signal station built on the eastern rampart of Fort Philip in 1847 was for many years called the Fort Philip Signal Station and is now open to the public. In 1858 Sydney Observatory was built near the signal station and was in operation for over 100 years. Today it is a museum and public observatory.
In the grounds of the observatory is the sandstone block pillar and partially-visible low curved stone wall on the far right of the shot above. It is New South Wales' South African (Boer (1899-1902)) War Memorial, unveiled in 1940 by a veteran of that conflict. The gun beyond the memorial was one of eight used by the Transvaal Boers during the war. It was captured by the British at Paardeburg in 1900 and given to the Australian government in 1905. It is a 75mm QF (Schnellfeuer-Feldkanone L/24) built by Krupps and was originally in the Botanic Gardens but the veterans of the war requested that it be moved to their memorial; I can't find a record of when that occurred, but some time after the memorial was unveiled.
The Luna Park entertainment complex is visible on the north shore of the harbour to the left of the bridge.
The View from Hickson Road Reserve
I have to admit, pretty spectacular.
On the left of shot, under the trees, is Hickson Road. It separates this reserve from Dawes Point Park which is immediately adjacent to the Harbour Bridge's southern pier.
As you can see, the reserve is located right on the harbour's edge, with magnificent views of both the Harbour Bridge and (over my right shoulder) the Sydney Opera House. The reserve is dotted with mature palm trees. Note also the guided tour groups ascending the upper rib of the bridge - spectacular views from up there but tourists are not allowed to carry loose items like cameras!
Due to its stunning backdrop, the park is a popular location for photo shoots and wedding ceremonies. I suspect the parched grass mid-left is perhaps a souvenir of such an occasion as marquees and al-fresco dining are featured in some pictures I've seen.
In the distance, on the far (northern) shore of the Harbour can be seen the Luna Park Face, entrance to the Luna Park amusement park at Milsons Point. Built 600m from the Harbour Bridge in 1935, the park has had something of a chequered history regarding safety and maintenance problems. However, it is one of two amusement parks in the world protected by government legislation; several of the buildings on the site are also listed on Australia's Register of the National Estate and the NSW State Heritage Register.
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Look At The Time!
Carmelita Jeter, the anchor runner on the United States team, points to the big clock as she realises that she and her colleagues have just set a new world record in the women's 4x100m relay in the Olympic Stadium on Day 14 of London2012.
Kerron Stewart (Jamaica) is about to claim second place, and Elyzaveta Bryzgina (Ukraine) is working as hard as she can to ensure her team comes in to claim the bronze medal.
That time, incidentally, was 40.82 seconds. The other members of the American quartet were Tianna Madison, Allyson Felix and Bianca Knight.
As you can tell from the angle, seen from high up in the Olympic Stadium above the first turn of the athletics track.
Carden-Loyd Mk VI Carrier
Built between 1927 and 1935, this tankette was designed as a two-man machine-gun carrier for infantry, at a cost of £400 each. However, infantry Generals were not interested in innovative ideas at the time and most of the carriers ended up with the Royal Tank Corps which used them for reconnaissance.
The design started as a private project by Major Giffard LeQuesne Martel, who built a one-man tank from bits and pieces in his garage. It was shown to the War Office in the mid-1920s and other companies then developed variations on the theme, one of which was the Carden-Loyd Carrier, which was manufactured by Vickers-Armstrong.
The Carrier is powered by a Model T Ford car engine, which gives the 1.5 ton Carrier a top speed of 25 mph, and is armed with a single .303-inch machine-gun. It was the precursor to the Universal Carrier or Bren Gun Carrier which was used extensively in WWII.
At least 325 Mk VI Carriers saw service with the British Army and some 125 were sold to Poland, Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union, Japan, Belgium, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, China, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Siam (now Thailand). The Bolivian vehicles served in the 1932-35 Chaco War, Belgian and Dutch vehicles saw service during the German invasions in 1940; and the Siamese vehicles fought against the French in the Franco-Thai War of 1940-41.
This example was seen in the new hall at the Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset.
Iluka Park and Sandy Beach
Iluka Park and Sandy Beach are in the south-eastern corner of Palm Beach, a suburb in the Northern Beaches region of Sydney. Palm Beach is 41 km north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council and sits on the northern reaches of the Barrenjoey Peninsula, between Pittwater (foreground) and the Tasman Sea (just visible in the top left of the image beyond the tree-covered ridge). The trees are part of the McKay Reserve, a small tract of urban bushland.
Palm Beach is sometimes colloquially referred to as 'Palmy'. It turns out on exploring the interweb for details that the eponymous main beach (on the far side of that hill above) is used for exterior filming of the soap opera Home and Away, as the fictional town of Summer Bay. It is also the subject of the 2018 film 'Palm Beach'. That main beach, facing east over the Tasman Sea, is some 2.3 km long. I didn't get to see it because of the flight path we followed on the way in and out. The sheltered shoreline seen above is Sandy Beach, and it fronts onto the large salt-water inlet called Pittwater.
Governor Arthur Philip, the first Governor of New South Wales, explored the area in 1788, and named the headland 'Barrenjuee', which was an indigenous word apparently meaning 'young kangaroo'. In 1816, Palm Beach, Barrenjoey and most of Whale Beach (160 hectares) was granted to James Napper. During the 19th century, a few Europeans and Chinese lived in the area, catching and drying fish.
In 1900 all land, except Barrenjoey Headland, which had been purchased by the government in 1881, was divided into 18 large blocks, listed as good grazing land, and offered for sale but none sold. In 1912, the land was offered again in smaller residential blocks, offering fishing, sailing, golf and rowing. Most houses were built from local sandstone, with other materials also shipped in. Some were guest houses but most were second homes for those who could afford them.
Today, Palm Beach housing ranges from cottages to grand estates, owned by some of Australia's most affluent people. Many of the rich and famous can apparently be found holidaying at Palm Beach in summer.
I took this photo from a DHC-2 Beaver floatplane climbing out on its departure from the Palm Beach Water Airport, about 800m to the north (off to the left above).
Harbour Cruise Ship
At the time of my visit, the MV Sydney 2000 was the largest cruise ship operating in Sydney Harbour, NSW - and would still appear able to claim that. It is seen on a bright afternoon when the sun was glinting off its full length. Taken from my hotel balcony in Potts Point.
Built by Oceanfast at Henderson in Western Australia in 1998, the 63m-long vessel designed by Jon Bannenberg can carry 700 passengers. Captain Cook Cruises operate it as a three-deck and five private dining room restaurant. With a displacement of 1,684 grt, the vessel has an overall length of 63m, beam of 12m and draught of 2m.
In July 2008 the vessel carried Pope Benedict XVI across much of the outer part of Sydney Harbour - there can't be that many others that can claim such a distinction...
A much-improved version of an earlier post.
Falkirk Wheel b&w
Falkirk Wheel
Overhead Newport Wharf
This image was taken from aboard a seaplane. I had flown up to Palm Beach from Sydney Harbour and was on the return leg when I took this.
The photo looks at Newport Wharf, a commercial facility on the western end of Queens Parade in the suburb of Newport, NSW, some 31 km north of Sydney's central business district.
The salt-water body of water to which the wharf gives access is Pittswater which extends south from Broken Bay, parallel to the coast. The waterway was surveyed by the crew of HMS Sirius in 1788, and named Pitt Water after British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger. As the crow flies, the wharf seen above is some 10 km from the open ocean - I suspect a bit further for the vessels tied-up alongside.
There are two commercial entities located on the wharf. The nearer one builds boats and the adjacent, longer facility repairs them.
The small jetty immediately beyond the wharf, featuring the small yellow-hulled vessel and two men, belongs to a waterfront hotel. Beyond that jetty, the partially-dismantled jetty belongs to the Sydney Powerboat Academy.
The shorefront structures in the upper-left of the image would appear to be (probably very expense!) private housing.
Appropriate Name - Financially Out of My Reach!...
This Taiwanese-built Dyna 77 Laguna luxury motor yacht, Chase III, is seen berthed at Melbourne Boat Sales where she was on offer for AS$4 million. Yeah, my eyes are watering at that price too but presumably a nice Christmas present if you're looking...
She requires three people to operate her, can accommodate 10 and can carry 30 on a day trip. This 77-foot yacht is powered by two 1500 hp turbocharged and after-cooled MTU diesels that give a range of 1100 nm at 9 kt or can sprint at her top speed of 28 kt for over eight hours. As you might expect for something that costs this much, she is luxuriously appointed throughout.
Melbourne Boat Sales are located in the gentrified Docklands area on the River Yarra, west of the central business district. The cube partially visible in the background is 1010 Latrobe Street - a better view of the building can be seen elsewhere in my stream. To the right is a 74,000-capacity sports facility which has had several sponsored names (Colonial Stadium, Telstra Dome, Etihad Stadium and most recently, Marvel Stadium). It is primarily used for Australian Rules Football, but soccer, cricket, and both rugby codes have played there.
An improved version of an older post.
MSC Ships at Baltimore
Seen from the grounds of Fort McHenry in Baltimore, MD., are the USNS Wright (T-AVB-4) (on the right of the pier) and the USNS Fisher (T-AKR-301) and USNS Mendonca (T-AKR-303) on the left.
Curtiss is one of two Wright-class Aviation Logistics Support (roll-on/roll-off) container ships built for the US Navy in 1968 by Ingalls Shipbuilding, Inc. of Pascagoula, Mississippi as SS Great Republic. Renamed USNS Curtiss (T-AVB-4) on 14 May 1986, she was assigned to MARAD Ready Reserve Force, (RRF), MSC PM-5 Sealift Program Office, Logistics Prepositioning Force.
On 20 August 1990, Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 16 deployed aboard the Curtiss. This was the first time a MALS deployed aboard a T-AVB. In 2001, the activation exercise of the Curtiss named Pacific Provider 21 was held. This exercise was planned and executed by MALS-16 and was the largest activation of the ship since the Gulf War.
Curtiss is outfitted with both a stern ramp and side ports. The RO-RO deck runs the complete length of the ship. When outfitted with mobile facilities, the ship can service aircraft while anchored offshore.
USNS Fisher (T-AKR-301) is a Bob Hope-class RO-RO vehicle cargo ship of the US Navy. She was built by Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, New Orleans and delivered to the Navy on 4 August 1998. They assigned her to the DoD's Military Sealift Command. Fisher is named for Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher, and is one of 11 Surge LMSRs operated by a private company under contract to the MSC. She is assigned to the MSC Atlantic surge force and is maintained at a 96-hour readiness status.
Mendonca (T-AKR-303) is also a Bob Hope-class RO-RO built by Northrop Grumman Ship Systems and delivered to the US Navy on 30 January 2001. Assigned to the Military Sealift Command and another of the 11 Surge LMSRs operated under private contract, she is named for Medal of Honor recipient Sergeant Leroy A Mendonca.
Yaquina Bay Bridge
Newport, Oregon
Canon EOS XSi / 450D
Tokina AT-X 124 PRO DX II 12-24mm f/4
www.fluidr.com/photos/elzopilote
el zopilote's most interesting photos on Flickriver
Church in rural Westonaria
This church was opened in 1891. It was burnt by the English during the Anglo-Boer War and rebuilt in 1905
Church in Southern Johanneburg
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Blacksmith Plover
Black Headed Heron
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Cute car
Canon EOS 450D
Locomotive
Canon EOS 450D, dng
Russia, Tambov
PRESTON CASTLE- STUDY-1
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Male Red River Hog
The Red River Hog (Potamochoerus porcus), also known as the bush pig (but not to be confused with P. larvatus, common name "bushpig"), is a wild member of the pig family living in Africa.
It has striking orange to reddish-brown fur, with black legs and a tufted white stripe along the spine. Adults have white markings around the eyes and on the cheeks and jaws; the rest of the muzzle and face are a contrasting black. The fur on the jaw and the flanks is longer than that on the body, with the males having especially prominent facial whiskers. Unlike other species of pig native to tropical Africa, the entire body is covered in hair, with no bare skin visible.
Adults weigh 45-115 kg and stand 55-80 cm tall, with a length of 100-145 cm. The thin tail is 30-45 cm long and ends in a tuft of black hair. The ears are also long and thin, ending in tufts of white or black hair that may reach 12 cm in length. Boars are somewhat larger than sows, and have distinct conical protuberances on either side of the snout (clearly visible above) and rather small, sharp tusks. The facial protuberances are bony and probably protect the boar's facial tendons during head-to-head combat with other males.
