1.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
2.
Portsmouth
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Portsmouth is a port city in Hampshire, England, mainly on Portsea Island,70 miles south-west of London and 19 miles south-east of Southampton. It is the United Kingdoms only island city and has a population of 205,400, the city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Southampton and the towns of Havant, Waterlooville, Eastleigh, Fareham, and Gosport. The citys history can be traced to Roman times, a significant naval port for centuries, Portsmouth has the worlds oldest dry dock and was Englands first line of defence during the French invasion in 1545. Special Palmerston Forts were built in 1859 in anticipation of invasion from continental Europe. The worlds first mass production line was set up in the city, during the Second World War, the city was a pivotal embarkation point for the D-Day landings and was bombed extensively in the Portsmouth Blitz, which resulted in the deaths of 930 people. In 1982, the city housed the entirety of the forces in the Falklands War. Her Majestys Yacht Britannia left the city to oversee the transfer of Hong Kong in 1997, Portsmouth is one of the worlds best known ports. HMNB Portsmouth is the largest dockyard for the Royal Navy and is home to two-thirds of the UKs surface fleet, the city is home to some famous ships, including HMS Warrior, the Tudor carrack Mary Rose and Horatio Nelsons flagship, HMS Victory. The former HMS Vernon naval shore establishment has been redeveloped as a park known as Gunwharf Quays. Portsmouth is among the few British cities with two cathedrals, the Anglican Cathedral of St Thomas and the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St John the Evangelist, the waterfront and Portsmouth Harbour are dominated by the Spinnaker Tower, one of the United Kingdoms tallest structures at 560 feet. Nearby Southsea is a resort with a pier amusement park. Portsmouth F. C. the citys football club, play their home games at Fratton Park. The city has several railway stations that connect to London Waterloo amongst other lines in southern England. Portsmouth International Port is a cruise ship and ferry port for international destinations. The port is the second busiest in the United Kingdom after Dover, the city formerly had its own airport, Portsmouth Airport, until its closure in 1973. The University of Portsmouth enrols 23,000 students and is ranked among the worlds best modern universities, Portsmouth is also the birthplace of author Charles Dickens and engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The Romans built Portus Adurni, a fort, at nearby Portchester in the third century. The citys Old English name Portesmuða is derived from port, meaning a haven, and muða and it was mentioned in an Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry for the year 501, Her cwom Port on Bretene 7 his. ii
3.
William Denny and Brothers
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William Denny and Brothers Limited, and often referred to simply as Denny, was a Scottish shipbuilding company. The shipbuilding interests of the Denny family date back to William Denny, by 1823 the company name had changed to William Denny & Son. From 1845 the company became Denny Brothers, and in 1849 the firm was reconstituted as William Denny & Brothers, although the Denny yard was situated near the junction of the River Clyde and the River Leven, the yard was on the Leven. The founder developed the companys interests in ship owning and operation with interests in the British & Burmese Steam Navigation Company, the Company built all types of ships but were particularly well known as producers of fine cross-channel steamships and ferries. It was a pioneer in the development of the ships stabiliser in conjunction with Edinburgh-based Brown Brothers & Company, in 1913 the Channel steamer Paris was one of the first ships to use geared turbine engines utilising new Michell tilting-pad fluid bearing. It also undertook work in hovercraft and helicopter-type aircraft. A marine engineering company, also based in Dumbarton, was formed by Peter Denny, John Tulloch, in 1862 the company was renamed Denny & Co. The company manufactured a range of types of marine engines and was absorbed into William Denny & Brothers in 1918. Dennys were always innovators and were one of the first commercial shipyards in the world to have their own experimental testing tank, William Denny & Company went into voluntary liquidation in 1963. Inspired by the work of eminent naval architect William Froude, Dennys completed the worlds first commercial example of a ship testing tank in 1883, the facility was used to test models of a variety of vessels and explored various propulsion methods, including propellers, paddles and vane wheels. Experiments were carried out on models of the Denny-Brown stabilisers and the Denny hovercraft to gauge their feasibility, after the Denny yard closed, the test tank facility was taken over by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Limited and used for the testing of submarines until the early 1980s. Re-opened as part of the Scottish Maritime Museum in 1982, it retains many of its original features, existed under multiple roles and ownerships for over 80 years before finally being scrapped in Japan. She was a Roll-on/roll-off Road/Rail ferry built for New Zealand Railways Department, the flag was unusual in having an elephant as its emblem. The flag consisted of an elephant against a white field. This image was taken from the arms of Dumbarton, and it also served to symbolise the strength. History of Dennys Shipyard - Clyde Waterfront Heritage
4.
Dumbarton
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Dumbarton is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Alclud, Dumbarton Castle, on top of Dumbarton Rock, dominates the area. Dumbarton was a Royal burgh between 1222 and 1975, Dumbarton emerged from the 19th century as a centre for shipbuilding, glassmaking, and whisky production. However these industries have declined, and Dumbarton today is increasingly a commuter town for Glasgow 13 miles east-southeast of it. Dumbarton F. C. is the football club. Dumbarton is home to BBC Scotlands drama studios, Dumbarton history goes back at least as far as the Iron Age and probably much earlier. It was the site of a strategically important Roman settlement known as Alcluith of a province named Valentia, the next record of a settlement in Dumbarton is a record in Irish chronicles of the death of Guret, rex Alo Cluathe, in AD658. The loss of the British power base led to the emergence of the new kingdom of Strathclyde, or Cumbria, the title king of the Britons of Srath Clúade was first used in 872. Dumbarton was later the county town of the county of Dunbartonshire, in September 1605 Chancellor Dunfermline reported to King James VI that inundations of the sea were likely to destroy and take away the whole town. It was estimated that the defences would cost 30,000 pounds Scots. During World War II Dumbarton was heavily bombed by the German air force, the Germans were targeting the shipyards, and the area in the vicinity of the yards was consequently hit, with Clyde and Leven Street being severely damaged. The ploy was sometimes successful in diverting the bombers and many bombs fell harmlessly onto the moors, Dumbarton Castle sits on Dumbarton Rock, at the east bank mouth of the River Leven, where it flows into the Clyde estuary. The Castle has a history and many well-known figures from Scottish and British history have visited it. The castle was a royal fortress long before Dumbarton became a Royal Burgh, its ownership went from Scottish to English, the castle was an important place during the Wars of Independence and was used to imprison William Wallace for a short time after his capture by the English. It was from here that Mary, Queen of Scots, was conveyed to France for safety as a child, Mary was trying to reach Dumbarton Castle when she suffered her final defeat at Langside. In later times, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II visited the castle, today, Dumbarton Rock is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, it has legal protection in order to maintain and conserve the site for the future. As such any sort of work on the rock is strictly regulated by the Scottish Government, from the top of the castle can be seen both the River Clyde and Leven Grove Park
5.
Paddle steamer
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A paddle steamer is a steamship or riverboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, modern paddle wheelers may be powered by diesel engines. The paddle wheel is a steel framework wheel. The outer edge of the wheel is fitted with numerous, regularly-spaced paddle blades, the bottom quarter or so of the wheel travels underwater. An engine rotates the wheel in the water to produce thrust. More advanced paddle wheel designs feature feathering methods that keep each paddle blade closer to vertical while in the water to increase efficiency, the upper part of a paddle wheel is normally enclosed in a paddlebox to minimise splashing. There are two ways to mount paddle wheels on a ship, either a single wheel on the rear, known as a sternwheeler, or a paddle wheel on each side. Both sternwheelers and sidewheelers were used as riverboats in the United States, some still operate for tourists, for example on the Mississippi River. Sidewheelers are used as riverboats and as coastal craft and this extra maneuverability makes sidewheelers popular on the narrower, winding rivers of the Murray-Darling system in Australia, where a number still operate. European sidewheelers, such as the PS Waverley, connect the wheels with solid drive shafts that limit maneuverability, some were built with paddle clutches that disengage one or both paddles so they can turn independently. However, wisdom gained from experience with sidewheelers deemed that they be operated with clutches out. Crews noticed that as ships approached the dock, passengers moved to the side of the ready to disembark. The shift in weight, added to independent movements of the paddles, could lead to imbalance, in a simple paddle wheel, where the paddles are fixed around the periphery, power is lost due to churning of the water as the paddles enter and leave the water surface. Ideally, the paddles should remain vertical while under water and this ideal can be approximated by use of levers and linkages connected to a fixed eccentric. The eccentric is fixed slightly forward of the wheel centre. It is coupled to each paddle via a rod and lever, the geometry is designed such that the paddles are kept almost vertical for the short duration that they are in the water. One of the drawings of the Anonymous Author of the Hussite Wars shows a boat with a pair of paddle-wheels at each end turned by men operating compound cranks. In 1704, the French physicist Denis Papin constructed the first ship powered by his steam engine and this made him the first to construct a steam-powered boat
6.
