Showing posts with label United Kingdom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label United Kingdom. Show all posts

Wednesday, 5 February 2014



Margam Castle, Wales:


Margam Castle is a large Victorian era country house, built in Margam, Port Talbot, Wales, for Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot. It was constructed over a ten-year period, from 1830 to 1840, on a site which had been occupied for some 4,000 years and which from the 11th century until the dissolution of the monasteries was an abbey.Although called a "castle", the building is really a large comfortable country house, one of many "mock" castles built in the 19th century during the Gothic Revival.After making a Grand Tour of Europe as a young man, Talbot returned to south Wales and from 1830 he set about redeveloping the family estate at Margam. The new castle was designed in a Tudor Gothic style by the architect Thomas Hopper, while Edward Haycock Snr was supervisory architect and designed parts of the interior and exterior of the house, the stables, terraces and lodges. Talbot also took a keen interest in the project, encouraging his architects to borrow elements from Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire and Melbury House in Dorset.William Henry Fox Talbot was a frequent visitor to Margam, and the castle featured as an image in some of his early photographic experiments. Margam's links with photography also include being the location of the earliest known Welsh photograph, a daguerreotype of the castle taken on 9 March 1841 by the Reverend Calvert Richard Jones.After the death of Emily Charlotte Talbot, the daughter of its first owner, the castle passed to her nephew and continued to be used by the Talbot family until 1941, when it was sold. David Evans-Bevan, who bought it, found it too large to live in, but could not find any public organisation interested in taking it on, and it fell into disrepair. For many years it belonged to the local authority, but was not open to the public. In 1977, a fire caused substantial damage, and it was only after this that a restoration project began in earnest.Today Margam Castle is a Grade I listed building and is in the care of Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council.Margam Castle was visited by the television programme Most Haunted in its 2006 series and also by SyFy's Ghost Hunters International in 2010.It has become a very popular venue for paranormal investigation events groups. In 2013 the Margam Ghost Walk became the most popular attraction in the Neath Port Talbot authority area, according to the review website Tripadvisor.

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Monday, 3 February 2014



Port Isaac, North Cornwall, UK:


Port Isaac is a small and picturesque fishing village on the Atlantic Coast of north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The nearest towns are Wadebridge and Camelford, both ten miles away. Port Gaverne, commonly mistaken to be part of Port Isaac, is a nearby hamlet that has its own history. The meaning of the Cornish name is "corn port", indicating a trade in corn from the arable inland district.Since the 1980s the village has served as backdrop to various television productions, including the ITV series Doc Martin and is home to the group Fisherman's Friends, sea-shanty singers.The Port Isaac pier was constructed during the reign of Henry VIII. "...Tudor pier and breakwater have now yielded to a strong new sea-wall balanced by an arm on the opposite side of the cove, and we do not doubt that the fishermen sleep more soundly in their beds on stormy nights." The centre of the village dates from the 18th and 19th centuries, from a time when its prosperity was tied to local coastal freight and fishing. The port handled cargoes such as coal, wood, stone, ores, limestone, salt, pottery and heavy goods which were conveyed along its narrow streets. The pilchard fishery began here before the 16th century and in 1850 there were 49 registered fishing boats and four fish cellars.Fishermen still work from the Platt, landing their daily catch of fish, crab and lobsters. The historic core of the village was designated a Conservation Area in 1971 and North Cornwall District Council reviewed this in 2008 with the endorsement of detailed Port Isaac Conservation Area Appraisal document and a related Conservation Area Management Plan. Today the village also now has around 90 Listed buildings.


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Sunday, 22 December 2013



Quiraing,Scotland,UK:


The Quiraing is a landslip on the eastern face of Meall na Suiramach, the northernmost summit of the Trotternish Ridge on the Isle of Skye. The whole of the Trotternish Ridge escarpment was formed by a great series of landslips; the Quiraing is the only part of the slip still moving, the road at its base near Flodigarry requires repairs each year.Parts of the distinctive landscape have earned particular names. The Needle is a jagged 120-foot high landmark pinnacle, a remnant of landslipping. Northwest of it is The Table, a flat grassy area slipped down from the summit plateau, with vistas of the Torridon Hills and the mountains of Wester Ross. Southwest is the Prison, a pyramidal rocky peak which can look like a medieval keep when viewed from the right angle - the ascent of this is an airy scramble.Quiraing comes from Old Norse Kvi Rand, which means Round Fold. Within the fold is The Table, an elevated plateau hidden amongst the pillars. It is said that the fold was used to conceal cattle from Viking raiders.

