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sandinz · 6 years ago

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You guessed it! We’ve become way behind here once again …

The weather’s been amazing these past few weeks, so unsurprisingly sitting indoors writing blog posts hasn’t featured at the top of our ‘to action’ lists. We’ve also been enjoying hosting our first two sets of Kiwi visitors of 2018 on board, and sharing laughter and experiences with them along the wonders of the waterways.

We know many people are anticipating seeing images of our return journey on the Lancaster Canal, back to Tarleton via the Ribble Link on Sunday 17th June; it’s even more special as we had brand new friends on board!

Sandra returns from a week in Menorca

After a life-changing few weeks, Sandra returned to Areandare from Malpas (via Menorca!) to Carnforth. It felt quite surreal to visit the Canal Turn pub with Barry and find herself subject of conversations about how lovely the Lancaster Canal and living on a narrowboat must be, when she was yet to experience anything about the waterway. It was most discombobulating and took a few days to adjust and begin to appreciate our inaugural journey in this long anticipated place. …

Barry captured the journey magnificently as usual, and captioned the images well. Enjoy …

Carnforth Station is a very handy railway junction giving access to both North/South travel as well as East/West and boasts the longest unsupported single piece concrete roof in Britain.

Carnforth Railway Station was the setting for the 1945 David Lean film ‘Brief Encounters’, starring Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard, and contains a museum to Sir David Lean CBE as well as a museum containing a history of the station and its restoration.

Barry’s NZ friend Keith’s father, Douglas Twiddy, from Borehamwood/Elstree, worked with David Lean on three of the above films. Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and Ryan’s Daughter, amongst many other films he was involved with such as Raiders of the Lost Ark, Return of the Jedi and Labyrinth.

Keith emigrated to Gisborne in 1973, and Barry and he met through playing badminton. They subsequently then ‘flatted’ together for a number of years. In 1976, Keith, Barry and friends John and Vicki, visited the UK stayed for a while with Doug and Ena at Borehamwood. It was during an excursion with John and Vicki when Barry first spotted the Norfolk Broads and the canals at Northampton (hence the waterway connection).

Keith’s mum and dad visited Gisborne in 1980 for Keith and Cheryl’s wedding, and while there scouted the area for filming locations as ‘Production Supervisor’ for the 1984 film The Bounty starring Mel Gibson, Anthony Hopkins, Lawrence Olivier, Daniel Day Lewis, Liam Neeson etc. It also starred Neil Morrisey, owner of The Plume of Feathers pub at Barlaston near Stoke on Trent (another waterway connection).

The film company converted the old brick facade of the waterfront Freezing Works in Gisborne to look like the Docks at Bristol (yet another waterway connection!). Barry recalls they had a full-sized replica of the ship moored in the harbour basin, with huge wooden chutes that sent torrents of water over the deck for the storm scenes.

Barry remembers being invited aboard ‘The Bounty‘ after the pub late one night, with his mate Lee, and forcing Mel Gibson to wait to disembark as they boarded, and then ended up later climbing the rigging and singing silly sailor songs (no recognisable connection to the waterways).

The famous clock used in the film, though the film used a cardboard cutout face over it to keep filming continuity.

… then it was back onto the return journey

Our travels took us past many gorgeous back garden settings, one swing bridge, and just occasional teasing glimpses of Morecambe Bay in the distance.

A marvellous time of year watching cygnets maturing

The permanent moorings at Hest Bank where we stopped for a visit to the beach!

Where has all the water gone?

You do feel like you’ve got all the time in the world to explore the mud flats. However …

There are dangers aplenty!

We read the heartbreaking story of the 21 Chinese illegal immigrants who drowned needlessly and helplessly in 2004. It’s become known as the ‘Morecombe Bay Cockling Disaster‘. A shocking indictment on how humans are able to knowingly abuse their fellow-man at times …

We crossed the Hest Bank railway and seemed to wait forever for this engine to come down the long straight for Barry to get a photo, then realised it was carrying nuclear waste and decided waste and haste don’t mix!

A short stop at the Lune Aqueduct for Barry to get some photographs for a future greeting card.

The Lune Aqueduct is one of John Rennie’s master-piece-aqueducts, completed in 1797, at a total cost of £48,320 – only £30,000 over budget – not too bad! We saw no leaking now after the repairs of 2011-2012, or even any signs of much wear and tear. It looks in pretty good nick!

These fun-loving kids, enjoying themselves swimming and taking in the sun, felt they needed to be an added foreground feature of the aqueduct.

At 664ft long, 20ft wide and 61ft high it’s an impressive structure – Sandra can just be spotted driving Areandare slowly along the structure

Looking back we’re rather incredulous as to how we fitted so much in during this journey. Sandra returned to Areandare on Tuesday 5th June, we cruised to Lancaster on Wednesday 6th (and visited the above places en route), then had dinner at the Water Witch pub there with a previous midwifery colleague of Sandra’s who lives nearby (sadly neither Sascha or Sandra took a photo, they were far too busy catching up!), then on Thursday 7th June Sandra jumped on a train heading to her mum’s for a weekend of sorting with her sisters. Barry followed the next day, and we both travelled back to Lancaster on Sunday 10th.

Phew!

Onto the Glasson Branch

Leaving Lancaster on Monday 11th June, we headed south and turned right to the Glasson Branch. Barry had been eagerly anticipating this detour. We’re so thankful we chose to take this route – especially as it’s currently un-navigable due to water shortages …

Then it was down the Glasson Branch to the docks. Just under three miles and six locks.

A picturesque run down through the lush countryside

Looking back up the canal with The Pennines in the background

The docks are an extensive area of water with a sea going marina and this lock down to the harbour basin

There’s quite a stark contrast between the dock moorings and the adjacent tidal estuary.

The massive Heysham Nuclear Power Plant across the Lune Estuary from Glasson Dock

Also looking across the estuary to the little fishing village of Sunderland.

The ferry that runs from Heysham to Douglas on the Isle of Mann

Late light on the yacht moorings opposite us.

A bit of a ‘do-er upper’ resting on the moorings!

As you can see, the incoming tide is far quicker than watching paint dry!

What a difference a bit of water makes!

Our mooring in the docks

Barry just can’t help adding a couple more images of the marina – he was very impressed by it!

Next day we awoke to a fishing boat waiting to get through the lock and into the harbour, then through the sea lock onto the estuary. Barry delayed his breakfast and took his camera out for an early morning jaunt.

Two CRT workers were there to lock the boat through. They used to have to be on duty here whenever the tides were right, even if nobody was wanting to go through, but now boaters have to ring and book passage. It makes perfect sense to Barry, but apparently not to some boaters who expect service on demand!

It’s quite an effort and rather complex to work the lock, as it also has a swing bridge across with a very busy road over. It’s serious work winding the paddles, then the gates, and synchronising the timing to cross the harbour and exit the sea lock before the tide gets too low.

Boats moored in the semi tidal harbour.

The sea lock apparently doesn’t hold all the water out, and it lowers with the tide …

… so the moored boats get left stranded aground for a time while the two levels equalise.

Then of course any traffic can shoot out of the entrance.

Christ Church near the docks

We had a number of walks around the Docks and Estuary during our stay, and took the opportunity to visit the Port of Lancaster Smokehouse too. A few fellow boaters had recommended it. Sandra enjoyed Morecambe Bay Whitebait (memories of childhood), we both relished Morecambe Bay prawns, and over the course of the following days ate like a King and Queen with smoked mallard breasts (yes, we know, not in the best taste really, and wouldn’t bother again as though tasty there’s not a lot of meat on them!), smoked pheasant breasts (read it carefully!), smoked Lancashire cheese, smoked butter, smoked bacon, sausages, and venison smoked sausage. We’d expected to taste black and white pudding, but didn’t realise it hadn’t been put in the bag and it was too late by then to go back. So that experience will have to wait until another day …

Back to Savick Brook

Most people reading be aware the journey across the Ribble Link needs to be booked by license holders through CRT (using their log-in details) , well in advance, and there’s limited availability during the season. Our return trip was planned for Sunday 17th June, so after a couple of days at Glasson we needed to resume our travelling.

Time to head back up the canal to the main line. We’ll be back!

Now back on The Lancaster Canal, Abraham keeps an eye on passing boats.

Don’t be too A’Lama’ed!

Hitching a ride

Back now at the top lock and basin at Savick Brook, the beginning of the Ribble Link.

Just the touch of a nervous smile.

It’s a very twisty, narrow, and shallow navigation down the Savick Brook link. It’s just under three miles, and involves nine locks, including the sea lock, and a triple staircase lock at the top that you have to reverse into. It’s a fascinating and slightly formidable journey!

Gareth and Michaela had offered to travel from York to crew with Barry on the outgoing trip, just after Andy had been in touch. So we suggested they may want to come along for the ride on the return. They were very keen to – so much so they even brought a delicious spread for lunch too! What a bonus.

The following first group of photos isn’t up to Barry’s standard, they’re Sandra’s poor efforts … you’ll easily notice the difference when Barry’s recommence!

In the first lock …

Micheala and Gareth seeming delighted to be back on board a narrowboat

A little shallow at times

And out onto tidal waters …

Gareth driving like a pro

Happy boys at the tiller

Approaching the lock at Tarleton

Looks here as though Gareth had to do all the work! Driving AND locking? Surely not with four crew on board …

Once on the holding moorings, it’s a case of waiting for the all clear from the CRT lockies to head off. This time we were the first to go.

Once through the sea lock, it’s a short run out to open water, up the estuary, and onto the River Douglas.

Gareth was quite happy to take us all the way over, which gave the captain a bit of a break and time to put his feet up (just joking).

We were lucky enough to time the tide so it was exactly the same level as the canal, which meant we could pass straight through the lock. The following boat managed as well, but only after having to put the power on.

We didn’t realise until afterwards it was narrowboat Seyella (fellow boating bloggers ‘Seyella’s Journey) with passengers Doug and James, who blog on NB Chance, aboard.

Such a fantastic experience – we absolutely LOVED the Lancaster and hope one day to return with more time and knowledge. It was wonderful to share some of the journey with Andy and his son Matt, and Jim and Hilary and her mum, and finally Gareth and Michaela who we thank profusely for providing lunch and for being so inspiringly impetuous ….

Where are we now in real time?

We’re currently in the Northwich area, awaiting news on a lock closure at Malkin Bank as to our upcoming travels. We’ve heard there’s some challenges at Middlewich due to low levels of water. And we’re expecting our next kiwi guests, Rod and Tracey, to arrive on Sunday – we’re just not exactly sure yet the location of that meet-up!

Carnforth to Tarleton and many memories in between … You guessed it! We've become way behind here once again ... The weather's been amazing these past few weeks, so unsurprisingly sitting indoors writing blog posts hasn't featured at the top of our 'to action' lists.

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jflashandclash · 6 years ago

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Uncomfortable Crossings

Author’s Note:

I had a request over half a year ago for Calex to interact with a certain goddess. It is shameful that it took me so long to write this! I hope you enjoy despite the wait!

This takes place a year after the series’ last book, Fall of the Sun. This is based off the original ending, which has—since then—mostly changed. Mostly XD So… sort of spoilers?

Book IV’s chapter one (Will: A Stroll Through the Dark) should be released in the next week or two!) In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this short story about Calex :D

Each time Calex kicked, the football slammed directly into the goal post.

Fortunately, there was no one occupying the field to see it. That’s why he preferred the field behind the Roman hypocaust. There was a car park for tourists on holiday and for the few museum staff with cars. But most locals preferred the scenic view by the lake or the fields by the ruins of the wall around the ancient Roman city of Verulamium. The hypocaust could seem a bit dull compared to the lovely sprawl around the rest of the park.

Most of the emptiness was due to the weather. The temperature reached a record high of 31 degrees with 100% humidity. For most of Calex’s mates, this was enough to turn them into jelly puddles inside their flats, but Calex used to holiday in Liberia and had spent the last year in New York. Normally, he’d drag them out, whining and acting like babies, but he wanted to be alone today.

That’s why he was utterly shocked when his ball bounced off the goal post, popped over his shoulder, then shot straight back towards the goal from behind him.

And missed wildly.

Calex watched his ball fly into the field at least fifty meters away. Calex blinked, wondering if a professional footballer had been airlifted into the field without him hearing the helicopter and if that professional was bolluxed out of their mind.

“Oh! Sorry! Here, use my ball while I go grab that,” someone said behind him.

“Um, it’s alright—” Calex turned to see the blur go past. He doubted the girl was as fast as he was, but she was certainly fast. As she darted after the ball, he saw her beautiful locks trail behind her. Something felt off about her gait—like her steps took too long to land on the ground.

Odd, but, after learning he was a demigod, his life had been nothing but odd.

She wore a blue and white jersey, one he should recognize. The name across the back said Karagounis in what Calex quickly recognized as Greek.

He jogged after.

Calex was in no mood to be polite or have a chat. At least she wasn’t attracted to him. The knowledge wasn’t anything self-degrading—Calex knew lots of girls fancied his looks. He was a son of Eros and knowing people’s desires came with the territory.

When she reached the ball and turned to dribble back—long dribbles with little control—Calex felt himself gasp and stagger to a stop, feeling both shallow and self-centered about the previous thought.

The woman was lovelier than anyone he had ever seen. That was a grand thing, considering his grandmother was Aphrodite and he stayed with her children, his aunts and uncles, last year. He knew lovely.

She was maybe ten years older than him, in her mid-twenties, but the age made her more brilliant, like she’d suffered and aged but managed to retain her youth and merriment.

Her hair was long and waved loosely from a mix of plaits in her ponytail. The color was indescribable. At first, he thought it was like his mate, Kally, a strawberry blonde. This was darker, a subtlest cross between red, blonde, brunette, with natural highlights and lowlights from all three. Her skin had a gorgeous glow to it, not quite UK pale, but pale with a hue that cued Calex to her ability to tan.

Her face was perfect.

He didn’t think that with any exaggeration. It was perfect.

If Calex was at Camp Half-Blood, or by Mt. Olympus, he would have dropped right there to genuflect to a goddess. However, in the middle of St. Albans on a Tuesday, she might think it a bit odd or mental if he gave her the “all powerful” treatment in a football field, especially if she was just some poor women off the street who happened to practice beside a crazy demigod.

“Sorry. It has been a long time since I played soccer,” she said as she evened with him. Her English was perfect with the slightest hint of a Greek accent.

“Not a problem,” Calex said.

She smiled in relief.

He recognized that glint of relief and knew it was good he hadn’t dropped into an old fashioned grovel.

There were times he had felt insecure when he entered a room, knowing everyone’s eyes were on him, and expecting him to be perfect because his father’s DNA made him look like he should be. Most of his mates in Britain could make jokes out of it, but, in America, he was uncomfortable when someone asked if he’d been in a magazine or some obscure BBC show, or when someone would point out, “Oh… you’re African American—”

“British, actually”

“—well, yea, but you’re black and you have light eyes.”

