Uploads from HotpixUK -Add Me On Ipernity 500px, tagged architecture

365-265 Chester City Queens Park Dee Bridge at Dusk UK

nobody@flickr.com (HotpixUK -Add Me On Ipernity 500px) — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 18:10:00 -0700

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Queen's Park suspension bridge (for pedestrians. A great spot where the walker can see up the Dee river and over to the stone road crossing. Queens Park Suspension Bridge, links the walled city centre and the Groves with the Queens Park area on the southern bank. This was built in 1923 to replace an earlier construction. It is painted white and lit at night.

View on Alamy here.

The river was why the Romans came to build their fort here and the area below the city of Chester (now called The Roodee), which is now occupied by the racecourse was where the harbour was located. Over time the river silted and Liverpool became the port of choice for sea going vessels.

Near to this pedestrian bridge, north of town, is the Groves. A paved promenade complete with bandstand, cafés, restaurants and pubs. Here there are river cruises or rowing boats to hire.

Have a look at some of my other Cheshire images on Flickr - www.flickr.com/search/?q=Cheshire&w=33062170@N08 .

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(c) Hotpix / HotpixUK Tony Smith - Hotpix.freeserve.co.uk WDCC 07092182899

365-146 Warrington Old Fish Market at Dusk, Cheshire, North West England, UK

nobody@flickr.com (HotpixUK -Add Me On Ipernity 500px) — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 10:00:00 -0700

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A shot of the old Warrington fish market at dusk looking nice and festive in Golden square, Cheshire UK.

Before the 1970/80's development, the old fishmarket was actually in the space to the left of this shot.

More shots of warrington at dusk can be found here www.flickr.com/photos/hotpixuk/4084316490/ here
www.flickr.com/photos/hotpixuk/3782042577/ and here www.flickr.com/photos/hotpixuk/3709536244/

(c) Hotpix / HotpixUK Tony Smith - Hotpix.freeserve.co.uk WDCC

365-171 Up from the Cross, Lymm, Cheshire UK at Dusk

nobody@flickr.com (HotpixUK -Add Me On Ipernity 500px) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:49:13 -0800

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iPod Shuffle - Saints - Christchurch Cathedral, Dublin Ireland

nobody@flickr.com (HotpixUK -Add Me On Ipernity 500px) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 12:38:00 -0800

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The Breeders - "Saints" - Play this track here.

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"Saints" is a cracking track by The Breeders, released as the third and final single from their 1993 album Last Splash. It was released in 1994 on 4AD/Elektra Records.

The Breeders are an American alternative rock band formed in 1988 by Kim Deal of the Pixies and Tanya Donelly of Throwing Muses. The band has experienced a number of line-up changes; the current line-up consists of Kim Deal (lead vocals and guitar), her twin sister Kelley Deal (guitar and backing vocals), Jose Medeles (drums and percussion), Mando Lopez (bass guitar) Todd the Fox (guitar) and Cheryl Lyndsey (guitar); Kim Deal has been the band's sole continual member.

Their first album, Pod (1990), received critical acclaim but was not commercially successful. The Breeders' most successful album, 1993's Last Splash, produced the hit single "Cannonball". The band's fourth album, Mountain Battles, was released in 2008. The band's name is apparently gay slang for heterosexuals.

Christ Church Cathedral (or more formally, The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity) is the cathedral of the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough and the cathedral of the Ecclesiastical province of the United Provinces of Dublin and Cashel in the Church of Ireland. It is situated in Dublin, Ireland and is the elder of the capital city's two mediæval cathedrals, the other being St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Christ Church is officially claimed as the seat (cathedra) of both the Church of Ireland and Roman Catholic archbishops of Dublin. In practice, it has been the cathedral of only the Church of Ireland's Archbishop of Dublin, since the English Reformation. Though nominally claimed as his cathedral, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin uses St Mary's in Malborough Street in Dublin, as his pro-cathedral (acting cathedral).[2]

Christ Church Cathedral is located in the former heart of medieval Dublin, next to Wood Quay, at the end of Lord Edward Street. However a major dual carriage-way building scheme around it separated it from the original medieval street pattern which once surrounded it, with its original architectural context (at the centre of a maze of small buildings and streets) lost due to road-building and the demolition of the older residential quarter at Wood Quay. As a result the cathedral now appears dominant in isolation behind new civil offices along the quays, out of its original medieval context.

Christ Church is the only one of the three cathedrals or acting cathedrals which can be seen clearly from the River Liffey.

