Hadrian’s Wall – on the edge of Empire March 19, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in British Isles, England, Great Britain, Museums, Scotland, World Heritage Site.Tags: 'a-viking', 'Eagle of the Ninth', 'mile castle', 'On the Wall', ancient monument, Antonine Wall, ballista, basaltic, bathhouse, battleground, border marker, Bowness, Britannia, British, British tribes, cavalry, Danish, decree, deep ditch, Emperor, Emperor Hadrian, engineers, English Heritage, faced stone blocks, farmers, fort, fortifications, forts, Hadrian's Wall, Housesteads, infantry, Irish Sea, Legions, levies, linear fortress, longboat, military road, museum, Museums, Norse, North Sea, Oceanus Germanicus, Pictish, Picts, provincial boundary, quarried stone, quarry, Roman, Roman Legion, Roman mile, Roman occupation, Romanized, Romans, Rome, Rosemary Sutcliffe, rubble core, Rudyard Kipling, Segedunum, siege engines, Solway Firth, tourist, tourist destination, UNESCO, Vercovicum, Wallsend, watchtower, World Heritage Site
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Hadrian's Wall - looking west
Hadrian’s Wall has been many things in its long life – linear fortress, border marker, provincial boundary, casual quarry, battleground, ancient monument, tourist destination and the setting for many tales (Rosemary Sutcliffe’s ‘Eagle of the Ninth’, and Rudyard Kipling’s ‘On the Wall’ spring to mind). It runs from the Roman fort of Segedunum (Wallsend) to Bowness on the Solway Firth, and is just over 73 miles long.
Brought into being by decree of the Emperor Hadrian, during his tour of Britain in 120AD, the main purpose of the wall was to prevent the northern areas of the Roman province of Britannia being over-run by Pictish tribes from the north, and also spasmodic sea-borne attacks by Danish and Norse raiding parties, who went ‘a-viking’ when the spring brought better sea conditions for their longboats. The best known of the three wall-like fortifications built across the province of Britannia, Hadrian’s Wall had (for the most part) a rubble core and faced stone blocks to a height of some 12 feet, in places. The more northern Antonine Wall, (built c. 142AD) at the shortest distance between the east and west coasts, was a constructed of mostly earth and timber. It is a little known fact that each Roman Legion carried its own engineers, and these were quite capable of undertaking major building works, such as Hadrian’s Wall, using local stone; three Legions undertook to build the wall, and traces of their handiwork can be identified to this day. When completed, the wall stretched from the North Sea (Oceanus Germanicus) to the Irish Sea. It was fortified each Roman mile, with so-called ‘mile castles’, strong watchtowers, which could hold a detachment of fighting men, and siege engines, including ballistas, capable of firing heavy dart-like spears at any attacking force. There was a deep ditch immediately in front of the Wall, which was strewn with thorn bushes and jagged rocks to make any approach from the northern side difficult. There were also some fortifications to the south, in parts, to prevent attacks from the rear, as well as a military road behind the wall running parallel to the fortifications.
As well as the mile castles, there were major forts immediately behind the wall, like the one at Housesteads, which has been preserved (especially the bathhouses), and which has a delightful museum about the Roman occupation. A number of outlying forts, north of the wall, were intended to subdue and control the Picts, locally.
The grip of the Romans on this area waxed and waned over the centuries, and the commanders had to rely on British auxiliaries to man Hadrian’s Wall. These auxiliary units would have included both infantry and cavalry, and would have been recruited, in the main, from local Romanized British tribes. When Rome finally withdrew the last of the Legions in 410AD, the Wall ceased to have a great deal of meaning – although some historians suggest that local ‘levies’ still manned some of the forts for a time.
This view, from just north of the wall and looking west, shows the natural, basaltic outcropping, which the Legions used as the basis for their structure, wherever possible (the western half did not have easily available stone). The remains – close to the fort of Vercovicum (Housesteads) – are still impressive, despite the ravages of time, and the depredations of local farmers through the centuries, and 18th century road-builders, who regarded the wall as a great source of quarried stone. Hadrian’s Wall is, of course, a UNESCO World Heritage Site – it attained that status in 1987, and is managed by English Heritage.
