1.
Site of Special Scientific Interest
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The acronym SSSI is often pronounced triple-S I. Sites notified for their biological interest are known as Biological SSSI/ASSIs, SSSI/ASSIs may be divided into management units, with some areas including units that are noted for both biological and geological interest. Biological SSSI/ASSIs may be selected for reasons, which for Great Britain is governed by published SSSI Selection Guidelines. Within each area, a series of the best examples of each significant natural habitat may be notified. Sites of particular significance for various groups may be selected —each of these groups has its own set of selection guidelines. In Scotland, the authority is Scottish Natural Heritage, the role in Wales is performed by Natural Resources Wales. In the Isle of Man the role is performed by the Department of Environment, Food, Geological SSSI/ASSIs are selected by a different mechanism to biological ones, with a minimalistic system selecting one site for each geological feature in Great Britain. Each of these sites is described, with most published in the Geological Conservation Review series, almost all GCR sites are subsequently notified as geological SSSIs, except some that coincide with designated biological SSSI management units. If the exposure becomes obscured, the feature could in principle be re-exposed elsewhere, Conservation of these sites usually concentrates on maintenance of access for future study. These are features which are limited in extent or physically delicate—for example, they include small lenses of sediment, mine tailings, caves, if such features become damaged they cannot be recreated, and conservation usually involves protecting the feature from erosion or other damage. Following devolution, legal arrangements for SSSIs and ASSIs differ between the countries of the UK, the Isle of Man ASSI system is a separate entity. Scottish Natural Heritage publishes a summary of the SSSI arrangements for SSSI owners and occupiers which can be downloaded from the SNH website, legal documents for all SSSIs in Scotland are available on the SSSI Register, hosted by The Registers of Scotland. Further information about SSSIs in Scotland is available on the SNH website, SSSIs are also covered under the Water Resources Act 1991 and related legislation. An SSSI may be made on any area of land which is considered to be of special interest by virtue of its fauna, flora, SSSI notification can cover any land within the area of the relevant nature conservation body, including dry land, land covered by freshwater. The extent to which an SSSI/ASSI may extend seawards differs between countries, in England, Natural England may notify an SSSI over estuarial waters and further adjacent waters in certain circumstances. Access on to SSSIs is the same as for the rest of the countryside of the relevant country, most SSSIs/ASSIs are in private ownership and form parts of working farms, forests and estates. In Scotland, people may use their rights of access to visit SSSIs. When creating a new SSSI/ASSI the designation hs legal effect from the date of notification. g, in Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage must also notify the relevant community councils and community group having registered an interest in the land. )
2.
Grid reference
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Grid references define locations on maps using Cartesian coordinates. Grid lines on maps define the system, and are numbered to provide a unique reference to features. Grid systems vary, but the most common is a grid with grid lines intersecting each other at right angles. The grid numbers on the east-west axis are called Eastings, numerical grid references consist of an even number of digits. Thus in a 6 digit grid reference 123456, the Easting component is 123, grids may be arbitrary, or can be based on specific distances, for example some maps use a one-kilometre square grid spacing. A grid reference locates a unique square region on the map, the precision of location varies, for example a simple town plan may use a simple grid system with single letters for Eastings and single numbers for Northings. A grid reference in this system, such as H3, locates a particular square rather than a single point and these points can then be located by someone else using grid references, even if using maps of a different scale. In the Universal Transverse Mercator system, grid reference is given by three numbers, zone, easting and northing, in the UTM system, the earth is divided into 60 zones. Northing values are given by the north, or south of the equator. Easting values are established as the distance from the meridian of a zone. The central meridian is arbitrarily set at 500,000 metres, a position 100 kilometres west of a central meridian would have an easting of 400,000 metres. Due to its popularity, and worldwide cover, the UTM system is used worldwide by NATO as well as countries, including Australia. In the United Kingdom, a grid system is used. Since the Eastings and Northings are one kilometre apart, a combination of a Northing, the convention is the grid reference numbers call out the lower-left corner of the desired square. In the example map below, the town Little Plumpton lies in the square 6901, even though the writing which labels the town is in 6802 and 6902, the more digits added to a grid reference, the more precise the reference becomes. To locate a specific building in Little Plumpton, a further two digits are added to the reference to create a six-digit reference. The extra two digits describe a position within the 1-kilometre square, imagine a further 10x10 grid within the current grid square. Any of the 100 squares in the superimposed 10×10 grid can be described using a digit from 0 to 9
3.