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(c) Hotpix / HotpixUK Tony Smith - Hotpix.freeserve.co.uk WDCC

London Canary Wharf Financial District At Dusk, UK

nobody@flickr.com (HotpixUK -Add Me On Ipernity 500px) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 14:55:00 -0700

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Canary Wharf is a major business district located in London, United Kingdom.

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London has two main financial centres, alongside the traditional City of London, and contains many of the UK's tallest buildings, including the second-tallest (and tallest completed), One Canada Square. Canary Wharf contains around 14,000,000 square feet (1,300,000 m2) of office and retail space, of which around 7,900,000 square feet (734,000 m2) is owned by Canary Wharf Group.

Around 90,000 people work in Canary Wharf and it is home to the world or European headquarters of numerous major banks, professional services firms and media organisations including Barclays, Citigroup, Clifford Chance, HSBC, KPMG, MetLife, and Thomson Reuters.

Canary Wharf was built on the site of the West India Docks on the Isle of Dogs. From 1802, the area was one of the busiest docks in the world. By the 1950s, the port industry began to decline, leading to the docks closing by 1980.

Canary Wharf itself takes its name from No. 32 berth of the West Wood Quay of the Import Dock. This was built in 1936 for Fruit Lines Ltd, a subsidiary of Fred Olsen Lines for the Mediterranean and Canary Island (Insula Canaria (from canis) "Island of Dogs") fruit trade. At their request, the quay and warehouse were given the name Canary Wharf.

The Canary Wharf of today began when Michael von Clemm, former chairman of Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB), came up with the idea to convert Canary Wharf into back office accomodation. A new business district was planned, construction started in 1988.

A bust and a boom in property prices then occurred. At the peak of property prices in 2007, the HSBC building sold for a record £1.1 billion.

This dusk shot was taken at the evening rush hour and many offices are still filled with staff. Heron Quays DLR station is over to the far left and the Jubilee line underground tube station right of centre. The image is a panaorama stitch of siz seperate HDR images.

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Warrington Bridge Street Panorama, Cheshire UK at Dusk

nobody@flickr.com (HotpixUK -Add Me On Ipernity 500px) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 00:04:00 -0700

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A night shot of the new instalations at the head of Warrington Bridge Street and Horse market near the entrance to Golden Square shopping centre. The wet evening has brought out some nice reflections in the pavement.

Warrington has been a major crossing point on the River Mersey since ancient times and there was a Roman settlement at Wilderspool. In medieval times Warrington's importance was as a bridging point of the River Mersey, and it was a fulcrum in the English Civil War.

The armies of Oliver Cromwell and the Earl of Derby both stayed near the old town centre (the parish church area). Popular legend has it that Cromwell lodged near the building which survives on Church Street as The Cottage Restaurant. The Marquis of Granby public house bears a plaque stating that the Earl of Derby 'had his quarters near this site'. Dents in the walls of the parish church are rumoured to have been caused by the cannons from the time of the Civil War. On the 13 August 1651 Warrington was the scene of the last Royalist victory of the Civil War when Scots troops under Charles II and David Leslie, Lord Newark, fought Parliamentarians under John Lambert at The Battle of Warrington Bridge.

The expansion and urbanisation of Warrington largely coincided with the Industrial Revolution, particularly after the Mersey was made navigable in the 18th Century. As Britain became industrialised, Warrington embraced the industrial revolution becoming a manufacturing town and a centre of steel (particularly wire, given its name to the local Rugby team 'Wires'), textiles, brewing, tanning and chemical industries.

The navigational properties of the river Mersey were improved, canals were built, and the town grew yet more prosperous and popular. When the age of steam came, Warrington naturally welcomed it, both as a means of transport and as a source of power for its mills.

Heavy industry declined in the 1970s and 1980s but the growth of the new town around Warrington led to a great increase in employment in light industry, distribution and technology.

(c) Hotpix / HotpixUK Tony Smith - Hotpix.freeserve.co.uk WDCC 07092182899

National Library Of Ireland, Dublin

nobody@flickr.com (HotpixUK -Add Me On Ipernity 500px) — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 07:00:00 -0700

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The first national libraries had their origins in the royal collections of the sovereign or some other supreme body of the state.

One of the first plans for a national library was that devised by the Welsh mathematician John Dee, who in 1556 presented Mary I of England with a visionary plan for the preservation of old books, manuscripts and records and the founding of a national library but his proposal was not taken up.

The beautiful National Library of Ireland was established by the Dublin Science and Art Museum Act, 1877, which provided that the bulk of the collections in the possession of the Royal Dublin Society, should be vested in the then Department of Science and Art for the benefit of the public and of the Society, and for the purposes of the Act.