Southern Railway (UK)
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The Southern Railway, sometimes shortened to Southern, was a British railway company established in the 1923 Grouping. It linked London with the Channel ports, South West England, South coast resorts, the construction of what was to become the Southern Railway began in 1838 with the opening of the London and Southampton Railway, which was renamed the London & South Western Railway. The railway was noted for its use of public relations. At 2,186 miles, the Southern Railway was the smallest of the Big Four railway companies and, unlike the others and it created what was at that time the worlds largest electrified main line railway system and the first electrified InterCity route. The Southern Railway operated a number of named trains, including the Brighton Belle, the Bournemouth Belle, the Golden Arrow. The West Country services were dominated by summer holiday traffic and included named trains such as the Atlantic Coast Express. The companys best-known livery was highly distinctive, locomotives and carriages were painted in a bright Malachite green above plain black frames, with bold, the Southern Railway was nationalised in 1948, becoming the Southern Region of British Railways. These companies were amalgamated, together several small independently operated lines and non-working companies, to form the Southern Railway in 1923. The first main line railway in southern England was the London and Southampton Railway and it was quickly followed by the London and Brighton Railway, and the South Eastern Railway in February 1844. The LSWR branched out to destinations including Portsmouth, Salisbury and later Exeter and it grew to be the largest of the four constituent companies. The LBSCR was a smaller railway than its LSWR neighbour, serving the port of Newhaven and several holiday resorts on the south coast. It had been almost bankrupt in 1867, but during the last twenty-five years of its existence it had been well-managed and it had begun to electrify routes around London from 1909 to compete with the new electric trams that were taking away some of its traffic. Finally, the SECR had been created after years of wasteful, both companies had been unpopular with the travelling public and operated poorly maintained vehicles and infrastructure. Nevertheless, real progress had made in rectifying this during the period 1899–1922. The formation of the Southern Railway was rooted in the outbreak of the First World War, many members of staff joined the armed forces and it was not possible to build and maintain equipment at peacetime levels. The resultant amalgamation of the four south coast railways to form the Southern Railway meant that several duplicate routes, the LSWR had most influence on the new company, although genuine attempts were made to integrate the services and staff after 1923. In addition to its operations, the Southern Railway inherited several important port and harbour facilities along the south coast, including Southampton, Newhaven. It also ran services to the harbours at Portsmouth, Dover and these had come into being for handling ocean-going and cross-channel passenger traffic and the size of the railway-owned installations reflected the prosperity that the industry generated
7.
Isle of Wight
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The Isle of Wight /ˈaɪl əv ˈwaɪt/ is a county and the largest and second-most populous island in England. It is located in the English Channel, about 4 miles off the coast of Hampshire, the island has resorts that have been holiday destinations since Victorian times, and is known for its mild climate, coastal scenery, and verdant landscape of fields, downland and chines. The island has been home to the poets Swinburne and Tennyson and to Queen Victoria and it has a maritime and industrial tradition including boat building, sail making, the manufacture of flying boats, the hovercraft, and Britains space rockets. The island hosts annual festivals including the Isle of Wight Festival. It has well-conserved wildlife and some of the richest cliffs and quarries for dinosaur fossils in Europe, the Isle was owned by a Norman family until 1293 and was earlier a kingdom in its own right. Rural for most of its history, its Victorian fashionability and the affordability of holidays led to significant urban development during the late 19th. The island was part of Hampshire until 1890 when it became its own administrative county, apart from a shared police force, there is now no administrative link with Hampshire, although a combined local authority with Portsmouth and Southampton is being considered. Until 1995 the island had a governor, the quickest public transport link to the mainland is the hovercraft from Ryde to Southsea, while three ferry and two catamaran services cross the Solent to Southampton, Lymington and Portsmouth. During the Ice Age, sea levels were lower and the Solent was part of a river flowing south east from current day Poole Harbour towards mid-Channel. As sea levels rose, the valley became flooded. The first inhabitants are assumed to have been hunter-gatherers migrating by land during the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age period, as the ice age began to recede. From the Neolithic era onwards, there are indications that the island had wide trading links, with a port at Bouldnor, evidence of Bronze Age tin trading, caesar reported that the Belgae took the Isle of Wight in about 85 BC and gave its name as Vectis. The Roman historian Suetonius mentions that the island was captured by the commander Vespasian, the Romans built no towns or roads on the island, but the remains of at least seven Roman villas have been found, indicating the prosperity of local agriculture. During the Dark Ages the island was settled by Jutes as the kingdom of Wihtwara under King Arwald. In 685 it was invaded by Caedwalla, who tried to replace the inhabitants with his own followers and it suffered especially from Viking raids, and was often used as a winter base by Viking raiders when they were unable to reach Normandy. Later, both Earl Tostig and his brother Harold Godwinson held manors on the island, the Norman Conquest of 1066 created the position of Lord of the Isle of Wight, the island being given by William the Conqueror to his kinsman William FitzOsbern. Carisbrooke Priory and the fort of Carisbrooke Castle were then founded, allegiance was sworn to FitzOsbern rather than the king, the Lordship was subsequently granted to the de Redvers family by Henry I, after his succession in 1100. For nearly 200 years the island was a semi-independent feudal fiefdom, the final private owner was the Countess Isabella de Fortibus, who, on her deathbed in 1293, was persuaded to sell it to Edward I
8.
Island Harbour Marina
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Island Harbour Marina, on the Isle of Wight, UK, is a commercial marina on the River Medina in the small hamlet of Binfield. It is located halfway between Cowes and the County Town of Newport. Visiting yachtsmen will find it just past the Folly Inn on the East bank, being a relatively small marina, it best suits pleasure craft of up to 20 metres in length. The marina accommodates both annual berthholders and short-term visiting craft, as the River Medina is tidal, the marina has lock gates to maintain a sufficient operational depth. It also means access to the marina by boat is dependent on the state of the tide. A table showing the approximate access times is shown below, Island Harbour Marina was built in 1966 on the site of a demolished water mill, with the main part of the marina being formed by enlarging the original millponds. The marinas creators and first owners were brothers Alan and Colin Ridett, as well as arriving by boat, access to the marina can be gained by car, bus and river water taxi. A new riverbank cycle-way has recently completed between Newport and Island Harbour Marina, with further plans for it to be extended to the Folly Inn in the future. As well as the marina, there is a large hardstanding area for around 100 boats to be stored ashore, the marina also has its own on-site restaurant. There is an on-site chandlery, boat builders and repair workshop, at Island Harbour there are also 96 holiday homes and three permanent dwellings situated within the marina grounds. In November 2014, work began on building a further 25 holiday apartments, a brand new customer showerblock was completed in June 2015 and in 2016, work was started on two more blocks of apartments. Also in 2016, the restaurant was greatly enlarged and refurbished. A major feature of the site is the paddle steamer Ryde, more details of this vessel are shown below. At the far end of the marina is a nature reserve. On the southern boundary of the land is a fairly large lake. Road access to Island Harbour is via Mill Lane, which connects to North Fairlee Road, in Mill Lane, adjoining Island Harbour, is Binfield Farm. The farm has long associated with Island Harbour and been in common ownership. A90 degree turn to port just before it, will take vessels parallel to the pontoon, yachtsmen should be beware of the mudbanks either side of the entry channel and stay within the channel markers
9.
River Medina
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The river is a navigable tidal estuary from Newport northwards, where it takes the form of a ria. Its current state has occurred because the Medina used to be a tributary of what was once the River Solent and had a larger catchment area. As the Solent valley flooded and the island eroded, the river received less water flow and more sediment, the river is bridged at Newport. Cowes is connected to East Cowes by a ferry known as the Cowes Floating Bridge. The name Medina comes from the Old English Meðune meaning the one. The river is used by yachtsmen as a safe harbour. Along the banks of the Medina there are many old warehouses and wharves where in the past flying boats, hovercraft and steam ships were developed, the Classic Boat Museum displays much of the rivers history alongside the history of yachting. The Island Harbour Marina, at the site of an old mill, is also on the river. As well as the ferry, the River Medina has several small ferries which cater mainly for sailors. Medina, Western Australia is a suburb in Perth named after it
10.