Something about her look told him she felt something similar, a sense of humiliation due to the inability to avoid unwanted attention.[1]

Calex swore, regardless of whether or not this woman was a goddess, that he’d treat her like a normal mortal.

“That was an alright kick, Greece,” he said, “You’re sure to nail the net next time.”

Her eyes were amber with flecks of blue and green. They were vibrant, like the rest of her. “I don’t mind failing…” She glanced at the jersey his cousin had bought for him. “Arsenal. Failing is half the reward of trying. How fulfilling would life be if you attained things instantly?”

Calex thought about how he had failed to save his mum and brother from Thanatos, how Joey had died, and what had happened to Axel, Pax, and Euna after everything they’d gone through. “Reward” was an odd little word for it. His fist shook. He remembered the anger and dreariness that he’d come out here to ignore and that her beauty had temporarily disrupted.

This woman definitely couldn’t be from around here if she was that much of an optimist. One look at Israel and you wouldn’t hear their prime minister saying, “Oooo! Sorry about that. Let’s try that again!”

“Some things you can only fail once,” he said.

His ball thumped gently into his foot.

His head was light and ached. He felt like such rubbish that he didn’t want to look at her again.

“Pass the ball with me,” she said. “We’ll make a wager. If I lose, then I’ll concede that you’re right. If I win, then you’ll show me around St. Albans.”

Calex had too many wagers in his life already, particularly ones involving a lot of death or undeath situations. While, in technical terms, his friends from Camp Half-Blood would call him a “lucky son of a respectable man since we would never say anything to upset Calex’s papi,” he wasn’t sure he wanted to bet his luck any further.

“What’s the wager?” he asked.

“I need to get the ball from you,” she said.

Calex felt himself give a heartfelt laugh. “Not bloody likely.”

“Then you have nothing to lose,” she said. “You’re already practicing, foolishly suffering from dehydration, and determined to hit the goal post instead of the net. So you might be better off reminding someone who is rusty how it’s done.”

Calex wouldn’t admit it if asked, but he had fun. This woman—Greece as he’d taken to calling her—had a contagious laugh, had no problem giggling over her own mistakes and making him chuckle at his own, was curious about every aspect of the game, listened to him talk about Arsenal for longer than the Queen could sit at a ceremony, and would excitedly interject with stories of her own. It was like everything was an adventure to her, every experience was fun.

Calex felt like he’d lost that since he’d come back to Hertfordshire and left his friends in New York.

She’d chided him into drinking some water. Like her beauty, her vivacity had shaken him out of his angst. Something about her put him at ease and felt familiar, like the coolest aunt he’d forgotten from childhood. Enough so that, when he was dribbling to their stuff to get another sip of water, he didn’t register what she was doing when she jumped in front of him, forcing him to stop short or knock her over.

Calex stumbled to a stop.

She turned and gave him a huge grin. “I got the ball from you.”

“That doesn’t’ count,” he said.

“It does.” She crunched her face up playfully. The more they interacted and the more he treated her like a typical bloke off the trolley, the more she’d relaxed into this playful, excited demeanor. “It does because you want to show me around. Come along. I’ll treat you to lunch.”

They walked around the town. Calex showed her the stuff tourists usually hyped over: the Cathedral—at which she demanded they make a quick sacrifice to honor the cathedral’s god, something Calex found profoundly baffling[2]—the rest of the park, the clock tower, and some of the nurseries. He was relieved she didn’t ask to go into Verulamium’s museum, the place he felt like he knew better than his own home and whose staff he wanted to punch at that moment.

After winding through the streets full of people exhausted from the heat, they ended up in Café Rouge, a posh French restaurant that Tiwa had liked. When he stepped in, looking at the checkered red-and-clear stained windows, his stomach dropped.

When his mum was exhausted after a shift at the hospital, he remembered her coming here, sitting in the corner booth with the red velvet cloth, and ordering a tea and a chicken club croque. During summer holiday, when they weren’t at her clinic in Kakata, he would come here to meet up with her, Tom, Gretchen, and Winston when he could.

The glass paneled roof made this place look and feel like a botanical garden, too hot, too humid, and on display for the gods to watch.

Calex wished he hadn’t come here.

Their usual waitress, Amelia, immediately recognized him and gave him a shy smile. He hadn’t seen her in almost a year.

Although Calex had led them here without thinking, he turned to leave with a cough and a wave of parting.

“There’s a good table in the center,” Greece suggested. She took Calex’s arm, like he was the one escorting her, and led him over to the table. She gestured at one of the two-seaters that was in a line of empty two-seaters and Amelia nodded.

“Um—” Calex started.

She sat down and Amelia hopped over faster than he could whisper, “I’ve been abducted by a beautiful woman, help!”

“What would you like to drink?” Amelia asked.

“Surprise me,” Greece said. She clasped her hands together, smiling at the tiny brunette. “And I mean it. Any price, any style, form mocktails to fiz. If you want, flip a coin between you and the other waitress and bring me out the favorite drink of whoever gets heads.”

Amelia paused in writing something down to blink at Greece. Normally, he guessed Amelia would think Greece mental, but Calex assumed Amelia struggled with the same problem that he was: Greece’s contagious smile, her natural confidence, and startlingly genuine excitement that made him want to trust her. Normally, such cheer would make him think she was mad and here to rob him, the restaurant, the city, and likely the country of all of her goods. But, for some inexplicable reason, Greece’s demeanor kept putting him at ease and made him feel like this was the right time and place for all things to exist.

“The usual for you then?” Amelia asked Calex.

He nodded and smiled. “Thanks, Amelia.”

She blushed. “It’s good to have you back,” she said. For a split second, Calex realized she’d thought about him without his trousers on.

He cleared his throat, something he hoped she mistook for embarrassment at the comment.

Amelia walked away.

Greece watched their interaction with amusement. “So, is it romantic love or familial that’s the problem?” she asked, leaning forward a little.

Calex must have heard her wrong. “Excuse me?”

“Something has been bothering you all day,” she said.

They went silent for a moment when Amelia brought them their drinks and took their orders.

“Same? Surprise and usual?” Amelia asked, pointing her pen to each of them in turn.

Both nodded.

Calex tried to ignore that Amelia was systematically undressing him in her mind. Some days, he could ignore things like that. Today, he was struggling not to “listen in” on other people’s wants.

She walked away and Calex tucked his scarf against his neck.

“You’re quite presumptuous, aren’t you?” he asked while he sipped his tomato juice. He didn’t like the drink anymore and would have rather a Hoegaarden, but he hadn’t the heart to change things up on Amelia or find out what article of clothing would come off next time in her mind cinema. He would order it when she brought the food and would hope that each of his socks counted as separate pieces of clothing in her game.

“You’re seventeen.” Greece shrugged.

Calex frowned. He had to wonder if she knew it was his birthday or if she’d gotten a lucky guess on his age. Her question made his mind wander to what had upset him that morning.

She shrugged. “And, it’s summer break, so you’re not worried about revision for A levels or entering sixth form.”

Calex examined her wearily. Out of his new friends, only Axel and—dare he call him a friend?—Pax had known anything about his school system. Apparently the structure was similar in Belize. But was it in Greece? Was she actually from Greece?

“Who am I going to tell?” she asked, mistaking the source of his growing suspicion.

Typically, an innate sense of trust made him want to distrust people more, like they were looking to gain something. He felt a part of his heart give though. This woman gave him such an irrational sense of livelihood, of wanting to experience the world, and chat about the things he loved and scream about the things he hated, it made him lightheaded. And, had she not come by that morning, he’d have likely finished at the fields, and then locked himself in his room all day.

“There is a girl,” he found himself saying.

Greece gave him a lovely smile. “What is she like?”

“She’s…” He thought about the times Merry had publically humiliated him. “Merciless. Yea, merciless. That one is.”

Greece laughed, a fantastic sound. “And here I was, expecting ‘beautiful’ or ‘intelligent.’”

“Oh, she is. Quite good at making me laugh too.” He marveled over how well Merry could store information in her head and use it to outwit others—whether monsters or crude blokes—and, how she could make guesses about future events in Camp Half-Blood, mostly involving people’s dating lives. He pictured Merry’s dark eyes contrasted with her honey skin and the curves of her body. She looked like a Victoria Secret model with a hardy appetite, and Calex wouldn’t change a single thing about her brain or her physique. Well… except…

“She’s quite alright,” he said.

“And..?” Greece asked.

Calex sighed. He lifted up his drink and set it on the table. What he would change…

“She isn’t attracted to me. At all. She isn’t attracted to anyone.”

He waited for Greece to say he couldn’t know that, a completely reasonable response for someone who didn’t know he was a son of Eros and that he could tell when shy waitresses had him on their mental tele with much less clothing, much more interest in public displays of affection, and much less respect for restaurant sanitation. Instead, Greece frowned thoughtfully, waiting for him to continue.

“I’m not sure she’ll ever find any bloke physically attractive.” Calex remembered all the times she’d make flirtatious comments about people’s bodies, like empty reverberations of gossip she’d heard. She never felt it. She would just say it to make people laugh or to contribute to a conversation. And, Calex feared, to feel normal.

This is where he should stop, but the words slipped out. “She said she loves me.” He remembered how she had snuggled into his chest, calling him her sweet, sexy teddy bear. But, he couldn’t read emotional love. That was Piper’s, his aunt’s, territory. Merry’s confession had taken him by dumbfounded surprise, since those words were typically preluded by some sort of physical attraction.

“That made it worse. I want… I want an all-inclusive relationship. It wouldn’t need to be immediate. I would wait however long she wanted and we could talk through everything. But that’s assuming Merry would ever want that. What if she never wants it? Nothing says she needs to nor should she ever feel pressured if it’s not something she’s interested in…”

There was no better way for him to explain it. He knew, physically, how to properly take care of everyone he got close to. That’s why people would come to him for advice, like the time Axel had, shaking with embarrassment, asked about one of his dates with Reyna, and the time Kally had timidly asked some generic questions on how things worked when you’re copping off.[3]

Even if Calex didn’t want to know, the sense of what everyone wanted was in a neat queue, waiting for use by him or as advice for others. He knew what to do at any time to really get their engines roaring. But, he didn’t with Merry. It was a blank slate. Everyone else had a rolling instruction manual that he could access in a split second. But, he didn’t want them. He didn’t care about those instruction manuals. He wanted to show Merry how much he appreciated her in the way his godly heritage had given him the unquestionable advantage, but… he couldn’t. She was the only reason he could guess why other blokes were so nervous interacting sexually. Typically, he was full of the confidence of knowing. Not with Merry. Not when she didn’t want to get physically intimate with anyone and nothing he knew of could spike any sense of desire.

He didn’t know how to explain any of that without coming across as a total creep.

“I know that’s selfish,” he said instead. “It’s not that I wouldn’t mind waiting. If I knew, in a few years…” There was no acceptable way to end that line of dialogue with a stranger, or—really—with anyone.

“No…” Greece frowned and Calex was ready for a proper (and well earned with how much of a dodgy perv he sounded) feminist lashing. “Calex, that isn’t selfish.”

Calex blinked. “Yes, it is.”

She laughed. “No, it isn’t. That’s a compatibility conflict. And, for someone like you, that is a serious compatibility conflict. From the way you’re talking and the way you are, I know you’re not seeking your own sexual gratification. How many times would you pleasure Merry without getting any reciprocation and even noticing or caring that you hadn’t?”

“Hundreds, if not thousands,” he said reflexively.

When he realized that those were real words that came out of his mouth, he glanced around, to make sure Amelia hadn’t heard to use that for her mental tele. Calex took a long sip of tomato juice, desperately wishing he had Merry’s power to turn it into something a bit stronger. His mind sprinted through excuses as to why he would need to leave this table in a hurry, and wondered if this woman would believe him if he said he had an appointment to slog Boris Johnson in the face.[4]

Greece, however, acted like this question was a typical Tuesday question. “Probably the same number of times Merry would help you study for an exam without ever feeling like you owed her a favor.”

Calex felt like they’d just been chatting about a meat eater repeatedly offering a vegetarian an endless chicken supply, and that Greece had brought up the time the vegetarian offered the meat eater an endless supply of slinkies. Calex wasn’t sure if Greece just had a time lapse or if she was just stark raving mad.

She confused Calex enough to make him say, “But, I don’t care about revision for my exams.”

“That’s my point. You express your love differently, in different languages, and don’t have any common communication ground, beyond the enjoyment of each other’s presence.” She sipped her sparkling drink and grinned. “Ah! Fizz la Poire! What a nice combo.”

Calex wished it would be as simple as she’d suggested. “So, you’re telling me to pull a girl by studying with her? That’s the secret to the Merry Snog: a good math textbook.”

Merry, he realized, would fancy that official title quite a bit.

Greece shook her head. “You’re missing the point. The studying is the snog to her.”

“I’m not sure I follow you.”

Greece laughed lightly. “You’re just like your father.”

Calex almost choked on his next sip of the thick juice. “Excuse me?” His suspicion came back to hit him like a power kick from Alexis Sanchez.[5]

She shook her head in pleasant amusement. “You need to consider what is important to the two of you and where you can both compromise. Can you be in a relationship where you both feel unloved because you don’t understand each other’s methods of expressing love? You both might feel more fulfilled with someone who naturally expresses their affection in a way you appreciate and understand. Then you both won’t feel guilty for expecting something that isn’t there or holding the other back. The guilt you’re feeling about wanting to spend time with Merry in a particular way and knowing she wouldn’t want that—have you considered that she feels the same guilt for a different unfulfilled want?”

“I hardly think that’s an appropriate comparison,” Calex said. He mentally toured through the various times Merry had offered to study with him, help him with his homework, or look through summer job applications. Kally, Merry’s best friend, had explained that Merry was mental over keeping a 4.0. The queasiness in Calex’s stomach told him Greece was right. Merry showed her affection to her mum and brother, Nikhil, by helping them with school and work. Had he been a total idiot? But having someone study with you when they were bored of it and having them snog you when they were bored of it were two very different things.

Greece smiled. “It’s closer than you’re allowing yourself to think. You two might be better off with someone more compatible. Couples can make it work when they don’t express love the same way or click immediately. I wasn’t enthralled with my husband when we first met, but, in no time, I want to Tartarus and back again for him.”

She touched her shoulder, her eyes glassy with a memory. They warmed back to the present. “Times are different now. You can’t start your relationship by kidnapping your princess. Back to your modern scenario, you could sit there and study with her, despite not caring about the studying at all, and she could—”

“No,” Calex said firmly, checking goddess on his internal description of this woman. “She’s… she’s offered to try. But, I can’t even kiss her when I know she’s not interested in kissing. Even if her reaction is disinterest instead of dislike, what’s the point if she’s not enjoying herself?”

“And that, ‘What’s the point?’ is how she feels about any of the ways she wants to express her emotion. That’s why I was going to say, you could push through it, but I’m not sure it would be healthy for either of you right now. Maybe later, but not now. And I certainly don’t think either of you will be able to happily live life, enjoy it, and experience it, and potentially other people, if you leave the situation in limbo.”