SSSI notification
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The acronym SSSI is often pronounced triple-S I. Sites notified for their biological interest are known as Biological SSSI/ASSIs, SSSI/ASSIs may be divided into management units, with some areas including units that are noted for both biological and geological interest. Biological SSSI/ASSIs may be selected for reasons, which for Great Britain is governed by published SSSI Selection Guidelines. Within each area, a series of the best examples of each significant natural habitat may be notified. Sites of particular significance for various groups may be selected —each of these groups has its own set of selection guidelines. In Scotland, the authority is Scottish Natural Heritage, the role in Wales is performed by Natural Resources Wales. In the Isle of Man the role is performed by the Department of Environment, Food, Geological SSSI/ASSIs are selected by a different mechanism to biological ones, with a minimalistic system selecting one site for each geological feature in Great Britain. Each of these sites is described, with most published in the Geological Conservation Review series, almost all GCR sites are subsequently notified as geological SSSIs, except some that coincide with designated biological SSSI management units. If the exposure becomes obscured, the feature could in principle be re-exposed elsewhere, Conservation of these sites usually concentrates on maintenance of access for future study. These are features which are limited in extent or physically delicate—for example, they include small lenses of sediment, mine tailings, caves, if such features become damaged they cannot be recreated, and conservation usually involves protecting the feature from erosion or other damage. Following devolution, legal arrangements for SSSIs and ASSIs differ between the countries of the UK, the Isle of Man ASSI system is a separate entity. Scottish Natural Heritage publishes a summary of the SSSI arrangements for SSSI owners and occupiers which can be downloaded from the SNH website, legal documents for all SSSIs in Scotland are available on the SSSI Register, hosted by The Registers of Scotland. Further information about SSSIs in Scotland is available on the SNH website, SSSIs are also covered under the Water Resources Act 1991 and related legislation. An SSSI may be made on any area of land which is considered to be of special interest by virtue of its fauna, flora, SSSI notification can cover any land within the area of the relevant nature conservation body, including dry land, land covered by freshwater. The extent to which an SSSI/ASSI may extend seawards differs between countries, in England, Natural England may notify an SSSI over estuarial waters and further adjacent waters in certain circumstances. Access on to SSSIs is the same as for the rest of the countryside of the relevant country, most SSSIs/ASSIs are in private ownership and form parts of working farms, forests and estates. In Scotland, people may use their rights of access to visit SSSIs. When creating a new SSSI/ASSI the designation hs legal effect from the date of notification. g, in Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage must also notify the relevant community councils and community group having registered an interest in the land. )
4.
Ramsar Convention
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The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands. It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands and it is named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where the Convention was signed in 1971. The most recent COP12 was held in Punta del Este, Uruguay, cOP13 will take place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in 2018. The List of Wetlands of International Importance included 2,231 Ramsar Sites in March 2016 covering over 2.1 million square kilometres. The country with the highest number of Sites is the United Kingdom with 170, the Ramsar Sites Information Service is a searchable database which provides information on each Ramsar Site. As of 2016 there are 18 Transboundary Ramsar Sites, as of 2016 there are 15 Ramsar Regional Initiatives covering regions of the Mediterranean, Asia, Africa and South America. The Ramsar Convention works closely with six other known as International Organization Partners. The IOPs also participate regularly as observers in all meetings of the Conference of the Parties and as members of the Scientific. Conference of the Parties Conference of the Parties is the Conventions governing body consisting of all governments that have ratified the treaty and this ultimate authority reviews progress under the Convention, identifies new priorities, and sets work plans for members. The COP can also make amendments to the Convention, create expert advisory bodies, review progress reports by member nations, and collaborate with other international organizations and agreements. The Standing Committee The Standing Committee is the executive body which represents the COP between its triennial meetings, within the framework of the decisions made by the COP. The Contracting Parties that are members of the Standing Committee are elected by each meeting of the COP to serve for the three years until the next one, the Secretariat The Secretariat carries out the day-to-day coordination of the Convention’s activities. It is based at the headquarters of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature in Gland, Switzerland, the 2nd of February each year is World Wetlands Day, marking the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971. Established to raise awareness about the value of wetlands for humanity, in 2015 World Wetlands Day was celebrated in 59 countries
5.
St Ives, Cambridgeshire
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St Ives is a market town and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England. St Ives lies approximately 5 miles east of Huntingdon and 12 miles north-west of the city of Cambridge, St Ives is situated within Huntingdonshire which is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire as well as being a historic county of England. Previously called Slepe, its name was changed to St Ives after the body, claimed to be that of a Persian bishop, in 1085 William the Conqueror ordered that a survey should be carried out across his kingdom to discover who owned which parts and what it was worth. The survey took place in 1086 and the results were recorded in what, St Ives was listed in the Domesday Book in the Hundred of Hurstingstone in Huntingdonshire, the name of the settlement was written as Slepe in the Domesday Book. In 1086 there was just one manor at St Ives, the rent paid to the lord of the manor in 1066 had been £20. The Domesday Book does not explicitly detail the population of a place, there is no consensus about the average size of a household at that time, estimates range from 3.5 to 5.0 people per household. Using these figures then an estimate of the population of St Ives in 1086 is that it was within the range of 224 and 320 people. The Domesday Book uses a number of units of measure for areas of land that are now unfamiliar terms, such as hides and ploughlands. By 1086, the hide had become a unit of tax assessment rather than a land area. The survey records that there were 29,5 ploughlands at St Ives in 1086. In addition to the land, there was 60 acres of meadows and 1,892 acres of woodland at St Ives. The tax assessment in the Domesday Book was known as geld or danegeld and was a type of land-tax based on the hide or ploughland and it was originally a way of collecting a tribute to pay off the Danes when they attacked England, and was only levied when necessary. Following the Norman Conquest, the geld was used to raise money for the King and to pay for continental wars, by 1130, the geld was being collected annually. Having determined the value of a land and other assets. While this was two shillings in the pound the amount did vary, for example, in 1084 it was as high as six shillings in the pound. For the manor at St Ives the total tax assessed was twenty geld, by 1086 there were two churches and two priests at St Ives. For the past 1,000 years it has been home to some of the biggest markets in the country, and in the century it was an important entrepôt. Built on the banks of the wide River Great Ouse between Huntingdon and Ely, St Ives has a chapel on its bridge
6.