An Agreement of 1881 provided that the Library should operate under the superintendence of a Council of twelve Trustees, eight of whom were appointed by the Society and four by the Government; this Agreement also conferred on the Trustees the duty of appointing the officers of the Library. This arrangement remained in place until the library became an autonomous cultural institution in 2005.

After the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1924/5 the Library was transferred to the Department of Education under which it remained until 1986 when it was transferred to the Department of An Taoiseach. In 1927 the Library was granted legal deposit status under the Industrial and Commercial Property (Protection) Act, 1927. In 1992 the Library transferred to the newly established Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht (now Arts, Sport and Tourism) and on 3 May 2005 became an autonomous cultural institution under the National Cultural Institutions Act, 1997.

This is a joiner formed from 6 x 3 separate HDR images joined together.

¿Whats this Library Tribe set all about? Read about it here

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365-243 Liverpool Pier Head At Dusk Panorama

nobody@flickr.com (HotpixUK -Add Me On Ipernity 500px) — Sat, 21 May 2011 06:56:00 -0700

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The three graces on the Liverpool mersey waterfront at dusk, after rain showers.

These important architectural landmarks are:

The Royal Liver Building, built between 1908 and 1911 and designed by Walter Aubrey Thomas. It is a grade I listed building consisting of two clock towers, both crowned by mythical Liver Birds. The building is the headquarters of the Royal Liver Friendly Society. Now Deutsche Bank.

The Cunard Building, constructed between 1914 and 1916 and a grade II* listed building. It is the former headquarters of the Cunard Line shipping company.

The Port of Liverpool Building, built from 1903 to 1907 and also grade II* listed. It is the former home of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board.

Added to this left and right is the new Beatles exhiition and the museum of Liverpool life.

Work commenced in 2007 to build a canal link between the Leeds-Liverpool Canal and the South Docks. The £22 million pound 1.6 mile extension to the Leeds-Liverpool Canal was officially opened on 25 March 2009. It opens to boaters at the end of April and links the 127 miles of the existing canal to the city’s South Docks, passing Pier Head and the famous Three Graces. The Pier Head was in this form for the 2008 city of culture celebrations.

At first, the Prince's Landing Stage was situated at the Pier Head to serve the trans-Atlantic liner service. There were many stages built during Liverpool's history, the most recent opened in the 1890s and was joined to the neighbouring George's Landing Stage, situated to the south. After further lengthening took place in the early twentieth century, the combined structure originally measured nearly 3,000 feet, almost half a mile. Both were scrapped in 1973, following the termination of trans-Atlantic services from Liverpool.

In the three years or so I worked in Liverpool, Pier Head served as a major bus interchange. There was also a very poor Beefeater / Berni Inn pub at the Pier head too, where the Beatles exhibition is today.

Goldfrapp live in Liverpool www.flickr.com/photos/hotpixuk/3077807669/

A pier head joiner www.flickr.com/photos/hotpixuk/4281002771/

A dusk shot with similar treatment www.flickr.com/photos/hotpixuk/4259536947/

(c) Hotpix / HotpixUK Tony Smith - Hotpix.freeserve.co.uk WDCC 07092182899

iPod Shuffle - take Me To The River

nobody@flickr.com (HotpixUK -Add Me On Ipernity 500px) — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 17:07:00 -0700

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Take Me To The River - "Al Green" - Play this track here.

¿Whats this iPod Shuffle set all about? Read about it here

Albert Greene (born April 13, 1946) better known as Al Green, is an American gospel and soul music singer.

In 2005, Rolling Stone named him no 65 in their list of the '100 Greatest Artists of All Time'. The nomination, written by Justin Timberlake, stated that "people are born to do certain things, and Al was born to make us smile."

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted Green in 1995, referring to him as "one of the most gifted purveyors of soul music." Green has sold more than 20 million records. In 2000, Green published Take Me to the River, a book discussing his career. Green received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002.

I was introduced to Al Green via the cover of this track by talking Heads ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=anjT71N4PGM ). There are some great compilations out there to checkout more of his compositions.

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Inns Quay is where you find Four Courts, across Dublin's river Liffey.

The Four Courts was built between 1786 and 1796 by renowned architect James Gandon, while the finishing touches to the arcades and wings were completed in 1802. The lands were previously used by the King's Inns. The building originally housed the four courts of Chancery, King's Bench, Exchequer, and Common Pleas, hence the name of the building.

A major revision in the court system in the late nineteenth century saw these courts replaced, but the building has retained its historic name. This courts system remained until 1924, when the new Irish Free State introduced a new courts structure, replacing the old High Court of Ireland, the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland and the Lord Chancellor of Ireland with a new Supreme Court presided over by the Chief Justice and a High Court of Justice, presided over by the President of the High Court.

