Durdle Pier
Durdle Pier is a disused 17th-century stone shipping quay, located on the Isle of Portland, England. It is found close by Yeolands Quarry, on the east side of the island within the area of East Weares and Penn's Weare. Durdle Pier dates back to the 17th century, became one of the main stone shipping places on the east side. East and Penn's Weares were the location of Sir Christopher Wren's first workings of stone to rebuild London after the Great Fire of 1666. During the mid-19th century, the original crane was replaced with one made by Galpin of Dorchester. Once quarrying in the area ended, fishermen became the pier's main users for lifting boats from the water; the crane became broken and beyond repair in the early 21st century. During 2014 the pier's crane was destroyed by the sea. Close to the pier are two World War II pillboxes; the Great Southwell Landslip, Britain's second-largest recorded historical landslide, occurred in 1734, between Durdle Pier and Freshwater Bay. The Dorset names Durlston Bay and Head and Durdle Pier, again without early spellings, can be associated etymologically with Durdle Door
Cenozoic
The Cenozoic Era meaning "new life", is the current and most recent of the three Phanerozoic geological eras, following the Mesozoic Era and extending from 66 million years ago to the present day. The Cenozoic is known as the Age of Mammals, because the extinction of many groups allowed mammals to diversify so that large mammals dominated it; the continents moved into their current positions during this era. Early in the Cenozoic, following the K-Pg extinction event, most of the fauna was small, included small mammals, birds and amphibians. From a geological perspective, it did not take long for mammals and birds to diversify in the absence of the large reptiles that had dominated during the Mesozoic. A group of avians known as the "terror birds" grew larger than the average human and were formidable predators. Mammals came to occupy every available niche, some grew large, attaining sizes not seen in most of today's mammals; the Earth's climate had begun a drying and cooling trend, culminating in the glaciations of the Pleistocene Epoch, offset by the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum.
Cenozoic, meaning "new life," is derived from Greek καινός kainós "new," and ζωή zōḗ "life." The era is known as the Cænozoic, Caenozoic, or Cainozoic. The name "Cenozoic" was proposed in 1840 by the British geologist John Phillips; the Cenozoic is divided into three periods: the Paleogene and Quaternary. The Quaternary Period was recognized by the International Commission on Stratigraphy in June 2009, the former term, Tertiary Period, became disused in 2004 due to the need to divide the Cenozoic into periods more like those of the earlier Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras; the common use of epochs during the Cenozoic helps paleontologists better organize and group the many significant events that occurred during this comparatively short interval of time. Knowledge of this era is more detailed than any other era because of the young, well-preserved rocks associated with it; the Paleogene spans from the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs, 66 million years ago, to the dawn of the Neogene, 23.03 million years ago.
It features three epochs: the Paleocene and Oligocene. The Paleocene epoch lasted from 66 million to 56 million years ago. Modern placental mammals originated during this time; the Paleocene is a transitional point between the devastation, the K-T extinction, to the rich jungle environment, the Early Eocene. The Early Paleocene saw the recovery of the earth; the continents began to take their modern shape, but all the continents and the subcontinent of India were separated from each other. Afro-Eurasia was separated by the Tethys Sea, the Americas were separated by the strait of Panama, as the isthmus had not yet formed; this epoch featured a general warming trend, with jungles reaching the poles. The oceans were dominated by sharks. Archaic mammals filled the world such as creodonts; the Eocene Epoch ranged from 56 million years to 33.9 million years ago. In the Early-Eocene, species living in dense forest were unable to evolve into larger forms, as in the Paleocene. There was nothing over the weight of 10 kilograms.