Street signs – advertising as art March 11, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in British Isles, England, Museums.Tags: Beamish Open Air Museum, Victorian Era, County Durham, steel, Rowntree's, cocoa, Sunlight Soap, Berina Malted Milk Food, Oxo, Carter's Seeds, Milkmaid's Milk, Sun Insurance, neon tube, billboards, paper posters, metal street signs, industrial buildings, commercial buildings, railings, fences, railway stations, corner shops, advertisements, Pear's Soap, Nipper, terrier, Painting, His Master's Voice, The Gramophone Company, HMV, rolled tin, mild steel, screen printed, rusted, oxygen cell corrosion, paint, dyestuff, screw holes, enamel, galvanized, zinc, paint adhesion, tin signs, Scottish, Ovaltine, Holdfast Boots, Swan Ink, Stephen's Blue-Black Ink, brand leader, Thorley's Food, pigs, Burnard & Alger's, Plymouth, manures, crops, Cooper's Sheep Dipping Powder, King of Spades, playing card, king, shepherd's crook, sceptre, sheep dip, keds, lice, scab, blood-sucking, wingless fly, Melophagus ovinus, tick, loss of weight, damage to hide, damage to fleece, irritation, reproduction signs, commercial images, byegone age, art form, Stanley
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Street signs, Beamish Open Air Museum, Stanley, County Durham
Before the flickering neon tube invaded our senses, before the massive billboards with their ephemeral, multi-sectioned, paper posters, there were metal street signs. A step up from the simple manufacturer’s notices and such, which were generally painted in one or two colours on the blank walls of industrial or commercial buildings, metal signs were screwed onto the walls, railings and fences of everything from railway stations to ‘corner shops’.
In their heyday, from the Victorian era through to the 1950s, images on street signs rose from the commonplace to the iconic. The children used in the advertisements for ‘Pear’s Soap’ were famous, and Nipper, the terrier in the painting ‘His Master’s Voice’ (originally from The Gramophone Company, now HMV) is still with us in a modified form, to this day. Many signs were made from metal, for durability; either of rolled tin or mild steel. The images on the signs are usually screen-printed, although some were painted.
The steel signs rusted, of course, by a process called oxygen cell corrosion, usually at the point were the paint/dyestuff layers were incomplete or damaged, such as at the screw holes. Some signs received a layer of enamel on the steel so they would have a longer life, or were galvanised for the same reason, and also because this thin layer of zinc gave better paint adhesion. The tin signs were more fragile than those made from steel.
The images you can see here are in the foyer of the Beamish Open Air Museum, and represent a selection of manufacturers and products, from those with national reach to those with strictly local appeal. Some, like Oxo, Carter’s Seeds, and Rowntree’s Cocoa are still with us today; others such as ‘Milkmaid’s Milk’ have faded into obscurity. ‘Berina’ Malted Milk Food appears to be a Scottish equivalent of Ovaltine, and ‘Holdfast Boots’ have walked off into the distance. Sadly, ‘Swan’ Ink lost out to Stephen’s Blue-Black Ink, the brand leader into the 1960s. Minor brands included ‘Thorley’s Food’ for pigs, and ‘Burnard & Alger’s’ a local company in Plymouth, who produced ‘ well known special manures for all crops’. My favourite though, is ‘Cooper’s, Sheep Dipping Powder’, which uses the image of a King of Spades playing card, showing the king carrying a shepherd’s crook instead of a sceptre. The sheep dip claims to cure keds, lice and scab; keds are a particularly nasty blood-sucking, wingless fly (Melophagus ovinus) which looks like a tick and causes loss of weight, damage to the hide and (indirectly) damage to the fleece as the sheep rub against fence posts and the like, because of irritation.
Needless to say, there is a flourishing market for these original signs; so much so that there is also a considerable trade in reproduction signs, even commercial images which were never previously issued in this form! I happen to like these colourful images immensely; they are cheerful reminders of a byegone age, and are now, quite correctly, regarded as a true art form.