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Monday, 14 October 2013





Manhattan is one of the five boroughs of New York City, geographically the smallest but also the most densely populated in the city. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the borough is conterminous with New York County, an original county of the U.S. state of New York. The borough and county consist of Manhattan Island and several small adjacent islands: Roosevelt Island, Randall's Island, Wards Island, Governors Island, Liberty Island, part of Ellis Island,Mill Rock, and U Thant Island; as well as Marble Hill, a small area on the mainland bordering the Bronx. The City of New York originated at the southern tip of Manhattan and expanded northward.New York County is the most densely populated county in the United States, more dense than any individual American city.It is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, with a 2010 population of 1,585,873 living in a land area of 22.96 square miles, or about 69,071 residents per square mile. It is also one of the wealthiest counties in the United States, with a 2005 per capita income above $100,000.Manhattan is the third-largest of New York's five boroughs in population, after Brooklyn and Queens, and it is the smallest borough in land area.
Manhattan has been described as the economic and cultural center of the United States and is home to the United Nations Headquarters.Anchored by Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City functions as one of the financial capitals of the world, has an estimated GDP of over $1.2 trillion,and is home of both the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. Manhattan's real estate market is among the most expensive in the world,and many multinational media conglomerates are based in the borough.
Many districts and landmarks in Manhattan have become well known to New York City's approximately 50 million annual visitors.Times Square, iconified as "The Crossroads of the World and "The Center of the Universe",is the brightly illuminated hub of the Broadway theatre district, one of the world's busiest pedestrian intersections,and a major center of the world's entertainment industry.The borough hosts many world-renowned bridges, skyscrapers, and parks. Manhattan's Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere.The Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village served as the catalyst for the modern gay rights movement.Numerous colleges and universities are located in Manhattan,including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, which have been ranked among the top 50 in the world.Manhattan also houses New York City Hall, the seat of city government.The area that is now Manhattan was long inhabited by the Lenape Native Americans. In 1524, Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano – sailing in service of the French king Francis I – was the first European to visit the area that would become New York City. He entered The Narrows aboard his ship La Dauphine and named the land around Upper New York Harbor "Angouleme", the family name of Francis I; he sailed far enough into the harbor to sight the Hudson River which he referred to in his report to the French king as a "Very Big River"; and he named Upper New York Bay the Bay of Santa Margarita – after Marguerite de Navarre – the elder sister of the king.It was not until the voyage of Henry Hudson, an Englishman who worked for the Dutch East India Company, that the area was mapped.Hudson came across Manhattan Island and the native people living there in 1609, and continued up the river that would later bear his name, the Hudson River, until he arrived at the site of present day Albany.

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Saturday, 12 October 2013

London,United Kingdom:


London is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. With an estimated 8,308,369 residents in 2012, London is the most populous region, urban zone and metropolitan area in the United Kingdom and is the largest city in the European Union. Standing on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its founding by the Romans, who named it Londinium. London's ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1.12-square-mile (2.9 km2) mediaeval boundaries and in 2011 had a population of 7,375, making it the smallest city in England. Since at least the 19th century, the term London has also referred to the metropolis developed around this core. The bulk of this conurbation forms the London region and the Greater London administrative area, governed by the Mayor of London and the London AssemblyLondon is a leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism and transport all contributing to its prominence. It is one of the world's leading financial centres and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world depending on measurement. London is a world cultural capital.It is the world's most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the world's largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic. 43 universities form the largest concentration of higher education in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to host the modern Summer Olympic Games three times.
London has a diverse range of peoples and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken within its boundaries. London had an official population of 8,174,100, making it the most populous municipality in the European Union, and accounting for 12.5% of the UK population.The Greater London Urban Area is the second-largest in the EU with a population of 9,787,426 according to the 2011 census, while the London metropolitan area is the largest in the EU with a total population of 13,614,409, the Greater London Authority puts the population of London metropolitan region at 21 million. London had the largest population of any city in the world from around 1831 to 1925.
London contains four World Heritage Sites: the Tower of London; Kew Gardens; the site comprising the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey, and St Margaret's Church; and the historic settlement of Greenwich (in which the Royal Observatory, Greenwich marks the Prime Meridian, 0° longitude, and GMT).Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. London is home to numerous museums, galleries, libraries, sporting events and other cultural institutions, including the British Museum, National Gallery, Tate Modern, British Library and 40 West End theatres The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world

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