Calex frowned. He thought about Merry’s smile when she knew she’d cornered someone with blackmail or the way she’d tease him by bumping against him on “accident.”

“That’s not the uplifting, encouraging speech I was expecting,” he admitted.

She shrugged. “I’m not going to encourage you to do something that will hold you back from expressing yourself the way you most enjoy. And I won’t say you should do something that will prevent you from living life in a way that’s important to you. If you’re anything like your father, you’ve quite an appetite, and it would make you miserable to suppress it.”

Calex sat there, stunned.

No one would ever say that about Winston.

Had she really—? There was no way. No one in their polite, right mind—

“Oh gods, you’re Psyche,” he said. He had to set his tomato juice down to balance himself against the table. “Oh gods. You just said that about my dad. Please don’t ever, ever, EVER refer to his appetite—or—or refer to you two—augh—shagging ever again.”

Psyche released a beautiful, heartfelt laugh. “For being a son of Eros, you’re incredibly uncomfortable with these discussions. Your sister, Hedone, is very forward about this type of thing.”

“I’m awkward and British!” Calex cried. “I’m not absolutely mental like you Greek gods!”

Maybe Calex shouldn’t have been mouthing off to a goddess, specifically not his step-mother, but this was a bit to take in.

“And—and why are you even here? Aren’t you supposed to think… rather unpleasantly of me?” All the stories he’d heard of gods meeting their step children didn’t end with fairies and sunshine and the god or goddess crying, “There’s my favorite proof of adultery!”

Her smile softened. “Calex, Eros and I have been together for thousands of years. Every couple hundred years, one of us will meet someone as remarkable as your mother. Then, we discuss it and have our agreements. It would be ridiculous for me to hate someone Eros loves so much, especially someone who has grown into an impressive young man. I’ve wanted to meet you, but this is the first birthday you really knew who you were.”

A sick taste hit his mouth. The hopelessness and dreariness of the morning threatened to overtake him again. A lot had changed since his last birthday.

“Your father is going to drop by later today,” she said. “He had to do a favor for your grandmother so she doesn’t notice the two of us here with you.”

Calex wasn’t worried about his father. Compared to other half-bloods, he saw his dad a lot. Over the last year, Eros had not been shy with gifts or advice.

That wasn’t what was unsettling Calex. “Did you know Tiwa?” he asked quietly.

Tiwa didn’t strike Calex as someone capable of being a mistress. He could imagine his mum marching up to Psyche as soon as she discovered Eros was married. And he certainly couldn’t think she would be like Mrs. Blythe, Merry’s mother who was… intimate with both Ariadne and Dionysus. Definitely filing that into Things He Never Wanted to Know.[6]

“I mostly knew of her,” Psyche said. She leaned back into her chair. The sunrays beaming through the glass ceiling hit her back; Calex’s eyes widened when he saw an array of color flowering around her chair and sweeping by her feet: wings. Butterfly wings. The Mist must have coated them before, but the brilliant colors shimmered like a stained glass frame for her hair. Like everything else about her, they were vibrant to the point of breathtaking. “We met over tea a few times. She was… fearless despite the fact that she knew I was a goddess. She wanted to make sure everyone knew exactly what was happening between the three of us. She didn’t trust Eros acting as a messenger.”

“She always liked to make sure things were done correctly,” Calex said.

Psyche laughed. “That’s a generous understatement.”

Staring at the colors of Psyche’s wings, he could picture his mum’s soft face, whether in a smile to appreciate a witty joke or a terrifying scowl to ridicule Calex for some act of stupidity. Calex swallowed. That horrible emptiness from this morning seeped into his system.

He told himself not to—that he didn’t want to talk about it. Still, the words came out of his mouth. “I used to resent going to mum’s clinic in Kakata every holiday. I often had to spend my birthday there, with Tom and Mum, while my mates were off in Playa Del Ingles, Saint-Tropez, or some other posh beach.”

Now, Calex wished he could be there. He wished he could have woken up this morning to his great granddad poking him and his brother with a walking cane while muttering a cryptic, Liberian aphorism. Then he and Tom, whining and complaining about the heat, would escort Mum to her clinic for a day of hard labor.

Now, when it came to his mum and brother, some days were better than others. He could sometimes laugh with Winston about something Tom used to do, or how hopeless they both were in the kitchen without Tiwa around. Other days, the house was quiet and cold without the buoyant conversation about Tiwa’s nightshift or Tom’s football match. Most of the time, Gretchen ran out with her mates, and Calex and Winston were working.

Today, Calex felt numb.

“Chiron said I could stay at Camp Half-Blood this summer, but Winston needs me here. He can barely afford the flat’s rent without Tiwa’s helping to pay. We might need to move. That’s one of the reasons I was so mad at Marie—the museum head—for forcing me to take the day off. I don’t care that it’s my birthday. They never cared about stuff like that before.”

He shrugged. “But… but this is my first birthday without my mum or brother. Gretchen won’t talk to me much. She hasn’t since… since I survived and the others didn’t.”

His little sister worried him and Winston, but he didn’t feel like there was much he could do. It felt like… felt like she blamed him for living, like it was his fault that their home had fallen apart.

Psyche didn’t say anything. She reached across the table and gently set a hand atop his. Over the last year, he’d become more accustomed to brash touching—Pax and Kally made sure to that. This was different. Something about her touch—she understood loss. Calex wondered how many lovers and children Psyche watched succumb to old age or sudden tragedy.

They sat in silence for a moment.

“Mum would scold me for dwelling on it so much. Tom would have hit me and told me I was being a twat. Especially on my birthday…” Calex laughed softly.

“Calex, you need to let yourself feel without getting mad about the feelings.” She squeezed his hand.

Calex glanced at her blue and white jersey, now shimmering into a sleeveless, short chiton, her glossy wings and hair, her sweet face and warm eyes. If she hadn’t met him at the football field, he would have kept to himself all day, with his phone off to ignore any contact with his mates. Gretchen would have stormed into the house without a word to him and Winston would have come home from work and collapsed in front of the tele without Tiwa to remind him of their birthdays.

Here, he was out of the flat, chatting with a goddess about his lunatic love prospects and his family. Insane, but much less bleak than he’d expected the day to go.

Calex didn’t know how to show his gratitude to Psyche.

The sadness in Psyche’s eyes made Calex squeeze her hand back. She raised her Fizz la Poir. “To living life in honor of those we miss,” she suggested.

He tilted his glass to hers. “I really need to get a different drink for toasting. I think Tom might be offended,” he said, taking a sip of his tomato juice.

They smiled.

The restaurant door opened and closed. Calex didn’t look over, but could hear some female giggles.

Now that he’d mentioned changing out his drink, Calex had to wonder where Amelia went. Normally, she was—

“There’s my favorite Teddy Bear.”

For a split second, he could see Psyche’s smile tweak with amusement. Then, the world vanished behind two perfect breasts as someone wrapped him in huge hug.

When the person withdrew, Calex found Merry beaming down at him. That green and gold, low-cut sundress wouldn’t have looked half as good on anyone other than her. Her hair was curled and Calex ached to realize this was the first time he’d seen Merry in smart dress for a party.

Glancing around Merry, he saw this was, indeed, a party. Kally gave him a huge grin and wave. She had her—and presumably Merry’s—birthday gifts under one arm. Her other arm held the unmistakable colors of her Manchester United jacket. Calex was happy the weather was too hot for her to get mugged for putting it on in the wrong town. Behind Kally, Piper and Jason entered the restaurant, glancing around the glass ceiling.

Paul, his crazy cousin, and one of their Arsenal hooligan mates stepped in after, noticed how Merry kept snug against Calex’s side and how Psyche sat across from him and gave Calex a subtle thumbs up.

“When did all of you get here?” Calex asked, baffled. He glanced at Psyche who was innocently sipping at her drink. “Did you do this?”

She shook her head. “Oh, no. I offered to get you here for lunch. That is the extent of my foreplanning.”

“This did this,” Merry said and pointed to herself. “You have a child of parties and revelry before you and you accuse someone else of orchestrating a shindig. I’m personally offended, birthday boy.”

A wave of euphoria struck Calex, and he didn’t think it was from Merry’s powers. He hadn’t seen any of them since he left America, at least a month ago. Electronics never agreed with demigods, so he struggled to properly keep in touch. Talking to his mates at home was uncomfortable. Everyone treated him different since he got back. Until Calex saw their smiling faces, he hadn’t known how much he’d missed them.

“Hi Calex!” Piper cheered. “Lacy had to pick up someone else, but she and Mitchell are looking for parking right now.”

Jason nodded. “Percy and Annabeth send their best, but they had some college-level monsters pop up.”

“We had a few ‘maybe’ responses, but the important people are here,” Kally said and punched his arm.

Out of his peripheral, he could see Amelia rush out with a pre-prepared tray of sparkling beverages. Paul and his mate, Oliver, helped her to set up some space for them.

“The most important people, Cyclops?”

Calex, Merry, Kally, Piper, Jason, and—to Calex’s alarm—Psyche, all jumped at the couple that entered the restaurant.

For a split second, Calex dropped his hand to his pencil pouch, containing Soul Pain, his bow. After a breath, he recognized the new occupant. It was someone younger and much more annoying than the person Calex had mistook the boy for. Beside the boy was someone else that Calex thought he may never ever see again.

Pax wore a familiar burgundy button-down and dress pants. His wild raven hair was combed back into a sloppy ponytail that curled and twisted. He wore his fully loaded utility belt with poisons and serums. Two revolvers hung out of his shoulder holsters and atop suspenders that were lined with darts. He winked his golden eye at Kally.

Calex had to wonder what the Mist turned all those weapons into when Pax was on the street.

Pax held his automaton hand out to escort a young woman Calex also didn’t recognize initially.

Upon examining her, Calex could tell she wasn’t wearing real clothing. The… dress? Or sometimes body suit..? The clothing she wore trembled and altered as they walked closer. The mesh itself came from intertwining leaves, vines, and flowers. Petals fell from it as she walked, leaving a trail of colors. Her feet were bare. The only solid thing that she wore was a sickle strapped across her back with a vine. Her unkempt hair was enlaced with more beautiful flowers, ones—Calex thought—he remembered being poisonous.

Her dark gaze was turned upward so she could grin at the glass ceiling.

When she met his stare, she smiled like they’d seen each other yesterday. “Hey. Nice choice in restaurant. What’s their best meal?”

“Euna?” Kally asked, covering her mouth with one hand.

Like Calex, her fingers had dropped into her messenger bag in a reflexive search for a weapon.

“Yes, a happy Euna, that looks completely normal and you should compliment her on realizing floral was in this summer,” Pax said.

Jason opened and closed his mouth, glaring at Pax suspiciously. Everyone knew the Romans had been searching for these two. Piper tugged on Jason’s hand. “It’s nice to have everyone together for Calex’s birthday, isn’t it?” she asked.

Calex could feel the calm of Piper’s tone.

“Yep,” Merry piped in. “All here to relax and party.”

Between the two of them, the tension in Jason’s arm muscles eased. Calex and Kally released their weapons. Piper tugged Jason to the side to look at a menu.

A bee flew off one of Euna’s shoulder plants as she and Pax approached Calex. She held out a hand and a root twisted down her arm to her palm. Upon resting there, something sprouted, in fast motion, and a beautiful grey and purple flower appeared. “I made you a flower,” she said. “It will alternate blooming from mid-spring to late autumn. And, as Axel would have recommended, you can use its leaves to kill your enemies. But, for real, what is the best thing on this menu?”

She set the flower into the vase on the table. All the other plants in the vase rose up to her hand, coming to full bloom.

“Lovely,” Calex said, staring at the beautiful, deadly plant, so close to where they were going to eat. “And—um—for you? Probably the Boeuf Bourguignon.” He said, fumbling to think of the most filling thing on the menu. He was so taken aback by her appearance—someone he thought he’d never see again, he felt silly giving lunch recommendations instead of giving her a hug.

She nodded, took a table, and was immediately set upon by Paul. Kally rushed over to make sure Paul didn’t unsettle the volatile daughter of Demeter. Calex had to wonder what Paul saw when he looked at Euna—a cute Korean girl in a floral dress? Someone nearly naked with… what would he think the sickle was?

Psyche’s eyes trailed Euna’s movements, proving not everyone invited knew about everyone else that could be coming. He imagined Merry “forgetting” that she’d be inviting Euna and a goddess and—if his dad showed up—a god. At least Euna either didn’t recognize Psyche or didn’t care. From their conversations that morning, Calex could also imagine Psyche coming regardless.

Pax withdrew something from a pouch on his utility belt. “She brought you a birthday gift. I bring you bribery.”

He handed Calex an envelope.

“The closest thing to a gift that a Pax boy can give when he doesn’t want to sleep with the receiver,” Merry said.

Pax tsked. “Merry, don’t jump to conclusions. I could have great interest in Calex.”

“Don’t even joke,” Calex hissed. He broke the seal. “I ought to open this now, oughtn’t I? In case there’s some sort of Morpheus powder?”

He expected it to be a drawing of weasels devouring him, as Pax had promised to make in the past.

Instead, there was a check.

For a moment of stupid belief, Calex felt his jaw drop. With as much firm denial as he’d previously felt awe, he said, “This is fake.”

Pax gave him that half-grin. “Now, really, you can’t know that until it bounces and you look like an idiot at the bank.”

Calex glared. He leaned forward. Short of excusing themselves, there was no way to keep Merry and Psyche from listening, but he had to put up the illusion of privacy. Judging from their overtly feigned ignorance and they way they lunged into a seeming personal conversation for supposed strangers, he suspected they knew exactly what was in this envelope before he’d opened it. “Pax, what dodgy thing did you do to get it and what are you getting at by pretending to offer this to me?”

“I haven’t done anything dodgy to get this,” Pax said. His fingers made a metallic clacking noise as they shuffled along his utility belt. “I was talking to your step-mom—”

“Aunt,” Psyche interrupted both their and her and Merry’s conversation. “Step-mom feels weird.”

“Auntie,” Pax corrected. “About your situation—”

Betrayal twisted Calex’s stomach. He hadn’t felt comfortable telling anyone, including Psyche, about his family’s financial situation. Now she was yapping to others? But… there was no way. He just spoke of it a few minutes ago…

“—with the whole Pax Pharmaceutical Company drugging and kidnapping you and causing you all that trauma,” Pax said flippantly.

Calex stared. “Pardon?”

“Pax Pharmaceuticals is currently going through a rebranding, but it would really hurt our image if word got out that members of the organization had done some nasty things.”

“Wait—” Calex could never forget the horrible events Pax was referencing—a year ago when Santiago Pax kidnapped all of them, drugged he and Merry, and killed Joey Song, Euna’s sister. That wasn’t where his confusion lay. “You’re actually bribing me?” he asked. Pax had been as much a traumatized victim as the rest of them.

In the bluntest answer Pax had ever said to him, the young Mayan gave him a sly smile. “Yes. Happy Bribe Day.”