The rare made commonplace – G-AIYS, DH 85 Leopard Moth March 6, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Aviation, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, Museums, Royal Air Force, Second World War, aircraft.Tags: aeronautical engineer, Air Show, aircraft, aircraft disposal sales, airfield, Aston Martin, Baghdad, Biggin Hill, communications aircraft, De H 85, De Havilland, De Havilland Gipsy Major 1 engine, DH 80, Egypt, England, fabric-covered, folding wings, Geoffrey De Havilland, Gipsy Major engine, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, GVFWE, hangarage, impressed aircraft, Iraq, Keevil, King's Cup Air Race, Leopard Moth, liaison type, Mr Ronald Gammons, Mrs Valery Gammons, oil companies, plywood, prototype, Puss Moth, RAF, RAF Kemble, RAF Museum, Scotland, Second World War, Sir William James Denby Roberts, steel tube, Strathallan Collection, Surrey and Kent Flying Club, Torquil Norman, Victor Guantlett, Wiltshire, WW2
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- The rare made commonplace – De Havilland DH 85 Leopard Moth
Geoffrey De Havilland was a skilled aeronautical engineer, of that there was no doubt, but he was also a passionate lepidopterist, and named many of his early creations after various species of moth. The Leopard Moth was designed in the 1930s to provide a relatively swift (c. 130 mph) ‘gentleman’s aerial carriage’ (one pilot, two passengers). The prototype won the King’s Cup Air Race in 1933 at over 139 mph, flown by Geoffrey De Havilland himself. The fact that De Havilland had forsaken the fabric-covered steel tube formula of the Leopard Moth’s predecessor, the DH 80 Puss Moth, and instead built a strong, sturdy ‘box’ from plywood, giving a structure of lower weight, enabled the aircraft to fly faster and further. The DH Gipsy Major 1C engine puts out around 142 hp, which gives a cruise speed close to 120mph, and a range of over 700 miles.
HMS Belfast February 22, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in British Isles, England, Great Britain, London, Museums, Second World War, aircraft, ships.Tags: 38th parallel, 4-inch gun, 40mm gun, 6-inch gun, Admiral Frobisher, Admiral Nelson, Admiralty Disruptive Camouflage Type 25, Barracuda, battleship, British Army, Canadian Army, Chance-Vought, Communist, Corsair, cruiser, D-Day, dazzle camouflage, Fairey, Fleet Air Arm, floating museum, German Navy, Gold Beach, Grumman, Hellcat, HMS Belfast, Imperial War Museum, June Beach, Korean War, London, magnetic mine, Normandy, North Korea, Norwegian coast, Operation Tungsten, Pro Tanto Quid Retribuamas, River Thames, Royal Navy, Tirpitz, triple 6-inch mounts
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HMS Belfast
An 11,000 ton, 6-inch gun cruiser is an impressive ship; in this case HMS Belfast is made even more impressive by being anchored in the centre of London. Cared for by the Imperial War Museum, this veteran of both World War Two and the Korean War, serves as a living reminder of the ‘big gun navy’, when the art of naval gunnery was practised aboard battleships and cruisers by the direct ‘descendents’ of admirals such as Nelson and Frobisher. Twelve 6-inch guns are carried in four triple mounts, and there is a secondary armament of 4 -inch and 40mm guns, also. Commissioned just prior to the outbreak of WW2 (5th August 1939), the ship was almost lost when hitting a magnetic mine in November of that year, and repairs took nearly three years. Here you can see her wearing a particularly fetching ‘dazzle camouflage’ – Admiralty Disruptive Camouflage Type 25 – of the middle of the Second World War. Perhaps her most notable role was bombarding targets in France during the D-Day landings in Normandy, where she used both her 6 inch and 4 inch guns to great effect (she could reach targets more than 11 miles inland); her main role was supporting British and Canadian landings on Gold and Juno beaches.
Operation Tungsten – an aerial attack on the German battleship ‘Tirpitz’ , by Fairey Barracuda, Grumman Hellcat and Chance-Vought Corsair aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm – saw her providing cover for the aircraft carriers stationed off the Norwegian coast.
HMS Belfast’ s last taste of action was during the Korean War when she regularly bombarded Communist targets ashore on both sides of the 38th parallel. She was in almost continuous action from July 1950 to September 1952, when she finally sailed for her home port.
Saved for the nation by a vigorous campaign lead by ex-officers of the ship, she entered retirement, and was moored in the Thames as a floating museum. She is, technically, a branch of the Imperial War Museum. I have visited HMS Belfast on a number of occasions, and am always struck by a sense of history, when onboard.
Truly, as the ship’s motto says, Pro Tanto Quid Retribuamas (For so much, how shall we repay?)
Beautiful Blue John jewellery February 7, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in British Isles, Derbyshire, England, Great Britain, Museums, Peak District.Tags: aqueduct, Blue John, bride, bridesmaid, candelabra, Castleton, caverns, Christies, credit card, Cross Street, Derbyshire, dynamite, England, flourspar, Frogmore House, gemstone, George III, House of Windsor, jewellers, jewellery, lead, Mam Tor, matron-of-honour, Matthew Boulton, metal, mineral, mines, museum, New York, Peak District National Park, Peveril Castle, Pompeii, Romans, Royal collection, semi-precious, vase, Victorian, wedding, white marble, Winnat's Pass
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Blue John jewellery
This is what Castleton is all about…not the brooding Peveril Castle, the staggering Winnat’s Pass, the hulking Mam Tor, but the caverns where the world’s only supply of a certain form of flourspar, called Blue John, is found. This striking gemstone was prized by the Romans, who mined this area for lead – one of their most treasured metals, used in their aqueducts, roofing amd much more – and found this sparkling semi-precious gemstone. Two vases of Blue John were supposedly found in the ruins of Pompeii.