Cambridgeshire
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The city of Cambridge is the county town. It contains most of the known as Silicon Fen. Local government is divided between Cambridgeshire County Council and Peterborough City Council, which is a unitary authority. Cambridgeshire is noted as the site of Flag Fen in Fengate, one of the earliest-known Neolithic permanent settlements in the United Kingdom, compared in importance to Balbridie in Aberdeen, Scotland. A great quantity of archaeological finds from the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, most items were found in Isleham. Cambridgeshire was recorded in the Domesday Book as Grantbridgeshire, covering a large part of East Anglia, Cambridgeshire today is the result of several local government unifications. In 1965, these two counties were merged to form Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely. Under the Local Government Act 1972 this merged with the county to the west, Huntingdon, the resulting county was called simply Cambridgeshire. Since 1998, the City of Peterborough has been a separately administered area and it is associated with Cambridgeshire for ceremonial purposes such as Lieutenancy, and joint functions such as policing and the fire service. In 2002, the conservation charity Plantlife unofficially designated Cambridgeshires county flower as the Pasqueflower, the Cambridgeshire Regiment, the county-based army unit, fought in the Boer War of South Africa, the First World War and Second World War. Due to the flat terrain and proximity to the continent, during the Second World War the military built many airfields here for RAF Bomber Command, RAF Fighter Command. In recognition of this collaboration, the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial is located in Madingley and it is the only WWII burial ground in England for American servicemen who died during that event. Most English counties have nicknames for their people, such as a Tyke from Yorkshire, the traditional nicknames for people from Cambridgeshire are Cambridgeshire Camel or Cambridgeshire Crane, referring to the wildfowl that were once abundant in the fens. The term Fenners was often applied to those who come from the country to the north of Cambridge. Since the late 20th century, this term is considered to be derogatory and has been discouraged in use, original historical documents relating to Cambridgeshire are held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies. See also Geology of Cambridgeshire Large areas of the county are extremely low-lying, the highest point is in the village of Great Chishill at 146 m above sea level. Other prominent hills are Little Trees Hill and Wandlebury Hill in the Gog Magog Downs, Rivey Hill above Linton, Rowleys Hill, AWG plc is based in Huntingdon. The RAF has several stations in the Huntingdon and St Ives area, RAF Waterbeach,6 miles north of Cambridge, is a former RAF airfield, now used as an army barracks
7.
Downham Market
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Downham Market sometimes simply referred to as Downham is a market town and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It lies on the edge of the Fens, on the River Great Ouse, the civil parish has an area of 5.2 km² and in the 2011 census had a population of 9,994 in 4,637 households. For the purposes of government, the parish falls within the district of Kings Lynn. It is part of South West Norfolk parliamentary constituency and it was an agricultural centre, developing as a market for the produce of the Fens with a bridge across the Ouse. During the Middle Ages, it was famed for its butter market, the market is now held Fridays and Saturdays on the town hall car park. Notable buildings in the town include its parish church, dedicated to St Edmund. The town is known as the place where Charles I hid after the Battle of Naseby. In 2004 the town completed a project on the Market Place. The decorative town sign depicts the crown and arrows of St Edmund with horses to show the importance of the fairs in the towns history. A heritage centre, Discover Downham, opened in a fire station in 2016. The electoral ward of Downham Market exists but covers an area than that of the parish. The population of this ward taken at the 2011 Census was 7,988, Downham Market railway station, which serves the town, is on the Fen Line from London to Kings Lynn. The town’s signal box is one of five rare examples across the region to have been granted Grade II listed status in 2013, downham’s signal box was built in 1881 for the Great Eastern Railway Company but will soon be decommissioned as part of a 30-year modernisation project. There are two schools in Downham Market, Nelson Academy, which has a nursery for children aged 3-5. The town has one school, Downham Market Academy which includes a sixth form. Downham Market Leisure Centre is located on Bexwell Road, a Non-League football club Downham Town F. C. play at the Memorial Field. George William Manby, inventor of a rocket and the first modern form of fire extinguisher, was educated in the town. George Henry Dashwood, antiquary, was born in the town, golding Bird, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London, became an authority on kidney diseases
8.