“I put my hush money into a fund for Nikhil to go to university,” Merry said cheerily. “And he thought it was for us to go to Disney.”

“How cruel,” Psyche said.

Calex swallowed, staring at the check. “Psyche… you threatened to sue him?”

“Threatened is a strong word,” Pax said.

Psyche took a sip from her drink and gave him one of those dazzling smiles. Her wings fluttered.

Calex didn’t like the idea of owing this dodgy bloke a favor, even if the favor was silence. As he stared at the digits, he thought about how long this check would last them if Winston downsized their housing and they were careful. The money he made from his summer job could go towards plane tickets to visit his mates in America and, like how Merry was using hers, maybe go into a college fund for Gretchen. And, if they accepted it, at least then he’d know any money Gretchen made would go towards new clothing instead of rent.

“I’m thinking about using Kally’s money to take her on some surprise vacations,” Pax said.

Merry clucked her tongue. “Using hush money from a kidnapping to fund further kidnappings. Pax, you naughty one.”

“Oh!” He snapped his fingers, fishing out another envelope. “Wait—Calex, this is more important. Here is your birthday gift.”

After the first envelope’s content, Calex was worried. He tore it open to look inside, wondering if he should wait until later—

And found a depiction of a colossal weasel attacking Big Ben with what Calex could only assume was a stick-figure version of himself hanging out of the animal’s mouth.

He wanted to express to Pax how much he hated him, but couldn’t rectify that with the weird need to give the boy a hug.

Instead, Calex took something out of Axel’s old book of Etiquette in the Face of Pax and simply sighed, deciding to worry over the check later and enjoy the party.

Although the odd intermixing of groups was a right mess, Calex had a fantastic time. He enjoyed watching Paul and Oliver fawn hopelessly over Euna, Psyche, and Kally, watching Kally and Paul argue over football, and watching Psyche awkwardly dodge around Pax’s audacious humor. Poor Kally didn’t know what to do when Pax turned on his charm full blast.

Calex had to wonder what his mates would say if Eros really did show up. Others had said they could see the resemblance between the two of them. Would Paul and Oliver lose their minds to hear about Calex’s biological dad?

All that faded away though when the best birthday present possible walked into the restaurant. Calex was in mid-laugh, watching Pax snark one of the fizzy drinks up his nose when he saw Lacy and Mitchell—children of Aphrodite that he’d shared a cabin with last year—step inside. Behind them, the lanky, nervous figure of Winston came through, babbling about being late. Lastly, there were four teenage girls.

Three of them were people he hadn’t really seen much since they moved to St. Albans from their tiny flat in London when Calex was very young. One, a teenage girl with black-streaked blonde hair and punk clothing, winked at him, and he knew he would have to pretend he hadn’t seen her within the last year.

Lastly, came a beautiful girl with frizzy black hair, caramel eyes, and a deep tan. She wore punk clothing that ought to have died a decade earlier, though Calex was certain she’d gotten them from the blonde. Calex had to marvel over how the fierceness in Gretchen’s eyes reminded him of Tiwa’s.

They roamed inside as though their presence had nothing to do with the party—except that two of the girls, Liz and Emma if he remembered properly, where giggling and gasping at Calex’s presence. Gretchen always hated it when her friends got crushes on him.

On their way to a booth in the corner, the blonde nudged Gretchen’s arm and whispered to her. “Come onnn, Gretch. Your brother isn’t half as annoying as mine.”

Gretchen sighed, jammed her hands into her pockets, and glared at Calex. “Happy birthday or whatever,” she said.

Those were the first words she had said to him in weeks.

Calex knew she’d be furious if made a deal out of it.

Before he could bollocks the situation, she and her friends continued to the booth, away from the rest of them. Calex smiled after them, tuning out the noise from the other party guests. Although he still missed his mum and brother, everything felt… lighter…

When Calex brought his attention back to Pax’s antics, Psyche caught his eye and tilted her glass towards him.

Calex tilted his—now a proper pint—back towards her. She was right. He still needed to find a way to thank her, Merry, and Gretchen for making this day a brilliant one. For now, he decided he would keep true to their toasting, and live life to the fullest in honor of those he missed.

Footnotes:

[1] Calex would CRINGE at how full of himself this makes him sound. He would like to apologize and offer Pax shirts to all.

[2] Pike’s betaediting comment: “We slaughtered an ox right quick to honor God, no big deal, a little off, I suppose, but not any weirder than anything those hooligans get to after the World Cup.”

[3] Much to Calex’s irritation and frustration at which people she looks at as love interests.

[4] British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

[5] Forward for Arsenal. Ehem. Until Manchester United, Kally’s favorite team, swiped him in 2018. However, in this book series’ timeline, Alexis would have just started his Arsenal career. Can you imagine the look of horror on Calex’s face when he found out one of Arsenal’s best players was being transferred to Kally’s team?

[6] Mel suggests a quick dip in the River Lithe. Supposedly cures that RIGHT up.

Thank you for the read! And thanks for the request from anon!

#Traitors of Olympus #Short story #PJO #Percy Jackson and the Olympians #Heroes of Olympus #HOO #fanfiction #OC #Calex Rupin McKenzie #Psyche #Jason #Piper #Pax #Euna #Kally #Merry #Sadie (spot the sadie!)#Sorry I disappeared for so long!#Should be back to full gear in about a week or two!

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landensueo436 · 4 years ago

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The Development Of Wall Clocks What Came Before Glimpse

Content

Time Display Methods

Division Of Mechanical Engineeringprof Michael Nosonovsky.

Mechanical Water Clocks

Quartz clock procedure is based upon the piezoelectric property of quartz crystals. If you use an electric field to the crystal, it transforms its shape, as well as if you press it or bend it, it produces an electrical field. Throughout these times, basic sundials put above entrances were used to determine noontime and four "tides" of the sunlit day. One English design even compensated for seasonal changes of the Sunlight's elevation. Given that the rate of flow of water is very difficult to control accurately, a clock based upon that flow might never accomplish superb precision.

Who invented exams?

Henry Fischel was the first person who invented the â€œEXAMSâ€.

Time Display Screen Techniques

Quartz crystals oscillating at frequencies of 100,000 hertz can be contrasted and also frequency distinctions determined to an accuracy of one component in 1010. The concurrent electrical clock has no timekeeping residential properties by itself and also is entirely reliant upon the frequency security of the rotating existing provided. If this regularity adjustments, the electric clock will certainly not keep correct time. Created in 1840, the very first battery electrical clock was driven by a springtime and also pendulum as well as used an electrical impulse to operate a number of dials. Substantial speculative work adhered to, as well as it was not up until 1906 that the initial self-supporting battery-driven clock was designed.

Division Of Mechanical Engineeringprof Michael Nosonovsky.

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The Great Western Railway led the way in 1840 and "railway time" was gradually taken up by various other train companies over the succeeding couple of years. Timetables were standard to Greenwich Mean Time, and also by 1855 time signals were being transferred telegraphically from Greenwich across the British railway network. However, it was not until 1880 that the duty of GMT as a unified common time for the entire nation was developed in legislation. In the UK, as an example, Birmingham is eight mins behind London, as well as Liverpool is 12 mins behind. While interaction and also travel times in between significant centres of population were slow-moving, this mattered little. However the scenario transformed dramatically with the building of trains in the 19th century.

However as James M. Russell finds in his brand-new publication, Plato's Alarm, which organizes a collection of outstanding innovations as well as devices from throughout background, some unbelievable developments have actually originated from the the Far East. Lew Wallace Museum insists that Wallace might not have produced the snooze button, although he did invent a couple of various other points. Certainly, the writer died in 1905, nearly a half-century prior to General Electric-Telechron made a clock with the snooze function. Nevertheless, the feature swiftly became prominent and exists today as a vital part of alarm clocks. During the mid 1900s alarm clock companies continued to introduce, with portable traveling alarm clocks and radio alarm that permitted customers to awaken to something much more engaging than a bell. Typically this service worked with a sort of registration basis, with those being roused paying a few pence to the rouser.

Mechanical Water Clocks

There are tales of Napoleon being irritated by having to pull out his watch to check the moment, however it's commonly agreed that wristwatches really did not see real popularity until the war. Each piece of the watch was established in time with tiny advancements in technology. However despite all these changes, the contemporary men's watch was still nowhere to be seen. Watches or chronographs as we understand them have not really https://horloge-factory.com/products/horloge-ancienne-avec-balancier-en-bois been around that lengthy. Prior to the time of the Rolex clocks were the time of clocks as well as timepieces.

Railways, steamships, metros, telephones, and also radio roared right into existence at one time, collapsing range and also compressing time in ways that impressed as well as confused. As the 19th century dissolved right into the 20th, the countries of the North Atlantic had a hard time to enforce their ways of marking time on the remainder of the globe. It was an enthusiastic project, promoted and withstood as well as repurposed by a remarkable cast of characters. Aligned against French researchers, British colonial officials, German battle heroes, American businessmen, and Arab radicals were English farmers, mill employees in Bombay, and Muslim scholars throughout the Middle East. The background of time reform illuminates the irregular nature of globalization, yet it likewise provides us a means to think more deeply regarding technological adjustment at a moment when we're almost bewildered by it. But although the caesium shift has actually shown a long-lasting basis for the definition of the second, caesium atomic clocks may now be getting to the limit of their precision and also enhancements might open up brand-new applications.

It has four dials, each 23 feet in diameter as well as situated 180 feet above the ground.

One of the most renowned tower appear the globe is the Westminster clock on the Victoria Tower of your homes of Parliament in London, England.

It is extra famously called Large Ben, after its large bell on which the hrs are struck.

Regarding the very same time, they made the first timepieces, or darkness clocks, to measure time throughout the day.

In 1292, Canterbury Basilica installed a "fantastic horloge." Over the following 30 years there are short points out of clocks at a number of clerical organizations in England, Italy, and also France. In 1322, a brand-new clock was mounted in Norwich, a costly substitute for an earlier clock installed in 1273. The prices of the installation consisted of the permanent employment of two specialists for two years. These very early clocks may not have actually used hands or dials, yet "told" the moment with audible signals. Necessarily, a "true" clock has an announcing or striking device that sounds after each set interval of time. Clocks that are utilized for informing the moment at extremely high accuracy are generally called chronometers.

Who invented a camera?

Camera / Inventors

One prominent approach, a minimum of in Britain as well as Ireland, entailed employing a knocker-upper. Making use of whatever from a truncheon to a pea shooter, the knocker-upper would certainly bang on windows and doors to wake those within. The flexible alarm clock enabled the individual to establish a time to awake, instead of being ruled by the determines of others.

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annabellckel · 4 years ago

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parc central residences tampines

In central London, it is very difficult to explore all the tourist attractions and places of interest within a short period. The Capital of United Kingdom has too many landmarks and palaces of special interest that it is better for someone visiting the City to make proper research about these attractions in order to make informed decisions before making your journey. Once you are in London, there is too much to see and also you will have a lot to do. The City is very exciting and very entertaining. It is full of Museums, exhibition centres and huge concert halls, Royal Palaces, renowned department stores, Galleries, historic buildings and many more. It is a business city and there are a lot of multinational companies which have their headquarters' in London. London also has some top hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation properties which are very suitable to use during your visit.

United Kingdom is ruled from the Houses of Westminster which include the House of Commons and House of Lords. Generally, it is called Houses of Parliament. With Britain being one of the Political heavyweights of the world, a lot of political decisions on many countries which were ruled by the British in the colonial days have taken place in these buildings. The great building began to serve as UK's political headquarters when that first royal palace got burnt in 1552. There is another important attraction just located outside the Parliament building and this is the London Tower Clock. The Tower Clock looks wonderful especially in the night when the face of the clock illuminates. This clock is what all in UK uses to set their time because it is very accurate. It hardly stops. When there is a light shining above the clock, it tells you that Parliament is in session. Many people take the Big Ben to parc central residences tampines be the clock but that is not the case. There is a bell hanging within the clock that sounds on the hour.

There is the British Museum which is one of the largest Museums in the world with well over 7 million items from all over the world from the time of ancient civilization to the modern time. You will find items from Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt and many more. It has been in existence since 1753. The British Museum is in Bloomsbury and on the Great Russell Street with the closest underground station being Tottenham Court Road. This is a must visit attraction in central London because there is no entry fee. The only thing is that, you should have a lot of time on your hand because it is not a place you can explore in just a day.

Built as an icon to mark the turn of the Millennium is the London Eye which has become one of the most visited attractions in the UK capital and even the whole of United Kingdom. This is an Observation wheel located on the Bank of London River Thames and also very close to the Houses of Parliament. This wheel stands 443 ft tall and considered to be one of the tallest observation wheels in the world. If you want to have a very good view of the capital, then it is from London Eye. From the topmost point of the wheel, one can see in all directions about 25 miles. A full journey on the wheel takes about 30 minutes. You also have to make sure that you visit places like the St. Paul's Cathedral located in St. Paul's and the Tower Bridge as well as the London Bridge. There is also the Tower of London, a historic castle which is located on the north bank of the River Thames.

The Buckingham Palace is one of the oldest attractions in central London. The Buckingham Palace is an excellent starting point for you to enjoy the sites of the UK capital on foot. It is not far from the Westminster, Piccadilly Circus, Downing Street and many other attractions. The Palace is the official residence of the Queen of England and draws a lot of visitors. Other places like the Victoria station and the Trafalgar Square which is well known throughout the world are all not far away. In the summer months, part of the palace is open to the public and you may have the chance to have a tour in the palace. With dedication and precision and also filled with Military tradition, the Changing of the guard at the Buckingham Palace is one of the must see attractions or events in London. It is suppose to take place every day at the Palace unless in very wet weather situations. The official timing of the ceremony is thirty minutes.

As a tourist to London, if you would like to be close to where the fun and entertainment is in the city, then you have to head to the London West End which is considered to be all the affluent and posh areas in the capital which are to the Western side of London Charing Cross. Areas of the West End which need to be mentioned are the Leicester Square which is a London area named Theatreland because of high concentration of Theatres. Then there is a Covent Garden which is classified as the real West End. Here there are a lot of shops, restaurants, bars, cafes and pubs. The Covent Garden is a place full of activities including street performances from Musicians, magician, dancers and many more. Then there is the Soho Square which is the home of many of central London media Houses and also a place where you may bump into some of the top film star and pop stars. Then there is the Piccadilly Circus which is the intersection of some well known Roads and streets. This is s very popular place where a lot of tourists hang out.

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guidetourme · 5 years ago

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Famous Places In London

Famous Places In London: What Are The Main Attractions Of London?