Greater Glasgow
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Greater Glasgow is an urban settlement in Scotland consisting of all localities which are physically attached to the city of Glasgow, forming with it a single contiguous urban area. Greater Glasgow had a population of 1,199,629 at the 2001 census making it the largest urban area in Scotland and the fifth largest in the United Kingdom. At present the Glasgow and Clyde City Region consists of the Glasgow City Council Local Authority, Lanarkshire, Dumbartonshire, Renfrew and Inverclyde, with a combined population of over 1.7 million. This city-region is described as an area by its own strategic planning authority. The official population stayed over a million for 50 years, following local government reorganisation in 1975, control subsequently passed to Strathclyde Regional Council. The former PTE is now the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, within Transport Scotland, the city is served by the only metro system in Scotland, the Glasgow Subway, and by two international airports, Glasgow Prestwick International Airport and Glasgow International Airport. The Glasgow City Region, is a collection of local authorities clustered around Glasgow, the city region is not a conurbation as significant parts of the council areas are separated from Greater Glasgow by open countryside. It uses numerous other terms for itself, including Metropolitan Glasgow, the metropolitan City-Region of Glasgow, Glasgow and this cabinet consists of the leaders of all eight councils, with the leader of Glasgow City Council being Chair of the Cabinet. Prior to 2015 the eight authorities formed only a strategic planning authority. While the Scottish Government makes no official recognition of Metropolitan status in its workings, the European Unions statistical body Eurostat lists Glasgow as the 32nd most populous metropolitan area, or Larger Urban Zones, in the EU. Although not defining the boundaries of this area, Eurostat state it consists of over 1.7 million inhabitants covering an area of 3,346 km2. Which is similar to the 1.75 million population of the Glasgow City Region, the Glasgow City Regions strategic development authority describes itself as the planning authority for the Glasgow metropolitan area and the metropolitan city-region of Glasgow
11.
Herbert Ashcombe Walker
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Sir Herbert Ashcombe Walker, KCB was a British railway manager. Walker was born in London 15 May 1868, the son of a doctor and he was educated at the North London Collegiate School and at Bruges. He then passed the Apothecaries Hall exam, however, for family reasons, Walker joined the London and North Western Railway as a clerk at Euston in April 1885. In January 1889 he became assistant to the Superintendent of the Line. In October 1909 he became Assistant to the Superintendent of the Line, from 1 January 1912, he became General Manager of the London and South Western Railway, where he instigated the programme of third-rail electrification. He received a knighthood in March 1915, in January 1917, he was acting chairman of the Railway Executive Committee, for which he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath. After a frustrating year of indecision on the part of the Southern Railways Board, he was appointed General Manager there in 1923, in this respect, he was a major influence on steam locomotive development, or the lack of it, on the Southern. On his retirement in 1937, he served as a Director of the Southern Railway until the end of its existence in 1947 and he died in London on 29 September 1949. Walker was physically made, having stamina and a commanding presence. He looked what he was, a man who knew his job and he was a strong advocate of the Channel Tunnel
12.
Ryde Pier
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Ryde Pier is an early 19th century pier serving the town of Ryde, on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England. It is the worlds oldest seaside pleasure pier, the need for a pier was obvious, especially if the town was to attract the wealthy and fashionable visitors who were beginning to patronise other seaside resorts. The pier was designed by John Kent of Southampton, and its foundation laid on 29 June 1813. The pier opened on 26 July 1814, with, as it still has, the structure was originally wholly timber, and measured 576 yards. By 1833, extensions took the length to 745 yards. It is this structure that has, with some modifications, carried pedestrians. A second tramway pier was next to the first, opening on 29 August 1864. Horse-drawn trams took passengers from the head to the esplanade. Before construction of the pier, the tramway continued to Ryde railway station at St Johns Road. From 1886 to 1927 the trams were powered by electricity from a third rail, on 12 July 1880 a third pier was opened, alongside the first two, providing a direct steam railway link to the pier-head. The railway was owned jointly by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and London and South Western Railway, as far as Ryde St Johns Road, to connect with their ship services to Portsmouth. In 1895 a concert pavilion was constructed at the pier-head, and it was at Ryde Pier that the Empress Eugénie landed from Sir John Burgoynes yacht The Gazelle, after her flight from Paris in 1870. The pier head was remodelled in the 1930s using concrete, and during the Second World War was used for military purposes, the pavilion was later demolished, but a few of the rotting piles are still visible around the edge of an extended car parking area constructed in 2010. The tramway closed in 1969 and the structure was partially dismantled and this has left the disused and decaying tramway pier between the railway and promenade piers. The remaining structure has proved useful for diversions, such as when a ship sliced through the promenade pier in 1974. In autumn 2010 the whole length was fitted with a deck to provide a walkway. Ryde Pier was made a Grade II listed building in 1976, in the early 1980s a modern waiting area, including some of the original buildings, replaced the original Victorian waiting rooms at the pier-head. Further modifications were made in 2009, including provision of a refreshment area with views towards Ryde
13.
Royal Navy
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The Royal Navy is the United Kingdoms naval warfare force. Although warships were used by the English kings from the medieval period. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century, from the middle decades of the 17th century and through the 18th century, the Royal Navy vied with the Dutch Navy and later with the French Navy for maritime supremacy. From the mid 18th century it was the worlds most powerful navy until surpassed by the United States Navy during the Second World War. The Royal Navy played a key part in establishing the British Empire as the world power during the 19th. Due to this historical prominence, it is common, even among non-Britons, following World War I, the Royal Navy was significantly reduced in size, although at the onset of the Second World War it was still the worlds largest. By the end of the war, however, the United States Navy had emerged as the worlds largest, during the Cold War, the Royal Navy transformed into a primarily anti-submarine force, hunting for Soviet submarines, mostly active in the GIUK gap. The Royal Navy is part of Her Majestys Naval Service, which includes the Royal Marines. The professional head of the Naval Service is the First Sea Lord, the Defence Council delegates management of the Naval Service to the Admiralty Board, chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence. The strength of the fleet of the Kingdom of England was an important element in the power in the 10th century. English naval power declined as a result of the Norman conquest. Medieval fleets, in England as elsewhere, were almost entirely composed of merchant ships enlisted into service in time of war. Englands naval organisation was haphazard and the mobilisation of fleets when war broke out was slow, early in the war French plans for an invasion of England failed when Edward III of England destroyed the French fleet in the Battle of Sluys in 1340. Major fighting was confined to French soil and Englands naval capabilities sufficed to transport armies and supplies safely to their continental destinations. Such raids halted finally only with the occupation of northern France by Henry V. Henry VII deserves a large share of credit in the establishment of a standing navy and he embarked on a program of building ships larger than heretofore. He also invested in dockyards, and commissioned the oldest surviving dry dock in 1495 at Portsmouth, a standing Navy Royal, with its own secretariat, dockyards and a permanent core of purpose-built warships, emerged during the reign of Henry VIII. Under Elizabeth I England became involved in a war with Spain, the new regimes introduction of Navigation Acts, providing that all merchant shipping to and from England or her colonies should be carried out by English ships, led to war with the Dutch Republic. In the early stages of this First Anglo-Dutch War, the superiority of the large, heavily armed English ships was offset by superior Dutch tactical organisation and the fighting was inconclusive
14.