Among them were early primates and horses along with many other early forms of mammals. At the top of the food chains were huge birds, such as Paracrax; the temperature was 30 degrees Celsius with little temperature gradient from pole to pole. In the Mid-Eocene, the Circumpolar-Antarctic current between Australia and Antarctica formed; this disrupted ocean currents worldwide and as a result caused a global cooling effect, shrinking the jungles. This allowed mammals to grow to mammoth proportions, such as whales which, by that time, had become fully aquatic. Mammals like Andrewsarchus were at the top of the food-chain; the Late Eocene saw the rebirth of seasons, which caused the expansion of savanna-like areas, along with the evolution of grass. The end of the Eocene was marked by the Eocene-Oligocene extinction event, the European face of, known as the Grande Coupure; the Oligocene Epoch spans from 33.9 million to 23.03 million years ago. The Oligocene featured the expansion of grass which had led to many new species to evolve, including the first elephants, dogs and many other species still prevalent today.
Many other species of plants evolved in this period too. A cooling period featuring seasonal rains was still in effect. Mammals still continued to grow larger; the Neogene spans from 23.03 million to 2.58 million years ago. It features 2 epochs: the Miocene, the Pliocene; the Miocene epoch spans from 23.03 to 5.333 million years ago and is a period in which grass spread further, dominating a large portion of the world, at the expense of forests. Kelp forests evolved, encouraging the evolution such as sea otters. During this time, perissodactyla thrived, evolved into many different varieties. Apes evolved into 30 species; the Tethys Sea closed with the creation of the Arabian Peninsula, leaving only remnants as the Black, Red and Caspian Seas. This increased aridity. Many new plants evolved: 95% of modern seed plants evolved in the mid-Miocene; the Pliocene epoch lasted from 5.333 to 2.58 million years ago. The Pliocene featured dramatic climactic changes, which led to modern species and plants; the Mediterranean Sea dried up for several million years (because the ice ages reduced sea levels, disconnecting the Atlantic from
Isle of Portland
The Isle of Portland is a limestone tied island, 4 miles long by 1.7 miles wide, in the English Channel. Portland is 5 miles south of the resort of Weymouth, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England. A barrier beach called; the A354 road passes down the Portland end of the beach and over the Fleet Lagoon by bridge to the mainland. Portland and Weymouth together form the borough of Portland; the population of Portland is 12,400. Portland is a central part of the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site on the Dorset and east Devon coast, important for its geology and landforms. Portland stone, famous for its use in British and world architecture, including St Paul's Cathedral and the United Nations Headquarters, continues to be quarried. Portland Harbour, in between Portland and Weymouth, is one of the largest man-made harbours in the world; the harbour was made by the building of stone breakwaters between 1848 and 1905. From its inception it was a Royal Navy base, played prominent roles during the First and Second World Wars.
The harbour is now a civilian port and popular recreation area, was used for the 2012 Olympic Games. The name Portland is used for one of the British Sea Areas, has been exported as the name of North American and Australian towns. Portland has been inhabited since at least the Mesolithic period —there is archaeological evidence of Mesolithic inhabitants at the Culverwell Mesolithic Site, near Portland Bill, of habitation since then; the Romans occupied Portland. Although the beginning of the Viking Age in England is dated to their raid in 793, when they destroyed the abbey on Lindisfarne, their first documented landing occurred in Portland four years earlier, in 789, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Three lost Viking ships from Hordaland landed at Portland Bill; the king's reeve tried to collect taxes from them. In 1539 King Henry VIII ordered the construction of Portland Castle for defence against attacks by the French, it is one of the best preserved castles from this period, is opened to the public by the custodians English Heritage.
In the 17th century, chief architect and Surveyor-General to James I, Inigo Jones, surveyed the area and introduced the local Portland stone to London, using it in his Banqueting House and for repairs on St Paul's Cathedral. His successor, Sir Christopher Wren, the architect and Member of Parliament for nearby Weymouth, used six million tons of white Portland limestone to rebuild destroyed parts of the capital after the Great Fire of London of 1666. Well-known buildings in the capital, including St Paul's Cathedral and the eastern front of Buckingham Palace feature the stone. After the First World War, a quarry was opened by The Crown Estate to provide stone for the Cenotaph in Whitehall and half a million gravestones for war cemeteries, after the Second World War hundreds of thousands of gravestones were hewn for soldiers who had fallen on the Western Front. Portland cement has nothing to do with Portland. There have been railways in Portland since the early 19th century; the Merchant's Railway was the earliest—it opened in 1826 and ran from the quarries at the north of Tophill to a pier at Castletown, from where the Portland stone was shipped around the country.