The Red River Hog lives in rainforests, wet dense savannas, and forested valleys, and near rivers, lakes and marshes. The species' distribution ranges from the Congo area and Gambia to the eastern Congo, southwards to the Kasai and the Congo River. The exact delineation of its range versus that of the bushpig is unclear; but in broad terms, the Red River Hog occupies western and central Africa, and the bushpig occupies eastern and southern Africa. Where the two meet, they are sometimes said to interbreed, although this is disputed. Although numerous sub-species have been identified in the past, none are currently recognised.
The species is omnivorous, eating mainly roots and tubers, and supplements its diet with fruit, grasses, herbs, eggs, dead animal and plant remains, insects, and lizards. It uses its large muzzle to snuffle about in the soil in search of food, as well as scraping the ground with their tusks and fore-feet. They can cause damage to agricultural crops, such as cassava and yams.
Red River Hogs are often active during the day, but are primarily nocturnal or crepuscular. They typically live in small groups of approximately 6-10 animals, composed of a single adult male, and a number of adult females and their young. However, much larger groups, some with over 30 individuals, have been noted in particularly favourable habitats. The boar defends its harem aggressively against predators, with leopards being a particularly common threat.
They possess a striking, mellifluous vocalisation pattern that is said to resemble the opening of the bassoon solo in Stravinski's Rite of Spring. They communicate almost continuously with grunts and squeals with a repertoire that can signal alarm, distress, or passive contact.
This male was seen at Colchester Zoo in 2009.
A Right Pair
Seen in Norfolk, VA., adorning the end of one of the piers at Norfolk Southern's Lambert's Point Docks.
The cranes are articulated, 50-ton gantry cranes with automatic spreader bars. They work together or independently and are used for breakbulk cargo loading. Although it isn't clear from this perspective, the rails the cranes run on, turn corners at both sides of the pier and run the full length of it and the associated warehouse - see Kevin's info below and link to a brochure about the facility.
Ducks feeding.
Water levels have been rising in our area for the past couple of years. The wetland at my neighbour has never been this filled with water and teeming with life in the past decade.
Black Headed Ibis
The have failed to migrate on this winter season.
PRESTON CASTLE
CLASS ROOM
PRESTON CASTLE
KITCHEN
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Lion
Tamron 70-300
Yellow raspberry
Helios 44M-4 58 mm
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Gabriella posing
To my canon film camera
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Smokey Chieftain
The FV4201 Chieftain was the main battle tank of the UK from its introduction in 1967. It was a radical evolutionary development of the successful Centurion line of tanks that had emerged at the end of WWII.
Chieftain was designed to be as well-protected as possible and to be equipped with a powerful 120mm rifled cannon. The heavy armour came at the price of reduced mobility, chiefly due to engine power limitations, which was perhaps the Chieftain's main drawback. The engine selected took the multi-fuel route and as introduced gave less than the planned output; improvements to the engine did not increase power to the desired value.
The Chieftain had a mantleless turret, in order to take full advantage of reclining the vehicle up to 10° in a hull-down position. To the left side of the turret was a large infra-red searchlight in an armoured housing. The suspension was of the Horstmann bogie type, with large side plates to protect the tracks and provide stand-off protection from hollow charge attack.
The main armament was the 120mm L11A5 rifled gun. This differed from most contemporary main tank armament as it used projectiles and charges which were loaded separately, as opposed to a single fixed round. The gun itself could fire a wide range of ammunition, but the most commonly loaded types were HESH or APDS.
Initially, Chieftain was equipped with a 12.7mm ranging machine-gun mounted above the main gun, firing ranging shots out to 2,400m. Later, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, a laser rangefinder replaced it, allowing engagements at much longer ranges, and also linked to the fire-control system, allowing more rapid engagements and changes of target. The gun was fully stabilised with a fully computerised integrated control system. Secondary armament consisted of a coaxial L8A1 7.62mm machine-gun, and another 7.62mm machine-gun mounted on the commander's cupola.
Like its European competitors, the Chieftain found a large export market in the Middle East, but was not adopted by any other NATO or Commonwealth countries. The Chieftains were continuously upgraded until the early 1990s when they were replaced by the Challenger series.
Chieftains were supplied to at least six countries, including Iran, Kuwait, Oman and Jordan. An agreement for sale of Chieftains to Israel was cancelled by the British Government in 1969. The largest foreign sale was to Iran, which took delivery of around 1,000 before the 1979 revolution. Further planned deliveries of the more capable 4030 series were cancelled at that point.
The tank's main combat experience was in Iranian hands during the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-88.
Seen during a demonstration in the display arena at the Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset.
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Lavender Bay, Sydney
I took this shot looking at the north-eastern shore of Lavender Bay in Sydney Harbour as the ferry I was aboard was crossing the mouth of the bay.
Lavender Bay is a harbourside suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, NSW. It is 3 km north of the Sydney central business district. The suburb takes its name from Lavender Bay, a natural feature of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) immediately west of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It lies between Milsons Point and McMahons Point. The suburb North Sydney is located, to the north. Lavender Bay is a residential suburb with expansive views of Sydney Harbour.
Lavender Bay was named after the Boatswain George Lavender, from the prison hulk "Phoenix", which was moored there for many years. The bay is dual-named Gooweebahree, (also sometimes written as Quiberee) in the Dharug language of the local inhabitants, the Cammeraygal people of the Eora nation. The colonists also called it Hulk Bay and sometimes Phoenix Bay. George Lavender lived on 14 acres adjacent to the property of Billy Blue.
Just off to the right of this view is the Luna Park amusement complex (a couple of its rides are just visible on the right of the image).
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God, I Could Have Won It
Caster Semenya (South Africa) looks to the heavens during her celebratory lap, after having come second in the women's 800m.
Unfortunately, she had let the leaders get away and was poorly positioned with 200m to go and never got to challenge the eventual winner, Mariya Savinova (Russia). Being a bit more positive in the first 600m and she would have stood a very good chance of challenging for gold.
I was disappointed for her as I'd expected her to win. And she clearly seems to look here as though she thinks the same.
The last night of a great week of athletics in the Olympic Stadium.
- As with so many of the London2012 athletics events, there's a postscript involving drugs. All three Russians in the race were subsequently found to be guilty of doping. The winner, Savinova, was given a lifetime ban in 2017 and stripped of her gold medal. So this rueful-looking Semenya should have been celebrating a win, not thinking about what could have been...
marushca
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Forum Theatre, Melbourne
This theatre (formerly known as the "State Theatre") is located on the corner of Flinders Street and Russell Street in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The building was designed by American architect John Eberson, who has designed many theatres across the globe, along with a local architectural firm at the time; Bohringer, Taylor & Johnson.
It was designed as an "atmospheric theatre" movie palace. The interior features reproductions of Greco-Roman statuary and a sky-blue ceiling decorated with small stars, mimicking a twilight sky. When it opened in February 1929, the cinema had the largest seating capacity in Australia, holding 3,371 people. A dual-console Wurlitzer organ was installed, featuring 21 rows of pipes and a grand piano attachment and oboe horn. The building features a Moorish Revival exterior, with minarets and a clock tower.
Today, it is used for concerts by many artists, having hosted performances by Oasis, Ozzy Osbourne, Katy Perry, Cat Power, The Grates, Dirty Three, Sufjan Stevens, Blind Guardian and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, among others. It is also a venue for the annual Melbourne International Film Festival, having showcased the popular live act Puppetry of the Penis.
In more recent times, the theatre has been used as a venue for numerous acts during the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, including local favourite Akmal Saleh and international acts, such as Mark Watson, Jason Byrne & Arj Barker, among others.
The perspective here is poor, but I was rushing to get the shot whilst the facia of the building was still lit by the sun, before the onrushing storm visible above blotted everything out... For the very observant, the silver and red stars strung across the street in the lower-left foreground are part of Melbourne's Christmas decorations that year. This is what I think is a much-improved version of an earlier post in my stream.
Luísa
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FORT BAKER-AAA-1
San Francisco
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Fishing in Ohio River for a baseball, Pittsburgh
Trying to grab a floating baseball in the Ohio River at Point State Park PIttsburgh. The ball may have been a homerun hit into the Allegheny River from nearby PNC Park.
A White-Tailed Eagle
The white-tailed eagle is the largest UK bird of prey. It has brown body plumage with a conspicuously pale head and neck which can be almost white in older birds, and the tail feathers of adults are white. In flight it has massive long, broad wings with 'fingered' ends. Its head protrudes and it has a short, wedge-shaped tail. It went extinct in the UK during the early 20th century, due to illegal killing, and the present population has been reintroduced.
The white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) — also called the sea eagle, erne (sometimes ern, ørn), and white-tailed sea-eagle - is a large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae which includes other raptors such as hawks, kites, and harriers. It is considered a close cousin of the bald eagle and occupies the same ecological niche, but in Eurasia.
This particular example was seen at Warwick Castle, where it was being displayed by Hawk Experiences Ltd. An improved version of an earlier image in my stream...
VACAVILLE WINE VINEYARD -A
CALIFORNIA
MARIN HEADLANDS
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Seaplane Tender and Steam Cutter
In the foreground is a beautifully restored Mk I or IA air-sea rescue seaplane tender, built by the British Power Boat Company at Hythe on the Solent.
The RAF's seaplane tenders were brought up to a modern high-speed standards in the early 1930s, following a flying boat crash in the Solent in which some of the crew drowned because the seaplane tenders of the era were too slow to get to it before it sank. T E Lawrence was part of the development process. The Mk I/IAs were follow-ups to the initial 200-class.
441 was commissioned at RAF Calshot, on the Solent, on 29 October 1941 and began service at various South Coast bases. In May 1944, 441 rescued the entire crew of a US Army Air Forces B-17 Flying Fortress that ditched in the Channel. The event was used by the British Power Boat Company in a promotional article in The Aeroplane magazine on 12 May 1944.
441 played an active role in the Channel on D-Day while at Sheerness and later that year was transferred to the Isle of Man. In late 1944/early 1945 she was at Pembroke Dock, serving with Sunderland flying boats. A photograph shows her by the sea wall still with yellow numbers and yellow deck and superstructure.
In October 1951 441 was decommissioned and in 1956 was sold to Norman Kidd who maintained her total originality while using her on the canals around Stourport on Severn for the next 50 years.
In 2004 Alistair Walker bought 441 and embarked on a restoration to original specification. In 2012 she was relaunched in time to participate in the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the River Thames (above), representing the RAF Museum.
At the time, it was planned that she would subsequently return to Pembrokeshire, but I'm not sure whether that has occurred.
In the upper right of the image can be seen the Royal Navy's Steam Cutter 438, built in 1897. SC 438 is the last remaining such vessel from the Victorian era. She was tender to the HMHS Maine, a hospital ship, until the latter was wrecked in 1914.
FORT BAKER SAUSALITO
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HAWK HILL MIDDLE-1
HAWK HILL. MARIN COUNTY
Стоящий у реки
Canon EOS 450D
На поле он
Canon EOS 450D
На фоне локомотива
Canon EOS 450D
В поле
Canon EOS 450D
У вагона
Canon EOS 450D
Wildflower Fell
Cottongrass and Foxgloves with Loughrigg Fell in the background
Green Grasmere
Looking over towards Helm Crag and Seat Sandal.
Helm Crag ..
Footpath to Easedale, and Helm Crag.
Low Scorecrag Farmstead, Grasmere
Low Scorecrag is a National Trust farm in Grasmere,Cumbria.It is situated nearby to the forest Scorecrag Wood and the manor estate Allan Bank.
Hot Herdwicks
Herdwick Sheep struggling with the heat in Little Langdale.
Herdwick sheep have been in and around the Lake District for centuries. Their ancestors go back to the first known domestication of sheep—about 10,000 years ago—when sheep from Southwest Asia migrated to Europe.
Cathedral Cave ..
Slate quarrying in the Lake District dates as far back as prehistoric times. Though Cathedral Cave and the Little Langdale Quarries aren’t quite that old! They were created in the 1700s as part of the popular slate mining industry that plays a big part in the area’s history. It was used for extracting the Lake District’s famous green slate, which is still seen on the buildings of many of the towns and villages in the national park and beyond.
The busiest period for this quarry was in the 19th century during a housing boom, and quarrying continued until the 1950s.
