1.
Brick
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A brick is building material used to make walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Traditionally, the term referred to a unit composed of clay. A brick can be composed of clay-bearing soil, sand, and lime, Bricks are produced in numerous classes, types, materials, and sizes which vary with region and time period, and are produced in bulk quantities. Two basic categories of bricks are fired and non-fired bricks, block is a similar term referring to a rectangular building unit composed of similar materials, but is usually larger than a brick. Lightweight bricks are made from expanded clay aggregate, fired bricks are one of the longest-lasting and strongest building materials, sometimes referred to as artificial stone, and have been used since circa 5000 BC. Air-dried bricks, also known as mudbricks, have an older than fired bricks. Bricks are laid in courses and numerous patterns known as bonds, collectively known as brickwork, the earliest bricks were dried brick, meaning that they were formed from clay-bearing earth or mud and dried until they were strong enough for use. The oldest discovered bricks, originally made from shaped mud and dating before 7500 BC, were found at Tell Aswad, in the upper Tigris region, ceramic, or fired brick was used as early as 3000 BC in early Indus Valley cities. In pre-modern China, bricks were being used from the 2nd millennium BCE at a site near Xian, the carpenters manual Yingzao Fashi, published in 1103 at the time of the Song dynasty described the brick making process and glazing techniques then in use. He also had to know when to quench the kiln with water so as to produce the surface glaze, Early civilisations around the Mediterranean adopted the use of fired bricks, including the Ancient Greeks and Romans. The Roman legions operated mobile kilns, and built large brick structures throughout the Roman Empire, during the Early Middle Ages the use of bricks in construction became popular in Northern Europe, after being introduced there from Northern-Western Italy. An independent style of architecture, known as brick Gothic flourished in places that lacked indigenous sources of rocks. Examples of this style can be found in modern-day Denmark, Germany, Poland. A clear distinction between the two styles developed at the transition to Baroque architecture. In Lübeck, for example, Brick Renaissance is clearly recognisable in buildings equipped with terracotta reliefs by the artist Statius von Düren, production of bricks increased massively with the onset of the Industrial Revolution and the rise in factory building in England. For reasons of speed and economy, bricks were increasingly preferred as building material to stone and it was at this time in London, that bright red brick was chosen for construction to make the buildings more visible in the heavy fog and to help prevent traffic accidents. The transition from the method of production known as hand-moulding to a mechanised form of mass-production slowly took place during the first half of the nineteenth century. His mechanical apparatus soon achieved widespread attention after it was adopted for use by the South Eastern Railway Company for brick-making at their factory near Folkestone, the Bradley & Craven Ltd ‘Stiff-Plastic Brickmaking Machine’ was patented in 1853, apparently predating Clayton
2.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
3.
Clay
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Clay is a fine-grained natural rock or soil material that combines one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure. Clays are plastic due to water content and become hard, brittle. Depending on the content in which it is found, clay can appear in various colours from white to dull grey or brown to deep orange-red. Although many naturally occurring deposits include both silts and clay, clays are distinguished from other fine-grained soils by differences in size, silts, which are fine-grained soils that do not include clay minerals, tend to have larger particle sizes than clays. There is, however, some overlap in size and other physical properties. The distinction between silt and clay varies by discipline, geologists and soil scientists usually consider the separation to occur at a particle size of 2 µm, sedimentologists often use 4–5 μm, and colloid chemists use 1 μm. Geotechnical engineers distinguish between silts and clays based on the plasticity properties of the soil, as measured by the soils Atterberg limits, ISO14688 grades clay particles as being smaller than 2 μm and silt particles as being larger. These solvents, usually acidic, migrate through the rock after leaching through upper weathered layers. In addition to the process, some clay minerals are formed through hydrothermal activity. There are two types of deposits, primary and secondary. Primary clays form as residual deposits in soil and remain at the site of formation, secondary clays are clays that have been transported from their original location by water erosion and deposited in a new sedimentary deposit. Clay deposits are associated with very low energy depositional environments such as large lakes. Depending on the source, there are three or four main groups of clays, kaolinite, montmorillonite-smectite, illite, and chlorite. Chlorites are not always considered to be a clay, sometimes being classified as a group within the phyllosilicates. There are approximately 30 different types of clays in these categories. Varve is clay with visible annual layers, which are formed by deposition of those layers and are marked by differences in erosion. This type of deposit is common in glacial lakes
4.
