Dec08
37 creative works found
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I took this shot (3 bracketed exposures) on a very cold January evening, looking across to the Southbank from Westminster Bridge. / The London Eye (Millennium Wheel) at a height of 135 metres (443 ft), is the biggest Ferris wheel in Europe, and has become the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom, visited by over 3 million people a year. At the time it was erected it was the tallest Ferris wheel in the world, until it was surpassed by the Star of Nanchang (160m) in May 2006, and then the Singapore Flyer (165m) on February 11, 2008. However, it is still described by its operators as “the world’s tallest cantilevered observation wheel” (because the entire structure is supported by an A-frame on one side only). / Designed by architects David Marks, Julia Barfield, Malcolm Cook, Mark Sparrowhawk, Steven Chilton and Nic Bailey, the wheel carries 32 sealed and air-conditioned passenger capsules attached to its external circumference. Each capsule holds approximately 25 people, who are free to walk around inside the capsule, though seating is also provided. It rotates at 26 cm/10 in) per second (about 0.9 km/h/0.5mph) so that one revolution takes about 30 minutes. / More info
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For affordable canvas prints please click here This shot taken from the Golden Jubilee Bridge loking south towards Westminster Bridge. The London Eye is on the left and the silhouette of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament on the right.
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Bean Sídhe
by A90SixThe term banshee is an anglicization of the Irish bean sídhe or bean sí, or the Scots Gaelic bean shìth, – both meaning “woman of the fairy mounds” or “woman of peace”. Both names are derived from the Old Irish ben sídhe: bean: “woman”, and sídhe: “of the mounds” / In Irish legend, a banshee wails around a house if someone in the house is about to die. There are particular families who are believed to have banshees attached to them, and whose cries herald the death of a member of that family. Traditionally, when a citizen of an Irish village died, a woman would sing a lament (in Irish: caoineadh, [ˈkiːnʲə] or [ˈkiːnʲuː], “caoin” meaning “to weep, to wail”) at their funeral. These women singers are sometimes referred to as “keeners” and the best keeners would be in much demand. Legend has it that, for five great Gaelic families: the O’Gradys, the O’Neills, the O’Briens, the O’Connors, and the Kavanaghs, the lament would be sung by a fairy woman; having foresight, she would sing the lament when a family member died, even if the person had died far away and news of their death had not yet come, so that the wailing of the banshee was the first warning the household had of the death.
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Featured in Selective Coloring 12th December, 2008. The Santa Special runs at the weekends during December along the Swanage Railway line. Santa meets the children, each of whom recieve a gift. Adults enjoy a mince pie washed down with a seasonal drink. / The Swanage Railway is a six mile-long heritage railway in the Purbeck district of Dorset, England. The railway follows the route of the Purbeck branch line (Norden Park & Ride – Corfe Castle – Harman’s Cross – Herston Halt – Swanage), and has been re−connected to the mainline at Wareham along a stretch of the branch line that remained open to freight until 2005. Trains operate on the Swanage Railway between Swanage and Norden Park & Ride every weekend and Bank Holiday from mid-February to the end of the year, and every day of the week from April to October and with Santa Special services in December. The link between the Swanage Railway and the main line at Wareham is currently used only for locomotive and stock movements, and work is continuing to provide the infrastructure needed to enable regular services via Wareham to be implemented in the future.
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Corfe Castle, Corfe Castle, Corfe Castle. So good they named it thrice. Corfe Castle sits atop Castle Hill. The town of Corfe Castle is nestled at the foot of Castle Hill and both the Castle and the town are in Corfe Castle Civil Parish. This shot is a view up the hill on the A351 on the way into town from the northwest.
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Corfe Castle railway station lies to the east of East Street, adjacent to the village centre. Originally the only intermediate station on the London and South Western Railway’s branch line from Wareham to Swanage, the station is now a stop on the Swanage Railway, a steam locomotive operated heritage railway. The railway links the tourist centres of Corfe Castle and Swanage with each other, and with a Park and Ride site at Norden station just to the north of Corfe Castle.