In 1929, the site was bought by none other than Beatrix Potter, who later gifted it, along with much of her other property’s, to the National Trust. It has been under their care since, and they are responsible for keeping the site open so that visitors can enjoy the impressive man-made structures.
RIO OSO
FRUIT ORCHARDS
"The most picturesque footbridge in Lakeland”
Slater Bridge,Little Langdale.
Words from Alfred Wainwright, I’m not going to disagree.
Slater Bridge
Slater's Bridge is a 17c traditional packhorse bridge in Little Langdale in the English Lake District.
Alfred Wainwright called it "the most picturesque footbridge in Lakeland”
Little Langdale Quarrie
building owned by the National Trust.
Blues Point, Sydney, NSW
This image looks from Observatory Hill out across Walsh Bay in the lower foreground across Sydney Harbour to Blues Point.
Walsh Bay lies just west of the famous Harbour Bridge and was named in 1918 after Henry Deane Walsh, Engineer-in-chief of the Sydney Harbour Trust. More recently, Walsh Bay refers to the Walsh Bay Wharves Precinct or the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct, a harbour-side area in Sydney, located next to the neighbouring suburbs of Dawes Point and Millers Point that historically was a working port. The wharves were converted to apartments, theatres, restaurants, cafes and a hotel, and in 2015 was designated as a major arts precinct. Much of the precinct is listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register. The precinct was originally known by the Aboriginal names of Tar-ra and Tullagalla.
Blues Point is in North Sydney and was named after local mariner Billy Blue in the 19th century. Billy was a convict who arrived in Sydney aboard the Minorca on 14 December 1801, transported for stealing a bag of sugar. Physically imposing, he was described as a "strapping Jamaican Negro 'a very Hercules in proportion' with a bright eye and a jocular wit". He claimed to have served with the British Army in the American War of Independence. When he arrived in 1801 he only had two years of his sentence left and he was soon working on the harbour with boats and selling oysters. His friendly manner and humorous conversation made him popular and he became a notable local character. He married English-born convict Elizabeth Williams in 1805, and in 1807, was the only person licensed to ply a ferry across the harbour. Governor Macquarie named him "The Old Commodore" and he ran his ferry dressed in a blue naval officers coat and top hat. His ferry service grew to a fleet of 11 vessels, and in 1817, Governor Macquarie granted Billy Blue 80 acres at what is now Blues Point. He died in 1834 at his North Sydney home.
The point is home to the Blues Point Tower, a controversial residential tower designed by Harry Seidler. Since 2005, under the dual naming policy Blues Point has also been officially referred to by its indigenous name, Warungareeyuh. The Point is used as a vantage point for Sydney New Year's Eve celebrations.
Idyllic cottage ..
in Little Langdale
The not for very long, Lone Tree.
Little Langdale
Too much information !!
Sign posts in Little Langdale.
Ambleside (challenging option) makes me smile.
Taking shelter.
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Hen Cloud Cottage ..
from an abandoned farm house in the Roaches.
The not so Lone Tree.
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The Old Hall
The Old Hall Hotel is a public house and restaurant in High Street, Sandbach, Cheshire, England. It was built in 1656 on the site of a previous manor house, and since been extended. In the 18th century it was used as a coaching inn and hotel.
Mark V
Although similar in appearance to earlier models, the Mark V was a much better tank, more powerful and easier to drive. It was equipped with the new Ricardo six-cylinder engine and Wilson's epicyclic steering system which meant that one man could handle all the controls, compared with four in the Mark IV. Other new features were a rear cab for the commander, complete with signalling apparatus and a rear machine-gun position.
The vehicle seen above also carries an unditching beam, which was first introduced in the Mark IV. This would be used if the tank got stuck in mud - chained to the tracks it was drawn under the tank and gave it something solid to grip. The male tank, which is still in working order(!) is shown in the markings of 8th (H) Battalion (No. H41), Tank Corps in the Battle of Amiens on 8 August 1918. Commanded by a Lt Whittenbury this tank took part in the battle and its young commander was awarded the Military Cross.
Mark Vs were also used by the US 301st Tank Battalion, which fought alongside the British at Amiens. It was equipped with two 57mm guns in the sponsons and four .303-calibre machine-guns, and was manned by a crew of eight. It weighed 29 tons and the 150 hp engine produced a top speed of 4.6 mph.
Challenger 1 MBT Mark 3
The FV4030/4 Challenger 1 is a British main battle tank (MBT) used by the British Army from 1983 to the mid-1990s, when it was superseded by the Challenger 2.
The Challenger design by the former Military Vehicles and Engineering Establishment (MVEE) near Chobham in Surrey originated in an Iranian order for an improved version of the Chieftain line of tanks in service around the world. With the fall of the Shah of Iran and the collapse of the UK MBT90 project, the British Army became the customer and the tank was further developed by MVEE to meet Western European requirements. For a short time the tank was named Cheviot (the name of a hill range) before becoming Challenger, a name reused from the Cruiser Mk VIII Challenger tank of WWII.
The most advanced aspect of the design was its Chobham armour, which gave protection far superior to any monolithic Rolled Homogeneous Armour (RHA), then standard of Western tank armour material. This armour was later adopted by other designs, including the American M1 Abrams. Additionally, the hydropneumatic suspension provided outstanding cross-country performance through the long suspension arm travel and controlled bump and rebound behaviour offered.
The Challenger was built by the Royal Ordnance Factories (ROF) (later Vickers). Challenger 1 entered service with the British Army in 1983 and production ceased in 1990 at a cost of around £2 million each.
221 Challenger tanks were deployed to Saudi Arabia for Operation Granby, the UK operation in the Persian Gulf War of 1990-91. In the original defensive deployment, the 7th Armoured Brigade included two armoured regiments, the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars and the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, both equipped with 57 of the latest Mark 3 version of the Challenger 1. (The vehicle above was the personal tank of then-Colonel Arthur Denaro, CO of the QRIH).
In November 1990, it was decided to add the 4th Mechanised Brigade to the force, under the umbrella of 1st (UK) Armoured Division. The new brigade had a single Challenger regiment, 14th/20th King's Hussars, equipped with 43 Challenger 1 tanks and reinforced by a squadron of the Life Guards. They were equipped with the Mark 2 version of the tank, which was upgraded by armouring the storage bins for the 120mm charges as well as the additional armour fitted to the Mark 3s.
During Operation Desert Storm, the 1st (UK) Armoured Division was the easternmost unit in the US VII Corp's sector, its Challenger tanks forming the spearhead of the advance. The division advanced nearly 350 km within 97 hours, destroying the Iraqi 46th Mechanised Brigade, 52th Armoured Brigade and elements of at least three infantry divisions belonging to the Iraqi 7th Corps in a series of battles and engagements. They captured or destroyed about 300 tanks and a very large number of APCs and other military vehicles.
The main threat to the Challenger was deemed to be the Iraqi Republican Guard's T-72M tanks; each British tank was provided with 12 L26A1 Jericho depleted uranium (DU) shells specifically for use against T-72Ms, but during the course of the Coalition's ground campaign none was encountered.
In action, the GPS and Thermal Observation and Gunnery System (TOGS) fitted to the Challengers proved to be decisive, allowing attacks to be made at night, in poor visibility and through smoke screens. On 26 February 1991, a Challenger achieved the longest-range confirmed kill of the war, destroying an Iraqi tank with an armour-piercing fin-stabilised discarding-sabot (APFSDS) round fired over a distance of 5,200m - or 4,700m, depending on the source - but regardless, the longest tank-on-tank kill shot recorded in any conflict.
Withdrawals of British Army Challenger 1 began in 1998 and it had been completely replaced by Challenger 2 by 2001. There was also a Challenger Marksman SPAAG version, equipped with the Marksman turret.
Inner Harbour, Newcastle, NSW
This view looks west from atop the Queen's Wharf Tower on the waterfront in Newcastle, NSW.
The scene features part of the Inner Basin. The floating dock, a fixture at the time, was removed by early 2013 and the ship repair facility in the foreground began being dismantled at about the same time. Beyond both can just be seen part of the marina in Throsby Creek.
Rushing Armour
In 1962, GKN Sankey, which is now BAE Systems Land Systems, was awarded a production contract for the FV432 armoured personnel carrier (APC) and the first production vehicles were completed in 1963. The first production models were the Mk 1, followed by the Mk 2 and finally the Mk 2/1. Late-production vehicles (which I think includes the one above) are distinguishable by the NBC pack in the right side, which is almost flush against the hull rather than protruding as on earlier vehicles.
The FV432 replaced the Saracen (6×6) APC in British Army service and was itself replaced in the APC role from 1988 by the Warrior mechanised combat vehicle. FV432s were deployed to Saudi Arabia and took part in Operation Desert Storm in early 1991. An up-armoured variant, for use in Iraq and Afghanistan, is known as the Mk 3 Bulldog.
It was expected that the FV432 would be out of service with the British Army by 2014, but in early 2005 it was stated that this date had been extended to beyond 2020.
The FV432 proved to be flexible in use and was converted from one role to another with reasonable ease. In addition to the normal APC role, it was used as a command vehicle, an ambulance, a cargo carrier, a communications vehicle, and a recovery vehicle.
FV432s used by combat infantry units have been equipped with the WOMBAT recoiless rifle, an 84mm infantry gun (firing from the roof hatch), an 81mm mortar (firing through the roof hatch), the Peak Engineering turret with a 7.62mm GPMG, replacing the roof hatch, a 30mm Rarden-gun equipped turret (taken from the Fox scout car; 13 converted), a night-surveillance ZB 298 radar and stowage for MILAN ATGMs when used to carry two missile teams.
FV432s used by the Royal Artillery have been equipped with a battery command post with FACE fire-control computer, a battery command post with BATES battlefield artillery target engagement system, Cymbeline mortar-locating radar, sound ranging equipment and an OP vehicle with ZB 298 radar.
FV432s used by the Royal Engineers have been equipped with a towed layer for the L9 anti-tank Bar Mine, a launcher for the L10 Ranger Anti-Personnel Mine, a towed Giant Viper mine-clearing system and the Thales Group SWARM Remote Weapon System.
The basic infantry version above is seen in action in the display arena at the Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset.
Cheddleton Flint Mill (Explored)
Cheddleton Flint Mill is a water mill situated in the village of Cheddleton, Staffordshire. The mill race takes water from the river Churnet. The site is believed to have been used for milling since the Middle Ages. However, the present structures mainly date from the period of the Industrial Revolution, although there is evidence of some earlier work surviving.
Caldon Canal
Narrowboat passing Cheddleton Flint Mill.
Keeper’s Cottage
at Cheddleton Flint Mill
Caldon Canal
Mallards basking in the sun beside the Caldon Canal, Cheddleton, Staffordshire.
Once Upon a Time, an Observatory...
This was founded in 1862 to serve as a scientific research institution for the rapidly growing city of Melbourne, the capital of the colony of Victoria. The observatory was tasked by the Victorian government with maintaining an accurate time reference for the colony through observations of stars using a transit telescope as well as general astronomical research. The site chosen was a gentle hill adjacent to the Royal Botanic Gardens.
Shortly after founding a 48-inch telescope was installed at the observatory for astronomical research and for a while it was the largest fully steerable telescope in the world. This instrument was referred to as the "Great Melbourne Telescope".
In 1874 the observatory took part in the worldwide effort to observe the Transit of Venus in order to better determine the distance of Earth to the Sun. Towards the end of the 1880s the observatory took part in the international "Carte du Ciel" project to map the heavens using the-then novel technique of photography. Being the most southerly of the sites taking part, Melbourne was assigned the region around the south celestial pole south of declination -65°.
With the coming of federation in 1901 the Commonwealth government was assigned the responsibility for astronomy and time-keeping and control of the observatory was gradually handed over by the state government. At the same time, the encroaching light pollution from the growing city of Melbourne gradually made quality astronomical observations increasingly difficult.
In 1933 the flood-lit Shrine of Remembrance (from atop which this image was taken) was completed in the parkland adjacent to the observatory impacting its skies further, until the observatory was finally closed in 1945. Most of the scientific equipment and instruments, including the Great Melbourne Telescope, were sold or moved elsewhere.