Georgian era
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The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement which dominated the world of ideas in Europe during the 18th century, The Century of Philosophy. In France, the doctrines of les Lumières were individual liberty and religious tolerance in opposition to an absolute monarchy. French historians traditionally place the Enlightenment between 1715, the year that Louis XIV died, and 1789, the beginning of the French Revolution, some recent historians begin the period in the 1620s, with the start of the scientific revolution. Les philosophes of the widely circulated their ideas through meetings at scientific academies, Masonic lodges, literary salons, coffee houses. The ideas of the Enlightenment undermined the authority of the monarchy and the Church, a variety of 19th-century movements, including liberalism and neo-classicism, trace their intellectual heritage back to the Enlightenment. The Age of Enlightenment was preceded by and closely associated with the scientific revolution, earlier philosophers whose work influenced the Enlightenment included Francis Bacon, René Descartes, John Locke, and Baruch Spinoza. The major figures of the Enlightenment included Cesare Beccaria, Voltaire, Denis Diderot, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, David Hume, Adam Smith, Benjamin Franklin visited Europe repeatedly and contributed actively to the scientific and political debates there and brought the newest ideas back to Philadelphia. Thomas Jefferson closely followed European ideas and later incorporated some of the ideals of the Enlightenment into the Declaration of Independence, others like James Madison incorporated them into the Constitution in 1787. The most influential publication of the Enlightenment was the Encyclopédie, the ideas of the Enlightenment played a major role in inspiring the French Revolution, which began in 1789. After the Revolution, the Enlightenment was followed by an intellectual movement known as Romanticism. René Descartes rationalist philosophy laid the foundation for enlightenment thinking and his attempt to construct the sciences on a secure metaphysical foundation was not as successful as his method of doubt applied in philosophic areas leading to a dualistic doctrine of mind and matter. His skepticism was refined by John Lockes 1690 Essay Concerning Human Understanding and his dualism was challenged by Spinozas uncompromising assertion of the unity of matter in his Tractatus and Ethics. Both lines of thought were opposed by a conservative Counter-Enlightenment. In the mid-18th century, Paris became the center of an explosion of philosophic and scientific activity challenging traditional doctrines, the political philosopher Montesquieu introduced the idea of a separation of powers in a government, a concept which was enthusiastically adopted by the authors of the United States Constitution. Francis Hutcheson, a philosopher, described the utilitarian and consequentialist principle that virtue is that which provides, in his words. Much of what is incorporated in the method and some modern attitudes towards the relationship between science and religion were developed by his protégés David Hume and Adam Smith. Hume became a figure in the skeptical philosophical and empiricist traditions of philosophy. Immanuel Kant tried to reconcile rationalism and religious belief, individual freedom and political authority, as well as map out a view of the sphere through private
5.
Bedford Square
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Bedford Square is a garden square in the Bloomsbury district of the Borough of Camden in London, England. The square takes its name from the title of the Russell family, the Dukes of Bedford. Bedford Square is one of the best preserved set pieces of Georgian architecture in London, numbers 1-10,11, 12–27, 28–38 and 40–54 are grade I listed buildings. Bedford College, the first place for higher education in Britain, was formerly located in Bedford Square. Nos.1 and 2, Cameron Mackintosh Limited No,3, Winston House Nos.4,5 and 6, New York Universitys London campus No. 7, London School of Business and Management Nos.8 &9, London School of Hygiene,11, Royal Holloway, University of London No. 12, ACCENT International Consortium for Academic Programs Abroad, London Study Center No,16, Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art No. 18, Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, London No.19 New College of the Humanities No.21 FSPG Chartered Accountants No.26 SIS Digital the home of Digital out of Home No,29, London office of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus No. 30, Sothebys Institute of Art No,32,33,34,35,36,37,38 and 39, Architectural Association School of Architecture No. 47, Yale University Press, London Nos.49,50 and 51,6, Lord Eldon — Lord Chancellor No. 10, Charles Gilpin — MP No,11, John Scarlett Davis - artist, died there in 1845 Henry Cavendish — scientist No. 13, Harry Ricardo — engine designer — born here No,22, Johnston Forbes-Robertson — actor No. 26, National Council for Voluntary Organisations,1928 –1992 No,30, Jonathan Cape — publishing company No. 35, Thomas Hodgkin — physician, reformer and philanthropist No,35, Thomas Wakley — founder of The Lancet No. 41, William Butterfield — architect No,41, Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins — novelist No. 44, Margot Asquith — wife of the Prime Minister H. H. Asquith, before that,48, Elizabeth Jesser Reid — anti-slavery activist and founder of Bedford College for Women No. 49, Francis Walker — entomologist, before that Ram Mohan Roy — Indian scholar and reformer No
6.