Minesweeper
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A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to engage in minesweeping. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, although naval warfare has a long history, the earliest known usage of the naval mine dates to the Ming dynasty. Dedicated minesweepers, however, only appear in the record several centuries later, to the Crimean War. In the Crimean War, minesweepers consisted of British rowboats trailing grapnels to snag the mines, despite the use of mines in the American Civil War, there are no records of effective minesweeping being used. Officials in the Union Army attempted to create the first minesweeper but were plagued by flawed designs, minesweeping technology picked up in the Russo-Japanese War, using aging torpedo boats as minesweepers. In Britain, naval leaders recognized before the outbreak of World War I that the development of sea mines was a threat to the nations shipping, sir Arthur Wilson noted the real threat of the time was blockade aided by mines and not invasion. A Trawler Section of the Royal Navy Reserve became the predecessor of the mine sweeping forces with specially designed ships and these reserve Trawler Section fishermen and their trawlers were activated, supplied with mine gear, rifles, uniforms and pay as the first minesweepers. The dedicated, purpose-built minesweeper first appeared during World War I with the Flower-class minesweeping sloop, by the end of the War, naval mine technology had grown beyond the ability of minesweepers to detect and remove. Minesweeping made significant advancements during World War II, combatant nations quickly adapted ships to the task of minesweeping, including Australias 35 civilian ships that became Auxiliary Minesweepers. Both Allied and Axis countries made heavy use of minesweepers throughout the war, historian Gordon Williamson wrote that Germanys minesweepers alone formed a massive proportion of its total strength, and are very much the unsung heroes of the Kriegsmarine. Naval mines remained a threat even after the war ended, after the Second World War, allied countries worked on new classes of minesweepers ranging from 120-ton designs for clearing estuaries to 735-ton oceangoing vessels. The United States Navy even used specialized Mechanized Landing Craft to sweep shallow harbors in, as of June 2012, the U. S. Navy had four minesweepers deployed to the Persian Gulf to address regional instabilities. Minesweepers are equipped with mechanical or electrical devices, known as sweeps, mechanical sweeps are devices designed to cut the anchoring cables of moored mines, and preferably attach a tag to help the subsequent localization and neutralization. They are towed behind the minesweeper, and use a body to maintain the sweep at the desired depth. Influence sweeps are equipment, often towed, that emulate a particular ship signature, the most common such sweeps are magnetic and acoustic generators. There are two modes of operating an influence sweep, MSM and TSM, MSM sweeping is founded on intelligence on a given type of mine, and produces the output required for detonation of this mine. If such intelligence is unavailable, the TSM sweeping instead reproduces the influence of the ship that is about to transit through the area. TSM sweeping thus clears mines directed at this ship without knowledge of the mines, however, mines directed at other ships might remain
15.
Strait of Dover
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Between these points lies the most popular route for cross-channel swimmers. The entire strait is within the waters of France and the United Kingdom. The strait is the busiest international seaway in the world, used by over 400 commercial vessels daily and this has made traffic safety a critical issue, with HM Coastguard and the Maritime Gendarmerie maintaining a 24-hour watch over the strait and enforcing a strict regime of shipping lanes. In addition to the intensive east–west traffic, the strait is crossed north to south by ferries linking Dover to Calais. Until 1994 these provided the route across it for land transport. The Channel Tunnel now provides a route, crossing beneath the strait at an average depth of 45 m below the seabed. The town of Dover gives its name to one of the sea areas of the British Shipping Forecast, the strait is believed to have been created by the erosion of a land bridge that linked the Weald in Great Britain to the Boulonnais in the Pas de Calais. The predominant geology on both the British and French sides and on the seafloor is chalk, although somewhat resistant to erosion, erosion of both coasts has created the famous white cliffs of Dover in the UK and the Cap Blanc Nez in France. The Channel Tunnel was bored through solid chalk, the Rhine flowed northwards into the North Sea as the sea level fell during the start of the first of the Pleistocene Ice Ages. This overflow channel became the Strait of Dover about 425,000 years ago, a narrow deep channel along the middle of the strait was the bed of the Rhine in the last Ice Age. A geological deposit in East Anglia marks the old preglacial northward course of the Rhine, a 2007 study concluded the English Channel was formed by erosion caused by two major floods. The first was about 425,000 years ago, when a lake in the southern North Sea overflowed and broke the Weald-Artois chalk range in a catastrophic erosion. Afterwards, the Thames and Scheldt flowed through the gap into the English Channel, in a second flood about 225,000 years ago the Meuse and Rhine were ice-dammed into a lake that broke catastrophically through a high weak barrier. Both floods cut massive flood channels in the dry bed of the English Channel, the Lobourg strait, a major feature of the straits seafloor, runs its 6 km wide slash on a NNE–SSW axis. The submarine depth of the varies between 68 m at the Lobourg strait and 20 m at the highest banks. It presents a succession of rocky areas relatively deserted by ships wanting to spare their nets, the strong currents of the Channel are slowed down around the rocky areas of the strait, with formation of countercurrents and calmer zones where many species can find shelter. Moreover, this is a zone for the species of the Atlantic Ocean. This mix of various environments promotes a variety of wildlife
16.
Harwich
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Harwich /ˈhærɪtʃ/ is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district, nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south. It is the northernmost coastal town within Essex, the town became a naval base in 1657 and was heavily fortified, with Harwich Redoubt, Beacon Hill Battery, and Bath Side Battery. Harwich today is contiguous with Dovercourt and the two, along with Parkeston, are referred to collectively as Harwich. The towns name means settlement, from Old English here-wic. The town received its charter in 1238, although there is evidence of earlier settlement – for example, a record of a chapel in 1177, because of its strategic position, Harwich was the target for the invasion of Britain by William of Orange on 11 November 1688. However, unfavourable winds forced his fleet to sail into the English Channel instead, due to the involvement of the Schomberg family in the invasion, Charles Louis Schomberg was made Marquess of Harwich. Writer Daniel Defoe devotes a few pages to the town in A tour thro the Whole Island of Great Britain, visiting in 1722, he noted its formidable fort and harbour of a vast extent. The town, he recounts, was known for an unusual spring rising on Beacon Hill. The locals also claimed that the spring is said to turn wood into iron. Harwich Dockyard was established as a Royal Navy Dockyard in 1652 and it ceased to operate as a Royal Dockyard in 1713. The Royal Navy is no longer present in Harwich but Harwich International Port at nearby Parkeston continues to offer regular services to the Hook of Holland in the Netherlands. Many operations of the container port at Felixstowe and of Trinity House. The port is famous for the phrase Harwich for the Continent, seen on road signs, at least three pairs of lighthouses have been built over recent centuries as leading lights, to help guide vessels into Harwich. The earliest pair were wooden structures, the High Light stood on top of the old Town Gate, in 1818 these were replaced by stone structures, designed by John Rennie Senior, which can still be seen today. They were owned by General Rebow of Wivenhoe Park, who was able to charge 1d per ton on all cargo entering the port, for upkeep of the lights. They were in turn replaced by the pair of cast iron lights at nearby Dovercourt, these too remain in situ, the extant medieval structures are largely private homes. The house featured in the image of Kings Head St to the left is unique in the town and is an example of a sailmakers house, thought to have been built circa 1600
17.
Normandy
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Normandy is one of the regions of France, roughly corresponding to the historical Duchy of Normandy. Administratively, Normandy is divided into five departments, Calvados, Eure, Manche, Orne and it covers 30,627 km², forming roughly 5% of the territory of France. Its population of 3.37 million accounts for around 5% of the population of France, Normans is the name given to the inhabitants of Normandy, and the region is the homeland of the Norman language. The historical region of Normandy comprised the region of Normandy, as well as small areas now part of the départements, or departments of Mayenne. For a century and a following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, Normandy and England were linked by Norman. Archaeological finds, such as paintings, prove that humans were present in the region in prehistoric times. Celts invaded Normandy in successive waves from the 4th to the 3rd century BC, when Julius Caesar invaded Gaul, there were nine different Celtic tribes living in Normandy. The Romanisation of Normandy was achieved by the methods, Roman roads. Classicists have knowledge of many Gallo-Roman villas in Normandy, in the late 3rd century, barbarian raids devastated Normandy. Coastal settlements were raided by Saxon pirates, Christianity also began to enter the area during this period. In 406, Germanic tribes began invading from the east, while the Saxons subjugated the Norman coast, the Roman Emperor withdrew from most of Normandy. As early as 487, the area between the River Somme and the River Loire came under the control of the Frankish lord Clovis, the Vikings started to raid the Seine Valley during the middle of the 9th century. As early as 841, a Viking fleet appeared at the mouth of the Seine, after attacking and destroying monasteries, including one at Jumièges, they took advantage of the power vacuum created by the disintegration of Charlemagnes empire to take northern France. The fiefdom of Normandy was created for the Norwegian Viking leader Hrólfr Ragnvaldsson, Rollo had besieged Paris but in 911 entered vassalage to the king of the West Franks, Charles the Simple, through the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte. In exchange for his homage and fealty, Rollo legally gained the territory which he, the name Normandy reflects Rollos Viking origins. The descendants of Rollo and his followers adopted the local Gallo-Romance language and they became the Normans – a Norman-speaking mixture of Saxons and indigenous Franks and Celts. Besides the Norman conquest of England and the subsequent conquests of Wales and Ireland, Norman families, such as that of Tancred of Hauteville, Rainulf Drengot and Guimond de Moulins played important parts in the Norman conquest of southern Italy and Crusades. They also carved out a place for themselves and their descendants in the Crusader states of Asia Minor, the 14th century Norman explorer Jean de Béthencourt established a kingdom in the Canary Islands
18.