Norfolk
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Norfolk /ˈnɔːrfək/ is a county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the west and north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea and, to the north-west, The Wash. With an area of 2,074 square miles and a population of 859,400, of the countys population, 40% live in four major built up areas, Norwich, Great Yarmouth, Kings Lynn and Thetford. The Broads is a network of rivers and lakes in the east of the county, the area is not a National Park although it is marketed as such. It has similar status to a park, and is protected by the Broads Authority. Norfolk was settled in times, with camps along the higher land in the west. A Brythonic tribe, the Iceni, inhabited the county from the 1st century BC to the end of the 1st century AD, the Iceni revolted against the Roman invasion in AD47, and again in 60 led by Boudica. The crushing of the second opened the county to the Romans. During the Roman era roads and ports were constructed throughout the county, situated on the east coast, Norfolk was vulnerable to invasions from Scandinavia and Northern Europe, and forts were built to defend against the Angles and Saxons. Norfolk, Suffolk and several adjacent areas became the kingdom of East Anglia, the influence of the Early English settlers can be seen in the many place names ending in -ton and -ham. Endings such as -by and -thorpe are also common, indicating Danish place names, in the 9th century the region came under attack. In the centuries before the Norman Conquest the wetlands of the east of the county began to be converted to farmland, and settlements grew in these areas. Migration into East Anglia must have high, by the time of the Domesday Book survey it was one of the most densely populated parts of the British Isles. During the high and late Middle Ages the county developed arable agriculture, the economy was in decline by the time of the Black Death, which dramatically reduced the population in 1349. During the English Civil War Norfolk was largely Parliamentarian, the economy and agriculture of the region declined somewhat. During the Industrial Revolution Norfolk developed little industry except in Norwich which was an addition to the railway network. In the 20th century the county developed a role in aviation, during the Second World War agriculture rapidly intensified, and it has remained very intensive since, with the establishment of large fields for growing cereals and oilseed rape. Norfolks low-lying land and easily eroded cliffs, many of which are chalk and clay, make it vulnerable to the sea, the low-lying section of coast between Kelling and Lowestoft Ness in Suffolk is currently managed by the Environment Agency to protect the Broads from sea flooding
9.
European Union
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The European Union is a political and economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe. It has an area of 4,475,757 km2, the EU has developed an internal single market through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states. Within the Schengen Area, passport controls have been abolished, a monetary union was established in 1999 and came into full force in 2002, and is composed of 19 EU member states which use the euro currency. The EU operates through a system of supranational and intergovernmental decision-making. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community, the community and its successors have grown in size by the accession of new member states and in power by the addition of policy areas to its remit. While no member state has left the EU or its antecedent organisations, the Maastricht Treaty established the European Union in 1993 and introduced European citizenship. The latest major amendment to the basis of the EU. The EU as a whole is the largest economy in the world, additionally,27 out of 28 EU countries have a very high Human Development Index, according to the United Nations Development Programme. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, through the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the EU has developed a role in external relations and defence. The union maintains permanent diplomatic missions throughout the world and represents itself at the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G7, because of its global influence, the European Union has been described as an emerging superpower. After World War II, European integration was seen as an antidote to the nationalism which had devastated the continent. 1952 saw the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community, the supporters of the Community included Alcide De Gasperi, Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman, and Paul-Henri Spaak. These men and others are credited as the Founding fathers of the European Union. In 1957, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany signed the Treaty of Rome and they also signed another pact creating the European Atomic Energy Community for co-operation in developing nuclear energy. Both treaties came into force in 1958, the EEC and Euratom were created separately from the ECSC, although they shared the same courts and the Common Assembly. The EEC was headed by Walter Hallstein and Euratom was headed by Louis Armand, Euratom was to integrate sectors in nuclear energy while the EEC would develop a customs union among members. During the 1960s, tensions began to show, with France seeking to limit supranational power, Jean Rey presided over the first merged Commission. In 1973, the Communities enlarged to include Denmark, Ireland, Norway had negotiated to join at the same time, but Norwegian voters rejected membership in a referendum
10.
Special Area of Conservation
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A Special Area of Conservation is defined in the European Unions Habitats Directive, also known as the Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora. They must be chosen from the Sites of Community Importance by the State Members, sACs complement Special Protection Areas and together form a network of protected sites across the European Union called Natura 2000. This, in turn, is part of the Emerald network of Areas of Special Conservation Interest under the Berne Convention, prior to being designated as a Special Area of Conservation, sites are assessed under a two-stage process set out by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. The value of the site is considered in relation to the whole national resource of each habitat type. Firstly, assessment of the importance of sites containing examples of the individual habitat types. This stage is often referred to as moderation. The criteria used in Stage 2 are intended to be used to assess the sites at the level of the nine biogeographical regions and the EU as a whole
11.