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A Cathedral dedicated to St Paul has overlooked the City of London since 604AD, a constant reminder to this great commercial centre of the importance of the spiritual side of life. The current Cathedral – the fourth to occupy this site – was designed by the court architect Sir Christopher Wren and built between 1675 and 1710 after its predecessor was destroyed in the Great Fire of London. Its architectural and artistic importance reflect the determination of the five monarchs who oversaw its building that London’s leading church should be as beautiful and imposing as their private palaces. Since the first service took place here in 1697. Wren’s masterpiece has been where people and events of overwhelming importance to the country have been celebrated, mourned and commemorated. Important services have included the funerals of Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington and Sir Winston Churchill; Jubilee celebrations for Queen Victoria; peace services marking the end of the First and Second World Wars; the launch of the Festival of Britain; the Service of Remembrance and Commemoration for the 11th September 2001: the 80th and 100th birthdays of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother; the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, to Lady Diana Spencer and, most recently, the thanksgiving services for both the Golden Jubilee and 80th Birthday of Her Majesty the Queen. Over the centuries, St Paul’s has changed to reflect shifting tastes and attitudes. Decoration has been added and removed, services have been updated, different areas have been put to new uses. Today, the history of the nation is written in the carved stone of its pillars and arches and is celebrated in its works of art and monuments. In the crypt are effigies and fragments of stone that pre-date the Cathedral, relics of a medieval world. From Wren’s original vision, Jean Tijou’s beautiful wrought iron gates of 1700 still separate the quire from the ambulatory; children still test the acoustics in the Whispering Gallery; and the 1695 organ which Mendelssohn once played is still in use. The magnificent mosaics are the result of Queen Victoria’s mid-19th century complaint that the interior was “most dreary, dingy and undevotional.” The American Memorial Chapel stands behind the High Altar in an area that was bomb-damaged during the Second World War – a gesture of gratitude to the American dead of the Second World War from the people of Britain. An altar has now been installed on a dais in the heart of the Cathedral, bringing services closer to those who attend them. Throughout, St Paul’s has remained a busy, working church where millions have come to worship and find peace. It is a heritage site of international importance which attracts thousands of people each year, a symbol of the City and Nation it serves and, above all, a lasting monument to the glory of God. St Paul’s Cathedral
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The RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) Lifeboat in Weymouth Harbour from underneath The Custon House Quay.
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Featured in the European Everyday Life group, 17th December, 2008. / Featured in the Nautical group, 16th December, 2008. Located near Portesham village in Dorset, England, on the highest point of the Blackdown area is Hardy’s Monument. There are excellent views of the Dorset coast from this location. / This is not a memorial to the poet Thomas Hardy – it is to Vice Admiral, Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy (1769 – 1839). Hardy lived in the nearby village of Portesham. During the battle of Trafalgar in 1805, Hardy served as Lord Nelson’s flag captain. / The monument is 72 feet high.
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Located near Portesham village in Dorset, England, on the highest point of the Blackdown area is Hardy’s Monument. There are excellent views of the Dorset coast from this location. / This is not a memorial to the poet Thomas Hardy – it is to Vice Admiral, Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy (1769 – 1839). Hardy lived in the nearby village of Portesham. During the battle of Trafalgar in 1805, Hardy served as Lord Nelson’s flag captain. / The monument is 72 feet high.
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A misty morning in Piddlehinton i the Piddle Valley, Dorset, England. The diminishing trees in the mist caught my eye whilst walking the dog in the stubble of a hay field.
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A look at the houses down the hill in Abbotsbury, Dorset, England. In the 11th century King Canute rewarded the services of Orca, his steward, with land in Abbotsbury, Portesham and Hilton. It’s believed there was already a religious community in Abbotsbury, and Orca and his wealthy wife Tola built an Abbey here. The Abbey dominated life in Abbotsbury for 500 years, but was destroyed in the dissolution. The barn survived and is the largest thatched building in the world. / Until the dissolution, Abbotsbury would have been one of the most important villages in the county, and the settlement is laid out around a wide market area. After the decline of its monastery, Abbotsbury became the quiet village it is today. / In 1664, during the English Civil War, Roundheads and Cavaliers clashed at Abbotsbury. Cavaliers besieged the Roundheads in the church tower of St. Nicholas’ church, which still bears the scars of musket fire. / During the Second World War, the coastal front was fortified and defended as a part of British anti-invasion preparations of World War II. Later, the Fleet was used as a machine gun training range, and Bouncing bombs were tested there, for the Dambuster sortie (Operation Chastise). More info /
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St Catherine’s Chapel is a small chapel situated above the village of Abbotsbury in Dorset, England. It is thought to have been built in about 1400 as a Pilgrim chapel for Abbotsbury Abbey. Its position on the top of a hill about 80 m (260 ft) high, overlooking the coast means that it was a prominent feature for seafarers. / The medieval strip lynchets etched into the side of the hill are known locally as the Chapel Rings. I liked the effect almost duplicated in the clouds. / The chapel appears briefly in the Powell and Pressburger film, The Small Back Room. / St Catherine’s Chapel has a local tradition of ‘wishing’. This involves using the niches in the chapel walls to ‘post’ prayers to the saint asking for her help. This tradition still goes on today.