Normandy landings
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The Normandy landings were the landing operations on Tuesday,6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. The largest seaborne invasion in history, the operation began the liberation of German-occupied northwestern Europe from Nazi control, planning for the operation began in 1943. Adolf Hitler placed German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in command of German forces, the amphibious landings were preceded by extensive aerial and naval bombardment and an airborne assault—the landing of 24,000 American, British, and Canadian airborne troops shortly after midnight. Allied infantry and armoured divisions began landing on the coast of France at 06,30, the target 50-mile stretch of the Normandy coast was divided into five sectors, Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. Strong winds blew the landing craft east of their positions, particularly at Utah. Casualties were heaviest at Omaha, with its high cliffs, at Gold, Juno, and Sword, several fortified towns were cleared in house-to-house fighting, and two major gun emplacements at Gold were disabled, using specialised tanks. The Allies failed to any of their goals on the first day. Carentan, St. Lô, and Bayeux remained in German hands, and Caen, German casualties on D-Day have been estimated at 4,000 to 9,000 men. Allied casualties were at least 10,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead, museums, memorials, and war cemeteries in the area now host many visitors each year. Between 27 May and 4 June 1940, over 338,000 troops of the British Expeditionary Force, after the German Army invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin began pressing his allies for the creation of a second front in western Europe. In late May 1942 the Soviet Union and the United States made a joint announcement that a. full understanding was reached with regard to the urgent tasks of creating a front in Europe in 1942. Instead of a return to France, the Western Allies staged offensives in the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations. By mid-1943 the campaign in North Africa had been won, the Allies then launched the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, and subsequently invaded Italy in September the same year. By then, Soviet forces were on the offensive and had won a victory at the Battle of Stalingrad. The decision to undertake a cross-channel invasion within the year was taken at the Trident Conference in Washington in May 1943. Initial planning was constrained by the number of landing craft, most of which were already committed in the Mediterranean. At the Tehran Conference in November 1943, Roosevelt and Churchill promised Stalin that they would open the second front in May 1944. Four sites were considered for the landings, Brittany, the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy, as Brittany and Cotentin are peninsulas, it would have been possible for the Germans to cut off the Allied advance at a relatively narrow isthmus, so these sites were rejected
19.
British Railways
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British Railways, which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British railway companies and lasted until the privatisation of British Rail. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commission, the period of nationalisation saw sweeping changes in the national railway network. A process of dieselisation and electrification took place, and by 1968 steam locomotion had been replaced by diesel and electric traction. Passengers replaced freight as the source of business, and one-third of the network was closed by the Beeching Axe of the 1960s in an effort to reduce rail subsidies. On privatisation, responsibility for track, signalling and stations was transferred to Railtrack, the British Rail double arrow logo is formed of two interlocked arrows showing the direction of travel on a double track railway and was nicknamed the arrow of indecision. The rail transport system in Great Britain developed during the 19th century, during World War I the railways were under state control, which continued until 1921. Complete nationalisation had been considered, and the Railways Act 1921 is sometimes considered as a precursor to that, nationalisation was subsequently carried out after World War II, under the Transport Act 1947. This Act made provision for the nationalisation of the network, as part of a policy of nationalising public services by Clement Attlees Labour Government. British Railways came into existence as the name of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commission on 1 January 1948 when it took over the assets of the Big Four. There were also joint railways between the Big Four and a few railways to consider. Excluded from nationalisation were industrial lines like the Oxfordshire Ironstone Railway, the London Underground – publicly owned since 1933 – was also nationalised, becoming the London Transport Executive of the British Transport Commission. The Bicester Military Railway was already run by the government, the electric Liverpool Overhead Railway was also excluded from nationalisation. The Railway Executive was conscious that some lines on the network were unprofitable and hard to justify socially, however, the general financial position of BR became gradually poorer, until an operating loss was recorded in 1955. The Executive itself had abolished in 1953 by the Conservative government. Other changes to the British Transport Commission at the time included the return of road haulage to the private sector. British Railways was divided into regions which were based on the areas the former Big Four operated in, later. Western Region of British Railways, former Great Western Railway lines, London Midland Region of British Railways, former London Midland and Scottish Railway lines in England
20.
PS Medway Queen
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The PS Medway Queen is a paddle driven steamship, the only mobile estuary paddle steamer left in the United Kingdom. She was one of the ships of Dunkirk, making a record 7 trips. She was the subject of a £1.8 million National Lottery Heritage Memorial Fund grant to restore her hull, by 2014, her hull had been reconstructed and she is sitting at Gillingham Pier on the River Medway. PS Medway Queen was built at the Ailsa Shipbuilding Company in Troon, Scotland, in 1924 for service on the River Medway and in the Thames Estuary. Trialled on the River Clyde, she was delivered to be part of the Queen Line fleet of the New Medway Steam Packet Company based at Rochester, Kent. She steamed the Thames on the routes from Strood and Chatham, to Sheerness, Herne Bay and Margate in Kent, on 3 August 1929, Medway Queen collided with Southend Pier, Essex, and suffered extensive damage to her bows. After attending the coronation Fleet Review for George VI at Spithead in 1937, requisitioned by the Royal Navy as a minesweeper, she was renumbered No J48, serving for the duration of World War II in the 10th minesweeping flotilla, protecting the English Channel. Her first task in 1939 was evacuating Kent children from Gravesend to East Anglia and she was refitted in the shipyard of the General Steam Navigation Company, her aft being modified to take minesweeping gear. She operated patrolling the Straits of Dover, in May 1940 Operation Dynamo was launched to rescue the retreating British Army soldiers from Dunkirk in northern France. HMS Medway Queen became part of the flotilla of little ships, Medway Queen was fitted with a 12-pounder gun and two machine guns. She left with PS Sandown, PS Thames Queen, PS Gracie Fields, PS Queen of Thanet, PS Princess Elizabeth, PS Laguna Belle and she was to make seven crossings. On her first trip, soldiers were taken off the beaches in lifeboats, on her return to Dover, her arrival coinciding with an air raid. She shot down a German aircraft outside the harbour, the Brighton Belle ran over sunken wreckage and began to sink. All of her passengers and crew were rescued by the Medway Queen without loss of life, on her second trip she took the soldiers directly off the beach- which required more skill, but was a lot faster. They used a technique with oily bags to conceal their distinctive wash from patrolling aircraft, on later trips, the Medway Queen penetrated the damaged Dunkerque port and took off men from a concrete jetty or mole. Men were discharged at Ramsgate rather than Dover, where the vessel was re-oiled and reprovisioned, on Monday 3 June Vice Admiral Ramsey gave the order that all ships were to leave Dunkirk by 2.30 the following morning. This was the Medway Queens seventh trip and she was at the mole in Dunkerque when a destroyer moored astern of her was driven forwards by an explosion and smashed her starboard paddle box, she sustained considerable damage. Medway Queen limped back to Dover with 400 French soldiers on board, by then, she had rescued 7,000 men
21.