The Weymouth and Portland Railway was laid in 1865, ran from a station in Melcombe Regis, across the Fleet and along the low isthmus behind Chesil Beach to a station at Victoria Square in Chiswell. At the end of the 19th century the line was extended to the top of the island as the Easton and Church Ope Railway, running through Castletown and ascending the cliffs at East Weares, to loop back north to a station in Easton; the line closed to passengers in 1952, the final goods train ran in April 1965. The Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck stationed a lifeboat at Portland in 1826, withdrawn in 1851. Coastal flooding has affected Portland's residents and transport for centuries—the only way off the island by land is along the causeway in the lee of Chesil Beach. At times of extreme floods this road link is cut by floods; the low-lying village of Chiswell used to flood on average every 5 years. Chesil Beach faces severe storms and massive waves, which have a fetch across the Atlantic Ocean.
Following two severe flood events in the 1970s, Weymouth and Portland Borough Council and Wessex Water decided to investigate the structure of the beach, coastal management schemes that could be built to protect Chiswell and the beach road. In the 1980s it was agreed that a scheme to protect against a one-in-five-year storm would be practicable. Hard engineering techniques were employed in the scheme, including a gabion running 550 metres to the north of Chiswell, an extended sea wall in Chesil Cove, a culvert running from inside the beach, underneath the beach road and into Portland Harbour, to divert flood water away from low-lying areas. At the start of the First World War, HMS Hood was sunk in the passage between the southern breakwaters to protect the harbour from torpedo and submarine attack. Portland Harbour was formed by the construction of breakwaters, but before that the natural anchorage had hosted ships of the Royal Navy for more than 50
Percé Rock
Percé Rock is a huge sheer rock formation in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence on the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec, off Percé Bay. Percé Rock appears from a distance like a ship under sail, it is one of the world's largest natural arches located in water and is considered a geologically and rich natural icon of Quebec. It is a major attraction in the Gaspésie region; the massive rocky cliff is called by several names, such as le Rocher Percé, Pierced Rock, Pierced Island, Split Rock or Percé Rock. The name is attributed to the pierced rock that formed an arch 15 metres high on its seaward southern end, as though a needle had cut through the rock, it was named Percé by Samuel de Champlain in 1607, in reference to the holes he had seen in the massive block of limestone, which over the years has become a major attraction in the region of Quebec. The Percé Rock, described as "the monstrous giant. Another version of the legend, narrated by the local people of Percé town, is that they see the rock in the shape of a "phantom" during storms and hence call it "Le Génie de l'Isle Percée".
This, could be interpreted to mean that the vapoury clouds that engulf the "vast flocks of water fowl" could give such an impression when viewed from a distance. Percé Rock is part of the range of cliffs and hills on the SW side of Mal Bay, which are formed of reddish-gold limestone and shale, it is linked to mainland by a sandbar at low tide. The Bay of Perce is situated between the High Head. There is a reef to the SW of Percé Rock, about 0.5 miles away from the shore. The town of Percé is located on the shores of the bay, its main industry is fishing. Percé reef is about 0.5 miles from the centre of the town. Midway across the rock is a shoal; the rock formation has about 150 fossil species. In Bonaventure Island where the park is situated, conglomerates from the Carboniferous period of more than 310 million years are recorded. Next to the rock is Bonaventure Island, together they form Parc national de l'Île-Bonaventure-et-du-Rocher-Percé, founded in 1985, which covers an area of about 5.8 square kilometres.