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A look at the houses up the hill in Abbotsbury, Dorset, England. In the 11th century King Canute rewarded the services of Orca, his steward, with land in Abbotsbury, Portesham and Hilton. It’s believed there was already a religious community in Abbotsbury, and Orca and his wealthy wife Tola built an Abbey here. The Abbey dominated life in Abbotsbury for 500 years, but was destroyed in the dissolution. The barn survived and is the largest thatched building in the world. / Until the dissolution, Abbotsbury would have been one of the most important villages in the county, and the settlement is laid out around a wide market area. After the decline of its monastery, Abbotsbury became the quiet village it is today. / In 1664, during the English Civil War, Roundheads and Cavaliers clashed at Abbotsbury. Cavaliers besieged the Roundheads in the church tower of St. Nicholas’ church, which still bears the scars of musket fire. / During the Second World War, the coastal front was fortified and defended as a part of British anti-invasion preparations of World War II. Later, the Fleet was used as a machine gun training range, and Bouncing bombs were tested there, for the Dambuster sortie (Operation Chastise). More info /
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Paulette x was capturing anglers on the shore at Chesil Beach, near Abbotsbury, on the Dorset coast. While she was busy snapping, I snapped the snapper. Chesil Beach, sometimes called Chesil Bank, in Dorset, southern England. is a barrier beach that has “rolled” landwards, joining the mainland with Portland Bill. The shingle beach is 29 kilometres (18 mi) long, 200 metres (660 ft) wide and 15 metres (50 ft) high. The beach and the Fleet are part of the Jurassic Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the location for a book On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan. / Varying with the Bank’s unbroken increase in height to 14.7m above mean high water, the size of the flint and chert shingle varies from pea-sized at the north-west end (by West Bay) to potato-sized at the south-east end (by Portland). It is said that smugglers who landed on the beach in the middle of the night could judge their position by the size of the shingle.
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Featured in All Things Poetic, Artistic, Philosophical 21st December, 2008. Moonlight in Mulranny. Mulranny is a small town in County Mayo on the west coast of Ireland. As with several Irish placenames, it has in recent years undergone a change in spelling reverting back to a former variation. It is now generally spellt Mallaranny, but can also be found as Mullranny and Malaranny. / The town sits on the coastline of Clew Bay. Clew Bay is said to have 365 islands (one for each day of the year). Some are inhabted by small populations and others are used for grazing sheep and cattle. / As can be seen in this shot, at low tide one could walk across the wet sands to the islands. Cattle can be seen wading through the shallows going back and foth from the mainland to the islands. / This is a shot of the view behind my Aunt’s house, taken one night on the way home from the pub. Camera always handy, I set it atop a gate post for stability, set the timer, etc., and it didn’t turn out too bad considering I was three sheets to the wind at the time.
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A beech lined pathway in Charminster, Dorset, England.
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A zoomed view of St Andrew’s Church from the roadway at Blagdon Lake. The Church has a 116-foot tower with pinnacles and a cusped lozenge pattern parapet, with a stair turret spirelet in the north-east corner. The tower was built between 1907 and 1909 by Lord Winterstoke (of the Wills tobacco family). The tower contains a bell dating from 1716 and made by Edward Bilbie of the Bilbie family. It is a Grade II listed building The lychgate to the east of the church is also a Grade II listed building in its own right. Above the door are four primitive Norman carvings which survived three rebuildings. The church is in Blagdon, Somerset, England.
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A road somewhere in Somerset (possibly Dorset). I was travelling from one to the other at the time and stopped the car (again) to take the shot. / We have much bad weather here in the UK. It’s often cloudy and overcast. It rains a lot. We have fog and mist. When the sun cracks through we don shorts and t-shirts, regardless of temperature, and head for any open space where we might just possibly get a bit of a tan. / The UK is a place where one area can be smitten with torrential rain and floods while twenty miles away the sun is splitting rocks and there’s a hosepipe ban. / Having said all that, the unpredictable weather has its upsides for photo-nuts like me.
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St Catherine’s Chapel is a small chapel situated above the village of Abbotsbury in Dorset, England. It is thought to have been built in about 1400 as a Pilgrim chapel for Abbotsbury Abbey. Its position on the top of a hill about 80 m (260 ft) high, overlooking the coast means that it was a prominent feature for seafarers. / The medieval strip lynchets etched into the side of the hill are known locally as the Chapel Rings. I liked the effect almost duplicated in the clouds. / The chapel appears briefly in the Powell and Pressburger film, The Small Back Room. / St Catherine’s Chapel has a local tradition of ‘wishing’. This involves using the niches in the chapel walls to ‘post’ prayers to the saint asking for her help. This tradition still goes on today.
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Dawn Frost
by A90Six -
A view across the front at Lyme Regis from beneath the Millennium Clock. Lyme Regis is a coastal town in West Dorset, England and forms part of the Jurassic Coast. The town lies in Lyme Bay, on the English Channel coast at the Dorset-Devon border. It is nicknamed “The Pearl of Dorset”. In the 13th century it developed into one of the major British ports. The town was home to Admiral Sir George Somers, its one time mayor and parliamentarian, who founded the Somers Isles, better known as Bermuda. Lyme Regis is twinned with St. George’s, in that Atlantic archipelago. Lyme is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. The Royal Charter was granted by King Edward I in 1284, with the addition of ‘Regis’ to the town’s name. This charter was confirmed by Elizabeth I in 1591.
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