March, Cambridgeshire
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March is a Fenland market town and civil parish in the Isle of Ely area of Cambridgeshire, England. March was the county town of the Isle of Ely which was an administrative county from 1889 to 1965. It is now the centre of Fenland District Council. The town grew by becoming an important railway centre, like many Fenland towns, March was once an island surrounded by marshes. It occupied the second largest island in the Great Level, as the land drained, the town grew and prospered as a trading and religious centre. It was also a port before, in more recent times, a market town. March is situated on the banks of the old course of the navigable River Nene, modern March lies on the course of the Fen Causeway, a Roman road, and there is evidence of Roman settlements in the area. Before the draining of the fens, March was effectively an island in the marshy fens and it was formed from two settlements, Merche and Mercheford, separated by a canal. The town probably owes its origin to the ford on the old course of the River Nene, at one time shipping on the River Nene provided the basis of the towns trade, but this declined with the coming of the railways in the 19th century. A single arch bridge was built over the River Nene towards the end of the town in 1850. High Street, which is the thoroughfare, is continued over the bridge to Broad Street on the north side of the Nene. A Local Board of Health was formed in 1851, under Act 14 and 15 Vict. c,10, but by the provisions of the Local Government Act 1894 the town became governed by an Urban District Council of 12 members. Gas lighting was provided by the March Gas and Coke Co, the Wisbech Water Works Company, under a provisional order obtained in 1884, supplied the town with water, which was brought through mains pipes from Wisbech,10 miles away. HM Prison Whitemoor, opened in 1991, lies slightly to the northwest of the town, Whitemoor is a maximum security prison for nearly 500 men in Category A and B. With a long history of trading, in the reign of Elizabeth I, in 1566 eight boats, capable of carrying one, one and a half, or two cartloads, were used in the coal and grain trades. A certain amount of traffic in coal and other commodities, carried in barges, was observed by Dugdale in 1657, Local tradesmens tokens of 1669, and a silver shilling token of 1811, have been noted. Originally a market appears to have held near the original town centre. A Market Cross points towards the existence of an early market and this site was very near St Wendredas Church
12.
Ely, Cambridgeshire
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Ely is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England,14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge and about 80 miles by road from London. Æthelthryth founded an abbey at Ely in 673, the abbey was destroyed in 870 by Danish invaders and was rebuilt by Æthelwold, Bishop of Winchester, construction of the cathedral was started in 1083 by a Norman abbot, Simeon. Building continued until the dissolution of the abbey in 1539 during the Reformation, the cathedral was sympathetically restored between 1845 and 1870 by the architect George Gilbert Scott. As the seat of a diocese, Ely has long considered a city, in 1974. Ely is built on a 23-square-mile Kimmeridge Clay island which, at 85 feet, is the highest land in the fens. There are two Sites of Special Scientific Interest in the city, a former Kimmeridge Clay quarry, and one of the United Kingdoms best remaining examples of medieval ridge, the economy of the region is mainly agricultural. The city had been the centre of pottery production for more than 700 years. A Roman road, Akeman Street, passes through the city, Little direct evidence of Roman occupation in Ely exists, although there are nearby Roman settlements such as those at Little Thetford and Stretham. A coach route, known to have existed in 1753 between Ely and Cambridge, was improved in 1769 as a turnpike, the present day A10 closely follows this route, a southwestern bypass of the city was built in 1986. The Kings School is a boarding school which was granted a royal charter in 1541 by Henry VIII. Henry I granted the first annual Fair, Saint Audreys seven-day event, to the abbot and convent on 10 October 1189, present day annual events include the Eel Festival in May, established in 2004, and a fireworks display in Ely Park, first staged in 1974. The city of Ely has been twinned with Denmarks oldest town, Ribe, Ely City Football Club was formed in 1885. Roswell Pits are a palaeontologically significant Site of Special Scientific Interest one mile northeast of the city, the Jurassic Kimmeridge Clays were quarried in the 19th and 20th centuries for the production of pottery and for maintenance of river embankments. Many specimens of ammonites, belemnites and bivalves were found during quarrying, there is some scattered evidence of Late Mesolithic to Bronze Age activity in Ely such as Neolithic flint tools, a Bronze Age axe and spearhead. There is slightly denser Iron Age and Roman activity with some evidence of at least seasonal occupation. For example, a farmstead, of the late Iron Age to early Roman period, was discovered at West Fen Road. There was a Roman settlement, including a tile kiln built over an earlier Iron Age settlement, in Little Thetford, the origin and meaning of Elys name have always been regarded as obscure by place-name scholars, and are still disputed. The earliest record of the name is in the Latin text of Bedes Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum and this is apparently not a Latin name, and subsequent Latin texts nearly all used the forms Elia, Eli, or Heli with inorganic H-
13.