The tip of the Gaspé Peninsula has five geological formations, Percé Rock is the only one located within the park. The park extends over a 2 kilometres stretch of the coastline, exhibits a wide variety of flora and fauna, it is a migratory bird sanctuary for the northern gannet, has over 110,000 nesting birds, the second largest in the world. - Other birds found on the island include puffins, black guillemot and kittiwakes, as well as over 200 other species. From May to December, some species of blue whale, humpback whale, minke whale or fin whale can be seen along the coast near Percé, Bonaventure Island and Forillon National Park. At low tide, the rock is approachable on foot; the rock and the bird colony in Bonaventure Island is about a 75-minute trip from Percé by boat. Visits to the rock are restricted to the period from May 28 to October 12. During such visits, park guides provide information on beach creatures, the geology of Percé Rock called the "cathedral of limestone that rose from the Equator", the fossils found there.
The rock mass is a monolith estimated at 5 million tonnes. It has been inferred. In view of its tendency to collapse, it is dangerous to venture close to the rock on foot during low tide; the top of the rock is not accessible. Snowy gannets, silvery gulls, black cormorants and other species of birds perch there. An interpretation centre in Percé, housed in Le Chafaud, an elegant restored building, has a thematic exhibition titled "Un rocher, une île, un parc national", meaning "one rock, one island, one national park", which recounts the bird life, marine life, geology and ecosystem of the park and the rock. Percé Rock is a massive siliceous limestone stack formation, with sandstone and siltstone veins, with steep rock faces on all sides, it is 433 metres long, 90 metres wide, 88 metres high at its highest point. It is described as a narrow bluff emerging out of the sea, "resembling a bleached supertanker from some angles". For four hours at a time during low tide, the water recedes from a wide spit that allows the rock itself to be visited.
Percé Rock's huge limestone formation is geologically dated to the Devonian period of more than 400 million years ago. However, Percé Rock is only a small component of the large areas of Devonian rocks that occupy the interior that were first mapped in 1844 by Sir William Edmond Logan, known as the father of Canadian geology. Fossils in such rocks show a variety of animal and plant communities from both terrestrial and marine habitats from the Devonian period; the Percé Rock contains 150 species of different fossils such as brachiopod, dalmanites and marine worms from the Devonian period. The Percé Rock was inferred as connected to the main land; when Jacques Cartier, the first colonist arrived here in 1534, he reported three arches in the massive rock formation. In time, two of the arches dis
Thurlestone
Thurlestone is a village five miles west of Kingsbridge in the South Hams district in south Devon, England. There is an electoral ward in the same name; the population at the 2011 census was 1,886. The village takes its name from Thurlestone Rock, the so-called "thirled stone", an arch-shaped rock formation just offshore in Thurlestone Bay; the village's All Saints church is built of the dark grey local slate. The chancel is early 13th century. Thurlestone Marsh is one of three small wetlands south of the village, it is formed where a small unnamed stream flows through low-lying flat farmland just inland from Leas Foot Sand, a small beach just to the southwest of the village. The site consists of a number of reed-fringed pools; some companies rent out self-catering houses, as an alternative to staying in the hotel, in the village. About 60% of houses in the village are rented out at some time in the year. Thurlestone has some retail and accommodation, they include: A post office A large hotel A golf course An inn A church In 2002, a 30-year-old female pygmy sperm whale was washed up on Thurlestone Beach.
2005 saw two significant ornithological events: In late March and early April, a flock of 68 garganey was offshore in the bay - the second largest flock to be recorded in Britain. In August, a least sandpiper, a North American vagrant shorebird only recorded once in Devon was present on Thurlestone Marsh. There is a walk from the main village to Bantham and another walk to Salcombe going through Hope Cove. Both of these are along the headland. There are a numerous walks to nearby beaches and villages. Images of Thurlestone Genealogical information for the Parish The Thurlestone Hotel
Emma Thompson
Dame Emma Thompson is a British actress, activist and comedian. One of the UK's most acclaimed actresses, she is known for her portrayals of enigmatic women in period dramas and literary adaptations, playing matronly characters with a sense of wit, she is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards. Born in London to English actor Eric Thompson and Scottish actress Phyllida Law, Thompson was educated at Newnham College, University of Cambridge, where she became a member of the Footlights troupe. After appearing in several comedy programmes, she first came to prominence in 1987 in two BBC TV series, Tutti Frutti and Fortunes of War, winning the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for her work in both series, her first film role was in the 1989 romantic comedy The Tall Guy, in the early 1990s, she collaborated with her husband and director Kenneth Branagh. The pair became popular in the British media and co-starred in several films, including Dead Again and Much Ado About Nothing.