London Clay
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The London Clay Formation is a marine geological formation of Ypresian age which crops out in the southeast of England. The London Clay is well known for its fossil content, the fossils from the Lower Eocene indicate a moderately warm climate, the tropical or subtropical flora. Though sea levels changed during the deposition of the Clay, the habitat was generally a lush forest – perhaps like in Indonesia or East Africa today – bordering a warm, the London Clay is a stiff bluish clay which becomes brown when weathered. Nodular lumps of pyrite and crystals of selenite frequently exist in the clay and these have been used in the past for making cement. They were once dug for this purpose at Sheppey, near Sittingbourne, and at Harwich, the clay is still used commercially for making bricks, tiles, and coarse pottery in places such as Michelmersh in Hampshire. It is infertile for gardens and crops, the London Clay is well developed in the London Basin, where it thins westwards from around 150 metres in Essex and north Kent to around 4.6 metres in Wiltshire. Though it is not frequently exposed as it is to a great extent covered by more recent Neogene sediments, one location of particular interest is Oxshott Heath, where the overlying sand and the London Clay layers are exposed as a sand escarpment, rising approximately 25 metres. This supported a brick industry in the area until the 1960s. The clay was deposited in a sea up to 200 metres deep at the eastern end, up to five cycles of deposition have been found, most markedly at the shallower, western end. Each cycle begins with coarser material, followed by clay which becomes increasingly sandy, the final cycle ends with the Claygate Beds. The youngest part of the London Clay, known as the Claygate Beds or Claygate Member forms a transition between the clay and the sandier Bagshot Beds above and this is shown separately on many geological maps, and often caps hills. It is up to 15 metres thick at Claygate, Surrey and it is now believed to be diachronous, with the formation at Claygate for example being the same age as the end of the fourth cycle of deposition further east. Erecting tall buildings in London requires very deep, large and costly piled foundations, London Clay is highly susceptible to volumetric changes depending upon its moisture content. As a result, many companies have now increased the cost of premiums for buildings located in the most susceptible areas where damage occurred. London Clay has a time long enough to enable support to be installed without urgency. It is also almost waterproof, resulting in virtually no seepage of groundwater into the tunnel. It is over-consolidated, which means that it is under pressure, due to its impermeability especially when exposed by ploughing, London clay does not make good agricultural soil. In Middlesex, it has historically been called ploughing up poison, notable coastal exposures from which fossils can be collected are on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent and Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex in the London Basin, and Bognor Regis in the Hampshire Basin
7.
Air pollution
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Air pollution occurs when harmful substances including particulates and biological molecules are introduced into Earths atmosphere. It may cause diseases, allergies or death in humans, it may cause harm to other living organisms such as animals and food crops. Human activity and natural processes can both generate air pollution, indoor air pollution and poor urban air quality are listed as two of the worlds worst toxic pollution problems in the 2008 Blacksmith Institute Worlds Worst Polluted Places report. According to the 2014 WHO report, air pollution in 2012 caused the deaths of around 7 million people worldwide, an air pollutant is a substance in the air that can have adverse effects on humans and the ecosystem. The substance can be particles, liquid droplets, or gases. A pollutant can be of natural origin or man-made, pollutants are classified as primary or secondary. Primary pollutants are usually produced from a process, such as ash from a volcanic eruption, other examples include carbon monoxide gas from motor vehicle exhaust, or the sulfur dioxide released from factories. Secondary pollutants are not emitted directly, rather, they form in the air when primary pollutants react or interact. Ground level ozone is a prominent example of a secondary pollutant, some pollutants may be both primary and secondary, they are both emitted directly and formed from other primary pollutants. Substances emitted into the atmosphere by human activity include, Carbon dioxide - Debate continues over whether carbon dioxide should be classified as an atmospheric pollutant, because of its role as a greenhouse gas it has been described as the leading pollutant and the worst climate pollution. Against this it is argued that carbon dioxide is a component of the atmosphere, essential for plant life. This question of terminology has practical effects, for example as determining whether the U. S. Clean Air Act is deemed to regulate CO2 emissions, CO2 increase in earths atmosphere has been accelerating. Sulfur oxides - particularly sulfur dioxide, a compound with the formula SO2. SO2 is produced by volcanoes and in industrial processes. Coal and petroleum often contain sulfur compounds, and their combustion generates sulfur dioxide, further oxidation of SO2, usually in the presence of a catalyst such as NO2, forms H2SO4, and thus acid rain. This is one of the causes for concern over the impact of the use of these fuels as power sources. Nitrogen oxides - Nitrogen oxides, particularly nitrogen dioxide, are expelled from high temperature combustion and they can be seen as a brown haze dome above or a plume downwind of cities. Nitrogen dioxide is a compound with the formula NO2
8.