Newport, Isle of Wight
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Newport is a civil parish and the county town of the Isle of Wight, an island off the south coast of England, in the United Kingdom. Newport had a population of 23,957 according to the 2001 census, mousterian remains, featuring tools made by Neanderthals at least 40,000 years ago, were found at Great Pan Farm in the 1970s. There are signs of Roman settlement in the area, which was known as Medina. Information about the area resumes after the Norman Conquest, the first charter was granted in the late 12th century. In 1377 an invading French force burnt down much of the town attempting to take Carisbrooke Castle. A group of Frenchmen were captured and killed, then buried in a tumulus later nicknamed Noddies Hill and this was later corrupted to Nodehill, the present-day name for a part of central Newport – a name confusing to many as the area is flat. The Treaty was repudiated by Oliver Cromwell upon returning from defeating the Scots at the Battle of Preston, the town had been incorporated as a borough in 1608. The towns position as an area of trade accessible to the sea meant it took over from nearby Carisbrooke as the main central settlement. Newport since the 1960s has acquired new shopping facilities, a central square. Newport Quay has been redeveloped with art galleries such as the Quay Arts Centre, the Queen Victoria Memorial was designed by local architect Percy Stone. Geographically located in the centre of the Island at 50. 701°N,1. 2883°W, transport connections link all major towns to Newport, it is the main shopping centre and location for public services on the Island. The main A3020 and A3054 roads converge as Medina Way between the busy roundabouts at Coppins Bridge and St Marys Hospital. Newport railway station was the hub of the Islands rail network until the mid-20th century, but it closed in 1966, the nearest city to the town is Portsmouth, about 13 miles north-east on Portsea Island, adjoining the mainland. More locally, Ryde, the Islands largest town, is to the north-east, Sandown and Shanklin are to the east, the River Medina runs through Newport, north of its confluence with the Lukely Brook at the towns quay it becomes a navigable tidal estuary. Distance from surrounding settlements Cowes –4, parkhurst and Albany were once among the few top-security prisons in the United Kingdom. Camp Hill was another prison in the area but closed in 2013, seaclose Park in Newport, on the east bank of the River Medina, has since 2002 been the location for the revived Isle of Wight Music Festival, held annually. Newport is home to the Postal Museum, possibly the largest private collection of postal equipment. Newport bus station is the central bus terminus, with all routes in the town serving it
22.
Asbestos abatement
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Many buildings contain asbestos, which was used in spray-applied flame retardant, thermal system insulation, and in a variety of other materials. Asbestos was sometimes flocked above false ceilings, inside technical ducts, structural components like asbestos panels were also used. In residences, asbestos was often a component of a type of flocked acoustic ceiling called popcorn ceiling or cottage cheese ceiling, however, the ban allowed installers to use up remaining stocks, so houses built as late as 1986 could still have asbestos in their acoustic ceilings. The only way to be sure is to remove a sample and have it tested by a competent laboratory, depending on how and where asbestos was applied, it might not pose any risk to most users of the building. If the fibers cannot become dislodged, they cannot be inhaled, however, some methods of applying asbestos, particularly flocking, allow asbestos fibers to gradually drop off into the air. Asbestos poses hazards to maintenance personnel who have to drill holes in walls for installation of cables or pipes, even if the workers are protected, such maintenance operation may release fibers into the air, which may be inhaled by others. Interventions in areas where asbestos is present often have to follow stringent procedures, when asbestos fibers can easily be made into airborne dust, the material is known as friable. For example, a ceiling is extremely friable, whereas asbestos floor tile is considered non-friable. Different countries have different regulations and methods of enforcement, when it comes to asbestos removal, if removal is to be performed when users are still present in the building, it is usually necessary to relocate some users temporarily. Typically, the part of the building from which asbestos is being removed has to be sealed off in order to prevent contamination of the other areas. Methods of sealing off an area often include the use of film, duct tape. The idea is that the area is pulling fresh air in as to not let asbestos fibers out into the surrounding environment. Only a special vacuum cleaner that is designed for asbestos containment can be used when cleaning up during. Ordinary vacuum cleaners cannot be used, even those fitted with a HEPA filter, an ordinary vacuum cleaner will expel the asbestos fibres into the room air. If the building is closed to users, it may be necessary to seal it off from outside atmosphere so that no accessible air is contaminated. Examples of asbestos removal enterprises include the Jussieu Campus and the Tour Montparnasse, an asbestos-containing building that is to be torn down may have to be sealed, and to have its asbestos safely removed before ordinary demolition can be performed. The asbestos removal may take longer and cost more than the actual demolition, for example, the former seat of parliament of East Germany, the Palast der Republik, was stripped of most of its asbestos between 1998 and 2001, before it was finally demolished starting in 2006. New innovative methods for asbestos removal have been used as well, one example is the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s B238 building, where a track mounted wet cutting saw with a diamond blade was used in order to cut the building into small sections
23.
Isabel Ashdown
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Isabel Ashdown is a British writer of contemporary fiction. Isabel Ashdown was born in London and grew up in East Wittering on the south coast of England and she is the author of five novels, a Royal Literary Fund Fellow, and a member of the Society of Authors. In 2014 she was Writer in Residence at the University of Brighton where she has also taught and she went on to release a further three novels with Myriad Editions before more recently signing with Trapeze Books, an imprint of the Orion Publishing Group. Her latest novel Little Sister sees the move into the territory of psychological thriller. In 2014 her essay Voice and the Inescapable Complexity of Experience was published in Karen Stevens academic anthology Writing a First Novel, isabel Ashdown is represented by The Viney Agency, London. She now lives in West Sussex with her husband, their two children and their dogs. Isabel Ashdown is adept at portraying the bickering normalcy of ordinary family life, the Press Association Ashdown’s storytelling skills are formidable, her human insights highly perceptive. Just when you think you know what is going to happen and we Love This Book An immaculately written novel with plenty of dark family secrets and gentle wit within. Waterstone’s Books Quarterly A tender and subtle novel about alcoholism that explores issues in deceptively easy prose. A wonderful debut – intelligent, understated and sensitive, London Evening Standard Best Books of 2009 Ashdown’s Glasshopper was one of our favourite books of 2009, and her second novel is another mix of compelling characters and 1980s nostalgia. Sainsbury’s Magazine A heartbreaking redemptive tale of family secrets that will take you on an emotional rollercoaster, glamour Magazine Carefully observed, unexpected and mesmerisingly beautiful. Easy Living Glasshopper is skilfully written and hard to put down, a perceptive insight into alcohol’s hidden harm
24.
Retail Price Index
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In the United Kingdom, the Retail Prices index or Retail Price Index is a measure of inflation published monthly by the Office for National Statistics. It measures the change in the cost of a sample of retail goods. RPI was first calculated for June 1947, largely replacing the previous Interim Index of Retail Prices and it was once the principal official measure of inflation. Many employers also use it as a point in wage negotiation. As of 2016, the UK state pension is indexed by the highest of the increase in average earnings, the highest annual inflation since the introduction of the RPI came in June 1975, with an increase in retail prices of 26. 9% from a year earlier. By 1978 this had fallen to less than 10%, but it rose again towards 20% over the two years before falling again. By 1982, it had fallen below 10% and a year later was down to 4%, aided by a recession in the early 1990s, increased interest rates brought inflation down again to an even lower level. From March to October 2009, the change in RPI measured over a 12-month period was negative, indicating an overall reduction in prices. The change in RPI in the 12 months ending in April 2009, in February 2011, annual RPI inflation jumped to 5. 1% putting pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates despite disappointing projected GDP growth of only 1. 6% in 2011. The September 2011 figure of 5. 6%, the highest for 20 years, was described by the Daily Telegraph as shockingly bad, CPAC concluded that the use of the Carli formula is no longer appropriate due to the weak axiomatic properties of the Carli method. Subsequently ONS decided to no longer classify RPI as a national statistic, however, ONS will continue to calculate RPI, among several versions of the inflation index, in order to provide a consistent historic inflation time series. The United Kingdom RPI is constructed as follows, A base year or starting point is chosen and this becomes the standard against which price changes are measured. A list of items bought by a family is drawn up. This is facilitated by the Living Costs and Food Survey, a set of weights are calculated, showing the relative importance of the items in the average family budget – the greater the share of the average household bill, the greater the weight. The price of each item is multiplied by the given to the item. The price of each item must be found in both the year and the year of comparison. This enables the percentage change to be calculated over the time period. The RPI calculation employs a variation of the Carli method rather than the Jevons method employed in the calculation of RPIJ, the unweighted Carli method overstates inflation rates
25.