Famous Places In London: London has lived as a great city for almost 2000 years. The origin of its name is unclear; Some suggest that it derives from the Celtic meaning "Lyn": DYN-crossing the river, but it is the Romans who invest their time to give Londinium kick first as a big metropolitan city. While now London is the trade and trade Center that is in the estuary and the Thames. Currently, tourists have many fantastic destinations to enjoy, this article will illustrate the most visited. Royalty has left its trail in London. The Queen's Palace, Buckingham Palace has been a royal residence since Queen Victoria bought it from Lord Buckingham. This is where you can see the change in custody. Trafalgar Square, Nelson's column contains a monumental homage to the Grand Admiral who destroys Napoleon's armies and founded the United Kingdom as a great naval power in the world. You can visit the National Gallery and the National Gallery of portraits in the square. Chambers of Parliament is the place where the government runs its business. These include the iconic clock tower, commonly known as Big Ben, but strictly the name of the famous bell-bells for hours throughout the city. Westminster Abbey, right in front of the Houses of Parliament, contains the remains of the great and the good of the centuries-the king, the Queen, the writers, the poets and the politicians have found one last resting place here. The Cathedral of St. Paul, designed by the great architect Sir Christopher Wren, was the place of the marriage of Charles and Diana lasted. It is the largest and most important of the cathedrals of the city. You can come in and look down at the Big Dome. An image that appeared on the icon standing the arrogant and did not tremble in the middle of the London Blitz. The Tower of London was originally built by William the Conqueror as part of an important construction campaign that marked a new authority of Normandy across the UK through the construction of a lump-and-baileys. This has been a fortress since then, added and modified by later kings. The most famous tower is the place where the king's enemies and have fulfilled his end. This is where two of Henri VIII's wives found the end of their time at the end of an ax. The British Museum has a collection of artifacts that are very good from all over the world. It contains treasures from the Saxon cemetery of Sutton Hoo, the mummies of the Egyptian rowing boat, which was controversial the Elgin Parthenon marbles in Athens and much more. It's free too. Tate has two large art galleries that offer permanent exhibitions for free so that the community can enjoy it. Tate Britain contains, as you might expect, the art of the United Kingdom and the Tate Modern held an exhibition of the modern era. Globe is a recreation of Shakespeare's great original theatres. A vision is carried out by the American director Sam Wanamaker, the globe is located near its original site and gives regular representations in the round. Harrods is the city's most famous department store. Not for the faint of heart when you see the price tag; Harrods deserves a visit to see how the other half of the store's food room as well as delicious products. The West End is the city's entertainment district. In terms of theater that is equivalent to Broadway in New York. There are a lot of great performances that you can enjoy the same performance that you can find on Broadway. Wembley Stadium underwent the main refurbishment and home to the British national football team played their games at home and where the final of the F Cup lasts. There is a new stadium under construction, mainly on the east side of the city, in preparation for the 2012 Olympic Games. There are several professional football teams in the city, the upper part of London is Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, West Ham, and Arsenal. The corner of the Hyde Park speaker includes a place where you can go listen to people thinking about your breasts thoughts. Their minds are often not as convenient as you described it, but it's fun to spend some time. Other parks offering space to breathe is Regent Park, where the London Zoo is located, and St James Park near Buckingham Palace. These are the main tourist attractions in London. It is the tip of the iceberg in a city that has thousands of other delicacies. Thank you for reading the article about Famous Places In London. Read the full article

#NationalGaller

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bananaipindia · 5 years ago

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“Parachute” Goes After YouTuber for Disparagement, Cyprus Re-registers its ‘Halloumi’ Cheese Mark in the UK, 'Co-Lab' Launched By GQ India and Raymond, Italy’s Art Museum Uffizzi Galleries Claims its Domains, Assamese Gamocha Filed For GI and more

New Post has been published on https://www.bananaip.com/ip-news-center/parachute-goes-after-youtuber-for-disparagement-cyprus-re-registers-its-halloumi-cheese-mark-in-the-uk-co-lab-launched-by-gq-india-and-raymond-italy/

“Parachute” Goes After YouTuber for Disparagement, Cyprus Re-registers its ‘Halloumi’ Cheese Mark in the UK, ‘Co-Lab’ Launched By GQ India and Raymond, Italy’s Art Museum Uffizzi Galleries Claims its Domains, Assamese Gamocha Filed For GI and more brought to you by the Trademark Attorneys at BananaIP (BIP) Counsel.

INDIAN TRADEMARKS UPDATE

“Parachute” Goes After YouTuber for Disparagement

Marico Ltd., one of India’s leading FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) company, had recently filed an application at the Bombay High Court, seeking an interim injunction against Abhijeet Bhansali, a YouTuber/V-Blogger who operates the YouTube channel “Bearded Chokra”. It was alleged by Marico that Abhijeet Bhansali in his video, made comments disparaging or denigrating Marico’s Parachute Coconut Oil, thus infringing its trademark “Parachute”. The Bombay High Court while passing an injunction against Abhijeet held that there was unauthorized use of the trademark “Parachute” and under the garb of educating the public one cannot provide misleading information to disparage any product. The court also ordered to take down the YouTube video uploaded by Abhijeet and emphasised the need for higher responsibility on the part of a social media influencer.

INTERNATIONAL TRADEMARKS UPDATES

OK Boomer Trademark Registration by Fox not Ok

Fox Media’s plan to cash in on the catchphrase OK Boomer seems to have hit a snag. The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in an initial office action, has denied trademark registration for the term. The American television network had filed an application for the registration of the trademark “OK Boomer” and had intended to launch a TV series under the same name. The USPTO while refusing the registration held that the term “OK Boomer” was a widely used message that merely conveyed ordinary concept or sentiment and did not serve any source indicating function. However, this is not a final denial by the USPTO. Fox now has six months to respond to the objections raised.

Cyprus Re-registers its ‘Halloumi’ Cheese Mark in the UK

Halloumi, a semi hard cheese, originating from Cyprus, has found its way back home. The Cypriot Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry, has regained the trademark rights for Halloumi (a certification mark for cheese produces) in the UK. The Cypriot ministry had first secured trademark protection for ‘Halloumi’ at the UK Intellectual Property Office in 1990. However, an application to invalidate the trademark had been filed by John & Pascalis Ltd, the largest importer of Cypriot cheese to Great Britain. Thereafter Cyprus ended up losing its trademark due as its Government failed to respond to the legal requests of the UK Intellectual Property Office in a timely manner. They have however now re-registered the Halloumi trademark in the UK and have also applied for the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status at the European Commission for their cheese products.

BRAND LICENSING UPDATES

‘Co-Lab’ Launched by GQ India and Raymond

GQ India, the leading men’s lifestyle media and fashion brand, has collaborated with Raymond, the forerunners for men’s apparel in India, to launch ‘Co-Lab’, a new men’s apparel brand. Apart from providing cutting edge design for Indian men, the collaboration will also include events at its flagship stores, influencer engagements, interactive masterclasses, as well as fashion shows to promote the brand. The masterclasses will be held in New Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Hyderabad.

Freightliner Truck Vrooms into Sound Clocks

Mark Feldstein & Associates, Inc. (MFA), an American product development company has entered into a licensing agreement with Freightliner Trucks, a US based truck manufacturer, to bring out a new line of sound clocks. The deal was brokered by the corporate trademark licensing company Equity Management on behalf of Freightliner Trucks. Under the licensing agreement, MFA will design, manufacture and distribute wall as well as desk clocks. The initial products to be introduced in the market would include the clocks, featuring Freightliner Trucks on the dial and authentic truck sounds at the top of every hour. The merchandise will likely be in the market in the second quarter of 2020.

FRANCHISE UPDATE

Mercedes-Benz Unveils New Dealership Concept in India

Mercedes-Benz, the German automobile giant has launched a new dealership, Christened Global Star, in New Delhi’s Green Park. It is the first showroom in the country which is based on the new brand presence in retail. The showroom is spread over an area of 12,000 square feet and intends to deliver top class facilities for which the brand is known for such as hospitality lounge and bar area, as well as digital assets like a digital wall, interactive touch table, touch TV and a digital-spec stand. With the new showroom, the number of outlets for the German brand in India has gone up to 97.

DOMAIN NAME DISPUTE UPDATE

Italy’s Art Museum Uffizzi Galleries Claims its Domains

Uffizzi Galleries (also called The Gallerie degli Uffizi), a prominent art museum located in the historic centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy, has won a legal battle against BoxNic Anstalt (an Arizona US based company) to protect its domain name www.uffizi.it. BoxNic Anstalt had registered numerous domains containing the word Uffizi including uffizi.com and uffizi.net through which they invited users to buy museum tickets online and skip the huge queues. The Arizona Federal Court has banned BoxNic Anstalt from using Uffizi’s name and logo and ordered the transfer of the domains to Uffizi Galleries.

GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION UPDATE

Assamese Gamocha Filed For GI

Assamese Gamocha, a traditional textile product commonly known as Gamocha in Assam, has been applied for GI registration. The Gamocha is a rectangular piece of handloom weaved white cloth (known as Khioni in Assamese), having multiple thicker red coloured stripes along its side border (known as sotia in Assamese), multiple thinner red coloured stripes along its cross border (known as Pooli in Assamese) and mostly having red colour motifs along its cross border. It is primarily used as a sacred object at holy places in Assam and also as a felicitation article, clothing and as an absorbent cloth. The Handloom Research and Designing Centre, Ambari, Guwahati, Directorate of Handloom and Textiles, Government of Assam has applied for the GI registration in the ‘Textiles’ category.

Authored and compiled by Shreya Chaddha & Poorvika Chandanam

About BIP’s Trademark Attorneys

The Trademark News Bulletin is brought to you by the Trademark/Copyright, IP Transactional Strategy Divisions of BananaIP Counsels, a Top IP Firm in India. Led by Sanjeeth Hegde, BIP’s Trademark Attorneys are among the leading experts in the field. If you have any questions, or need any clarifications, please write to [email protected] with the subject: Trademark News.

The weekly trademark news initiative is a part of their pro bono work and is aimed at spreading trademark awareness. You are free to share the news with appropriate attribution and backlink to the source.

Disclaimer: Kindly note that the news bulletin has been put together from different sources, primary and secondary, and BananaIP’s reporters may not have verified all the news published in the bulletin. You may write to [email protected] for corrections and take down.

#Brand Licensing Updates #Domain Name Dispute Updates #FRANCHISING UPDATES #Geographical Indication updates #Indian Trademark Update #International trademark updates

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rachelisnotatwork · 5 years ago

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Sweltering round the Fatherland

I did not leave Berlin willingly. In fact I complained constantly throughout the one final brunch I demanded. And on our way to the car rental place. And most of the drive down to Dresden. After nearly 5 weeks in our glorious Airbnb I felt like we probably had at least some light squatters’ rights.

It didn’t help that our apartment in Dresden was in what I’m sure an estate agent would describe as an “up and coming” area, i.e. a bit of a shit hole. It also managed, no matter what we did, to be hotter than the outside world and our host- clearly dubious about the continence of the guests, had covered the bed with extremely noisy plastic undersheets that heated the bedroom to essentially the equivalent of sleeping in a Finnish sauna. That plus a disappointing evening meal did nothing to discourage my belief that leaving Berlin was a mistake.

We had two days in Dresden and it’s surrounds. Because some of the museums are closed on Monday, we decided to use our Monday to go visit “Saxon Switzerland”. The name Saxon Switzerland sets the bar high and naturally it then disappoints because it’s more hilly than Alp-y. I would blame an over-zealous tourist board committee but apparently it was some homesick 18th century Swiss artists.

First off we visited a place called the Bastei bridge, which is a bridge built between giant rock formations. It is pretty beautiful although I feel someone without crushing vertigo could probably appreciate it more, especially since the top was also frequented by a man with an extremely badly behaved Alsatian, thus combining my fear of heights and dogs in one terrifying location.

Our next stop was more pleasant. We walked through the woods and then took a boat ride along the Obere Schleuse, which is a shallow river in a gorge between Germany and the Czech Republic. The boat was gondoliered by a guy who gave a little tour as he punted us slowly down the river. He had what I strongly suspect was a very thick local accent but Marcel thought there might be a chance he’d had a stroke. Either way it was fairly impenetrable to me, expect bizarrely a few minutes where he talked about lichen growth. So I guess that month at language school was really worth it?

The only downside of the trip was that the walk to the boat had been entirely down into the gorge and thus the walk home was entirely uphill. It was fairly steep and exhausting, and what wasn’t particularly reassuring was to find a gravestone half way up one of the steep climbs with a gravestone from the 19th century with a very specific time of death for a forester from something called a “Blutschlage” (literal translation: blood blow). So I guess I should be pleased we got out with just a few insect bites.

The next day we’d booked onto an English-language tour of Dresden. Almost everyone else was north of 75, which made us feel super young. And had also reached the complaining years. The ticket could be torn off to leave a free postcard of Dresden. One Australian woman then complained to the guide that it didn’t include a stamp and wouldn’t let it go.

The tour was pretty good though. The centre of Dresden is stunning as was mostly built by August the Strong, who really liked to party. My favourite fact from the tour was that he’d weigh guests before and after parties and those who hadn’t gained enough weight weren’t invited again because they were clearly no fun. He built a huge complex called the Zwinger for summer parties in addition to a huge palace for one of his mistresses (he had a lot) so he didn’t have to go far for the night.

The downside of touring Dresden is the crushing guilt you get to feel if you are British (or American) for brutally firebombing it. They have pretty much completed the reconstructions now but when you look at the before photos… well, it was no big surprise that both groups were some of the biggest contributors to the fund to rebuild the cathedral (the blacker stones are the only original ones).

After the tour finished we went up the cathedral for the view.

Then we went into the Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon. This is largely a collection of clocks and super creepy automatons from the 18th century, so right up my street. Afterwards we had coffee and cake on a cafe on the roof and I went on what felt like an epic trip in the boiling sun to find a toilet somewhere I could use (doesn’t seem to be a legal requirement for cafes to have one here) and ended up begging a cleaning lady to use a museum one. Think Marcel thought I was pretty much dead by then, I was gone so long.

The next day we headed up North. Whilst our final destination was the island of Ruegen, we had a planned stop for the day at a place called Godnasee. This is a lake in the middle of nowhere, where we had a delightful afternoon swimming, sunbathing and reading. The nice thing about East Germany is it is full of lakes and is rapidly depopulating, so it is very easy to find an empty swimming spot.

We got to Ruegen in the evening, just in time for a quick walk before dinner. There were two national parks we wanted to visit in our two days and because the weather was due to be better at the one further away, we went to the Nationalpark Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft the next day. The spot we picked to go to was a lighthouse on a beach that was a 5km walk/cycle ride/horse and carriage ride away from the nearest car park. We decided to walk because of my lack of cycling aptitude and because legs are a lot cheaper than horse-drawn carriages (thanks to the endless slow tragedy of UK politics, the Euro to pound ratio could be best described as...sub-optimal for us).

This turned out to be a mistake. Apparently Marcel had showered in mosquito pheromones that morning or something so after a few minutes he was besieged by such a huge crowd of them that, whilst he was the main attraction, some of them by dint of sheer numbers bumped into me. This lead to less of a “walk” through the woods than a mad charge frantically waving our arms until we eventually reached the lighthouse. The beach there is quite pretty and in typical fashion, once you walk a short distance from the lighthouse, quite empty.