Brickwork
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Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks—called courses— are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall, Brick is a popular medium for constructing buildings, and examples of brickwork are found through history as far back as the Bronze Age. The fired-brick faces of the ziggurat of ancient Dur-Kurigalzu in Iraq date from around 1400 BC, much older examples of brickwork made with dried bricks may be found in such ancient locations as Jericho in Judea, Çatal Hüyük in Anatolia, and Mehrgarh in Pakistan. These structures have survived from the Stone Age to the present day, parts of brickwork include bricks, beds and perpends. The bed is the mortar upon which a brick is laid, a perpend is a vertical joint between any two bricks and is usually—but not always—filled with mortar. An example of a co-ordinating metric commonly used for bricks in the UK is as follows, Bricks of dimensions 215 mm x 102.5 mm ×65 mm, Mortar beds and perpends of a uniform 10 mm. In this case the co-ordinating metric works because the length of a brick is equal to the total of the width of a brick plus a perpend plus the width of a second brick. There are many other brick sizes worldwide, and many of them use this same co-ordinating principle, a brick is given a classification based on how it is laid, and how the exposed face is oriented relative to the face of the finished wall. Stretcher or Stretching brick A brick laid flat with its narrow side exposed. Header or Heading brick A brick laid flat with its width exposed, soldier A brick laid vertically with its long narrow side exposed. Sailor A brick laid vertically with the face of the brick exposed. Rowlock A brick laid on the narrow side with the short end of the brick exposed. Shiner or Rowlock Stretcher A brick laid on the narrow side with the broad face of the brick exposed. The practice of laying uncut full-sized bricks wherever possible gives brickwork its maximum possible strength, in some cases these special shapes or sizes are manufactured. A second practice particularly observed in older examples of brickwork is that of building brickwork thicker than the width of any of its individual bricks, in such cases, some of the bricks may well be tied together into the depth of the wall. Historically, this was the dominant method for consolidating the transverse strength of walls, brickwork observing either or both of these two conventions is described as being laid in one or another bond. The advent during the mid twentieth century of the cavity wall saw the popularisation, a cavity wall comprises two totally discrete walls—each one of which is called a wythe or leaf. A cavity separates the two leaves so that there is no connection between them at all
9.
Plaster
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Plaster is a building material used for the protective and/or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English plaster usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, another imprecise term used for the material is stucco, which is also often used for plasterwork that is worked in some way to produce relief decoration, rather than flat surfaces. The most common types of plaster mainly contain either gypsum, lime, or cement, the plaster is manufactured as a dry powder and is mixed with water to form a stiff but workable paste immediately before it is applied to the surface. The reaction with water liberates heat through crystallization and the hydrated plaster then hardens, plaster can be relatively easily worked with metal tools or even sandpaper, and can be moulded, either on site or to make pre-formed sections in advance, which are put in place with adhesive. Plaster is not a material, it is suitable for finishing, rather than load-bearing. Forms of plaster have several other uses, in medicine plaster orthopedic casts are still often used for supporting set broken bones. In dentistry plaster is used to make dental models, various types of models and moulds are made with plaster. In art, lime plaster is the matrix for fresco painting. Gypsum plaster, or plaster of Paris, is produced by heating gypsum to about 300 °F, when the dry plaster powder is mixed with water, it re-forms into gypsum. The setting of unmodified plaster starts about 10 minutes after mixing and is complete in about 45 minutes, if plaster or gypsum is heated above 266 °F, hemihydrate is formed, which will also re-form as gypsum if mixed with water. On heating to 180 °C, the nearly water-free form, called γ-anhydrite is produced, γ-Anhydrite reacts slowly with water to return to the dihydrate state, a property exploited in some commercial desiccants. On heating above 250 °C, the anhydrous form called β-anhydrite or dead burned plaster is formed. A large gypsum deposit at Montmartre in Paris led calcined gypsum to be known as plaster of Paris. Plasterers often use gypsum to simulate the appearance of surfaces of wood, stone, or metal, on movie, nowadays, theatrical plasterers often use expanded polystyrene, although the job title remains unchanged. Plaster of Paris can be used to impregnate gauze bandages to make a material called plaster bandages. It is used similarly to clay, as it is shaped when wet, yet sets into a resilient. This is the material that was used to make classic plaster orthopedic casts to protect limbs with broken bones, set Modroc is an early example of a composite material. The hydration of plaster of Paris relies on the reaction of water with the dehydrated or partially hydrated calcium sulfate present in the plaster, lime plaster is a mixture of calcium hydroxide and sand
10.