This is a panorama formed from a number of stitched infra red shots.

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( Feli )

365-314 Victorian Cotton Mill Owner, Styal, UK

nobody@flickr.com (HotpixUK -Add Me On Ipernity 500px) — Sun, 09 May 2010 23:46:00 -0700

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Quarry Bank Mill in Cheshire, England, is one of the best preserved textile mills of the Industrial Revolution and is now a museum of the cotton industry. It is a Grade II listed building and is now in the care of the National Trust.

The mill was founded by Samuel Greg (who is represented here), in 1784 in the village of Styal on the River Bollin. Its original iron water wheel was designed by Thomas Hewes and built between 1816 and 1820.

The Hewes wheel finally broke in 1904. After that the River Bollin continued to power the mill, through two water turbines. Today the Mill is home to the most powerful working waterwheel in Europe, an iron water wheel which was originally at Glasshouses Mill at Patley Bridge. This wheel was designed by Sir William Fairbairn, the Scottish engineer who had been an apprentice of Thomas Hewes.

The estate surrounding the mill, also developed by Greg, is the most complete and least altered factory colony of the Industrial Revolution. The estate and mill were donated to the National Trust in 1939 by Alexander Carlton Greg and are open to the public. The mill continued in commercial production until 1959.

The Greg family were Unitarians and built Norcliffe Chapel in Styal village. Their non-conformist religious beliefs provided the Gregs with important business contacts as many of the major Manchester Industrialists were Unitarian. Methodist workers at the mill later sought a place of worship, and the Gregs converted a grain store in Styal village into a Chapel for their use.

In Britain, a cotton mill is a factory that houses spinning and weaving machinery. Typically built between 1775 and 1930, mills spun cotton which was an important product during the Industrial Revolution.

Cotton mills, and the mechanisation of the spinning process, were instrumental in the growth of the machine tool industry, enabling the construction of larger cotton mills. The requirement for water helped stimulate the construction of the canal system, and the need for power the development of steam engines.

Limited companies were developed to construct the mills. This led to the trading floors of the cotton exchange of Manchester (now the Royal Excahnge Theatre), which in its turn created a vast commercial city. At the top of the town hall in Manchester sits a golden cotton seed, its basis for its wealth.

The mills also created extra employment, leading to the expansion of local populations and the need for extra housing. In response, mill towns with municipal governments were created. The mills provided independent incomes for girls and women. Child labour was used in the mills, and the factory system led to organised labour.

Poor conditions in cotton mills became the subject of exposes and the Factory Acts were written to regulate them. The cotton mill was originally a Lancashire phenomenon that then was copied in New England and later in the southern states of America.

In the twentieth century, North West England lost its supremacy to the United States, then India and then China. In the twenty-first century redundant mills have been accepted as part of a country's industrial heritage.

NB: Like all the images on this stream, full size prints up to 30x20inches are available, Check my profile for how to contact me.

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A Stroll In The University, Old College Edinburgh, Scotland

nobody@flickr.com (HotpixUK -Add Me On Ipernity 500px) — Thu, 06 May 2010 06:36:27 -0700

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The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1582, is an internationally renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. It was the fourth university to be established in Scotland, making it one of the ancient universities of the United Kingdom...

The university is consistently placed amongst the best in the world, ranking 20th in the 2009 THES - QS World University Rankings, as well as 17th in the current Global University Ranking. THES - QS World University Rankings has consistently ranked University of Edinburgh as the best university in Scotland, and one of the five best universities in UK.

The university played an important role leading the city of Edinburgh to its reputation as a chief intellectual centre during the Age of Enlightenment, and helped give the city the nickname of the Athens of the north.

Alumni of the university include some of the major figures of modern history. The founding of the University is attributed to Bishop Robert Reid of St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, Orkney, who left the funds on his death in 1558 that ultimately provided the University's endowment. The University was established by a Royal Charter granted by James VI in 1582, becoming the fourth Scottish university at a time when the neighbour neighbour to the south, England, had only two..

The Guardian University Guide 2008 ranked the University of Edinburgh as follows:..7th in the UK overall.1st in the UK for computer science.1st in the UK for physics.1st in the UK for Nursing.2nd in the UK for medicine..A very outstanding achievment and the uni resides in some outstanding architectural monuments, such as Old College as seen here..