Chatteris
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Chatteris /ˈtʃætɛrɪs/ is a civil parish and one of four market towns in the Fenland district of Cambridgeshire, England, situated in The Fens between Huntingdon, March and Ely. The town is in the North East Cambridgeshire parliamentary constituency, the parish of Chatteris is large, covering 6,099 hectares, and for much of its history was a raised island in the low-lying wetland of the Fens. Mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, the town has evidence of settlement from the Neolithic period, following the draining of the Fens, beginning in the 17th century and completed in the 19th century, the towns economy has been based on agriculture and related industry. Due to its proximity to Cambridge, Huntingdon and Peterborough, the town has emerged as a commuter town, the town had a population of 10,453 at the time of the United Kingdom Census 2011. The town was mentioned in the Domesday Book as Cetriz and Cateriz, saxon evidence is less well preserved, although in 679, Hunna, the chaplain to Æthelthryth of Ely built a hermitage on Honey Hill. More apocryphically, Chatteris is reputed to have been the last refuge of Boudica as she fled from the Romans, the miraculous story of the first known parishioner of the town, Bricstan, is documented in the Historia Ecclesiastica by the Chronicler Orderic Vitalis. According to the legend, Bricstan was a free tenant from the town who had joined the monastery at Ely Cathedral in 1115 to begin training as a monk. However, he was accused of theft and imprisoned in London, the legend recounts that one night he had a vision of Saint Etheldreda coming towards him, and as if by a miracle, his heavy chains fell from him and he was shackled no longer. When he awoke from his dream, he discovered that this was indeed true and he was free of his chains. The wife of Henry I, Matilda of Scotland, heard of the miracle, throughout its existence, the abbey was comparatively poor compared to other foundations, due to a lack of royal patronage and a consequent lack of tithe estates. A range of the buildings survived as part of a mansion known as Park House. A large portion of the town was destroyed by a fire in 1310, which destroyed the nunnery. Later fires in 1706 and 1864 destroyed most medieval and Georgian architecture, however, many of the pasture fields on the outskirts of the town have evidence of ridge and furrow farming practices, although these are under threat by current building proposals. Several of the buildings of the town show evidence of the Dutch architectural style. Chatteris is a town and has possessed this designation since 1834, although an earlier market existed in the town. A small market is held every Friday. Following the Beeching Axe, Chatteris railway station, formerly on the St. Ives extension of the Great Eastern Railway was closed in March 1967, the town is in the North East Cambridgeshire parliamentary constituency, with the incumbent MP being the Conservative Stephen Barclay. The constituency is now considered a safe Conservative seat, although the Liberal MP Clement Freud held the seat from 1973 to 1987, the town is locally governed by Cambridgeshire County Council, Fenland District Council and Chatteris Town Council, each performing separate functions
14.
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
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The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is a charitable organisation registered in England and Wales and in Scotland. It was founded as the Plumage League in 1889 by Emily Williamson, the RSPB has over 1300 employees,18,000 volunteers and more than 1 million members, making it the largest wildlife conservation charity in Europe. The RSPB has many groups and maintains 200 nature reserves. The group gained popularity and eventually amalgamated with the Fur and Feather League in Croydon to form the Society for the Protection of Birds, the Society gained its Royal Charter in 1904. At the time that the Society was founded in Britain, similar societies were founded in other European countries. In 1961, the society acquired The Lodge in Sandy, Bedfordshire as its new headquarters, today, the RSPB works with both the civil service and the Government to advise Government policies on conservation and environmentalism. It is one of several organisations that determine the conservation status list for all birds found in the UK. The RSPB maintains over 200 reserves throughout the United Kingdom, covering a range of habitats, from estuaries. The reserves often have bird hides provided for birdwatchers and many provide visitor centres, the RSPB confers awards, including the Presidents Award, for volunteers who make a notable contribution to the work of the society. The RSPB say, The RSPB Medal is the Societys most prestigious award and it is presented to an individual in recognition of wild bird protection and countryside conservation. It is usually awarded annually to one or occasionally two people, Bird Notes and News was first published in April 1903. The title changed to Bird Notes in 1947, in the 1950s, there were four copies per year. Each volume covered two years, spread over three calendar years, for example, volume XXV, number one was dated Winter 1951, and number eight in the same volume was dated Autumn 1953. From the mid-1950s, many of the covers were by Charles Tunnicliffe, from January 1964, publication increased to six per year. Volumes again covered two years, so vol,30, covering 1962–63, therefore included nine issues, ending with the Winter 1963–64 edition instead of eight. The final edition, vol.31 no,12, was published in late 1965. Miss M. G. Davies, BA, MBOU John Clegg Jeremy Boswell Bird Notes successor Birds replaced it immediately, with volume 1, issues were published quarterly, numbered so that a new volume started every other year. The Autumn 2013 edition, dated August–October 2013, being vol.25 no, Birds had eleven credited editors during its 47-year,199 edition run
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Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust
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The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust is a national wildfowl and wetland conservation charity in the United Kingdom. Its patron is Queen Elizabeth II and its president is Prince Charles, the WWT was founded in 1946 by the ornithologist and artist Sir Peter Scott as the Severn Wildfowl Trust. The WWT was instrumental in saving the nēnē from the brink of extinction in the 1950s, the WWT has over 200,000 members and nine reserves with visitor centres. Together these cover over 20 km², and support over 150,000 birds and they receive over one million visitors per year. The reserves include seven SSSIs, five SPAs and five Ramsar sites and these include, ecological survey and assessment, habitat design and management, visitor centre planning and design, and wetland treatment systems. The Trust is a charity in England and Scotland. As of December 2012, the Trusts chief executive is Martin Spray, in December 2012, he was appointed CBE. Conservation in the United Kingdom List of Conservation topics Malcolm Ogilvie Ramsar Convention Wetlands International Official website WWT Consulting Ltd
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Welney
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Welney is a village and civil parish in the Fens of England, and the county of Norfolk. The village is situated immediately to the west of the Old Bedford River, River Delph and New Bedford River, which are all parallel channels and are here crossed by the A1101 road. The village is some 15 km south-west of the town of Downham Market,30 km south of the town of Kings Lynn and 70 km west of the city of Norwich. The county boundary with Cambridgeshire is adjacent, and the city of Cambridge lies 40 km to the south. The parish covers an area of 20.73 square kilometres and had a population of 528 in 217 households at the 2001 census, for the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of Kings Lynn and West Norfolk. In the 14th century, Welney was called Wellenhe, meaning a river called Welle, in the second half of the 19th century, Welney became famous for its skaters. Welney is situated on the Ouse Washes, an important area of wildlife conservation. WWT Welney, near the village, is a reserve in the care of the Wildfowl. Nearby, there are also the RSPB Ouse Washes, a reserve managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, BBC Radio 4 nature programme from Welney St Marys Church in Welney is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The Welney Croft Cricket Club, as well as being a club, has been a social centre for local people for over 50 years. The cricket season begins in mid May and finishes in late September, the club has one of the best maintained grounds for a country village. Information from Genuki Norfolk on Welney
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Old Bedford River
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The Old Bedford River is an artificial, partial diversion of the waters of the River Great Ouse in the Fens of Cambridgeshire, England. It was named after the fourth Earl of Bedford who contracted with the local Commission of Sewers to drain the Great Level of the Fens beginning in 1630. The idea of a river running, as the Old Bedford River does, from Earith to Denver was not a new idea. The work on the Old Bedford River was financed by the Earl of Bedford, the Old Bedford River was constructed on the first principle, as were most of the drainage works constructed in the seventeenth century in the English fens. Between them lies The Ouse Wash and this is not to be confused with the estuarine feature of The Wash towards which all this water is flowing. The Ouse Wash is an area in which excess fresh water is stored until low tide permits its release or until flood levels elsewhere allow. To facilitate the drainage of the washland, there is a third and it drains into the New Bedford River two or three kilometres south of Denver Sluice. The names of the three waterways are rather inconsistent, at Welches Dam the Old Bedford river moves to the East and the Forty Foot actually enters the Counter Drain. It is the waterway which exits into the River Great Ouse just below Salters Lode. The actual Old Bedford River swaps identities in the Welches Dam area and this dates back to when Forty Foot drain was cut. The latter sometimes caused water to back up the Old Bedford river to Earith. To alleviate this a dam was built by Edmund Welche across the Old Bedford river just upstream of the junction of the two waterways
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New Bedford River
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It provides an almost straight channel between Earith and Denver Sluices. It is tidal, with tidal flow being clearly visible at Welney. In the 1620s, there was discontent in the region through which the New Bedford River now flows, as the land was regularly inundated by flood water. Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford, who owned large tracts of land in the vicinity, agreed to carry out works in 1630. He was joined in the project by thirteen other adventurers, who formed a corporation, the Dutch engineer Cornelius Vermuyden was engaged to oversee the work, which included nine major drainage channels, including the Bedford River, which ran from Earith to Salters Lode. The tract of land through which it ran became known as the Bedford Level, however, in 1638, that decision was reversed, and King Charles I became the undertaker to ensure the work was completed. The existing works were neglected, and some were damaged during the hostilities. In 1649, interest in the drainage of the Bedford Level resumed, and a second Drainage Act was obtained. It became known as the Pretended Act, and authorised William Russell, the 5th Earl of Bedford, to carry out further work, Vermuyden was again the engineer, and the new channel was completed in 1652. The Bedford River became known as the Old Bedford River, Sluices were built at Earith and Denver, and the river carried most of the flow of the River Great Ouse, resulting in its old course via Ely becoming just a drainage channel. The Corporation of the Bedford Level was set up, and took control of the river, the concerns of the boatmen were placated by the provision of a navigation lock in the structure. Towards the northern end of the washes, the New Bedford River is joined by the River Delph at