Today, while most of the original buildings still stand on the site, only two of the original instruments remain. Both were installed in 1874 to observe the transit of Venus. One is an 8-inch refracting telescope by Troughton and Simms of London, and the other is a fully restored 4-inch Photoheliograph by Dallmeyer of London. The Photoheliograph is privately owned and on indefinite loan to the Astronomical Society of Victoria. The building which was used by the 13-inch astrograph telescope for the "Carte du Ciel" survey now houses a 12-inch Newtonian reflector telescope owned by the Astronomical Society of Victoria.
The Great Melbourne Telescope was eventually moved to the Mount Stromlo Observatory where it was badly damaged in the 2003 Canberra bushfires. Subsequently, a project has begun to restore the telescope to working order so that it may be used for educational and public viewing in its original home at the Melbourne Observatory. This is a joint undertaking of Museum Victoria, the Astronomical Society of Victoria and the Royal Botanic Gardens. The restoration project, which began in 2013, will incorporate bringing the telescope's optical, mechanical and electrical systems into line with current best practice.
I posted a monochrome version of this image some years ago.
Rawhead
Summit Trig point on Rawhead surrounded by fern.
“Rawhead ..
Highest point on the Sandstone Trail, 227 metres, 746 feet”
Muskets Hole ..
the cave on the Sandstone Trail with a chimney hole cut into its roof.
Fabulous Ferns ..
in the woodland around Rawhead, Cheshire.
Ethereal Woodland ..
wonderful lighting in the woods nr Bickerton Hill, Cheshire.
Out in the Midday Sun
Looking down from the upper esplanade running around the Sydney Opera House at a few people braving the midday sun (note their shadows directly under them).
The harbour tour jet boat cruising gently past was a typical part of the scenery in the busy harbour.
Digitalis purpurea ..
Foxglove … The scientific name means "finger".
Sydney's Central Business District
Looking south-south-east from Hickson Road, this is a rather non-tourist view of Sydney's central business district on a crystal-clear morning.
Part of the Sydney Harbour Bridge's southern approaches towers on the far-right and together with the Earth Exchange Building on the right and the ASN Co. Building's clock tower in the mid-left foreground these are the obviously-older structures visible. The remainder of the CBD from this perspective appears to contain only much more modern post-war structures.
Union Flag Lycra
Another couple of young women wearing Union Flag-themed lycra(?) leggings, seen at the 2012 Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant.
A similarly-themed plastic bag and hand-held flags suggest that these two are really getting into the day.
I spotted them on the concourse in front of the National Theatre on the Thames' South Bank.
Once again, I've no idea who they might be. Anyone able to help so I can credit them?
Darwin in Sydney
HMAS Darwin is a long-range escort frigate that undertakes roles including area air defence, anti-submarine warfare, surveillance, reconnaissance and interdiction. The ship is capable of countering simultaneous threats from the air, surface and sub-surface.
The class are modified variants of the American Oliver Hazard Perry-class FFG-7 frigates. Darwin and her five sister ships, Adelaide, Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Newcastle were the first RAN ships to be powered by gas turbines for their main propulsion. This, combined with a modern repair by replacement policy, has allowed both a reduced complement and a high availability for sea.
Darwin can be underway from cold in 30 minutes. In addition, two forward-mounted retractable auxiliary propulsion units provide a secondary means of propulsion plus excellent manoeuvrability in confined waters.
Darwin's principal weapons are the Standard medium-range SAM and Harpoon anti-ship missile, both of which are launched from the Mk 13 launcher on the forecastle. A 76mm gun to counter both aircraft and surface threats is fitted forward of the funnel and one 20 mm Phalanx CIWS for anti-missile defence is located above the helicopter hangars.
For long-range ASW tasks, Darwin is equipped for two Sikorsky S-70B-2 Seahawk helicopters. They are all-weather, twin-engine helicopters with a crew of three. Their primary role is undersea warfare for which they carry sonobuoys and up to two torpedoes. Other roles include OTHT, surveillance, boarding support, SAR and utility operations. For close-in ASW defence the ship is fitted with two Mk 32 triple torpedo tubes.
The ship's sensor package includes long-range radars for air and surface surveillance, ESM sensors and the Australian Nulka anti-ship missile defence system. Darwin is also fitted with the EO Tracking System (EOTS) with combined optical and IR sensors for detection and tracking. An Australian software based command and control system processes information as well as target data linked from other ships and aircraft.
Darwin was laid down by Todd Pacific Shipyards at Seattle, WA in 1981 and commissioned into the RAN on 21 July 1984. Here she is seen alongside in Woolloomooloo at the RAN's Fleet Base East in Sydney Harbour.
Evocative Statue
This beautifully-crafted bronze statue was created by the French sculptor Yannec Tomada. It is called Valor, Fidelity, Sacrifice, and is located on Overlord Circle, part of the American National D-Day Memorial, which opened in 2001 at Bedford, VA.
A replica of the statue, called Ever Forward, can be found on the beachfront at Vierville, Normandy, where it was installed in 2014 on the 70th anniversary of D-Day.
Both are intended to depict soldiers of the 116th Infantry Regimental Combat Team of the Virginia National Guard, part of the 29th Infantry Division. Vierville is where the 116th Infantry landed on D-Day, with four of the regiment's infantry companies in each of the first three waves assaulting Omaha Beach.
Thirty-four Virginia National Guard soldiers from the town of Bedford were part of D-Day. Nineteen of them were killed during the first day of the invasion, and four more died during the rest of the Normandy campaign. The town and the "Bedford Boys" had proportionately suffered the greatest losses of the campaign, leading to the US Congress locating the D-Day memorial in Bedford.
The beautiful Demoiselle ..
often found along fast-flowing waters. This one was on the River Weaver in Cheshire.
Daisy Cottage
Beautiful Cottage by Nantwich Lake, Cheshire
Doggy Bar
Mobile Cafe being enjoyed by a dog by Nantwich Lake, Cheshire
Pipe bridge over the River Weaver
The pipe is a water main, running 27km from Peckforton in Cheshire to Coopers Green reservoir in North Staffordshire.
Central Melbourne
St Paul's Cathedral is the metropolitical and cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, Victoria in Australia. It is the seat of the Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne and Metropolitan of the Province of Victoria.
The cathedral is in a great location in the centre of Melbourne, on the eastern corner of Swanston and Flinders Streets. It is diagonally opposite Flinders Street Station (partially visible bottom-centre), which was the transport hub of 19th century Melbourne and is still an important centre.
The location is the site of the first Christian service held in Melbourne in 1835. The area of the current site became a corn market until 1848, when it was made available for the construction of St Paul's Parish Church, a bluestone church which was consecrated in 1852 and was in use until 1885 when it was demolished to make way for the current cathedral.
St Paul's is built in a revival of the style known as Gothic transitional, being partly Early English and partly Decorated. It was designed by the distinguished English architect William Butterfield, who was noted for his ecclesiastical work. The cathedral was consecrated on 22 January 1891, but the building of the spires did not begin until 1926. The spires were designed by John Barr of Sydney. An organ by T C Lewis, one of the most prominent organ builders of the 19th century was imported from England.
St Paul's is unusual among Melbourne's great 19th century public buildings in that it is not made from bluestone, the city's dominant building material. Instead it is made from sandstone from the Barrabool Hills and limestone embellishments of Waurn Ponds limestone, both from near Geelong, giving the cathedral a warm yellow-brown colouring rather than Melbourne's characteristic cold blue-grey. Because the spires are made from Sydney sandstone and are 30 years newer, they are of a darker tone than the older parts of the building. St Paul's Moorhouse Tower is the second highest Anglican spire in the world, the tallest being that of Salisbury Cathedral, England.
Flinders Street Station is the central railway station of the suburban rail network of Melbourne. It is on the corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets next to the Yarra River in the heart of the city, stretching from Swanston Street to Queen Street and covering two city blocks. Each weekday, over 110,000 commuters and 1,500 trains pass through the station. Flinders Street is serviced by Metro's suburban services, and V/Line regional services to Gippsland. The station is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. It was the first railway station in an Australian city and the world's busiest passenger station in the late 1920s.
Opposite the cathedral on the other side of Flinders Street can be seen part of Federation Square, a modern cultural precinct in Melbourne, Australia. It comprises a series of buildings containing a public broadcaster, art galleries, a museum, cinemas, exhibition spaces, auditoria, restaurants, bars and shops around two major public spaces, one covered (The Atrium), the other open to the sky, and composed of two spaces that flow into one another (St. Paul's Court and The Square). The majority of the precinct is built on top of a concrete deck over busy railway lines. Construction began in 1998 and the site opened in 2002.
Seen from the Eureka Skydeck on the 88th floor of 7, Riverside Quay, Southbank.
Rome
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River Lathkill Waterfall
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Bridge over Lathkill
Lovely bridge crossing the River Lathkill
River Lathkill
in gorgeous Lathkill Dale
No Dipping
River Lathkill, Peak District
“ Please keep out of the river. Please respect that this is a National Nature Reserve and home to many species of wildlife which can be easily disturbed by you, or your dog.
Notable species such as Dippers and Water voles inhabit the river, and are especially vulnerable to disturbance by either you or your dog entering the " river. Locally the number of breeding dippers has declined due to disturbance and nationally Water voles are vulnerable to extinction.Please keep out of the river and keep your dog on a short lead.
Photographers please respect the Dippers during their nesting season by acting responsibly and not standing too close to nests, limiting the time you spend at any one location and not entering the river “.
Please close the gate ..
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Gate to The Dales ..
Lathkill Dale is one of the five dales that make up the Derbyshire Dale National Nature Reserve. Covering some 144 hectares, Lathkill Dale includes wildlife habitats such as limestone grassland, hay meadow, ash woodland, cliffs, screes and the river itself.
Sunset at 21:05pm ..
Looking over towards Monyash in the Peak District
Reception ..
at Haddon Grove Farm Campsite
The Farm Cat ..
we counted at least 5 cats patrolling this Peak District farm.
Bignall Hill
The large stone monument on the summit is dedicated to John Wedgwood (1760–1839), a former local employer and coal mine owner. Wedgwood's monument was initially an obelisk erected in 1850. Following storm damage in 1976 it was reduced to a quarter of its original size, although the base is still substantial. The monument is a Grade II listed building.
Clifftop Properties... For Now...
This image looks at houses at the end of Rayners Road in Whale Beach, a northern suburb of Sydney, NSW, some 40 km north of the city's central business district and the world-famous harbour.
I took the photo during a floatplane ride up the Northern Beaches coastline. When I took the shot I must admit I was wondering how long it would be before the clifftop properties became beachfront properties... And even more so now, as you can see the scars from what appear to have been two relatively-recent rockfalls.
Regardless, the online images from properties on Rayners Road seem to offer some spectacular views over Whale Beach and the Tasman Sea. One of them features the largest oceanfront land holding in the entire Northern Beaches.
Breathe it in ..
Local Wild Garlic woodland
Model Detail - HMS Vanguard 1:64 Scale
This image looks through glass at part of the beautifully-crafted 1:64 scale model of Britain's last battleship, HMS Vanguard, made by the makers of the real ship, Messrs John Brown & Co. Ltd. It resides in the Science Museum in South Kensington, London.
Here you are looking at the space between the after funnel (on the left) and the after main battery (X and Y turrets) (just off to the right). On the right of the image can be seen one of the two director control towers (DCT) for the 15-inch guns, carrying a "double cheese" Type 274 fire-control radar for range-finding and spotting the fall of shot.
In the bottom of the image can be seen four of the 16 5.25-inch 50-calibre dual-purpose guns that made up the secondary armament. Two of four American Mk 37 DCTs for the 5.25-inch guns can be seen, each carrying the twin domes of the Type 275 gunnery radar.
Twenty 40mm guns of her short-range anti-aircraft defences that originally featured 73 weapons, can also be seen in three sextuple mounts and two singles, along with two signal guns. All of the sextuple mounts were removed in a 1954 refit and seven of the singles had also been removed by that time.
The model was given to the museum in 1951.
Edinboro Cottages, Wildboarclough
A lovely row of cottages beside Clough Brook
Navy Board 60-Gun Warship Model, circa 1693
In 1649 the Admiralty Committee issued an order that all Admiralty ship designs were to be submitted with an accompanying model. The shipbuilder's miniature became an "official model" in which the frames were stylised and left exposed below the waterline in order that the hull curvature (known as the sheer draught) could be studied easily.