Unfortunately, the Victorians mined it using dynamite, and huge spoil heaps were caused, underground. The largest Blue John pieces, including vases and tables, date from this period; indeed, what gemstone is being utilised by the modern jewellery workshops in town is, in the main, extracted from the Victorian spoil heaps.
There are two private museums featuring the mineral in Castelton, as well as other examples in collections around the country - it is interesting to note that Blue John pieces can command staggering prices. A pair of George III white marble and Blue John candelabra by Matthew Boulton, and dating from 1771 (similar to a pair in the Royal collection at Frogmore House) were sold by Christies in New York for $385,000. It is known that other pieces are held by the House of Windsor.
Here you can see a typical display case inside one of the stores on Cross Street, Castleton, Derbyshire. Although there are some malachite pieces, the vast majority of jewellery features Blue John stones, with its delightful random patterns of purple, royal blue, white, violet and yellow bands. It is customary amongst many Derbyshire families to give Blue John to the bride, matron-of-honour and bridesmaids at a wedding.
Be warned gentlemen; don’t take your lady into one of these shops without being prepared to suffer ‘damage’ to your credit card! As night follows day, she will be entranced.
A Derbyshire ‘traitor’? February 4, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in British Isles, Derbyshire, England, London, Museums, New England, United States.Tags: 'Father of the American Industrial Revolution', apprentice, Belper, Blackstone River, Blackstone River National Heritage Corridor, carding, cotton, Cromford, Derbyshire, Derwent Mills World Heritage Site, factory system, indenture, Jedediah Strutt, London, Milford, Moses Brown, museum, New England, New York, Pawtucket, President Andrew Jackson, Quaker, Rhode Island, River Derwent, Samuel Slater, Sir Richard Arkwright, spinning, textiles, UNESCO, USA, water power, World Heritage Site
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- Slater Mill, Pawtucket, Rhode Island
When is a ‘traitor’ not a ‘traitor’? When he’s ‘The Father of the American Industrial Revolution’?
Inside the Co-op at Beamish January 31, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in England, Museums.Tags: 1913, aluminosulphosilicate, Annfield Plain, ash, Beamish, bee sting, bicarbonate of soda, black lead, boiler, Brasso, bristle brushes, cast iron, Co-op, Co-operative Wholesale Society, Derbyshire, Durham, England, First World War, Golden Valley, Hudson's soap, kitchen grate, Museums, North of England Open Air Museum, Northumberland, optical whitener, Reckitt's Blue, wooden clothes pegs
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- The Co-op store, Beamish
Beamish, the North of England Open Air Museum, was first opened to the public in 1972. The site is a reconstruction of a typical village in the Northumberland/Durham area. There are other periods represented, but the main street is firmly set in 1913. The former Co-operative Store from Annfield Plain has been careful re-assembled, stocked and even staffed with period re-enactors.
Butterley Station, Midland Railway Centre January 26, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Derbyshire, England, Museums, railways.Tags: 'Black Five', 'old pence', Ambergate, Belle Vue Station, Belleview Zoological and Pleasure Gardens, Butterley Reservoir, Butterley Station, cast iron, Codnor, Derby, Derbyshire, Eastwood, embankment, Erewash Valley Line, fire bucket, Golden Valley, Langley Mill, LMS, London, London Midland Scottish Railway, Manchester, Midland Railway, Midland Railway charter, Midland Railway Trust, milk churns, Museums, Narrow-guage railway, Pye Bridge, railway enthusiasts, Ripley, Sheffield, steam locomotives, Sun Inn, Swanwick, The Sun Inn, Thomas the Tank Engine, Whitwell
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Butterley Station, Midland Railway Centre
I have always been interested in railways, especially steam locomotives. I remember as a boy taking a 4d (four ‘old pence’) bus ride the 4 miles to Langley Mill Station, on the Erewash Valley Line close to the Nottinghamshire border, in order to watch the main line trains thunder through on their way to Sheffield from London.
Here is a shot of Butterley Railway Station (on the old Pye Bridge to Ambergate line which closed in 1968), in the Derbyshire town of Ripley. When I was about 8, I was taken on a ’special’ from here to Manchester Belle Vue station, drawn behind an LMS ‘Black Five’ locomotive, northward across the embankment which splits Butterley Reservoir, and returned late at night having had a wonderful time at the old Belle Vue Zoological and Pleasure Gardens. The last ‘bus had LONG gone, and that meant a long walk home to Codnor!