Welmore Lake Sluice. Prior to 1825, there was a dam where the sluice is located, and water was let out of the washland by cutting a slot in it, which the flood water enlarged as it passed through. The cost of rebuilding the dam at the end of the process was considerable, at the same time, the New Bedford River was made wider and deeper, while some of the flood banks were also raised. At its southern end, the River Delph is connected to the Old Bedford River at a bend near Welches Dam. The northern half of the Old Bedford River is no longer connected to its southern half, the New Bedford River follows a fairly straight course, heading approximately north-east for 20.8 miles from Earith to Denver Sluice. The area between the two Bedford Rivers,20 miles long and 1,070 yards wide at their greatest separation near Welney, is below the rivers and below sea level, there is a sluice at Earith which is used to control the waters of the River Great Ouse. It was built with nine openings in 1637, but was rebuilt with seven openings in 1824
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Eurasian teal
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The Eurasian teal or common teal is a common and widespread duck which breeds in temperate Eurasia and migrates south in winter. The Eurasian teal is often called simply the teal due to being the one of these small dabbling ducks in much of its range. The bird gives its name to the colour teal. It is a highly gregarious duck outside the season and can form large flocks. It is commonly found in sheltered wetlands and feeds on seeds, the North American green-winged teal was formerly considered a subspecies of A. crecca. The Eurasian teal is the smallest extant dabbling duck at 20–30 cm length and with a weight of 340 g in drake and 320 g in hens. The wings are 17. 5–20.4 cm long, yielding a wingspan of 53–59 cm, the bill measures 3. 2–4 cm in length, and the tarsus 2. 8–3.4 cm. From a distance, the drakes in nuptial plumage appear grey, with a head, a yellowish behind. Their head and upper neck is chestnut, with a wide and iridescent dark green patch of half-moon- or teardrop-shape that starts immediately before the eye and arcs to the upper hindneck. The patch is bordered with thin lines, and a single line of that colour extends from the patchs forward end. The breast is buff with small brown spots. The center of the belly is white, and the rest of the plumage is mostly white with thin and dense blackish vermiculations. The outer scapular feathers are white, with a border to the outer vanes. The underwing is whitish, with grey remiges, dense dark spotting on the inner coverts, the tail and tail coverts are black, with a bright yellowish-buff triangular patch in the center of the coverts at each side. In non-breeding plumage, the looks more like the hen, it is more uniform in colour, with a dark head. The hen itself is yellowish-brown, somewhat darker on wings and back and it has a dark greyish-brown upper head, hindneck, eyestripe and feather pattern. The pattern is dense short streaks on the head and neck, the wings are coloured similar to the drakes, but with brown instead of grey upperwing coverts that have less wide tips, and wider tips of the speculum feathers. The hens rectrices have yellowish-white tips, the midbelly is whitish with dark streaking
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Northern pintail
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The pintail or northern pintail is a duck with wide geographic distribution that breeds in the northern areas of Europe, Asia and North America. It is migratory and winters south of its range to the equator. Unusually for a bird with such a range, it has no geographical subspecies if the possibly conspecific duck Eatons pintail is considered to be a separate species. This is a duck, and the males long central tail feathers give rise to the species English. Both sexes have blue-grey bills and grey legs and feet, the drake is more striking, having a thin white stripe running from the back of its chocolate-coloured head down its neck to its mostly white undercarriage. The drake also has attractive grey, brown, and black patterning on its back, the hens plumage is more subtle and subdued, with drab brown feathers similar to those of other female dabbling ducks. Hens make a coarse quack and the drakes a flute-like whistle, the northern pintail is a bird of open wetlands which nests on the ground, often some distance from water. It feeds by dabbling for plant food and adds small invertebrates to its diet during the nesting season and it is highly gregarious when not breeding, forming large mixed flocks with other species of duck. This ducks population is affected by predators, parasites and avian diseases, human activities, such as agriculture, hunting and fishing, have also had a significant impact on numbers. Nevertheless, owed to the range and large population of this species. This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 as Anas acuta, within the large dabbling duck genus Anas, the northern pintails closest relatives are other pintails, such as the yellow-billed pintail and Eatons pintail. The pintails are sometimes separated in the genus Dafila, an arrangement supported by morphological, molecular, the famous British ornithologist Sir Peter Scott gave this name to his daughter, the artist Dafila Scott. Eatons pintail has two subspecies, A. e. eatoni of Kerguelen Islands, and A. e. drygalskyi of Crozet Islands, sexual dimorphism is much less marked in the southern pintails, with the males breeding appearance being similar to the female plumage. Unusually for a species such a large range, northern pintail has no geographical subspecies if Eatons pintail is treated as a separate species. A claimed extinct subspecies from Manra Island, Tristrams pintail, A. a. modesta, the northern pintail is a fairly large duck with a wing chord of 23. 6–28.2 cm and wingspan of 80–95 cm. The male is 59–76 cm in length and weighs 450–1,360 g, and therefore is larger than the female. The northern pintail broadly overlaps in size with the mallard, but is more slender, elongated and gracile, with a relatively longer neck. The unmistakable breeding plumaged male has a head and white breast with a white stripe extending up the side of the neck