We took a route back through some wetlands to stay in the sunshine and hopefully avoid the mosquito plague- a successful plan. It also brought us across a cafe that served the only accommodation in the park (a caravan park) so stopped to eat the traditional hot sunny day beach food of...struedel.

On our way back we stopped in the city of Stralsund. It is a pretty little city that used to be a Hansa city (so lots of nice brick architecture), spent a long time being part of Sweden and is now the political seat of Angela Merkel. We had a nice wander around and came across a Simson pharmacy, so I felt quite at home.

The next day we headed out to explore Ruegen itself. Our first stop was a wander along the chalk cliffs there. Sort of surprised we found them and that they were decently high as driving around the island it had seemed as flat as a pancake.

The previous day I had been messaging my friend Karo and mentioned I felt like I was the only British person for about a hundred miles and she directed me towards a place called Woody’s Little Britain, which is a British “emporium” featuring scones and cream tea in the middle of nowhere. Naturally we went. It was pretty boiling, which felt pretty unBritish and the cream was whipped not clotted (Debrett’s would be horrified) but the scones were pretty good.

Afterwards we headed to the beach. Ruegen has some huge long beaches, so we parked up and wandered through the woods to about 10km of pretty empty beach. Marcel went for a swim. I declined because the ocean was full of seaweed and also after Australia, I’m pretty convinced the sea is out to murder me. So I remained on the beach, which in the fashion of East German beaches was full of naked people and noted with amusement that the extremely elderly naked woman sitting a few metres down from us had cracked out a pair of binoculars to look down the beach. I initially just thought she was a shameless pervert, but apparently she was looking to see if her elderly nude swimming companion was coming down the beach (or at least I assumed that was what she was doing, because he did eventually turn up. We didn’t cover the vocab for that in language school).

The following day we headed West. Our first stop was the town of Wismar. Or more precisely a cafe within because we’d left without breakfast and then got stuck in traffic so were both hungry, overly-hot and grumpy on arrival. We then wandered around the town. It is again, a pretty Hansa city, although this one we bombed a bit. We went up a rebuilt cathedral, which I did point out to Marcel that thanks to our bombing could be reconstructed with a lift right up to the tower in (you’re welcome guys!). It is still a port city which apparently brings logs from everywhere to turn into sawdust, or so the giant piles of logs and delicious smell of sawdust that wafts through the town suggests.

After that we went to Schwerin, which is also lovely and historic. It also has a famous castle which looks a bit gauche if you ask me, but Marcel just says looks German.

We had a late lunch and then accidentally discovered some weird mooning monument with no explanation. A rather lengthily googling seems to suggest it is a scene from the life of the founder of this town, who got mooned by the folk of his home town when returning home for a visit because he’d directed all the trade that used to go to their town to Schwerin. I would have thought this was the kind of thing that merited a plaque as far lesser things have generated one, but apparently not.

We ended up having a subpar dinner in town and disappointed, both of us developed a craving for ice cream. This is apparently not something you can get in Schwerin after 9pm so we ended up driving to an out of town McDonald’s for late-night McFlurry’s and then I got all indignant that the lids weren’t hedgehog-friendly like we have in the UK, confirming to all the national stereotypes of weird British eccentrics who are overly sentimental about animals.

The following day we weren’t due in Luebeck, our next stop, until the evening and beautiful weather was forecast. So Marcel found us an amazing canoeing place to go. This was on the river Warnow and was a 15km trip down river through a nature reserve. The initial part of our trip was a little more exercise than I’d have liked as we happened to set off at the same time as a large school trip of teenagers. Not wanting to enjoy the beauty and solitude of a nature reserve with 30 shrieking teenagers, we decided to use our superior canoeing skills to put some distance between us and them. Annoyingly though either we are shitter at canoeing than we thought or they were perhaps a school canoe team as we had to paddle REALLY hard to keep any distance between us and them. And when we did create some distance, we managed to catch up with a family that had decided to enhance their trip to this protected nature reserve by mounting a boombox onto their canoe in order to play some incredibly loud techno. Thankfully they decided to pull over for a break before I could ram them and knock their stupid boombox into the water, and shortly after that Marcel wanted to take a side stream so we could “have a picnic at a castle”. This involved some very hard paddling upstream through a shady, stinky mosquito swamp that didn’t actually end in a castle but just in a village with the German word for castle in. Thankfully there was a field we could eat our picnic lunch in, and that placated my bad mood somewhat.

The advantage of this stop was that by the time we rejoined the river, pretty much no one was on it. We still had about 8km to go and this was the wilder, less-maintained stretch with lots of weaving around trees to be done. German prep for these sort of trips is also a lot more casual than English prep so a good few times we were left wondering where to go and which part of a rocky course was better to navigate. But it was beautiful, sunny, thousands of electric blue damselflies constantly flitted around us and there was a spot for a gorgeous (albeit cold) swim.

We finally got into Lubeck and our ancient house in the evening. We then had a great dinner at a place called Schlumacher’s, so that was a great day out. We fell into bed pretty exhausted, and then I nearly fell out again, because that is the problem with elderly houses with subsidence.

The next day we decided to go on a tour of Lubeck. Lubeck clearly doesn’t get a lot of English-speaking tourists as it only has a once-weekly tour in English and that did not happen to coincide with our stays. Completely disregarding my previous experience of near total incomprehension with a german tour, I merrily signed us up for one again. This went slightly better initially as our tour guide was old so spoke slowly and bellowed loudly, but it was boiling hot, I rapidly fatigued and the tour was two incredibly hot hours and by the end I was desperate for him to stop talking as by this stage I wasn’t really getting any of it and everyone kept laughing at jokes I couldn’t get. I ate a huge ice cream to recover from the experience.

Lubeck is an ancient Hansa city that is pretty much entirely a UNESCO world-heritage site for ancient buildings. However the original city was built on swampy ground with some eccentric choices (like a fortified gate that had 3m thick walls on one-side and 1m thick on the other, leading the heavier side sinking a lot faster). The whole town is full of extremely wonky buildings, which you are fairly surprised are still standing. On the outside you can see essentially ornamental pole ends that support the floors and hold the two sides of the buildings together.

In the afternoon, hot and having toured most of Luebeck (as it prides itself on being “the city of short distances”), we decided to retire to the swimming lake opposite our front door. There we wiled away an enjoyable afternoon swimming, sunbathing and eating hot chips with mayonnaise. Glorious.

My grandfather was born in Kiel and the next day we had a plan to drop in there on the way to our next airbnb in the countryside. We had briefly considered staying in Kiel before we discovered it was Kieler Woche, which is some sort of sailing festival shebang. So we decided to limit it to a day trip.

It was exceedingly hot and our trip to Kiel brought forth the following observations 1) sailing festivals are pretty dull if you are on shore and thus are mostly a series of kiosks 2) Kiel was apparently bombed to the ground in WW2 but unlike areas that went for a painstaking reconstruction, they went for the construction of multiple ugly shopping malls 3) I know it sounds like it is impossible but apparently the town has absolutely no shade in it and I had forgotten to put suncream on and get extremely grumpy when I’m too hot.

So all in all, I would not recommend Kiel and our trip there was brief. By the end of a hot sweaty couple of hours there we were both dying for somewhere to cool down and so googled the nearest beaches. We found a nearby beach called Heidkate and headed straight for there.

How nice the beaches are around there appears to be a pretty well-kept secret (perhaps real Germans know. Imitation Germans like Marcel do not). Miles and miles of white sand, grassy dunes and the clean, calm Baltic sea. We found a quiet spot, quickly changed into our swimwear and raced into the...well, Baltic water. It was cold, but in a lovely cold way, especially when you are hot. And lead to the strange dichotomy of having a boiling hot upper half that was sweltering in the sun, and a frosty cold lower half. The sea was so calm between the groynes (and shallow) that even with my sea-phobia I swam again and again, in between coming up to lie on the beach and warm up thoroughly.

It was really tough to drag ourselves away...and we ended up leaving rather late (it stays very bright for a deceptively long time here so what we thought was about 5pm was actually 7pm) so we didn’t end up getting to our airbnb in the North Friesland (apparently Marcel says it is a byword for German hicks) until 9.30pm. It was still light though, so we hung out on our terrace and watched a huge number of bumblebees flitting between the wildflowers.

The next day we decided to visit both “seas”. First we headed to the North Sea. There are huge “sands” here called the Wattenmeer. Or at least that’s what I thought they were. What they actually are is enormous windswept mudflats. This is exactly as appealing as it sounds. It was also 7c colder than where we’d come from, so we hastily turned around and headed over to the Baltic side again.

We found ourselves a lovely stretch of sand near Flensburg from which you could pretty much spit on Denmark (should you so want; I quite like the Danes so didn’t). The sea was incredibly shallow and warm as we waded out over the white sandy sea bed. And then noticed we weren’t the only things who liked the warm and shallow water. There were hundreds and hundreds of moon jellyfish. These can’t sting people, but sharing the water with a huge number of dinner plate-sized jellyfish is just a bit...off-putting. I decided this would more be a reading on the beach afternoon than a swimming day.

The next morning we packed up and set off for Hamburg. Since our last couple of days were city days, we took the car to Hamburg airport, dropped it off in the lengthily car rental queue and took the S-Bahn into town. We checked into our hotel and went for lunch. Whilst waiting for our food, we got a call from Enterprise who were wondering where our car was. Because apparently we are sometimes great planners and book to drop our car off in the downtown area right by our hotel. It turns out though we are not great rememberers and were both convinced we had to drop it off at the airport. Somewhat mortifying. They did find the car eventually though.

Many, many years ago when I was at undergraduate, my friend had sent me a trailer for a place in Hamburg called Miniatur Wunderland as a piss-take. It showed a tiny model train world with dead prostitutes, red light districts and car accidents. I immediately was desperate to go. It took a long time to finally get there, but finally, finally it was time! Now you know when you hype something up massively, and then you go and it is actually a big disappointment? This was emphatically not one of those times! It was even better than I thought it was going to be. We spent three hours there and I could have easily spent longer watching tiny fire engines driving around putting out tiny fires and pressing buttons (there are so many buttons you can press to activate things- pro tip, visit in the late afternoon when all those 4 year olds that would normally be hogging them are having dinner). It was amazing. And also huge. I mean tiny, but huge in that it covers nearly two floors of a big warehouse.

The following morning we went on a free walking tour of the city. One of the things Miniatur Wunderland has is a tiny version of Hamburg. Having seen all of the sights in miniature the day before, this lead to a rather disorientating case of Alice in Wonderland Syndrome, where I started to doubt what size they were, or I was. It is quite a pretty city though (on one side, on the other is about a million shipping containers and container ships).

It has always been a big shipping centre so there are lots of historic shipping offices in there. Our guide took us inside one, nominally to see the interior décor but actually so we could ride in a Paternoster lift. These are the endlessly moving doorless lifts that are super dangerous, so everyone else got rid of them. Germans however are weirdly protective over them and refuse to let them decommission them. And whilst I appreciate they are super dangerous for kids, the elderly, anyone moving slowly etc, they are pretty cool to ride. Marcel and I agreed it was pretty much the highlight of our day (nerds4eva).

After that we climbed a tower for the views, then had some lunch. Marcel decided he wanted to do a boat tour of the canals. There weren’t any English language ones but I decided it would probably be okay with German (having again, learnt nothing from prior experience). This time though I was completely screwed because we got on the boat last of all and so were sitting at the back. Where the speakers were broken. So I couldn’t even hear him properly. Anyway, Marcel said he had terrible and monotonous delivery, so I probably didn’t miss much. And it was a nice sunny day to be pottering about on a boat.

After that we decided to go through the Elbe tunnel. This is a 108 year old beautifully tiled tunnel under the Elbe. It has a few additional bonuses in addition to that. 1) you can ride down in giant freight lifts for the occasional cars they let through and 2) It is really nice and cool down there. During a heatwave in a city with no air-con, it was quite hard to feign interest in getting out on the other side to see the view.

A couple of years ago Hamburg completed their new concert hall, the Elbphilharmonie. It was supposed to cost about 200 million euros and take 3 years to build. It overran by 7 years and the final cost was about 800 million euros. Had to admit to a slight schadenfreude in discovering we aren’t the only country that can’t organise a piss-up in a brewery when it comes to accurately and speedily building new projects. The concerts now sell out months in advance but you can get a free ticket to go inside it. So we did. Marcel was very excited as he discovered they have the world’s largest curved escalator. I was too because I imagined it might be curved in the way of a grand curved staircase in some Antebellum mansion. Actually it was just an hump-backed escalator. Underwhelming.

In the evening we decided to take full advantage of the fact our hotel was creepily empty despite being very nice (Marcel being blunt ended up asking why we were pretty much the only guests. They said it was because they’d newly opened, so I recommend getting in there for a stay before they fill up. Fraser Suites Hamburg) to use the sauna. I love saunas. However I normally only think of visiting them when it is cold out. It turns out if you’ve spent all day in a heatwave, it isn’t half as nice. Does mean if you wash your hair though it dries super fast, so less effort than a hair dryer.

Marcel knows me well so had booked a chocolate tour at Chocoversum for our final morning (softening the blow of leaving). I was keen because tours always involve free chocolate. But this was actually a really educational tour. You learnt all about the history of the plant, how to transport it in a cargo ship, how to roast and extract it, what all the machines are called and how they work, plus you get to make your own chocolate bar. So now if the apocalypse comes, I’m extremely prepared to restart civilisation/aka chocolate production.

After that Marcel wanted to walk around the Alster Lakes before our flight. It was pretty hot for walking but Marcel had picked a scenic restaurant quite far away. We got to there and it was a beautiful spot, on a pier so pretty much all of the tables had a lake view. To find it only took cash. And we were nowhere near an ATM and deliberately hadn’t got any more cash out because German ATMs charge you 5.99 to get cash out. So we turned back and found somewhere that would have been perfectly nice if we hadn’t just seen a better one.

And then, alas it was time to leave the Fatherland for the Motherland. It had been an amazing trip and we were pretty depressed to leave. But hey, London in summer is also full of endless sunny days...right?