"Navy Board" models were usually made in the dockyards and represent the first serious adherence to true scale and proportion in model design. This very elaborate example, of which I only show the stern, is in 1:48 scale and was built in Chatham dockyard. It closely follows Admiralty specifications of 1691 for a 60-gun vessel, but was not completed until 1723. Hence it shows wreath-ports which must date from before 1704, whilst most of the fittings and carvings are of later date.
Seen under glass in the Science Museum. The information all comes from the Science Museum's explanatory panel.
This is an enlarged and improved version of an image I posted over a decade ago.
Clough Brook ..
Gently flowing through Wildboarclough
Wildboarclough Barn ..
Maybe belonging to Shutlingsloe Farm.
Aerial View of Pittswater - Explored!
Pittwater is a body of water extending south from Broken Bay, NSW, Australia parallel to the coast. The waterway was surveyed by the crew of HMS Sirius in 1788, and named Pitt Water after British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger.
By 1803 a fleet of privately-owned coasters had begun operating between Pittwater, Cowan Creek and Berowra Waters, usually travelling in convoy to reduce the risk of piracy by escaped convicts living along the shore. These vessels were generally built on Scotland Island and were not sufficiently seaworthy to leave Broken Bay. Shipping declined as a transport medium following road and rail construction through the region between 1850 and 1890, especially the construction of a rail bridge over the waterway in 1899; scheduled shipping services ceased in 1914.
Newport is 31 km north of the Sydney CBD and is part of the Northern Beaches region. Newport derived its name from being a "new port" for steamers carrying passengers and cargo such as local shell lime and firewood. Newport sits between the Pacific Ocean to the east and Pittwater to the west. On the shores of Pittwater are several marinas and small shipyards serving mainly pleasure craft, including those of Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club and the Royal Motor Yacht Club. Bayview takes its name from a description of its location, providing a ‘’view’’ across ‘’Pittwater’’.
Seen during a seaplane flight over the Northern Beaches. This is a larger, and I think an improved, version of an image posted over a decade ago that you can find elsewhere in my stream.
Today’s the day ..
The Wildboarclough Rose Queen Fete & Fell Race is held annually.
Springtime Woodland ..
Sunshine, Shadows and Bluebells.
River Dane ..
with Gradbach Methodist Chapel and a stunning old bridge.
Dane Cottage ..
Taken through the trees from the car park in Gradbach shows beautiful Dane Cottage.
HAWK HILL
Marin Headlands
River Dane ..
at Gradbach, Peak District, Staffordshire.
Gradbach Mill ..
and the River Dane, Gradbach, Peak District.
Stellaria ..
Stellaria species are relatively small herbs with simple opposite leaves.
Mother Duck ..
Alongside the River Dane, Gradbach.
Gradbach Oak ..
Beautiful old Oak Tree with a nice gathering of Bluebells below.
The Grave Robber ..
Cheeky Blue tit after the bugs caught by spider webs in St Mary’s Churchyard, Sandbach, Cheshire.
Blue Tits typically live for three years.
Beauty and the Beast ..
Fragile Bluebells growing next to a huge fallen tree in Parrots Drumble Nature Reserve, Staffordshire.
Around the old Oak Tree ..
a beautiful display of Bluebells in Parrots Drumble Nature Reserve, Staffordshire.
Let me out !
It must be getting close to milking time.
Blackbird has spoken ..
A very vocal Blackbird, I had to wait a moment to get a side profile.
Lazy ..
Wouldn’t it be easier to just bin it !
CW1 Postbox
Taken from Memorial Square, Crewe.
The Knife Angel ..
The National Monument Against Violence & Aggression makes its way to Crewe.
Sunday stroll ….
With the Canada Geese. Marple, Cheshire.
Canal Cottage ..
.. besides Lock 12 of Marple Locks on the Peak Forest canal.
Marple Viaduct ..
The Marple Viaduct runs parallel to the Aqueduct and carries the railway one hundred and twenty-four feet above the River Goyt. The Viaduct was constructed in 1865, 65 years after the Aqueduct and only took a year to build.
Marple Aqueduct / Goyt Aqueduct ..
The highest canal aqueduct in England and the highest masonry-arch aqueduct in Britain.
Marple Locks ..
Lock 6, Marple, Cheshire.
Nostalgic London
As the saying goes, "you can take a person out of London, but you can't take London out of a person." It's true!
Buy Artwork: Choose between Giclée Fine Art Prints, Framed Giclée Fine Art Prints and Canvas. www.thewandererseye.com
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IMG_1454-Edit-Edit
Cafe Boats …
On the Peak Forest Canal
Ironside 1897. Marple, Cheshire
Freight carrying in and around birmingham was a very
different affair to most of the rest of the canal system. Often a tug would pull four or five joey boats, each carrying around 20tons around the densely packed canals.
These boats were often known as day boats because they were only used in the daytime, the crews working them going home to houses at night.
Made in their hundreds by many different midlands boatbuilders and characterised by their overlapping
rivetted plates and wide omega pattern' rubbing guards these boats were often rugged, simple and utiliarian but some, like the boats of thomas bantock, did retain a distinctive style of their own.
For many years these hulls were to be found, almost for free, all over the canal system but now most have been converted or scrapped, making unconverted boats like ironsides an increasingly rare vessel.
Recent investigation by a canal historian has shown the ironsides was built in 1897 as great western railways fleet number 23. She moved to maintenance work in the 1950s and was given the name 'cat by british waterways.
Our plans are to restore ironsides to working condition and to offer it out as a resource for community use, education and creativity
Being watched ..
Resembling an Owl I’d say
Aqueduct House ..
Beautiful House alongside the Peak Forest Canal, Marple, Cheshire.
Hobbit Hole tunnel … Posset Bridge
A tunnel alongside Marple Locks where the towing pony would pass under the bridge as it was used to pull the narrow boat along the canal.
Parakeet Treat ..
Marple, Cheshire.
Records of parakeets living wild in the UK can be found going back to the mid-nineteenth century, but it is only since the late 1990s that the raucous green parrots have been seen in London and southeast England in significant numbers and started to settle elsewhere in the country.
Tree of imagination ..
Peover, Cheshire
"Tree of Imagination" was dedicated by
H.M. Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire
T.D. Briggs M.B.E. K.St.J on 26th September 2015 to all children and those still young at heart
Tree of imagination ..
Peover, Cheshire
Royalty in town ..
.. Holmes Chapel has been Yarn bombed
St John the Baptist Church ..
.. flying the flags
Bird Box …
… Post Box with wooden bird carving. WA16
Royal Box …
.. Rode Heath, ST7.
Keeping guard …
… Post Box, Holmes Chapel, CW4.
Fully Committed Patriotism
This man has gone the extra mile beyond just wearing and carrying the flag with his face-paint job and Mohican wig.
I saw him in front of the National Theatre on the South Bank of the Thames, preparing with his daughter to watch the Diamond Jubilee Thames Pageant. He was by far the most spectacularly decorated of all the people we saw that day.
It would be nice if someone could tell me who he is so I can properly credit him!
Flagmen
Two men meeting on the concourse in front of the National Theatre on the South Bank of the River Thames. The long period of time since taking this does not allow me to remember whether they knew each other or not.
The man facing me, with the beer in his left hand, seems to have outflagged the other by three to one with two small flags secured in his jacket pockets.
Seen as the crowds gathered for the 2012 Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant.
I do not know either of them. Continuing my theme this week of flags...
Flag Family
Mum, Dad and daughter wearing what appear to be brand-new flags (or someone's got an ironing fetish...), perhaps acquired from some enterprising vendor earlier in the day?
Seen walking across the artificial turf laid on the concourse in front of the National Theatre on the South Bank of the River Thames as the crowds gathered for the 2012 Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant.
I do not know any of the individuals seen.
Iconic Bridge
The Sydney Harbour Bridge is an Australian heritage-listed steel through-arch bridge across Sydney Harbour that carries rail, vehicular, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney central business district (CBD) and the North Shore. The view of the bridge, the harbour, and the nearby Sydney Opera House is widely regarded as an iconic image of Sydney, and of Australia itself. The bridge is locally nicknamed "The Coathanger" because of its arch-based design.
Under the direction of John Bradfield of the New South Wales Department of Public Works, the bridge was designed and built by British firm Dorman Long of Middlesbrough (who based the design on their 1928 Tyne Bridge in Newcastle upon Tyne) and opened in 1932.
The bridge's general design, which Bradfield tasked the NSW Department of Public Works with producing, was a rough copy of the Hell Gate Bridge in New York City. This general design document, however, did not form any part of the request for tender, which remained sufficiently broad as to allow cantilever (Bradfield's original preference) and even suspension bridge proposals.
The design chosen from the tender responses was original work created by Dorman Long, who leveraged some of the design from their own Tyne Bridge which, though superficially similar, does not share the graceful flares at the ends of each arch which make the harbour bridge so distinctive. It is the sixth-longest spanning-arch bridge in the world and the tallest steel arch bridge, measuring 134m from top to water level. It was also the world's widest long-span bridge, at 48.8m wide, until construction of the new Port Mann Bridge in Vancouver was completed in 2012.
The Sydney Harbour Bridge was added to the Australian National Heritage List on 19 March 2007 having previously been added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 25 June 1999.
Two BridgeClimb tourist groups can be seen on the bridge, one at the summit and one on the way up.
The scaffolding and grid that can be seen on the centre of the bridge is in preparation for the New Year's Eve fireworks. The year I visited (2009) that centrepiece featured a taijitu symbol (yin and yang), a blue moon and a ring of fire.
In the foreground the vivid green jetboat arriving at Circular Quay gives tourists wet rides round the harbour. Under the bridge's far end can be seen a more traditional harbour ferry coming towards me, having departed the Luna Park amusement centre.
Celebratory Style
In the week leading up to a coronation, I thought I'd look at photos of British flags that I've not previously posted.
Based on his attire, this man is clearly a supporter of Britain's Royals, with red, white and blue featuring in all he is wearing except for the sensible black shoes.
Seen on the concourse in front of the National Theatre on the South Bank of the River Thames as the crowds gathered for the 2012 Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant.
I do not know any of the individuals seen.
SPRINGTIME IN RIO OSO
RIO OSO
Quick Pint …
…Fountaine Inn, Linton, Yorkshire Dales
Conistone Cottage …
.. at the foot of Conistone Dib
Tree Barn …
.. nr Conistone, Yorkshire Dales.
The Bleeding Wolf ..
Public House, Scholar Green, Cheshire.
The story tells of what happened at this spot more than 700 years ago when John was King of England. One day John was hunting in the great forest which covered most of the Cheshire Plain giving shelter to wild boar, wolves and deer. During the chase John lost his companions. As he was riding slowly along one of the deer paths a great wolf sprang from the undergrowth full at the rider. The horse was startled and reared high throwing the King to the ground. The frightened horse bolted through the trees. The wolf turned on the fallen King but a nearby keeper, hearing the scuffle, had run towards the sounds. Seeing the wolf about to attack he drew his hunting knife, threw himself at the beast and plunged it into the snarling throat. It was a mortal blow and the savage creature toppled over, blood streaming from its gaping wound. The King scrambled to his feet badly shaken but unhurt. The forester recognising the King fell to his knees but was ordered to rise.
John: Thou art a brave man keeper. But for thee yon great beast would have torn the life out o’ me. What is thy name good fellow?
Keeper: “Lawton Sire”.
John: Well Lawton thou hast saved my life. The life of the King of England, a goodly reward shall be thine. Seest yonder bleeding wolf? Take that as thy starting point and all the land that thou canst walk over in one week shall be thine to hold and to keep. Moreover the head of the wolf shall be on thy crest. The deed will go down in history. And so it did. Lawton took the King at his word, covered as much ground as he could and took possession thus founding his own estate. To commemorate the incident Lawton had built on the spot where the wolf lay bleeding an Inn which was aptly named the “Inn of the Bleeding Wolf.”
The Bleeding Wolf ..
Scholar Green, Cheshire.
The story tells of what happened at this spot more than 700 years ago when John was King of England. One day John was hunting in the great forest which covered most of the Cheshire Plain giving shelter to wild boar, wolves and deer. During the chase John lost his companions. As he was riding slowly along one of the deer paths a great wolf sprang from the undergrowth full at the rider. The horse was startled and reared high throwing the King to the ground. The frightened horse bolted through the trees. The wolf turned on the fallen King but a nearby keeper, hearing the scuffle, had run towards the sounds. Seeing the wolf about to attack he drew his hunting knife, threw himself at the beast and plunged it into the snarling throat. It was a mortal blow and the savage creature toppled over, blood streaming from its gaping wound. The King scrambled to his feet badly shaken but unhurt. The forester recognising the King fell to his knees but was ordered to rise.