International Standard Serial Number
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An International Standard Serial Number is an eight-digit serial number used to uniquely identify a serial publication. The ISSN is especially helpful in distinguishing between serials with the same title, ISSN are used in ordering, cataloging, interlibrary loans, and other practices in connection with serial literature. The ISSN system was first drafted as an International Organization for Standardization international standard in 1971, ISO subcommittee TC 46/SC9 is responsible for maintaining the standard. When a serial with the content is published in more than one media type. For example, many serials are published both in print and electronic media, the ISSN system refers to these types as print ISSN and electronic ISSN, respectively. The format of the ISSN is an eight digit code, divided by a hyphen into two four-digit numbers, as an integer number, it can be represented by the first seven digits. The last code digit, which may be 0-9 or an X, is a check digit. Formally, the form of the ISSN code can be expressed as follows, NNNN-NNNC where N is in the set, a digit character. The ISSN of the journal Hearing Research, for example, is 0378-5955, where the final 5 is the check digit, for calculations, an upper case X in the check digit position indicates a check digit of 10. To confirm the check digit, calculate the sum of all eight digits of the ISSN multiplied by its position in the number, the modulus 11 of the sum must be 0. There is an online ISSN checker that can validate an ISSN, ISSN codes are assigned by a network of ISSN National Centres, usually located at national libraries and coordinated by the ISSN International Centre based in Paris. The International Centre is an organization created in 1974 through an agreement between UNESCO and the French government. The International Centre maintains a database of all ISSNs assigned worldwide, at the end of 2016, the ISSN Register contained records for 1,943,572 items. ISSN and ISBN codes are similar in concept, where ISBNs are assigned to individual books, an ISBN might be assigned for particular issues of a serial, in addition to the ISSN code for the serial as a whole. An ISSN, unlike the ISBN code, is an identifier associated with a serial title. For this reason a new ISSN is assigned to a serial each time it undergoes a major title change, separate ISSNs are needed for serials in different media. Thus, the print and electronic versions of a serial need separate ISSNs. Also, a CD-ROM version and a web version of a serial require different ISSNs since two different media are involved, however, the same ISSN can be used for different file formats of the same online serial
26.
Isle of Wight County Press
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The Isle of Wight County Press is a local, compact newspaper published every Friday on the Isle of Wight. It has a circulation of 25,827 copies, compared to a local population of 140,500. The paper has seen a drop in circulation of 11,199 between June 2009 and June 2016, the paper has been owned locally since its foundation. The Isle of Wight County Press website was launched in 1999 and these will often appear on the website before featuring in the next issue, allowing readers to be updated daily instead of each week. The website also features videos and photo galleries that would not normally be available in a standard issue. During June 2009 the website passed 1 million views for the first time, the increase in visitor numbers was said to have been boosted by interest in the Isle of Wight Council election results and Isle of Wight Festival coverage. The Isle of Wight County Press passed its 3 million online viewers in January 2013, the first compact issue was released on 3 October 2008. Prior to this the paper had always published in a broadsheet format. The change was made in a response to surveys carried out by the paper in November 2007 claiming 87 percent of islanders in favour of a compact format. Following the first release of the first compact issue, many found the smaller size unsuitable for use on some jobs such as bee keeping. Official Website of the IWCP IWCP Facebook Page
27.
London, Brighton and South Coast Railway
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The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. Its territory formed a triangle, with London at its apex, practically the whole coastline of Sussex as its base. It was bounded on its side by the London and South Western Railway. It served the inland towns/cities of Chichester, Horsham, East Grinstead and Lewes, at the London end was a complicated suburban and outer-suburban network of lines emanating from London Bridge and Victoria, and shared interests in two cross-London lines. The London and Brighton Railway, created in 1837 and opened in 1841, the Brighton Lewes and Hastings Railway, created in February 1844, opened in June 1846. The Croydon and Epsom Railway, created in July 1844, under construction at the time of amalgamation, at the time of its creation the LB&SCR had around 170 route miles in existence or under construction, consisting of three main routes and a number of branches. The main line to Brighton from London Bridge opened in 1841, the sections between Corbetts Lane and London Bridge and between Croydon and Redhill were shared with the South Eastern Railway. There were two lines under construction at the time of the amalgamation, the Sutton & Mole Valley Lines from Croydon to Epsom. The West Sussex coast line originated with a line from Brighton to Shoreham. This was extended to Chichester by the time of the amalgamation, a connecting spur from the Brighton main line at Keymer Junction near Haywards Heath to the Brighton-Lewes line was under construction at the time of amalgamation. A short line from New Cross to Deptford Wharf, proposed by the L&CR, was approved in July 1846, shortly before amalgamation, a short branch from this line to the nearby Surrey Commercial Docks in Rotherhithe opened in July 1855. The main London terminus was the L&CR station at London Bridge, built by the London and Greenwich Railway in 1836, and exchanged for the original L&CR station in 1842. For the first few years of its existence, LB&SCR trains used the L&GR lines from Corbett’s Lane into London, the LB&SCR inherited from the L&CR running powers to the smaller SER passenger terminus at Bricklayers Arms. Poorly sited for passengers, it closed in 1852 and was converted into a goods station, the LB&SCR owned two stations at Croydon, later East Croydon and West Croydon. The L&CR had been operated by the atmospheric principle between Croydon and Forest Hill, as the first phase of a scheme to use this mode of operation between London and Epsom. However, following a number of problems, the LB&SCR abandoned atmospheric operation in May 1847. This enabled it to build its own lines into London Bridge, the history of the LB&SCR can be studied in five distinct periods. However, the LB&SCR had one important playing card not available to the L&BR – control of the SER main line between New Cross and Croydon, under this agreement the LB&SCR would have free access to London Bridge, Bricklayers Arms station and goods yard, and Hastings
28.
SS Brighton (1903)
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Brighton was a 1,384 GRT steamship which was built in 1903 for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and London and South Western Railway. She passed to the Southern Railway on 1 January 1923, in 1930, she was sold to W E Guinness and converted to a private yacht, Roussalka. She was wrecked at Killary Bay on 25 August 1933, the ship was built by W Denny & Bros, Dumbarton. She was yard number 683 and was launched on 13 June 1903 with completion in August 1903, the ship was 273 feet 6 inches long, with a beam of 34 feet 2 inches and a depth of 14 feet 1 inch. She was powered by three steam turbines, which were made by Parsons Steam Turbine Co Ltd, Newcastle upon Tyne, the turbines were rated at 580 horsepower and drove three screws. These could propel her at a speed of 21 knots, in 1931, Roussalka was fitted with two 8-cylinder Atlas diesel engines of 1,750 horsepower driving a single screw, giving her a speed of 15.5 knots. Brighton was built for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and she was used on their Newhaven - Dieppe route. She was to have been the first turbine powered steamship built for the LB&SCR but a fire at the shipbuilders delayed her completion and her port of registry was Newhaven. On 5 November 1910 Brighton was involved in a collision with the windjammer Preußen 8 nautical miles south of Newhaven, Brighton returned to Newhaven to summon aid, and the tug Alert was sent to assist Preußen, which was towed towards Dover. It was intended to anchor her off Dover but both anchor chains broke and Preußen was driven onto rocks where she sank as a result of the damage inflicted to her, the Master of Brighton was found to be responsible for the accident and lost his licence as a result. He later committed suicide by shooting himself in a London pub, in 1914, Brighton was requisitioned by the Royal Navy for use as a troopship. She was later used as a hospital ship, on 19 December 1914, she rescued the survivors of the naval trawler HMT Orianda, which had been sunk by a mine in the North Sea off Scarborough, Yorkshire. Brighton brought the American President Woodrow Wilson back to Dover after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, Brighton was returned to her owners in 1920. Brighton passed to the Southern Railway at Grouping, in 1930, Brighton was sold to W E Guinness, who converted her to a private yacht named Roussalka. Her steam turbines were replaced by an engine and one of her two funnels was removed. On 25 August 1933, in fog, Roussalka was wrecked on Blood Slate Rock, Freaklin Island. All passengers and crew were rescued, Official Numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers. Brighton had the United Kingdom Official Number 105654 and used the Code Letters VDWN
29.