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(c) Hotpix / HotpixUK Tony Smith - Hotpix.freeserve.co.uk WDCC 07092182899

365-312 Saltaire United Reformed Church, UK Interior Panorama

nobody@flickr.com (HotpixUK -Add Me On Ipernity 500px) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 12:39:27 -0700

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Saltaire United Reformed Church is one of the UK's most precious Victorian architectural gems. The church was built by Sir Titus Salt in 1859 near Shipley along from Bradford, West Yorkshire. Its style is Italianate religious architecture. It has been described as a classic 'Cathedral of Congregationalism'.

Saltaire was Sir Titus Salt's legacy. Sir Titus Salt, 1st Baronet (20 September 1803 – 29 December 1876), born in Morley, near Leeds, was a manufacturer, politician and philanthropist in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. I find him pretty inspirational, he was certainly way ahead of his time. His father Daniel Salt was a fairly successful businessman and was able to send Titus to Batley Grammar School.

In 1833 he had taken over the running of his father's business and within twenty years had expanded it to be the largest employer in Bradford. In 1848 Titus Salt became mayor of Bradford. He had a social conscience and took steps to look for solutions to the pollution from the many factory chimneys in the city.

Around 1850, he decided to build a large mill to consolidate his textile manufacture in one place, but he 'did not like to be a party to increasing that already over-crowded borough', and he bought some land three miles from Bradford, adjacent to Shipley next to the River Aire. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the Midland Railway, main arteries of the day were adjacent.

Building of his mill was begun in 1851. He opened it with a grand banquet on his 50th birthday, 20 September 1853. Following that public conscience he then set about building the houses, bathhouses, institute, hospital, almshouses and churches, that make up Saltaire. very revolutionary for the time. Similar ventures were persued by the quaker chocolate barons at Bournville and by Rowntree in York. Salt built the Congregational Church pictured here (now Saltaire United Reformed Church) at his own expense in 1858–59. He donated the land on which the Wesleyan Chapel was built by public subscription in 1866–68.

Sir Titus commissioned architects Lockwood and Mawson to design the building, as they had designed a number of other important Italianate buildings in Bradford City centre.

His body is interred at a mausaleum at the church and can be viewed. Reportidly at his funeral 100,000 people lined the route. Many people had him to thank for his far sightedness and care for his fellow man.

The church today is grade I listed. The entrance is up six steps under a portico supported by six unfluted Corinthian columns and topped by a fretted tower with cupola.

Inside are hollow Corinthian columns with beautiful Scagliola exteriors, an Italian technique implemented by Mr. Dolan of Manchester. Two ornate chandeliers of ormolu and cut glass hang from the ceiling, of such great weight that additional roof trusses had to be inserted to support them. Originally lit by gas, they were made by Hausburg of Liverpool.

The existing organ, built by Peter Conacher and Co. of Huddersfield, was installed in 1890, rebuilt at the end of the Second World War.

NB: Like all the images on this stream, full size prints up to 30x20inches are available, Check my profile for how to contact me.

Checkout more Historic Buildings from my photostream.

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(c) Hotpix / HotpixUK Tony Smith - Hotpix.freeserve.co.uk WDCC

Busy Shoppers In Eastgate, Chester, Cheshire UK, Avoiding Showers

nobody@flickr.com (HotpixUK -Add Me On Ipernity 500px) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 11:12:50 -0700

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Eastgate, shown here and Eastgate Clock in Chester, Cheshire, England, stand on the site of the original entrance to the Roman fortress of Deva Victrix. The clock is a prominent landmark in the city of Chester and is said to be the most photographed clock in England after Big Ben.

The original gate was guarded by a timber tower which was replaced by a stone tower in the 2nd century, and this in turn was replaced probably in the 14th century. The present gateway dates from 1768 and is a three-arched sandstone structure which carries the walkway forming part of Chester city walls. In 1899 a clock was added to the top of the gateway to celebrate the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria two years earlier. It is carried on openwork iron pylons, has a clock face on all four sides, and a copper ogee cupola. The clock was designed by the Chester architect John Douglas. The whole structure, gateway and clock, was listed by English Heritage on 28 July 1955 as a Grade I listed building. You know you have been on a visit to Chester when you have an image of this clock in your memory card. To avoid this failure of imagination, this photograph was taken from under the clock mechanism.

Eastgate was originally defended by a timber tower. The road running through the gate led to Manchester, then across the Pennines to York. By the 18th century the city walls were no longer needed for defensive purposes and so, rather than being pulled down, they were converted into walkways. The medieval gateways were obstructing the traffic into the city and were replaced by wider arched gateways with balustraded parapets. The first gateway to be replaced was Eastgate in 1768 which was rebuilt as an "elegant arch". It was built at the expense of Richard Grosvenor, 1st Earl Grosvenor, and designed by Mr Hayden (or Heyden), the earl's surveyor of buildings.