John: Thou art a brave man keeper. But for thee yon great beast would have torn the life out o’ me. What is thy name good fellow?
Keeper: “Lawton Sire”.
John: Well Lawton thou hast saved my life. The life of the King of England, a goodly reward shall be thine. Seest yonder bleeding wolf? Take that as thy starting point and all the land that thou canst walk over in one week shall be thine to hold and to keep. Moreover the head of the wolf shall be on thy crest. The deed will go down in history. And so it did. Lawton took the King at his word, covered as much ground as he could and took possession thus founding his own estate. To commemorate the incident Lawton had built on the spot where the wolf lay bleeding an Inn which was aptly named the “Inn of the Bleeding Wolf.”
Tugs on the Thames
Seen emerging from under Waterloo Bridge are three tugs operated by Cory Riverside on the Thames. Dressed overall, they were participating in the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant in 2012.
They were delivered to the Thames in 2010, having been built by Damen Shipyards, in the Netherlands on hulls built in Poland and towed to Damen for completion. Each is 22.35m in length, with a beam of 8.64m and a draught of 2.99m. They are each powered by two 1,200 bhp Caterpillar 3412 diesel engines driving twin screws.
The tugs spend most of their time towing barges, transporting much of London’s waste by river to a downstream recycling plant. The process saves around 100,000 lorries a year from congesting and polluting the city’s streets.
Using the rhythm of the tides, the tugs tow barges loaded with empty containers upstream on the flood tide, delivering them to borough collection points along the river. Once there, empty containers are lifted off and filled containers are loaded in their place by crane. The barges are then towed back downstream on the ebb tide.
The waste recovery service at the Belvedere plant, converts waste into energy, supplying power to 160,000 homes; providing 200,000 tonnes of ash left over from the incineration process to be recycled into aggregate for a variety of construction projects; and recovering 10,000 tonnes of air pollution control residue, which after careful processing is converted into building blocks.
Seen from a vantage point atop the National Theatre.
Grand Interior ..
.. All Saints Church, Siddington. c1337
All Saints Church … c1337
.. Siddington, Cheshire.
More "Little Ships"
Mimosa, Sundowner and Wayfarer are seen here, together with most of Aureol (H9) on the right of the image. All participated in Operation Dynamo in 1940.
Wayfarer is a 30-ft steel-hulled motor cruiser built by Salter Bros of Oxford in 1928 for £250. Bought in 1978 as a decaying hulk, she was fully restored by 1982, but it was only in 1990 that her owners discovered her "Little Ships" heritage.
Sundowner is a 52-ft motor yacht built by the Admiralty in 1912. She was sailed to Dunkirk and rescued 130 men in a single trip. Of note, her owner and skipper on the trip was Charles Lightoller, DSC*, famous as the Second Officer of the Titanic...
Mimosa is a 48-ft motor yacht built by Thornycroft at Hampton-on-Thames in 1935. She successfully completed three trips to Dunkirk and back. She is one of the vessels featured in the "Little Ships of Dunkirk" stamp series issued by Palau in 2015 to commemorate the 75th anniversary.
Aureol is a 30-ft motor yacht built by Rampart of Southampton in 1936. She did not have the wheelhouse in 1940 when she was used as a shuttle between the beaches and ships offshore.
Speedboat Fixitor
Built in 1902, probably by Thornycroft, this 25-foot-long 'trials boat' participated in the 1908 Olympics, the only Olympics in which powerboat racing featured.
Extensively restored in 1949, it was at this point that the motorboat acquired its current name. It was bought for £400 in 2009 and again required extensive restorative work before looking like it does above. It is the only boat to have participated in all three recent royal pageants (Queen's Coronation, Silver and Diamond Jubilees).
It seemed to have a relatively minor problem during the latter event, pulling up to this fixed barge on the Thames for a short period before continuing on downstream with the rest of the flotilla.
Seen during the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant.
Springtime fields ..
… Brassica napus or Rapeseed field in Smallwood, Cheshire.
Dunkirk Little Ships
Bluebird of Chelsea (in the centre above) was built in 1931 by Thornycrofts of Southampton, as a 52-foot twin petrol-engined wooden carvel-built motor yacht Bluebird for Sir Malcolm Campbell, the world land speed record holder.
He sold her after three years and she had three more owners before WWII. She made two false starts in getting to Dunkirk. The first time she developed engine trouble. Then, when she got as far as Sheerness, there were too many volunteers and she was left behind. Finally, she set out, commanded by a yachtsman, Lieutenant Colonel Barnard, with a crew of naval ratings.
After Dunkirk, for the rest of the war from 1942 onwards, she was used by No. 1 Water Transport Co., RASC based in Gourock, near Holy Loch, moving troops, food and equipment around various coastal artillery sites guarding the entrance to the River Clyde. She was also used for advanced navigation exercises based at Rothesay on the Isle of Butte. In 1943 she was used by the Orkney and Shetlands section RASC for the movement of personnel and equipment throughout the islands. She apparently finished the war being used for target towing and radar decoy work between Weymouth and Gosport, still in service with the RASC.
Bluebird of Chelsea, as she was named when relaunched on 19 April 1986, after an extensive refit, operates from Cadogan Pier, in the heart of London where she had spent much of her time in Malcolm Campbell's day.
Beyond her is Anne, a wooden carvel-built 30-foot motor yacht built by Frank Curtis in Cornwall in 1925. She is powered by two Ailsa Craig petrol/paraffin engines. Like so many of the 'Little Ships' Anne's precise wartime service was not recorded but her name appears in all the official records.
In 2010 she participated in the 70th anniversary reunion of the Little Ships, sailing from Ramsgate to Dunkirk. She was the only returnee to travel on her original engines. Nowadays she is berthed in Chichester.
Only partially visible in the lower-left foreground is the bow of the 30-foot Thames day launch Lady Isabelle, built by H Gibbs at Teddington in 1930. She survived two cross-Channel trips to Dunkirk in 1940 (the seas were remarkably calm throughout the nine days of the evacuation).
Seen during the 2012 Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant.
CALCUTTA FALLS-ZZZ-1
THE BLACK HOLE CALCUTTA FALLS, AUBURN CALIFORNIA
Ravensbourne II
This 12m pilot boat was built for the Port of London Authority by Cochin Marine at Rye in East Sussex in 1985.
She was one of the boats leading the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the River Thames in 2012. She is seen here from atop the National Theatre.
The authority sold her in 2018 and her new owners have named her Willfetch. She now operates as a port tender at Pembroke Dock.
Spring’s finest …
… Prunus serrulata or Japanese Cherry better known as a Blossom Tree.
Beautiful cobbled street …
.. in Grassington, Yorkshire.
::0669::
Developed using darktable 3.8.0
Scale Haw Force
.. a force to be reckoned with !!
Gates to Astbury ..
… the Daffodils are dying off now (mid April) they make quite a spectacle when in full bloom.
Astbury
… springtime is special in Astbury, Cheshire.
::0668::
Developed using darktable 3.8.0
BEALE FALLS
PENN VALLEY CALIFORNIA
Lych Gate ..
… the chain and pulley gate is one of only three remaining in the UK.
St Wilfrids Church, Burnsall, Yorkshire.
Saint Wilfrid’s Church
… Burnsall, Yorkshire Dales.
A cottage cat
.. Grassington, Yorkshire Dales
Streets of Grassington
.. beautiful old cottages in Garrs Lane.
The Wine Shop
.. just needs a cheese shop next door !!
Grassington, Yorkshire Dales.
Gordale Beck
.. below Janet’s Foss waterfall.
Janet’s Foss ..
..waterfall in the Yorkshire Dales.
Cyclists passing through Conistone
… no doubt admiring the beautiful village.
Conistone village square
.. such a beautiful village it is.
Village Life
… Conistone, Yorkshire Dales.
Hebden Suspension Bridge. 1885
… can’t beat a bouncy bridge. Hebden, Yorkshire.
Here and there ..
old sign in Burnsall, Yorks WR 032612
Conistone Pie
.. above Conistone, Yorkshire Dales
Cline River Revisited
Cline River, Alberta, Canada
Re - cycle
.. Old sign that’s been left after the filming of All creatures Great and small in Grassington, Yorkshire
Spring Blossom
… taken in Grassington, Yorkshire
Linton Falls
on the River Wharfe
Burnsall Beauty …
Majestically spanning the River Wharfe. Built 1609
Fishing the Wharfe
Casting out on the River Wharfe nr Linton, Yorkshire
A polished sign
.. The Old Polishing Shop in Grassington, Yorkshire, England.
Spring has sprung ..
.. in Linton, Yorkshire, beside Linton beck.
The Parsonage
The Brontes former home
Grassington Post Box
GR dating from 1910/1936
Grassingtons Sedber Lane … (explored)
… leading to the beautiful Linton Falls.
Explored 3/4/23
CALCUTTA FALLS-A-2
THE BLACK HOLE CALCUTTA FALLS. AUBURN CALIFORNIA
Chrome reflections
Created for KP April Challenge ~ Reflections
My own images, edited in Photoshop Beta 2023
Best viewed Large
Thank you very much for your comments and faves, regretfully, I am finding it increasingly difficult to reply to your comments, because of my very limited time on the internet, due to constant power interruptions in South Africa. I do read and appreciate every one of them! Thanks again!!
BMW at Mid Ohio Sports Car Course
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Mid Ohio
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Warbird
Lomo effect added with GIMP
F100 Super Sabre
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Tipton County Courthouse - Indiana
A Romanesque Classial Revival Style building designed by Adolph Scherrer, architect of the 1888 Indiana State Capitol. It is Tipton County's third courthouse and was completed, 1894; placed in National Register of Historic Places, 1984; resorted, 1988-1991.
View Large Size On Black
Smokestack
View Large Size On Black
At the top of ..
.. the 108 steps, Macclesfield, Cheshire
108 Steps ..
.. Macclesfield, Cheshire
Goose graffiti ..
.. impressive Muriel on the side of the Snow Goose Cafe Bar in Macclesfield, Cheshire.
In full song
very happy with itself !
Cottage envy ..
.. stunning location
Nearing the summit …
… of The Cloud
Somewhere
.. where there’s a Rainbow there’s rain
Cut little entrance
.. to The Cloud
The Cloud …
.. blue sky’s above Bosley Cloud, Cheshire
Corvette
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BEAL FALLS
GRASS VALLEY CALIFORNIA
Marine Steam Turbine - Detail
In ships, the advantages of steam turbines over reciprocating engines are smaller size, lower maintenance, lighter weight, and lower vibration. The small size of a 20,000 shaft horsepower (shp) (15,000 kW) steam turbine, opened as if to allow maintenance to be conducted, is clearly seen above. For those who may be technically challenged, it is just the bronze/brown-coloured element on the right, under the cover held up by screwed columns.
A steam turbine is only efficient when operating in the thousands of revolutions per minute (rpm), while the most effective propeller designs are for speeds less than 300 rpm. Consequently, precise (and thus expensive) reduction gears are usually required. Above, the reduction gears are partially visible in the left foreground, under the cover supported by the smooth silver columns.
This image was taken in one of the main engine rooms of HMS Belfast, a British cruiser that is now the Imperial War Museum's largest single exhibit. It can be found on the River Thames in central London between Tower Bridge and London Bridge. I should point out that you need to be reasonably fit and agile to get around her - lots of ladders, some tight spaces and plenty of opportunities to accidentally head-butt overhead obstacles (steel!).
Belfast's propulsion system featured four boilers that generated the steam to turn the four Parsons geared steam turbines, each of which drove a propeller shaft. She was capable of 32.5 kt and carried 2,400 tonnes of fuel oil, which gave her a maximum range of 8,664 nm at her most economical speed of 13 kt.
Steam turbines are no longer used by the Royal Navy, whose entire fleet is today propelled by gas turbines. The latter do not require the (very) heavy and bulky equipment, and large numbers of personnel, required to ensure the smooth and continuous operation of steam turbines, although they do require clear paths for air intakes and exhausts and perhaps better-educated personnel. I'll let stokers of older and newer generations chew over the intellectual requirements aspect!