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airmanisr · 5 years ago

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Armstrong Whitworth Meteor NF.11 ‘WM167’ (G-LOSM) by Alan Wilson Via Flickr: c/n S4/U/2342. Built 1952. Airworthy and operated by the “Classic Air Force”, although for sale at time of writing. Seen in the display hangar at ‘Coventry - Airbase’, Coventry Airport, UK 11-10-2015 The following info is from the Classic Air Force website:- “Classic Air Force’s Gloster Meteor NF.11 is the only surviving Night Fighter Meteor left in airworthy condition and was one of the first privately owned jet fighters to operate in the UK. WM167 was built under licence from Gloster by the Armstrong Whitworth Company at Baginton (Coventry) airport in 1952. It entered service with the RAF’s 228 Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) at RAF Leeming, Yorkshire in August but after just a month she was passed to 33MU at RAF Colerne in Wiltshire for storage. The aircraft returned to 228 OCU the following year and remained on charge with the unit until 1960 when she headed south to 33MU at Colerne yet again. Her stay was brief yet again as she was returned to Armstrong Whitworth in January 1961 for modification to TT.20 target towing configuration. Upon completed WM167 was allocated to the Aeroplane and Armaments Experimental Establishment at Boscombe Down, Wiltshire where she was used for target towing trials. By now WM167 still only had 559 hours ‘on the clock’ and a quiet year at Boscombe Down only added another 20 hours to the logbooks. At the end of the trials exercise WM167 headed back to 33MU at Colerne yet again before being delivered to Flight Refuelling Ltd. The aircraft spent the next ten years towing targets under an MoD contract at both Tarrant Rushton in Dorset and Llanbedr in North Wales. The aircraft was declared surplus in 1975 and purchased by well-known ‘warbird’ collector Doug Arnold for his Warbirds of Great Britain (WoGB) collection, which at that time was based at Blackbushe. She was ferried to Blackbushe on December 1, 1975 by the late-Neil Williams and converted back into NF.11 Night Fighter configuration before entering storage. When the Arnold family sold Blackbushe in 1984 the WoGB collection needed to be moved and the simplest way to move WM167 was by air. By now a sale had been sale had been negotiated with Mike Carlton’s ‘Hunter One’ collection at Bournemouth (Hurn) Airport and the aircraft was registered to Carlton’s Brencham Group on June 8, 1984. The highly appropriate G-LOSM (GLOSter Meteor) was allocated to the aeroplane and it was ferried to Hurn a month later on July 6. The aircraft operated successfully until Mike Carlton was killed in a flying accident whilst on holiday in Zimbabwe in August 1986. The Meteor, along with other jets belonging to Hunter One, was auctioned off by Christies on October 1, 1987 and remained at Hurn as part of LGH Aviation, which traded as Jet Heritage Ltd. The company later became Hunter Wing Ltd and Bournemouth Aviation Museum but G-LOSM was acquired by Air Atlantique in March 2004. Over the years G-LOSM has featured in a variety of documentaries and has taken part in a number of important flights – including carrying the ashes of jet-engine designer Sir Frank Whittle. Today the aircraft remains airworthy at Coventry and is painted in a camouflage scheme typical of the Night Fighting Meteors of its day. It carries no squadron markings at present but depicted 141 Sqn for many years during the 1980s and 90s. G-LOSM flies not only as a tribute the early jet pilots but also to those preservation pioneers who led the way in civilian jet fighter operations during the early 1980s.”

#aircraft #Gloster Meteor

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vacationsoup · 6 years ago

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New Post has been published on https://vacationsoup.com/top-21-things-to-do-for-free-in-york/

Top 21 Things to do for Free in York

York is one of the UK’s gems. A wonderfully preserved medieval city, walking down its cobbled streets is like taking a trip into the past. With a wealth of attractions, you could happily spend a couple of weeks in York and not get bored. Even better, there’s an abundance of free activities to do and places to visit. Here’s a guide to the top 21 things to do for free in York.

Outdoor Spaces and Activities

The Shambles Possibly the most famous part of York, The Shambles is an old street in the city centre with a number of overhanging timber-framed buildings, some of which date back to the 14th century. The name comes from its old Anglo-Saxon name Fleshammels, literally translating to ‘flesh-shelves’, as the street used to be filled with butchers’ shops and it was possible to see the cuts of meat hanging in the windows. Now the butchers’ shops don’t exist, but as you walk down this delightful cobblestone street, you will find a great mix of shops and restaurants. The street is also the location of the home of Saint Margaret Clitherow, who was married to a butcher on the street and was pressed to death for harbouring Catholic priests; you can still see the priest hole fireplace where she hid priests at number ten, now a cufflinks shop.

The Snickelways As well as the Shambles, there are dozens of small streets running off the main thoroughfares in the city centre of York. Most of these narrow streets, big enough only for pedestrians to pass down, are medieval, although a few are more modern. The name ‘Snickelways’ is a portmanteau of the words snicket, ginnel and alleyway, coined by Mark W. Jones in 1983. It is cool to wander around the city seeking out all these little streets which usually have quirky names like Mad Alice Lane, Pope’s Head Alley and Grape Lane. York City Walls The impressive city walls of York have guarded the city for over 700 years. At approximately two miles long, they are the longest medieval walls in England. A walk along the walls takes about two hours and takes you past five main gateways, one Victorian gateway, one postern and 45 towers. Free Guided Walking Tours There are a number of companies which offer free walking tours of the city. The Association of Voluntary Guides leads a two-hour tour taking you past some of York’s biggest attractions and sights, including York Minster, Monk Bar, St Mary’s Abbey and The Shambles, as well as telling you many stories about the city and its history. The great thing about this tour company is that not only is the tour completely free, they don’t insist on tips either. Other walking tour companies to consider are: White Rose York Tours; Footprints Tours; and Strawberry Tours. The Cat Trail Since records began in the city of York, cats have been considered lucky and have played a major part in city life. For about two centuries, statues of cats have been placed on buildings in an attempt to frighten away rats and mice and therefore reduce the risk of disease; they were also believed to ward off evil spirits and to generally bring good luck to the occupants of the property. It is possible to download a Cat Trail map from the website of the Cat Gallery; not only will you be able to seek out the cats of York, but it will take you past some of the most beautiful parts of the city. Shambles Market In the heart of the city is Shambles Market, a vibrant market consisting of 85 different stalls selling a wide variety goods, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, clothing, books, cosmetics, flowers, crafts and gifts. There’s also a really great street food area; be sure to try out the North African and Levantine food. The market is open seven days a week from 7am. Shakespeare’s Village Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre is Europe’s firs pop-up theatre. Although you have to pay for the plays which are performed, it is free to wander around the Shakespeare’s Village the theatre is set in. Located in the car park next to Clifford’s Tower, the village captures the atmosphere of a medieval village, with oak-framed, reed-thatched buildings offering the finest Yorkshire food and drink along with wagon entertainment, minstrels and even a lovely Elizabethan garden with flower and herb beds. The theatre and village only pop up in York during the summer months; in 2019, the village and performances will start in June and run until the beginning of September. Museums and Libraries National Railway Museum One of the city’s most popular museums, the National Railway Museum is the largest museum of its kind in Britain. The museum details the history of rail transport and the impact it has had on society. It has a collection of over 100 locomotives and around 300 other items connected with trains and railways. Some of the most impressive trains in its collection include: a 1938 Mallard; a working replica of the steam locomotive the Rocket; an 1846 Coppernob; and a 1976 Shinkansen bullet train, the only one on display outside of Japan. Other highlights of the museum are: the George Cross medal awarded posthumously to train driver Wallace Oakes for staying on a burning train after it had been involved in an accident; the Royal trains, including a carriage that was used by Queen Victoria; and the warehouse, which houses a permanent exhibition telling the story of the Flying Scotsman.

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The Bar Convent Founded in 1686, the Bar Convent is England’s oldest living convent. Originally founded as a school for girls, it still has members of the Congregation of Jesus living there today. Housed in grade I-listed 18th-century buildings, they are open to the public. Here you can visit an exhibition on the interesting history of the convent; at the time the convent was founded, practising Catholicism was very dangerous, so the ladies who lived there had to be very secretive about what they were doing. You will learn about radical nun Mary Ward who traversed the Alps twice on foot and get the chance to hide yourself in a priest hole. There’s also a cafe and accommodation on site.

Parks and Gardens Rowntree Park Located just a ten- to 15-minute walk south of the city centre, Rowntree Park is a wonderful place to take a long stroll. As well as the well-kept gardens, there is also a lake, canal and water cascade which are home to a number of swans, ducks and Canada geese. There’s plenty of facilities to make use of, such as tennis courts, a skate park, a basketball court and bowling greens. If the weather is nice, there are also some picnic areas for you to enjoy a meal in the sun. Kids will enjoy the excellent play area which has climbing frames and a zip wire. Dean’s Park Located north of York Minster, the main draw of Dean’s Park is that it offers spectacular views of this fabulous church. Although you need to pay to enter the Minster, it is free to admire the wonderful exterior. It’s a lovely spot to take some time to relax during a hard day’s sightseeing, and during the summer there are places to buy ice cream and soft drinks. Yorkshire Museum Gardens and Observatory Set in the grounds of St Mary’s Abbey, Yorkshire Museum Gardens is a great way to enjoy some peace and quiet in the middle of the city. There’s a lot of things to see in the gardens. It houses the oldest working observatory in Yorkshire, built between 1832 and 1833; the telescope inside was built by Thomas Cooke, the man who went on to build what was then the largest telescope in the world. The observatory is also home to a clock dating back to 1811 which tells the time based on the positioning of the stars; it is the clock that all others in the city were set by back in the 19th century. There is also an abundance of flora and 40 species of bird to spot. Homestead Park One of the most beautiful natural areas of the city, Homestead Park is located in Clifton, 1 ½ miles from the city centre. The park’s main features include: a wild flower meadow; a tree-lined avenue; herbaceous and extensive shrub borders; and the Backhouse pond and rock garden. There’s loads of facilities for children in the popular play area, such as a paddling pool, table tennis, a monkey gym and helter skelter rides. The park also offer leaflets with different walks, such as several tree-trail walks and a wildlife walk. Yorkshire Lavender Technically not in York itself but only a short 15-mile drive away, Yorkshire Lavender Gardens and Specialist Plant Nursery offers some of the best views in the county, being set in the Howardian Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. As well as the award-winning lavender gardens, there is a sculpture park to explore, a lavender maze to get lost in, a sensory garden, and Highland cattle and lambs to pet. Churches York St Mary’s Dating back to 1020, this beautiful medieval church is known for having the city’s tallest spire, standing at 47 metres high. Having been consecrated in 1958, it spent a few decades as a heritage centre before being transformed into a contemporary art gallery in 2004. Exhibitions change regularly and the church makes an ambient place to view the artworks. St Michael le Belfry Known primarily as the church where Guy Fawkes was baptised in 1570, St Michael le Belfry is an impressive building. It is free to enter but tours of the church are run entirely by volunteers, so it is best to check before you visit whether it is possible for you to enter. St Mary’s Abbey Established in 1088, St Mary’s Abbey was once one of the wealthiest and most powerful Benedictine monasteries in England. The history of the abbey connects two very important events in England’s history: the abbey was built by order of William the Conqueror as a way of exerting control of the north, and was destroyed under the reign of Henry VIII as a consequence of his Reformation of the church. Visitors can see the remains of the nave and crossing of the abbey church. The walls surrounding the abbey, built in the 1260s, are considered to be the most complete set of abbey walls in the country.

Festivals and Events York Food and Drink Festival One of the most popular festivals in the city, this year the York Food and Drink Festival are running three events in 2019: the Chocolate Festival in April; the Taster Festival in June; and the main festival in September. It’s a complete not-for-profit event; the festivals and demos are free to enter and any money that is made from food and drinks sales goes back into funding for the festival the next year. Their aim is to promote local food and drink producers, to put York on the map as a culinary destination and to provide educational workshops on food and cooking.

Jorvik Viking Festival Possibly the city’s most famous festival, the Jorvik Viking Festival celebrates York’s history as a Viking settlement. It takes place in February every year to coincide with the Viking festival of ‘Jolablot’, which was a celebration to say goodbye to winter and herald the coming of spring. Although you have to pay for some of the events, there are also free events during the week-long festivities. Events include workshops, talks and re-enactments. York Festival of Traditional Dance Taking place in September every year, for two days you will hear the sounds of jingling bells, tapping clogs and clashing sticks during the York Festival of Traditional Dance. Throughout the city you will see over 100 dancers and musicians performing a wide variety of dance styles. York Christmas Market From November to December every year, York is transformed into even more of a wonderland than it usually is. Tens of wooden chalets set up shop selling all kinds of festive goods. The Christmas standards of mulled wine, hot chestnuts and grilled sausages can be found all around the city centre. Kids will love Santa’s grotto and adults will love Thor’s Tipi, a Scandi pop-up bar complete with warm open fires and cosy fur hides. York is a stunning city to visit whatever the season. And with this list of free things to do, you can enjoy the city for less.

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boneandpapyrus · 8 years ago

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In the hot, smoky kitchens of 17th-century Europe, you’d find a lot of things you’d never see in kitchens today; a large open fire, an iron roasting spit, and oh—a giant hamster wheel-like contraption holding a small, live, constantly running dog.

(A turnspit dog at work in the inn at Newcastle, Carmarthen, Wales, c. 1800.) HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES

For hundreds of years the now-extinct turnspit dog, also called Canis Vertigus (dubbed “dizzy dog” by naturalist Carl LInnaeus), vernepator cur, kitchen dog and turn-tyke, was specially bred just to turn a roasting mechanism for meat. And weirdly, this animal was a high-tech fixture for the professional and home cook from the 16th century until the mid-1800s.

Edward Jessy included the turnspit dog in his 19th-century book Anecdotes of Dogs,and he remembered it well from his youth. “They were long-bodied, crooked-legged, and ugly dogs, with a suspicious, unhappy look about them, as if they were weary of the task they had to do, and expected every moment to be seized upon to perform it,” he reminisced.

Turnspit dogs came in a variety of colors and were heavy-set, often with heterochromatic eyes. They were short enough to fit into a wooden wheel contraption that was connected to ropes or chains, which turned the giant turkey or ham on a spit for the master of the house.

(The breed origin of the turnspit dog is believed to have been either the Welsh Corgi or a type of terrier.) INTERNET ARCHIVE/PUBLIC DOMAIN

It seems weird to bring an animal into the cooking process, let alone create a breed to fit a piece of kitchen equipment. But when the turnspit dog was first documented in the 15th century, cooks were desperate to relieve themselves of what was smoky, sweaty, tiring work. Large and royal houses in particular tended to impress guests with elaborate feasts of multiple types of game. Hunks of meat were either boiled or roasted over an open fire; the latter was not only considered most delicious, but in the UK, a hallmark of proper cooking.

Unfortunately, fire was tricky to control—you couldn’t leave, say, a goose on the flame without risking an unevenly cooked dinner. To cook meat thoroughly, kitchen staff stabbed each piece with the heavy iron spike of a roasting spit, which rotated via a looped chain and hand crank. The cook or the “spit boy” turned this contraption for long, hot hours by the flame. When an invention to ease the process materialized, every well-attended kitchen saw it as a must.

As you might imagine, turnspit dogs had a difficult lot in life as far as working dogs go. According to Stephen Coren in his book The Pawprints of History, the lucky ones “worked in pairs, with one dog trading places with its mate every couple of hours.” Dry heat radiated from toothsome foods the dog could never quite reach, and turnspit dogs weren’t necessarily supplied with water on-shift. Coren adds that for the tired pups “that were considered lazy, the cook might put a hot coal into the wheel to make the dog move its feet more quickly.”