Eastgate today is a clutch of upmarket shops, Browns Jewellers, banks and the Chester Grosvenor Five Star Hotel. Afternoons are a swirl of rushing shoppers, some stationary Italian, Japanese and American tourists and generally the street artist or odd busker knocking out 'Wonderwall'. To the right the wooden 'rows' uniquely of Chester can be seen, including the 'Ye Olde Boot Inn'. A fine watering hole with Sam Smiths ales, the oldest in Chester, circa 1643.

This image was awarded first prize in the April 2010 WDCC club competition 'Urban Images'.

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365-307 Exeter West Railway Signal Box, (Now Sited In Crewe) UK

nobody@flickr.com (HotpixUK -Add Me On Ipernity 500px) — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 04:24:00 -0700

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My first real experience of signal boxes was when my friend from the next year up in school Pete Williams used to blag me into the signalbox at Dinting on the Glossop to Piccadilly Manchester line. It had a chip pan, baby belling and all mod cons. I even remember the incumbent signalman holding a train for ten minutes while we finished our chips!

This is a panoramic shot of the Exeter West signal box, which is now located in original form at Crewe Heritage Centre, formerly the Crewe Railway Age. What's it doing here? you may reasonably ask.

Signalling in the Exeter area was renewed in 1985. this was part of the old GWR area (Great Western Railway or Gods Wonderful Railway as it can occasionally still be referred). It would have been demolished but for a group of enthusiasts who carefully dismantled it so it could be re-erected as a working museum demonstrating how the larger signal boxes of the past were. It indeed works virtually every weekend, trained "signalmen" are present most weekends to describe and demonstrate signalling days of the past and answer questions from visitors.

Exeter West signalbox was built by the Great Western Railway in 1913. It was located at the west end of St. Davids station, controlling the junction for the London & South Western Railway's line to Waterloo and connections to the Goods Lines avoiding the station, the engine sheds and various yards. The previous box was not spacious enough to accommodate the greater layout following enlargement of the station. The lengthy new signalbox contained a lever frame of 114 levers, but this was replaced in 1959 by an even larger new frame of 131 levers.

The signal box remained in use until 1985, when colour light signalling controlled electronically from a new box at Exeter was brought into use. After closure of the box, the Exeter West Group moved in and carefully dismantled the signal box, marking each of the hundreds of parts for future reference. The first task was to safely remove all furniture, then dismantle the massive lever frame. all pieces were numbered and after two floundered attempts to site the box in Bristol and Swindon, Crewe found space for it.

The 131-lever frame was rebuilt lever by lever, and the interlocking painstakingly reinstated, and was completed during August 1992. The instrument shelf and the signalling equipment was then added. The box was formally opened to the public on May Day Monday 1993.

With the box once more restored to its proper condition, a start was made on rigging up equipment to simulate activity as it would have been when the box was operational. Most of the levers have been weighted to simulate real operation, although some are actually connected to real signals erected around the site.

An electronic simulator has been provided, and the job working the simulator can be harder than working the box itself, for the operator has to act as signalman at all the adjacent boxes, make telephone calls representing local staff, and work the track circuit lights to emulate the passage of trains.

The box can be worked to the full summer timetable of the 1960's, although generally the box is demonstrated to visitors with a very limited timetable to allow movements and actions to be explained. However once a year, on May Day weekend, members of the Group occasionally simulate a full timetable for a 54-hour continuous period. At its busiest, this requires four staff in the box (just as it used to be) and two further operators controlling the simulator.

If you were wondering, black levers are for points, blue locking points red for signals and black/white for detonators.

Whether you find trains and railways fascinating or not, this is a really interesting place. a bit of a trip back in time at least 25 years to a more manual age. Oh and if you were wondering, they do have a baby Belling, which would be capable of doing chips!

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A Quiet Pint In Edinburgh, In The Guildford Arms Interior, Scotland UK

nobody@flickr.com (HotpixUK -Add Me On Ipernity 500px) — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 16:03:08 -0700

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One of my favourite watering holes in the city of Edinburgh. Delightfully tucked away off Princes Street and away from the rowdy bars of Rose Street. My default choice in there is Weihenstephan - 'älteste Brauerei der Welt' (lierally Dedicating Stefan - oldest brewery of the world), which is a lovely pint, in its own special tall glass. A plaque outside details its history.