IMG_1537
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Construction of J.W. Marriott - Indianapolis - 2008
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Tropical Spring
Created for Explore Worthy, Contest 128 - THINK SPRING (2023 Art)
My own images, edited in Photoshop 2023
Best viewed Large
Thank you very much for your comments and faves, regretfully, I am finding it increasingly difficult to reply to your comments, because of my very limited time on the internet, due to constant power interruptions in South Africa. I do read and appreciate every one of them! Thanks again!!
Steam Propulsion
In ships, the advantages of steam turbines over reciprocating engines are smaller size, lower maintenance, lighter weight, and lower vibration. The small size of a 20,000 shaft horsepower (shp) (15,000 kW) steam turbine, opened as if to allow maintenance to be conducted, can be seen above. For those who may be technically challenged, it is just the bronze/brown-coloured element that looks like a cluster of metallic fans under the cover held up by screwed columns.
A steam turbine is only efficient when operating in the thousands of revolutions per minute (rpm), while the most effective propeller designs are for speeds less than 300 rpm. Consequently, precise (and thus expensive) reduction gears are usually required.
This image was taken in one of the main engine rooms of HMS Belfast, a British cruiser that is now an Imperial War Museum exhibit on the River Thames in central London. I should point out that you need to be reasonably fit and agile to get around her - lots of ladders, some tight spaces and plenty of opportunities to accidentally head-butt overhead obstacles (steel!).
Belfast's propulsion system featured four boilers that generated the steam to turn the four Parsons geared steam turbines, each of which drove a propeller shaft. She was capable of 32.5 kt and carried 2,400 tonnes of fuel oil, which gave her a maximum range of 8,664 nm at her most economical speed of 13 kt.
Steam turbines are no longer used by the Royal Navy, whose entire fleet is today propelled by gas turbines. The latter do not require the (very) heavy and bulky equipment, and large numbers of personnel, required to ensure the smooth and continuous operation of steam turbines, although they do require clear paths for air intakes and exhausts and perhaps better-educated personnel. I'll let stokers of older and newer generations chew over the intellectual requirements aspect!
Looking at the bare bulkhead beyond all the dials, I would think that quite a bit of thermal cladding has been removed from this compartment...
The Tree & the Lamp
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Scene on the Shore
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Abseiling Lesson
Some 325 km north-east of Melbourne is Mount Buffalo National Park (established 1898) in Australia's Southern Alps. One of its major tourist features is a 200m-deep ravine known as The Gorge.
Seen here on the lip of that feature a class in abseiling is underway. I assume that the man in red on the rope is the instructor and the blue-helmeted people clustered behind the safety railings are the students. Looks like a great place to learn this skill.
I took this shot from a viewpoint in front of the Mount Buffalo Chalet. The altitude here is about 1,320m, although Mount Buffalo itself reaches an altitude of 1,723m. In the distance, the blue-tinted ridges are parts of the Southern Alps.
Aboriginal people made summer ascents to Mount Buffalo and other Alpine areas to gather and feast on protein-rich Bogong Moths that cluster in rock crevices, and also to meet and hold ceremonies. Explorers Hume and Hovell named the mountain in 1824 from its supposed resemblance to a buffalo. Gold miners and botanists later began to find routes up to the plateau.
Due to the altitude range in the park, there is a variety of fauna habitats. The foothill forests contain kangaroos, wallabies, and several species of possums and gliders. Smaller mammals such as native rats and mice inhabit the plateau. Wombats occur in all habitats. The Alpine Silver Xenica is a species of butterfly found only on the plateau of Mount Buffalo. Bogong moths shelter in rock crevices at the Horn and it is common to see birds darting in and out of the cracks to feed on them during the day and bats doing the same at night. Peregrine falcons sometimes nest in the granite rock faces. Crimson rosellas are abundant throughout the park.
Urban Poetry
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Sunny Anzac Parade
Taken from the Mount Ainslie Lookout (838m above sea level), this sunny morning view looks south-west along the length of Anzac Parade as far as Lake Burley Griffin (557m) in the middle of the Australian capital city, Canberra. I particularly like the huge variety in the shades of green visible amongst the trees and bushes.
Named in honour of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) of World War I, the 1.1 km-long Anzac Parade joins Gallipoli Reach of Lake Burley Griffin in the south (far distance) and the Australian War Memorial to the north (in the immediate foreground of the image above). The lakeshore is exactly 3 km from where I took the photo.
The Parade is flanked by Victorian blue gum eucalyptus trees on gently sloping banks either side of the three-lane, one-way roads centred by a wide parade ground topped with granulated rock (similar to scoria), with planted boxes of a low bush called Hebe. The eucalypts are Australian; and the hebe comes from New Zealand. The Parade is also flanked by the streets of Anzac Park West and Anzac Park East on either side of Anzac Park. Under the trees are 15 memorials commemorating a variety of wars and issues.
On Anzac Day (25 April) and other ceremonial occasions, the Parade and adjoining streets may be blocked off to provide a parade route for formed groups of armed services personnel and veterans to proceed either along the central parade ground or the flanking roads.
The artificial lake was completed in 1963 after the Molonglo River - which ran between the city centre and Parliamentary Triangle - was dammed. It is named after Walter Burley Griffin, the American architect who won the competition to design the city.
There are two government office blocks visible in the image, near the lake. Anzac Park East (on the left) was empty when I took the picture and has by 2020 been demolished. Anzac Park West remains occupied but is also scheduled to be demolished. The open grass area visible near Anzac Park East has been filled with apartments which are currently under construction according to a well-known registered trademark mapping web tool's street view.
Note that the EXIF data for the time the photo was taken is incorrect - at this point in my trip I had still forgotten to change the camera to local date/time! This is a brighter picture than another that can be found on my stream that had been taken 24 hours earlier.
Parliaments Old and New - Explored!
Taken from the Mount Ainslie Lookout, this image looks across Lake Burley Griffin at the Old and New Parliament Houses of Australia. Old Parliament House is the long white building stretching across the lower half of the image, with New Parliament House being the modern grass-covered edifice in the background with the large flagpole atop it.
The site of Canberra was selected for the location of the nation's capital city in 1908. A competition was announced on 30 June 1914 to design Parliament House, with prize money of £7,000. However, due to the start of World War I the next month, the competition was cancelled. In the meantime, John Smith Murdoch, the Commonwealth's Chief Architect, worked on the design as part of his official duties. He had little personal enthusiasm for the project, as he felt it was a waste of money and expenditure on it could not be justified at the time. Nevertheless, he designed the building by default.
The construction of Old Parliament House, as it is called today, commenced on 28 August 1923 and was completed in early 1927. It was built by the Commonwealth Department of Works, using tradesmen and materials from all over Australia. The final cost was about £600,000, which was more than three times the original estimate. It was designed to house the parliament for a maximum of 50 years until a permanent facility could be built, but was actually used for more than 60 years.
In 1978 it was decided to proceed with a new building on Capital Hill, and the Parliament House Construction Authority was created. A two-stage competition was announced, for which the Authority consulted the Royal Australian Institute of Architects and, together with the National Capital Development Commission, made available to competitors a brief and competition documents. The design competition drew 329 entries from 29 countries.
The competition winner was the Philadelphia-based architectural firm of Mitchell/Giurgola, with the on-site work directed by the Italian-born architect Romaldo Giurgola, with a design which involved burying most of the building under Capital Hill, and capping the edifice with an enormous spire topped by a large Australian flag. The façades, however, included deliberate imitation of some of the patterns of the Old Parliament House, so that there is a slight resemblance despite the massive difference of scale. The building was also designed to "sit above" Old Parliament House when seen from a distance.
Construction began in 1981, and the House was intended to be ready by Australia Day, 26 January 1988, the 200th anniversary of European settlement in Australia. It was expected to cost A$220 million. Neither the deadline nor the budget was met. In the end it cost more than A$1.1 billion to build.
The New Parliament House was finally opened by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on 9 May 1988, the anniversary of the opening of both the first Federal Parliament in Melbourne on 9 May 1901 and the Provisional Parliament House in Canberra on 9 May 1927.
To give a sense of scale, the distance from my vantage point to the lakeshore seen above is a distance of 3.6 km. The flagpole atop the New Parliament Building is 5 km away.
The EXIF date/time data is incorrect - at this point in my trip I still hadn't updated it for the far side of the world...
Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve
Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve is a 54.5 sq km protected area on the fringe of Namadgi National Park. Tidbinbilla is a short drive from the capital city of Australia, Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory.
The nature reserve consists of a large valley floor, the Tidbinbilla Mountain and the Gibraltar range. The sides of the valley are steep and relatively undisturbed. The lower slopes of the valley are partly cleared and have a significant history of Aboriginal and European use. Tidbinbilla Mountain is believed to have been used for Aboriginal initiation ceremonies. The word 'Tidbinbilla' is Aboriginal in origin and comes from the word Jedbinbilla – a place where boys become men.
Known sites of Aboriginal significance at Tidbinbilla include the Birriagi Rock Shelter, which is the oldest Aboriginal site within the Australian Capital Territory. Bogong Rocks is a shelter where the oldest evidence of Aboriginal occupation was found at a bogong moth resting site.
The nature reserve is classified as an IUCN Category II protected area. It is the traditional Country of the Ngunnawal people.
Aboriginal people have inhabited the Tidbinbilla area since antiquity. Archaeological digs at Birrigai, over the hill from Tidbinbilla, found the earliest evidence of the use of fire, dated at 20,000 years old. This was at the time of the last Ice Age. Excavations at Hanging Rock has dated occupation of that site to some 16,000 years. The last corroboree, an Australian Aboriginal dance ceremony, held at Tidbinbilla was c.1904. Aboriginal rock paintings can be found at Gibraltar Peak in a small cave.
This image was taken from somewhere along Paddy's Road as I was en route to the Canberra Deep Space Communications Centre at the time.
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View from the Seashore
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Coney Island Brooklyn NYC
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Verrazzano Bridge, Brooklyn NYC
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White Shells
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre on Bennelong Point in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, who, in 2003, received the Pritzker Prize, architecture's highest honour. The citation stated: “There is no doubt that the Sydney Opera House is his masterpiece. It is one of the great iconic buildings of the 20th century, an image of great beauty that has become known throughout the world – a symbol for not only a city, but a whole country and continent.”
The Opera House became a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 28 June 2007. It is the most recently constructed World Heritage Site to be designated as such, sharing this distinction with such ancient landmarks as Stonehenge and the Giza Necropolis. It sits at the northeastern tip of the Sydney CBD, surrounded on three sides by the harbour (Sydney Cove and Farm Cove) and next to the Royal Botanic Gardens.
The building houses two main venues, the Opera Theatre and the Concert Hall, in the two larger sets of shells. It is a modern expressionist design, with a series of large precast concrete "shells", each composed of sections of a hemisphere of the same radius, forming the roofs of the structure, set on a monumental podium. The building covers 4.5 acres of land and is 183m long and 120m wide at its widest point. It is supported on 588 concrete piers sunk as much as 25m below sea level.
The roofs are covered in a subtle chevron pattern with 1,056,006 glossy white- and matte-cream-coloured Swedish-made tiles from Höganäs AB, though, from a distance, the shells appear a uniform white. The Concert Hall is located within the western (right, above) group of shells, the Opera Theatre within the eastern group. The scale of the shells was chosen to reflect the internal height requirements, with low entrance spaces, rising over the seating areas and up to the high stage towers.
The minor venues (Drama Theatre, Playhouse, and The Studio) are located beneath the Concert Hall, as part of the western shell group. A much smaller group of shells set to one side of the Monumental Steps houses the Bennelong Restaurant. Although the roof structures of the Sydney Opera House are commonly referred to as "shells," they are in fact not shells in a strictly structural sense, but are instead precast concrete panels supported by precast concrete ribs.
Apart from the tile of the shells and the glass curtain walls of the foyer spaces, the building's exterior is largely clad with aggregate panels composed of pink granite quarried in Tarana. Significant interior surface treatments also include off-form concrete, Australian white birch plywood supplied from Wauchope in northern New South Wales, and brush box glulam.
Arch Bridge
at Dane in Shaw Pasture, Cheshire
Untitled
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Roadside Collection
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German SdKfz 234/3 Armoured Car
With a very streamlined and smooth-looking appearance, this looked to me a bit like a giant and rather simply made toy. But this reconnaissance vehicle belonged to a family of AFVs that were the most technically-advanced series of wheeled armoured vehicles produced during World War II.