It’s uncertain exactly what breeds of dog the turnspit came from, but it is widely believed that the Welsh Corgi and various terriers were involved. Charles Darwin pointed to turnspits as an instance of genetic engineering, [ "Darwin said, 'Look at the spit dog. That's an example of how people can breed animals to suit particular needs.' " NPR] and by the 1600s, the turnspit dog industry brought them into many households, taking the hardest kitchen task out of the hands of humans.

Turnspit dogs weren’t confined to the kitchen; they also drove “fruit presses, butter churns, water pumps and grain mills,” says Coren, and one hopeful inventor even drafted a patent for a dog-powered sewing machine that never quite made it to production. In the United States, where the breed was more rare, they mainly worked cider mills and hotels. When they weren’t being used as a Flintstones-style living motor, their furry little bodies were brought with their owners to church, and used as foot warmers.

From the NPR article The Rise and Fall of the Vernepator Cur:

The dogs were used in large hotel kitchens in America to turn spits. "In the 1850s, the founder of the [Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals] was appalled by the way the turnspit dogs were treated in the hotels of Manhattan," says Weaver. "This bad treatment of dogs eventually led to the founding of the SPCA."

In 1750 there were turnspits everywhere in Great Britain. But by 1850 they had become scarce, and by 1900 they had disappeared. The availability of cheap spit-turning machines, called clock jacks, brought about the demise of the turnspit dog.

"It became a stigma of poverty to have a turnspit dog," says author Bondeson. "They were ugly little dogs with a quite morose disposition, so nobody wanted to keep them as pets. The turnspit dogs became extinct."

"Whiskey," a taxidermied turnspit dog on display at the Abergavenny Museum in Wales.

Back at Abergavenny Museum, Whiskey, the last remaining turnspit, is a permanent fixture. [Museum custodian] Sally Davis thinks the blue painted background and spray of artificial flowers in the case are a sign that someone really cared for her. "But the way she's posed," Sally says, "the taxidermy ... I think possibly it was their first go at it, I don't know."

#turnspit dogs #working animals #early modern #england #animal abuse cw #cruelty to animals cw #dogs #cooking #the atlas obscura article is mostly plagiarised from the better npr article it links to #I saw the former first #animals #long post

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clocksaroundthisworld · 6 years ago

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Shelved Clock Piece

Sherlock Holmes MuseumLondon, UK

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news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog · 8 years ago

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This politician doesn't like that there's no 'enduring reminder' of Britain's colonial atrocities

Indian parliamentarian and renowned author Shashi Tharoor wants museums to be built to chronicle Britain's "two centuries of looting and exploitation" of India, its erstwhile colony, that reduced the country to one of the "poorest, illiterate and diseased places on earth".

SEE ALSO: Writer-turned-politician amuses a nation in his quest to coin the world's shortest pangram

In a searing piece in Al Jazeera, Tharoor stressed upon the need for an "enduring reminder" of the atrocities meted out to 35 million Indians "in totally unnecessary famines caused by British policy, or the 'divide and rule' policy that culminated in the horrors of Partition in 1947."

Tharoor has proposed that the iconic Victoria Memorial in Kolkata, (earlier Calcutta) which incidentally was Britain's first capital in India, be converted into a museum demonstrating the British Raj's atrocities.

He writes: “This famous monument stands testimony to the glorification of the British Raj in India. It is time that it be converted to serve as a reminder of what was done to India by the British."

The Victorial Memorial in Kolkata, India.

Image: Amos Chapple/REX/Shutterstock

Calling Britain's exit from the subcontinent "shambolic and tragic" he said that the "lack of such a museum" across either India or the UK "is striking".

Tharoor, who's co-authored a book titled An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India, has been making demands for Britain's apology for a while now.

Two years ago, at an explosive Oxford Union debate, he had called for reparations from Britain to its former colonies. The speech went viral, clocking nearly 4 million views on YouTube.

He has also in the past referred to former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill as "a thoroughly unpleasant scoundrel" and highlighted how grains and food supplies were shipped out of India even as people were dying on the streets during the 1943 Bengal famine.

Tharoor had earlier recommended that 2019 would be a “good time” for Britain to apologize for all wrongdoings during its 200-year rule in India.

The year marks the centenary of the Jalianwala Bagh Massacre, one of the most horrific chapters of Indian history, where over 1,000 non-violent protesters were butchered by British soldiers under the orders of Brigadier Reginald Dyer.

History has always been written by the victors. Tharoor wants that changed now!

WATCH: Powerful image of Michelle Obama embracing George W. Bush at museum opening goes viral

#_uuid:0e8d0807-bb0c-33b6-94bd-51fb872ef266 #_lmsid:a0Vd000000DTrEpEAL #_author:Sohini Mitter #_revsp:news.mashable

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mhsn033 · 4 years ago

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The rise, fall, and rise of the status pineapple

Image copyright David Ashdown

Image caption Margaret Thatcher (left) and a pineapple

Symbols contain frequently been ancient to ticket one’s situation. Military insignia, family signet rings and heirloom watches; impressive properties stuffed with customary art, costly automobiles and dressmaker purses be clear a luxurious life-style is obvious to all. Nonetheless for roughly 250 years, all of these signposts of wealth and magnificent breeding had been ably fulfilled by… the pineapple.

Centuries earlier than even the person from Del Monte said “yes”, the nation’s need to-contain accent graced the table on the very richest aristocrats’ social gatherings.

Nonetheless the scaly sweet became too helpful to eat – a single fruit became price thousands of kilos and on the total the identical pineapple could perchance well be paraded from tournament to tournament except it will definitely went scandalous.

Later, a roaring alternate in pineapple rental developed, the put ambitious but less nicely-off folks could perchance well rent one for a numerous tournament, dinner occasion and even very most provocative to jauntily tuck below an arm on a present an explanation for-off stroll.

Image copyright Getty Photography

Image caption Royal Plight – pineapples had been on the total is named King or Queen Pine

By the 1770s, “a pineapple of essentially the most provocative flavour” grew to develop into a phrase ancient for the rest that became essentially the most provocative of essentially the most provocative. It be performed upon in Sheridan’s 1775 play The Opponents, when Mrs Malaprop confuses the note with “pinnacle” and exclaims: “He is the very pineapple of politeness!”.

In a television adaptation of Jane Austen’s unfinished Regency unique Sanditon, Lady Denham’s enormous luncheon has a pineapple in satisfaction of put – despite the proven truth that it is slice to point to the within is stuffed with maggots, demonstrating the immense wealth of the character but also the transitory nature of the situation image.

So why did pineapples bewitch the public creativeness so violently?

Image copyright Philip Halling

Image caption The orangery at Hanbury Corridor has carved pineapples on its roof, but most provocative the very wealthiest could perchance well contain ample money a pinery

The belief that pine apples (as they ancient to be known) are one way or the other associated to wealth and situation in all equity nicely-established for these of us who abilities a hump to a stately home.

Engravings could perchance well impartial additionally be admired on corbels and finials across the UK, remnants of a time when holding up with the neighbours intended throwing lavish parties and displaying one’s riches.

The 16th and 17th Centuries saw different exotic foods introduced serve to Europe from the Original World and Asia – and the pineapple grew to develop into most associated to situation and opulent.

In step with Dr Lauren O’Hagan from Cardiff University’s College of English, Communication and Philosophy, “the pineapple became previously unknown in the Dilapidated World, so it became freed from the cultural resonances of different fruits, which enabled of us to contrivance new meanings from it”.

As an example, the apple became already associated to the forbidden fruit in the Backyard of Eden, while pomegranate seeds kept the Greek goddess Persephone in the underworld for half of the 365 days.

Nonetheless, as Dr O’Hagan says, the pineapple’s “exotic look” gave it a legendary quality, which became “enhanced by its golden crown, viewed as the symbolic manifestation of the divine magnificent of king”.

Image copyright Heritage Photography

Image caption Artist Hendrick Danckerts painted Charles II being presented with a pineapple by the King’s Gardener, John Rose

The fruit even attracted a nickname: “King Pine”. And precise kings had been alive to to hop on the gilded bandwagon.

John Parkinson, Royal Botanist to Charles I, described the pineapple in the Theatrum Botanicum as “scaly bask in an artichoke” but “so sweet in scent… tasting… as if wine, rosewater and sugar had been blended together.”

Charles’ son and successor Charles II became so desirous about pineapples that he commissioned a portrait of himself being presented with one – it became speculated to be the very first to be grown in England, at Dorney Court docket in Berkshire, on the different hand it is now belief to were imported as a juvenile and merely ripened on home soil.

Image copyright Caroline Studdart-Scott

Image caption A stand would train a not-for-eating pineapple in the centre of a platter of more cost-effective fruits

By the Georgian generation, pineapples had been beginning to be cultivated in Britain. Per chance surprisingly, the truth that they could perchance well impartial now be grown in situ did not decrease the fruit’s cachet, but moderately enhanced it.

Waiting for a pineapple to be transported from the tropics became one instruct; having the facilities and workers expert ample to develop one at home became moderately one other, becoming a fondness implemented exclusively by the landed aristocracy.

Johanna Lausen-Higgins, from the Royal Botanical Backyard in Edinburgh, says early makes an attempt at cultivation had been made in orangeries, which had been designed to attain frost protection for citrus fruit through the iciness months, but they did not present ample warmth and light for the tropical pineapple.

The Gentleman’s Journal of 1764 estimated that it price £150 (per the Financial institution of England’s inflation calculator, roughly a similar nowadays to £28,000) to contrivance a hothouse, veil the annual working costs and resolve the plant stock. And this expense became not guaranteed to supply any return.

Image copyright V and A Museum

Image caption The Cabinet Dinner, or a Political Assembly by Charles “Argus” Williams, shows partly eaten pineapples abandoned on the table – indicating the wealth and wastefulness of the upper classes

“Heating in glasshouses through the mid 17th Century became supplied by furnaces positioned within the structure, but fumes on the total broken or killed the vegetation,” Ms Lausen-Higgins says.

“Later, ‘fire partitions’ had been heated by sizzling air rising from furnaces or stoves which required constant stoking with coal. This became a abominable methodology and plenty early ‘pineries’, as they later grew to develop into known, burned down.”

On prime of the risks of 1’s pineapple investments going up in smoke, it took several years for the fruit to bloom.

A pineapple which had overcome all these hurdles became scarce ample to be valued at £60 (roughly £11,000). It became even better if it had shoots and leaves serene on it, making it obvious that it became homegrown.

Image copyright Imagno

Image caption Individuals even began to raise pineapples below their arm as a ticket of situation, per Dr O’Hagan

Pondering about losing such excessive-price fruit by eating it, house owners displayed pineapples as dinnertime embellishes on special plates which could perchance well enable the pineapple to be considered and admired but surrounded by other, more cost-effective, fruit for eating.

These pineapples had been costly ample to warrant security guards, and maids who transported them had been belief about to be at gigantic chance of being focused by thieves.

The 1807 Court docket cases of the Dilapidated Bailey present an explanation for several cases for pineapple theft, Dr O’Hagan factors out, including that of a Mr Godding who became sentenced to seven years transportation to Australia for stealing seven pineapples.

Image copyright Court docket cases of the Dilapidated Bailey

Image caption A transcription from a 1807 court docket case signifies the monetary price of pineapples

Since the ever-aspiring center classes had been anxious to receive their mitts on the fruit but could perchance well not contain ample money to domesticate or settle on them, canny businessmen opened pineapple rental stores across Britain. Firms began to profit on the fruit’s reputation and as with many crazes, the marketplace for pineapple-themed goods exploded.

Porcelain-makers Minton and Wedgwood started producing pineapple-formed teapots, ewers and jelly moulds. Ornately carved clock cases, bookends and art work prolonged the fashion from the eating table to other rooms in the house.

Commence air, the pineapple became represented on carriages and backyard temples. In spite of the entirety, if the fruit itself wouldn’t closing, carved-stone pineapples on plinths would absolutely be a permanent reminder to guests and passers-by of the wealth within a manor house.

Image copyright Caroline Studdart-Scott

Image caption The English passions of subtly demonstrating wealth and having a pleasant cup of tea had been united on this pineapple-finialed teapot

Nonetheless this megastar situation became to not closing critical longer. Steamships began to import pineapples to Britain on a usual basis from the colonies and the costs this capability that dropped.

And it wasn’t very most provocative the heart classes who could perchance well contain ample money a pineapple, but – apprehension of horrors – the working classes could perchance well too.

“What became once belief a pair of luxurious fruit could perchance well now be came upon cheaply on stalls and barrows in most cities and cities across the nation,” says Dr O’Hagan. “Today, working-class of us eating pineapples even grew to develop into ancient in satirical prints as a visible metaphor for the scenario of progress.”

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Image copyright Topical Press Company

Image caption A person selling pineapples for 9d – more cost-effective than potatoes, but maybe not as versatile

The pineapples so worshipped in earlier cases had been not most provocative out of favour, but had been becoming homogenised. In 1835, horticulturist Sir David Munro listed 52 forms of pineapple.

Ms Lausen-Higgins says that now most provocative two – Subtle Cayenne and Jamaica Queen – remain in cultivation nowadays, and are regarded as the 2 predominant strains from which most cultivars originated.

“From the 1950s onwards, pineapples had been bred so that they fitted neatly trusty into a tin. Fruits with a characteristically pyramidal shape, equivalent to Shaded Prince, grew to develop into extinct.”

On the different hand, some traces of Britain’s eccentric bask in affair with the pineapple remain.

Image copyright JOHANNES EISELE

Image caption The fashion for pineapple-themed goods stays trusty

The Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall has customary pineapple pits, heated by decomposing manure. As in cases previous, rising the fruit is labour-intensive and time-drinking – it takes about seven years to develop a pineapple.

The gardens estimate that restoration and repairs of the pit, dazzling-tuning of the rising methodology, and the person hours to survey after the fruit capability “every pineapple presumably price us in extra of £1,000”.

Despite this hefty brand, Heligan’s 15-trusty personnel of gardeners continues to attain the tropical fruit. In summer 2019, the principle Subtle Cayenne to fruit at Heligan in better than two years became harvested.

Image copyright Lost Gardens of Heligan

Image caption Group on the Lost Gardens of Heligan shared the fruit that took seven years to develop

And King Pine is serene gracing royal palates.

The 2d pineapple harvested on the gardens became given to the Queen (the principle became tasted by workers in case it tasted bask in manure. It did not) and Prince Charles went to the gardens in 1997 to contain a survey on the principle budding plant.

Image copyright Heligan

Image caption Prince Charles searching at King Pine

Once the pineapple became on the menu for customary of us and therefore off the menu for the nobility, the upper classes sought new ways to differentiate themselves from the plenty.

Did they learn their lesson from the immediate-lived situation and money-sucking nature of the pineapple? Per chance they could perchance well impartial contain invested in treasured gem stones or impressive property.

No, they did not. Dr O’Hagan says the in actuality prosperous then region their caps at one other luxurious and tough-to-develop meals.

Celery.

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