In 1992, Thompson won an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress for the period drama Howards End. In 1993, she garnered dual Academy Award nominations for her roles in The Remains of the Day as the housekeeper of a grand household and In the Name of the Father as a lawyer. Thompson scripted and starred in Sense and Sensibility, which earned her numerous awards, including an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, which makes her the only person to receive Academy Awards for both acting and writing, a BAFTA Award for Best Actress. Other notable film and television credits include the Harry Potter film series, Love Actually, Angels in America, Nanny McPhee, Stranger than Fiction, Last Chance Harvey, Men in Black 3, Beauty and the Beast. In 2013, she received acclaim and several award nominations for her portrayal of P. L. Travers in Saving Mr. Banks. Thompson is married to actor Greg Wise, they have one son. She is an activist in the areas of human rights and environmentalism and has received criticism for her outspokenness.
She has written two books adapted from The Tale of Peter Rabbit. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2018 Birthday Honours by Elizabeth II for her services to drama. Thompson was born in Paddington, London, on 15 April 1959, her mother is the Scottish actress Phyllida Law, while her English father, Eric Thompson, was involved in theatre, was the writer–narrator of the popular children's television series The Magic Roundabout. Her godfather was writer Ronald Eyre, she has one sister, Sophie Thompson, who works as an actress. The family lived in West Hampstead in north London, Thompson was educated at Camden School for Girls, she spent much time in Scotland during her childhood and visited Ardentinny, where her grandparents and uncle lived. In her youth, Thompson was intrigued by language and literature, a trait which she attributes to her father, who shared her love of words. After taking A levels in English and Latin, securing a scholarship, she began studying for an English degree at Newnham College, arriving in 1977.
Thompson believes that it was inevitable that she would become an actress, commenting that she was "surrounded by creative people and I don't think it would have gone any other way, really". While there, she had a "seminal moment" that turned her to feminism and inspired her to take up performing, she explained in an interview in 2007 how she discovered the book The Madwoman in the Attic, "which is about Victorian female writers and the disguises they took on in order to express what they wanted to express. That changed my life." She became a self-professed "punk rocker", with short red hair and a motorbike, aspired to be a comedian like Lily Tomlin. At Cambridge, Thompson was invited into Footlights, the university's prestigious sketch comedy troupe, by its president, Martin Bergman, becoming its first female member. In the troupe were fellow actors Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, she had a romantic relationship with the latter. Fry recalled. Our nickname for her was Emma Talented." In 1980, Thompson served as the Vice President of Footlights, co-directed the troupe's first all-female revue, Woman's Hour.
The following year and her Footlights team won the Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for their sketch show The Cellar Tapes. Scholastically, Thompson graduated with upper second-class honours. In 1982, Thompson's father died as a result of circulatory problems at the age of 52; the actress has commented that this "tore to pieces", "I can't begin to tell you how much I regret his not being around". She added, "At the same time, it's possible that were he still alive I might never have had the space or courage to do what I've done... I have a definite feeling of inheriting space, and power." Thompson had her first professional role in 1982, touring in a stage version of Not the Nine O'Clock News. She turned to television, where much of her early work came with her Footlights co-stars Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry; the regional ITV comedy series There's Nothing To Worry About! was their first outing, followed by the one-off BBC show The Crystal Cube. There's Nothing to Worry About! Later returned as the networked sketch show Alfresco, which ran for two series with Thompson, Laurie, Ben Elton, Robbie Coltrane.
She collaborated again with Fry and Laurie on the accla
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