The origins of the site was the Guildford Arms Hotel. This was more or less totally rteworked by Robert Macfarlane Cameron in 1898. It was modelled on the then popular victorian gin palace theme echoing the Phil in Liverpool and the Crown in Belfast among others. Most pubs were at the time male dominated and frankly dingy and possibly a little dangerous. The temperance movement is said to have encouraged the design of more luxurious pubs, particularly suitable for the fairer sex rather than just men.

The current configuration dates from 1940. However the centrepoint of the Guildford’s late Victorian opulence is the magnificent Jacobean style ceiling which can be seen in this image. A row of real ale pumps on the bar all have the logo of DM Stewart, owner since victorian days.

A grand old Thorne Brothers Mirror hangs at the end of the bar. Just below the cornice height, wood panelling conceals a hidden room: legend has that this was aparently used to store spirits and other liquor which was pumped to the room from street level. A narrow walkway
leads from this room around the inner walls to the Gallery. This gallery now provides an ideal spot for diners to marvel at the superbly decorated ceiling or gaze down at the punters in the Public Bar. Both lunch and dinner are served in the Gallery Restaurant with lunch and snacks (Chilli Cashews is my weakness when in there) also served in the Lounge & Public Bar areas. I can vouch for the excellent range of real ales. Usually a wider selection from Scotland (including the islands) than the neighbour to the south too. Readers of The Edinburgh Evening News voted the Guildford Arms Best City Bar in 1999. If you are in town and have a spare hour or so for victorian time travel, pop in!

(2010 week 13)

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365-290 Tobermory Whisky Distillery Copper Stills, Scotland

nobody@flickr.com (HotpixUK -Add Me On Ipernity 500px) — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 12:16:54 -0700

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When in Rome as they say..... Here you can see the copper pot stills, each over 20 feet high. Malt is whisky made entirely from malted barley and distilled in an onion-shaped pot still such as these.

Ledaig is the original name for the Tobermory Scotch whisky distillery on the isle of Mull, western Scotland. The distillery was founded in 1798 and the present buildings were erected during its first period of operation which continued until 1826. The distillery was 'silent' for long periods in the mid 1800s and mid 1900s and was twice revived during the 1970s. Now it has been revived again

The distillery belongs currently to Burn Stewart, closed in 1975, and reopened in 1990. Its main product, Tobermory single malt is used in the blends "Scottish Leader" and "Black Prince". The distillery also produces a smaller amount of peated whisky, Ledaig (not quite as peaty as Lafroig). It is just to the left of the colourful harbour.

Single Malts mature at the Deanston Distillery in sherry and bourbon casks, they are then returned to Tobermory for the last few years. Burn Stewart also own this facility. Tobermory the Malt Scotch Whisky is presented in a bottle with an enamelled label. It is a vatted malt containing some Tobermory whiskies of up to 20-years old and proportions of newly-mature spirit from elsewhere.

Vatted malt is blended from malt whiskies from different distilleries. If a whisky is labelled "pure malt" or just "malt" it is almost certain to be a vatted whisky. This is also sometimes labelled as "blended malt" whisky.

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365-287 Cafe Royal Edinburgh Interior Panorama, Scotland

nobody@flickr.com (HotpixUK -Add Me On Ipernity 500px) — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 13:51:55 -0700

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Ah! a relaxing and very civilised Easter bank holiday monday afternoon with my friend Stephen in the Cafe Royal, tucked away in West Register Street, Edinburgh. Nice to be served real cask ales and great food.

It has its origins across the road from where it now stands back in 1826. It was known then for its Oysters, one of the rare foods I have given up trying to enjoy, they are just not for me. Local architect Robert Paterson is responsible for its parisian style and its a great step back to victorian gin palace times, a bit like the Phil in Liverpool ( www.flickr.com/photos/hotpixuk/3804831303/ ).

On the menu today was a lovely tomato based fish soup, Moules (Mussels to you), mixed starters to share, pork in cider, although the homemade sandwiches and burgers in there are also really nice. i had the fish soup followed by a really good Cranachan (a local Scots desert with double cream, oats and raspberries), try it if you get the chance, naughty but nice!

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12 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh

nobody@flickr.com (HotpixUK -Add Me On Ipernity 500px) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 15:11:43 -0700

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12 and 14 Nicolson Square are lovely old buildings in the old town of Edinburgh with distinctive old faded painted sign remnants in red. The square originally contained the properties of Sir James Nicolson, back pre-1800. Older maps reveal this at that time to probably be the extent of the city. Nearby Cabbagehall and Turnip Fields would have once produced food but were built over as the metropolis expanded. Nicholas Martinot looks to have been a prominent manufacturer of baskets and importer of other goods from 1890 or so onwards.