The Midland Railway Trust has transformed this derelict site, and despite the fact that it looks almost exactly as I remember it, the original building is no longer there. An identical station building was found at Whitwell in north Derbyshire and erected on the site of the old one. Note the period wood and cast iron benches, the milk churns and even the period fire buckets! The Midland Railway (one of the main constituent companies of the London Midland and Scottish Railway) was formed at the Sun Inn in Eastwood, and had its main works at nearby Derby, so it was natural that the Trust would have chosen this site, along with the 3.5 mile length of track, as its headquarters. Now trains run from here to the new station and museum at Swanwick and beyond, and there is a fine narrow-guage extension to the hamlet of Golden Valley (where my mother was born!).
When I was here, the station was decked out for a visit from ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’, and the place was heaving with ’small railway enthusiasts’ .
Who IS this man? January 21, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Castles, England, London, Museums, World Heritage Site.Tags: Army, beef, Beefeater, Crown Jewels, Edward IV, England, frock coat, London, Moira Cameron, Museums, ravens, River Thames, Royal Air Force, Royal Marines, Royal Navy, ruff, Senior NCO, Tower of London, World Heritage Site, Yeoman Warders
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Beefeater
Who is this man? Well, you might know him as a ‘Beefeater’ (from their rations of beef in the 15th century), but his actual title is a ‘Yeoman Warder of Her Majesty’s Palace and Fortress the Tower of London and Member of the Sovereign’s Bodyguard of the Yeoman Guard Extraordinary ’. A big title for a prestigeous job. Their origins stretch back as far as the reign of Edward IV (1461-83).Yeoman Warders have guarded the Crown Jewels and the Tower itself, as well as looking after (theoretically, in modern times) any prisoners of the Crowd lodged there.
Their ‘undress uniform’ is seen here; it has many Tudor touches (if you ignore the two-way radio), including the full-cut frock coat, which, when coupled with modern trousers looks exceedingly odd. On ceremonial ocassions, they wear a glorious red and gold dress uniform – and yes, red tights, a white ruff and buckled shoes!
There are only 35 Yeoman Warders, as well as a Chief Warder. Moira Cameron, a former Warrent Officer in the Army has become the very first female Warder, and will perform the ‘tour guide’ portion of her job, as well as the more ceremonial part of a Yeoman Warden’s duties. All Warders must be senior NCOs of the Army, the Royal Air Force, the Royal Marines and more recently, the Royal Navy, with at least 22 years of impeccable service. Oh yes, and what about the ravens, you say? Well, they have their wings partially clipped so they will not be able to fly from the Tower (legend says it will fall if they leave), and THEY actually are fed beef!
The Big Pit – Pwll Mawr January 15, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Museums, Wales, World Heritage Site.Tags: beef, Blaeafon, cawl, coal, colliery, Gwent, headstocks, lamb, miner, Museums, mutton, National Coal Museum of Wales, pit, pithead, Pwll Mawr, South Wales, Wales, Welsh, World Heritage Site
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Headstocks and pithead buildings at the Big Pit, Blaeavon
One of my greatest joys is to visit a museum – ANY museum – not just for the objects being conserved and displayed, but for the way in which they are presented to visitors and the educational aims being fulfilled. In other words, when I visit a museum, I automatically see it through the eyes of a long-time museum professional, and this can colour my reactions to the site/collection.
The Big Pit (Pwll Mawr) at Blaeafon (‘the head of the river’) in Gwent, South Wales is the National Coal Museum of Wales (Amgueddfa Lafaol Cymru). The headstocks which you can see, along with the winding engine in the winding house, and the colliery buildings are a stark reminder of the price paid for coal – in the blood of miners. This pit closed in 1980, and is now a ‘living museum’ in that you can actually descend 300ft into the mine to view the former workings, in the company of an experinced miner/guide. It is an experience which is nothing short of breath-taking; I was incredibly moved, not just as a museum professional, but as the son of a coal miner, and as someone who lost a relative in one of the last colliery disasters in the UK. The whole area has been declared a World Heritage Site by the UN, and the designation is well-merited.
If you do visit, remember to have a meal in the modern cafeteria – try the cawl, it’s delicious! (Cawl is a Welsh stew…usually with mutton or lamb, although in this case, Pwll Mawr’s cawl is made with beef)