SS Dieppe (1905)
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Dieppe was a steam passenger ferry that was built in 1905 for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. She was requisitioned during the First World War for use as a troopship and later as a hospital ship HMS Dieppe and she passed to the Southern Railway on 1 January 1923. In 1933 she was sold to W E Guinness and converted to a private diesel yacht and she was requisitioned in the Second World War for use as an armed boarding vessel, HMS Rosaura. She struck a mine and sank off Tobruk, Libya on 18 March 1941, the ship was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd, Govan. She was yard number 439 and was launched on 6 April 1905 with completion in May 1905, the ship was 273 feet 5 inches long, with a beam of 34 feet 8 inches and a depth of 13 feet 8 inches. She was powered by three steam turbines, which were made by Fairfield, the turbines could propel her at a speed of 22 knots. When converted to a yacht, the turbines were replaced by two 8-cylinder Atlas diesel engines. One of her propellers was removed as was one of her funnels and her speed was reduced to 15 knots. As built, her GRT was 1,210 and this had increased to 1,426 by 1930, and further increased to 1,536 in 1933. Dieppe was built for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and she was used on their Newhaven — Dieppe route. She was requisitioned by the Royal Navy in the First World War for use as a troopship, on 27 February 1916 she took aboard over 100 survivors from the 12,431 GRT P&O passenger liner Maloja, which was sunk by a mine off Dover. Dieppe was returned to her owners after the war and passed to the Southern Railway at 1923 grouping, on 27 November 1924 Dieppe had a mishap in which she ended up hitting the breakwater at Newhaven Harbour stern first. The tugs Alert and Richmere were sent to her aid, Richmere became disabled when a cable became entangled around her propellor. The Newhaven Lifeboat Sir Fitzroy Clayton was sent to her aid, Richmere ended up being dashed against the harbour wall and sank. Her crew were rescued by the lifeboat and the tug was raised and repaired. Dieppe managed to some five hours after the drama began. In September 1933, Dieppe was sold to W E Guinness for conversion to a private yacht and she was renamed Rosaura, replacing MY Roussalka which had been lost earlier that year. In August 1934, the Prince of Wales and Wallis Simpson took a cruise on Rosaura, according to Wallis, it was on this cruise that she fell in love with the Prince
30.
SS Sussex
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Sussex was a cross-English Channel passenger ferry, built in 1896 for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. After the LBSCR came to an agreement with the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer de lÉtat Français. Sussex became the focus of an incident when she was severely damaged by a torpedo from a German U-Boat in 1916. After the war she was repaired and sold to Greece in 1919, following a fire in 1921, the ship was scrapped. TSS Sussex was 275 feet 0 inches long, with a beam of 34 feet 1 inch and she had a GRT of 1,565 and a NRT of 328. She was powered by two triple expansion steam engines, of 308 nhp, supplemented by a steam turbine. This power unit could propel her at 20.5 knots and she was launched on 30 April 1896. Sussex served on the Newhaven - Dieppe route, making her maiden voyage on the 31 July 1896, however, this proved unlucrative, and she was laid up from the end of that season. She was then sold in 1914 to the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer de lÉtat Français, during the First World War, shipping from Newhaven was diverted to operate from Folkestone in order to free Newhaven for supplying British troops on the Western Front. On 24 March 1916, Sussex was on a voyage from Folkestone to Dieppe when she was torpedoed by SM UB-29, the ship was severely damaged, with the entire bow forward of the bridge blown off. Some of the lifeboats were launched, but at least two of them capsized and many passengers were drowned, of the 53 crew and 325 passengers, at least 50 were killed, although a figure of between 80 and 100 is also suggested. Sussex remained afloat and was eventually towed stern-first into Boulogne harbour, the dead included the celebrated Spanish composer Enrique Granados, his wife Amparo, a Persian prince, Bahram Mirza Sardar Massoud, and British tennis player Manliff Goodbody. Although no US citizens were killed, the incident enraged public opinion in the United States, in May 1916, Germany issued a declaration, the so-called Sussex pledge, which effectively represented the suspension of the intensified U-boat campaign. Sussex remained in France, and was used by the Marine Nationale at Le Havre, notable survivors included Edna Frances Hilton, later Lady Cope and then Lady Peto. Sussex was repaired in France post-war, and in 1920 was sold to D Demetriades, Piraeus and she was scrapped in 1921 following damage sustained in a fire. Outrage at Sea, Naval Atrocities in the First World War, media related to Sussex at Wikimedia Commons
31.
London and South Western Railway
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The London and South Western Railway was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. It also had many routes connecting towns in Hampshire and Berkshire, including Portsmouth, in the grouping of railways in 1923 the LSWR became part of the Southern Railway. The London and South Western Railway originated as a renaming of the London and Southampton Railway, the railway was an immediate success, and this encouraged the company to think of extensions, to Windsor, to Gosport and to Salisbury. It made a start but eventually had its own line from Basingstoke to Salisbury and Exeter, continuing by a northerly arc to Plymouth. Coming later than the Great Western to the area, it never achieved the solid prosperity there of its broad gauge neighbour. The Southampton line had extended to Weymouth via Ringwood, and the LSWR consolidated its home area building branches closer to London, and direct lines to Portsmouth. It also became joint owner, with the Midland Railway, of the Somerset and Dorset Railway, responsible for infrastructure, shipping became significant also, with passenger and freight services to the Channel Islands, to Saint-Malo in France, and to the Isle of Wight. In the twentieth century it embarked on a programme of electrifying the suburban routes, eventually this covered the entire suburban area. At the same time they revolutionised express passenger train speeds to Weymouth, electrification of the Portsmouth line was now carried out. However, in 1966 the geographical limits of the British Railways regions was rationalised, the Bournemouth line was electrified in 1967, at first with converted steam coaching stock, later replaced by purpose built stock, the electrification was extended to Weymouth. In recent years the system has remained constant, with increasing train frequency from about 1990 now forming a limitation. The services were transferred to St Pancras International in 2007 and at present the Eurostar terminal is dormant, construction probably started on 6 October 1834 under Francis Giles, but progress was slow. The Parliamentary fight had been bitter, and a combination of resentment, a more immediate opportunity was taken up, of serving Portsmouth by a branch line. Interests friendly to the L&SR promoted a Portsmouth Junction Railway, which would have run from Bishopstoke via Botley, however resentment in Portsmouth—which considered Southampton a rival port—at being given simply as branch and thereby a roundabout route to London, killed the prospects of such a line. Portsmouth people wanted their own line, but in trying to play off the L&SR against the London & Brighton Railway they were unable to secure the committed funds they needed. The L&SR now promoted a line to Gosport, shorter and simpler than the earlier proposal. To soothe feelings in Portsmouth, the L&SR included in its Bill a change of name to the London, construction of the Gosport branch was at first quick and simple under Thomas Brassey. Stations were built at Bishopstoke and Fareham, an extremely elaborate station was built at Gosport, tendered at £10,980, seven times the tender price for Bishopstoke
32.
TSS Manx Maid (1910)
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Constructed for the London and Southwestern Railway Company and named Caesarea, the vessel was built by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead in 1910. Length 2846, beam 391, depth 158, Caesarea was launched at Birkenhead on Wednesday 14 September 1910. Caesarea was a steel, triple-screw turbine vessel, which had a tonnage of 1,504 GRT. Powered by three directly coupled turbines, and producing 6,500 i. h. p, caesareas boilers were double-ended circular return type, with a working steam pressure of 160 pounds p. s. i. This gave Caesarea a service speed of 20 knots, Caesarea entered service with the London and Southwestern Railway Company in 1910, who employed her on the Southampton - Channel Islands service. On 7 July 1923, in a fog, Caesarea struck a rock off Corbière as she was making passage from Jersey. Water began to enter the stokehold and engine room, whilst the stern began to fill and she was able to turn round and almost made it back to St Helier Harbour, but sank just outside the pierheads. Caesarea was stuck fast for almost two weeks, but was refloated on 20 July on a spring tide, Manx Maid was fired by six furnaces for each boiler and at 18 knots would consume 84 tons of oil in 24 hours - or 36 tons at 12 knots. Manx Maid entered service with the Steam Packet fleet in time for the 1924 tourist season, Manx Maid saw service in both World Wars. In 1914, she was requisitioned and served throughout the World War I under her original name, in World War II she was requisitioned in August 1939, and served as an ABV, an Armed Boarding Vessel. As other Steam Packet ships were attending the Evacuation of Dunkirk, Manx Maid took no part in Operation Dynamo, however, once her repairs were completed, she was ordered to Southampton and made two crossings into the war zone as the retreat moved westwards along the French coast. Her first mission took her to St Malo, but by the time she arrived the port was already under German occupation and she escaped after being unable to go inshore, and returned to England. She then made passage to Brest, and in one trip brought out nearly 3,000 troops, Manx Maid pulled out in a heavy swell followed by the RMS Lady of Mann, and a cross-channel railway steamer. Even so, she finally reached Plymouth safely, in October 1941 she became a Special Duties vessel and was renamed H. M. S. From the end of March 1942 she became a Fleet Air Arm target vessel and she was paid off at Ardrossan on 21 March 1945, and returned to the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company that day. Following her war service, Manx Maid returned to the Isle of Man, Manx Maid was towed to Barrow-in-Furness for breaking up in November 1950
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