The Germans began experimenting with eight-wheeled armoured car chassis during the late 1930s and Daimler-Benz and Bussing-NAG designed prototypes. These vehicles had a body built on a separate chassis and were powered by a petrol engine. They went into production as the SdKfz 231, SdKfz 233 and SdKfz 263 and about 950 had been produced by April 1943.
Development of a replacement vehicle began in August 1940. This was designed around a unitary body without a separate chassis and, unusually for a German vehicle, was powered by an air-cooled Tatra diesel engine. The first prototype was delivered in July 1942 but the new armoured car wasn’t ready for volume production until April 1943. The suspension and steering design was very advanced and the hull had a driving position at both ends so that a rapid backward exit could be made from a difficult situation.
There were four versions, with 89 SdKfz 234/3s being made between June and December 1944. They carried a short 24-calibre 75cm KwK51 in an elongated open topped mounting with limited side to side traverse. This variant was intended for close-range fire support and was intended to complement the other three versions.
The 75mm gun fired a high-explosive shell that was effective against buildings and fortifications, targets which could not be effectively engaged by the high-velocity guns fitted in the SdKfz 234/2 and 234/1. SdKfz 234/3 armoured cars were issued at the scale of one platoon's worth in the reconnaissance company of each Panzer Division.
The Tank Museum’s vehicle seen above is finished in the markings of the 116th Panzer Division. This division was formed in France in March 1944. It was virtually destroyed in the Falaise pocket in July 1944, reconstituted in the Aachen area in September 1944 and then fought with the 5th Panzer Armee until US forces encircled it in April 1945.
The British Army acquired this SdKfz 234/3 in full working order after the war. It was used as a standard against which the performance of modern wheeled AFVs was compared. Generally the older German vehicle out-performed the new ones, especially when driving over soft and muddy ground.
Notes from the museum's website.
Totally unimpressed by me and the snowy weather !
… taken at Dane in Shaw Pasture, Cheshire
Dave Hoover - Pontiac Tempest Custom
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To The Shire …
… Cute little Hobbit Bridge
Guarding the Baoan Temple in Taipei
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918 Main Street, Danville, VA
This outstanding Second Empire style house on Millionaires' Row, a type rare in Danville, was built for banker James Rufus Jopling in 1890.
It is the successor to two earlier houses on this site. One was an early home, c.1829, of Captain James Lanier, the town's first mayor. After this structure burned, Colonel A S Buford had his new house and stables built here in the late 1850s. Also on the two-acre grove he had constructed a school or office said to have stood beneath the oak which dominates the adjacent front yard at 912 Main Street.
In 1882 Buford, an early detractor of the Richmond & Danville Railroad but who later came round and served 20 years as its president, subdivided his Main Street property. Jopling bought the Buford home, had it razed, and the present structure built. Its irregular plan, various projections and storey heights unified by repetitions of window openings and architectural motifs.
Central to the design is the three-storey square domed tower of French Renaissance inspiration. The intricate stone and staggered brick motif of the segmented arched openings harmonises with the delicately-patterned cast iron entrance porch.
Jopling was a native of southern Virginia. A Confederate veteran, he moved to Lynchburg after the War and married Mollie Phelps before arriving in Danville In 1874 as a partner in the expanding Lynchburg hardware firm of Jones & Watts. He also entered banking and was the president of the Planters National Bank, now First and Merchants National, from 1898 until his death in 1913.
In 1928 the Jopling heirs sold the house to Allen E Anderson, who conveyed it the following year to Charles and Lydia McCormick Clements. After his death in 1972, the house passed to his son, Hugh T Clements, who with two of his children, continued to reside here. Inside, high-ceilinged rooms with ornamental plaster are complemented by elaborate slate mantles decorated to resemble marble and other opulent materials.
One of the pre-eminent collections of Victorian- and Edwardian-era architecture in the Commonwealth of Virginia, Millionaires' Row is a symbol of Danville's and the South's history. Most of the houes rose from the new-found wealth of the New South - built for astute buisiness leaders who prospered from tobacco and entrepreneurs who organised the long-time textile giant, Dan River Inc.
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Ted Harbit piloting the Chicken Hawk, a 1951 Studebaker Commander Starlight Coupe at the Muncie Dragway in Albany, Indiana. Ted was involved in a serious crash seconds after this photo was taken. Ted was taken to a local hospital and is healing at home. The car sustained serious damage. Photos of the aftermath can be viewed in the associated picture set.
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Renault Type UE Chenillette
And oddity from the inter-war years.
The 2.6-tonne Chenillette was derived from the British Carden-Loyd Carrier of 1926. Renault built it, under licence, from 1931. The purpose of the design was to provide a small cross-country load carrier for use by infantry. The vehicle was armoured (7mm thick) and provided full protection for its crew so that it could operate close to the firing line, carrying ammunition and other supplies. There is a small container behind the crew compartment which could be tipped automatically and the Chenillette also operated with an open trailer which could carry about 500 kg. The trailer could operate with, or without, its tracks.
The Chenillette was powered by a 38-hp four-cylinder Renault engine located between the crew positions and it could be started manually from inside the vehicle. The engine was coupled to a conventional four-speed and reverse gearbox driving through a front-mounted differential. The Chenillette was built in considerable numbers (over 5,000 in France). Some examples were fitted with a 7.5mm machine-gun and they were sometimes employed as tractors for the 25mm anti-tank gun. However, whether it was a worthwhile addition to the French Army is questionable.
The Germans captured large quantities of these little vehicles and many were adapted quite dramatically. Local commanders of both Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe units often had them rebuilt to carry more armour and various types of weapons. They were then used primarily for internal security work or airfield defence.
Seen in the Tank Museum at Bovington, the above example was apparently one of a small batch brought to Britain in 1940 and used by Free French and Polish forces for training. - Details from the explanatory board seen adjacent to the vehicle, which is apparently no longer on display.
BEALE FALLS
GRASS VALLEY
Mighty Moustache
The Emperor Tamarin (Saguinus imperator) is allegedly named for its resemblance to the German Emperor Wilhelm II. It lives in the south-west Amazon Basin, in east Peru, north Bolivia and in the west Brazilian states of Acre and Amazonas.
The fur is predominantly grey, with yellowish speckles on its chest. The hands and feet are black and the tail is brown. Outstanding is its long, white moustache, which extends to both sides beyond the shoulders. The animal reaches a length of 24-26 cm plus a 35 cm long tail. It weighs just 300-400g.
This primate inhabits tropical rain forests, living deep in the forest and also in open tree-covered areas. A diurnal species, it walks or runs quadrupedally through the forest, spending the majority of its days in the trees with quick, safe movements and broad jumps among the limbs.
The Emperor Tamarin lives together in groups of 2-8 animals. The oldest female leads the group above several mature males. Mutual grooming plays an important role for bonding and socialising. Its diet is similar to that of other tamarins, being an omnivore, primarily eating fruits, insects and sap. When feeding on sap, the Emperor Tamarin latches on to the tree vertically with its claws dug into the bark of the tree. It also eats bird eggs and small vertebrates (such as tree frogs). Due to its small weight it can reach food at the far end of branches, which are not accessible to heavier animals.
The Emperor Tamarin's life expectancy is over 15 years - from Wikipedia. Taken through glass at Marwell Wildlife near Winchester, Hants.
spoor
2009
The great Galanthus ..
.. sadly on there way out for another season.
Moorland Birch
A lone Silver Birch on Bakestonedale Moor.
The imposing Clarence Mill
.. set beside the Macclesfield Canal at Bollington
Winner of best trig - Bakestonedale Moor.
A fantastic Trig just outside Bollington, Cheshire celebrating the towns Coal history.
Toy Photography is fun
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Drag Strip - Camaro Fire
Opening Day at the Muncie Dragway. I happened to be in the right spot to get these photos of flames erupting from the underside of this Camaro. I heard that it was a transmission brake that let go and sprayed tranmission fluid underneath the car, which ignited. The car ended up on the guard rail that can be seen in the un-cropped shots. Driver is Dale Baldauf, Portland, Indiana.
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National Register of Historic Places: Old Pathology Building - Indianapolis
The Old Pathology Building, as it is known in the National Register of Historic Places. This building now houses the Indiana Medical History Museum. This facility was built in 1895, inaugurated in 1896, and was still used for teaching medical students until 1956.
Loupe
Located in the The Old Pathology Building, as it is known in the National Register of Historic Places. This building now houses the Indiana Medical History Museum. This facility was built in 1895, inaugurated in 1896, and was still used for teaching medical students until 1956.
SS
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Cascade Falls Creek
Fairfax
Macro
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Hoosier Tires
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Tail Lights
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Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis
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Developed using darktable 3.8.0
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Developed using darktable 3.8.0
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Marin County
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MARIN COUNTY
"Where's that darned monkey?"
A tourist pauses with his Nikon dSLR while waiting for the orang utans to appear for their feeding time.
vu du ciel © EMAT.¡.er
Del Sur, del Este, del Oeste, del Norte,
convergen los caminos que me han traído
a mi secreto centro.
Esos caminos fueron ecos y pasos,
...mujeres, hombres, agonías, resurrecciones,
días y noches,
entresueños y sueños,
cada ínfimo instante del ayer
y de los ayeres del mundo,
la firme espada del danés y la luna del persa,
los actos de los muertos,
el compartido amor, las palabras,
Emerson y la nieve y tantas cosas.
Ahora puedo olvidarlas. Llego a mi centro,
a mi álgebra y mi clave,
a mi espejo.
Pronto sabré quién soy.
Jorge Luis BORGES
Shropshire Union Canal …
… and Grade II Listed Nantwich Junction Bridge.
CASCADE FALLS 2-3
MILL VALLEY
Colourful Docklands Developments
This image was taken in 2010 and shows some of the then-brand-new buildings on the north bank of the Thames at Blackwall that epitomised the transformation of the Docklands. Just visible on the right is the East India Pier, which is in the Poplar district in the Borough of Tower Hamlets.
The tall building in the centre was the-then newly-finished 103m-high 29-storey Ontario Tower, a luxury executive housing development that was at that time the tallest purely-residential building in London. It is part of the New Providence Wharf development which includes the crescent to its left and Michigan Building beyond that on the riverbank. The tower under construction on the left of the image is the Streamlight Tower, yet another residential development.
To the right of the Ontario Tower is the smaller Radisson Blu Edwardian hotel and on the far right of the image, the building with all the satellite dishes is Reuters' Docklands Technical Centre (or Blackwall Data Centre). Their main office is slightly further west in Canary Wharf.
Seen from the esplanade in front of the O2 Arena on the south bank of the Thames.
Forward Main Battery, USS Wisconsin
The three Marines to the right (on board for a naval ceremony that was later held on the quarterdeck) and the museum attendant on the left give a great sense of scale to this image - as do the shell and powder casings just to the left-rear of the Marines.
The Wisconsin (BB-64) was the fourth and last of the Iowa-class battleships built during WWII. Her main armament at that time was nine Mk 7 16-inch/50-calibre guns in three turrets (two forward, above) and one aft.
Each gun was 20m long - 50 times their 16-inch bore, or 50 calibres, from breech-face to muzzle. Each gun weighed about 121.5 tonnes, including the breech. They fired projectiles weighing from 850 to 1,200 kg up to 39 km. At maximum range the projectile spent almost 1½ minutes in flight. Each turret required a crew of 79 men to operate and a full-up turret weighed some 1,730 tonnes.
The turrets were "three-gun", not "triple", because each barrel could be elevated and fired independently. The ships could fire any combination of their guns, including a broadside of all nine. The turret interiors were subdivided and so designed as to permit the independent loading, elevation and firing of each gun. Each turret was also installed with an optical range finder and ballistic analogue computer. This permitted the turret’s gun captain and crew to locally engage targets, should battle damage disrupt communication with the ship’s primary or auxiliary fire-control centres.
The guns could be elevated from −5˚ to +45˚ moving at up to 12˚ per second. The turrets could rotate about 300˚ at about 4˚ per second and could even be fired back beyond the beam, which is sometimes called "over the shoulder".
The Mk 7 guns were designed to fire two different 16-inch shells: a 1,200 kg armour-piercing round for anti-ship and anti-structure work, and a 860 kg high-explosive round designed for use against unarmoured targets and shore bombardment.
Between the Marines and the forward turret can be seen the yellow nose of one of the shells that would have been fired by these guns, with representative bags of powder charge behind it.