Fletton
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Fletton is a residential area and electoral ward of the city of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire in the United Kingdom. For parliamentary purposes it falls within North West Cambridgeshire constituency, the area, which has given its name to Fletton Brick, is home to Football League One team Peterborough United F. C. who play at London Road Stadium. Lying south of the River Nene, the area was part of Huntingdonshire. Some maps still show New Fletton as well as Old Fletton with the boundary at Fletton Spring, in 1998, the city became a unitary authority area, but it continues to form part of Cambridgeshire for ceremonial purposes. The sub-soil is Oxford clay, the character of which led to the establishment of large brickworks which were economical to excavate, the dominance of London Brick in the market during this period gave rise to some of the countrys best known landmarks, built using the ubiquitous Flettons. By 1960, approximately 3,000 Italian men were employed by London Brick, consequently, Fletton has a significant Italian population today. The Fleet complex, off the High Street, has been managed by the Italian Community Association since it opened in 1985, historically, diesel manufacturers, Perkins Engines and Bennie Lifts also gave work to a large number of people locally. Elliot Medway, manufacturers of mobile classrooms, occupied a site on Glebe Road until its demolition in 2008 to make way for the south bank development, the parish church, situated on Fletton Avenue, is dedicated to Saint Margaret. Although in the Diocese of Ely, it has now placed under the pastoral care of the Bishop of Peterborough. The former Italian Catholic mission church of Saint Anthony was run by the Scalabrini Fathers for many years, Fletton cemetery, also on Fletton Avenue, opened for burials in 1893. Old Fletton County Primary School is located in the area, secondary pupils attend nearby Stanground Academy,158 Transport Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps is headquartered at the Territorial Army centre on London Road. During the 19th century, Alfred Nicholson Leeds made several discoveries in the Fletton brick pits. Fletton railway station Italian Community Association The Fletton Process Old Fletton School
11.
Stock, Essex
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Stock is a village and civil parish in south Essex, England. It is about 6 miles south of Chelmsford, the county town, the village is in the borough of Chelmsford and in the parliamentary constituency of Maldon. The village has three churches, the Church of England parish church of All Saints, the Catholic Church of Our Lady and St Joseph and Christ Church. There are three pubs in the village, The Bear, The Hoop, and The Bakers Arms and two pubs on the outskirts, the Ship near West Hanningfield and the Kings Head near Billericay. There is a post office and general store, a tapas restaurant, there is a hotel, bar and restaurant called the Harvard. There is a Church of England primary school, which is rated as good by Ofsted, the village has a direct link to the A12 trunk road via the B1007. There are bus services to Chelmsford, Lakeside, Wickford and Basildon, the origins of the village are uncertain and are subject to debate. Archaeological finds suggest that during the Iron Age period there was a settlement on the site, the Domesday Book of 1086 does not mention Stock. Formerly half of the village was in the parish of Buttsbury, both of these anomalies have now been resolved. The poet Thomas Cowper was a friend of Willam Unwin, who was the rector from 1769 to 1787, Thomas Cowper poem that is most connected with Stock is Tithing Time at Stock or the Yearly Distress. Admiral Sir Vernon Haggard lived in the village, the Village of Stock in Essex