The text on the faded paint advertise 'Fancy Leathergoods' , 'Basket Manufacture', Rugs, Mats, walking Sticks, Hardware and Woodenware.

The Edinburgh Gazette of 1890 and 1892 note two 'bankrupt sequestrations' in which Martinot was elected joint commissioners. In issue 10128 (25th Feb 1890) page 180 they are involved in sequestration of Daniel S Johnston, fancy goods merchant at 103 Kirkgate and 131 Great Junction St Leith. In another issue 10363 the sequestration of a hardware, toy and Smallware merchant from 272 Canongate and 15 St Mary Street is involved ( www.edinburgh-gazette.co.uk/issues/10128/pages/180 & www.edinburgh-gazette.co.uk/issues/10364/pages/670 ).

The building is now used by Edinburgh University, School of Arts, Culture & Environment and the facilty is named Alison House.

(2010 week 13)

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365-282 Coventry (New) Cathedral Interior Panorama, Warwickshire, England UK

nobody@flickr.com (HotpixUK -Add Me On Ipernity 500px) — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 20:00:00 -0700

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St Michael's Cathedral was built after the destruction of the former during world war II during extreme German Luftwaffe bombing raids on the 14th November 1940. The intensity of this city's destruction was termed 'Coventry-isation' by Hitler.

It is to the external viewer quite concrete-y, yet a fine celebration of 20th century modernist architecture. The new cathedral was designed by Basil Spence (Knighted for this work) and Arup, constructed by John Laing. It is also a Grade I listed building. Remains of the old cathedral still sit beside it. A competition was held in 1950 to find an architect for the new Cathedral, over 200 designs were submitted. The foundation stone of the new cathedral was laid by Queen Elizabeth II on 23rd March 1956. Actual consecration was over 6 years later on the 25th May 1962.

Its design provoked much discussion, much like the new modernist catholic cathedral in Liverpool. A large tapestry of Christ dominates the altar area. the baptistery consists of a ceiling high mosaic of 195 panes of stained glass. The Great West Window, which looks out on the remains of the old cathedral is known as the Screen of Saints and Angels, engraved directly onto the screen in expressionist style by the New Zealand artist John Hutton.

The ceiling is an innovative and complicated construction. There are multiple pyramids of Canadian Spruce slats. Panels above each of which is movable so if needed the acoustic properties of the cathedral can be adjusted for paticular events. Around the nave walls are tablets of stone (the 'tablets of the word') with inscriptions. These are by Ralph Beyer. Inscriptions are uneven deliberately to try to reflect early Christian inscriptions.

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365-291 St Giles Cathedral and West Parliament Square, Edinburgh, Scotland At Dusk

nobody@flickr.com (HotpixUK -Add Me On Ipernity 500px) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 11:58:35 -0700

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The patron saint of Edinburgh was St Giles, and it is to he that the building is dedicated. St. Giles was the patron saint of cripples and lepers, of which I would expect there were plenty around the middle ages when at peak popularity. These were the premier league stars of their day. His feast day is celebrated on 1st September. St Giles, a 7th century hermit (and, later, abbot) who lived in France, became the patron of both town and church was probably due to the ancient ties between Scotland and France, a popular ally in the resistance to the larger neighbour in the south.

The building has a distinctive crown steeple, popular in Scotland in medieval times. There are a few in England too and one can be seen on the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Although one of Edinburgh's religious focal points for approximately 900 years, the High Kirk of Edinburgh was only the seat of bishops between 1635-38 and 1661-1689. Thus 'high Kirk' is a more accurate title than the common label of cathedral. Presbyterianism was born here

The building is irregular as it has been added to at various stages over the last 900 years or so. Many chapels were added, many by craft guilds or wealthy merchants of the town.

In 1559, John Knox led the Lords of the Congregation into Edinburgh and was elected minister of Edinburgh. He played a principal role in establishing the styles of worship and administration that were to be accepted throughout the country. Knox served as Minister at St Giles' until 1572. The Reformers partitioned the interior of St Giles', dividing the congregation of Edinburgh and allowing the building to be used for a wide range of purposes. During the next 300 years the building housed a police station, a fire station, a school and a coal store. The Scottish guillotine, the "Maiden", was housed in the church, and in one corner was a prison used for "harlots and whores". The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland met in the building, as did the Parliament and the Town Council.

Walking around the interior it is easy to feel that many old ghosts inhabit its fabric. James Graham, Marquess of Montrose, and Archibald Campbell, Marquess of Argyll were just two notable men executed for a clash of faith with the ruling classes. Both are commemorated within St Giles.

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