WikiWeb_Scottish National Portrait Gallery_3

The museum's collection totals some 3,000 paintings and sculptures, 25,000 prints and drawings, and 38,000 photographs.  The collection essentially begins in the Renaissance, initially with works mainly by foreign artists of Scottish royalty, nobility, and mainly printed portraits of clergymen and writers; the most notable paintings were mostly made on the Continent (often during periods of exile from the turbulent Scottish political scene).  As in England, the Scottish Reformation all but extinguished religious art, and until the 19th century portrait painting dominated Scottish painting, with patrons gradually extending down the social scale.  In the 16th century most painted portraits are of royalty or the more important nobility; the oldest work in the collection is a portrait of James IV of Scotland from 1507.
The collection includes two portraits of Mary, Queen of Scots, although neither dates from her lifetime; one was painted some 20 years after her death in 1587, and the other is later still; there are also a number of 19th-century paintings showing scenes from her life.  Mary's circle is actually better represented by portraits from the life, with her three husbands all having portraits, including Darnley by Hans Eworth and an unknown painter, and miniatures from 1566 of Bothwell and his first wife.  There is a portrait of Mary's nemesis, Regent Morton, by Arnold Bronckhorst who was from 1581 the first artist to hold the title of "King's Painter" in Scotland, though he only spent about three years there.  The gallery holds several works by Bronckhorst and his successor, Adrian Vanson; both were skilled painters in the Netherlandish tradition.
The collection includes portraits by Bronckhorst and Vanson of James VI and I, but the others were made after he succeeded to the English throne and moved to London, where the many portraits of other Stuart monarchs were also mostly painted.  The first significant native Scot to be a portrait painter, George Jamesone (1589/90-1644) only once got the chance to paint his monarch, when Charles I visited Edinburgh in 1633. The collection includes two Jamesone self-portraits and portraits of the Scottish aristocracy, as well as some imagined portraits of heroes of Scotland's past.  There are three portraits by Jamesone's talented pupil John Michael Wright and ten aristocratic portraits by Sir John Baptist Medina, the last "King's Painter" before the Acts of Union 1707.
The display "Blazing with Crimson: Tartan Portraits" (until December 2013) concentrates on portraits featuring tartan, which begin to be painted in the late 17th century, at that time apparently with no political connotations. The museum has one of the earliest examples, a full-length portrait of 1683 by John Michael Wright of Lord Mungo Murray, son of John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl, wearing a belted plaid for hunting. The wearing of tartan was banned after the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion, but reappears in grand portraits after a few decades, before becoming ever more popular with Romanticism and the works of Sir Walter Scott.  Also wearing tartan is Flora MacDonald, painted by Richard Wilson in London after her arrest for helping Bonnie Prince Charlie to escape after the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion.
Scottish portrait painting flourished in the 18th century and Allan Ramsay and Sir Henry Raeburn are well represented with 13 and 15 works respectively,  the former with many paintings of figures from the Scottish Enlightenment, as well as the recently acquired lost portrait of Charles Edward Stuart, and the career of the latter extending into the 19th century with portraits of Walter Scott and others.  The museum owns the iconic portrait of Robert Burns by Alexander Nasmyth.  The largest number of works by a single artist is the 58 by the sculptor and gem-cutter James Tassie (1735–1799), who developed a distinctive format of large fired glass paste (or vitreous enamel) relief "medallion" portraits in profile, initially modelled in wax.  His subjects include Adam Smith, James Beattie and Robert Adam.  Adam disliked having his portrait taken but Tassie was a member of his social circle he did not refuse, with the result that, as with the Naysmyth portrait of Burns, almost all images of Smith derive from the exemplar in the museum.
The later 19th century in Scotland had no such dominant figures, but many fine artists, and saw the beginning of photography.  The museum devotes a gallery to the photographs of Glasgow life taken by Thomas Annan, especially the images of slums taken in 1868–71, and in general the displays concentrate on the common people of Scotland.  The collection continues to expand in the present day, with Scottish painters such as John Bellany (Peter Maxwell Davies, self-portrait and Billy Connolly) and John Byrne, whose works include images of himself, Tilda Swinton, Billy Connolly and Robbie Coltrane.
Other works in the collection include:
James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton, by Daniel Mytens
Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton, by Oskar Kokoschka
Winnie Ewing by Norman Edgar
Alex Ferguson by David Mach
Ian Wilmut by Wendy McMurdo
Robin Jenkins by Jennifer McRae


WikiWeb_Scottish National War Memorial_2

The exterior of the building is decorated with gargoyles and sculpture by Pilkington Jackson, John Marshall and Phyllis Bone, whilst the interior contains elaborate wall monuments commemorating individual regiments. The stained-glass windows are by Douglas Strachan. The original aim behind the Memorial was to commemorate Scots and those serving with Scottish regiments who had died in the First World War, from the declaration of war on 4 August 1914 to the Treaty of Versailles of 28 June 1919 (confirmed military suicides and those tried and executed excepted). Upon the altar within the Shrine,  placed on the highest part of the Castle Rock emerging through the floor, stands a sealed casket containing the Rolls of Honour listing over 147,000 names of those soldiers killed in the First World War together with open lists within the Hall. After the Second World War the limiting dates were modified, with another 50,000 names inscribed on the Rolls of Honour within the Hall, and with further names continuing to be added there.
The memorial is maintained by a charitable trust known as the Scottish National War Memorial.


Before 1707, the Kingdom of Scotland was a sovereign independent state which had its own legislature—the Parliament of Scotland—which met, latterly, at Parliament House on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. The Treaty of Union, signed in 1707, created an incorporating political union between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England. This created the Kingdom of Great Britain. The two previous Acts of Union (one for the Parliament of England and one for the Parliament of Scotland) had dissolved the previous parliaments. The Treaty of Union created the Parliament of Great Britain which was housed in the Palace of Westminster in London. As a consequence, Scotland was directly governed from London for the next 292 years without a legislature or a Parliament building of its own.
A referendum of the Scottish electorate, held on 11 September 1997, approved the establishment of a directly elected Scottish Parliament to legislate on most domestic affairs. Following this, the Scottish Office, led by the then Secretary of State for Scotland, Donald Dewar, decided that a new purpose-built facility would be constructed in Edinburgh, to house the Scottish Parliament.
Initially, three sites in and around Edinburgh were considered as possible locations for the building, including St Andrew's House (St Andrews House being the home of the Scottish Office—later the Scottish Government); New Parliament House (better known as the imposing former Old Royal High School, Calton Hill); Victoria Quay at Leith docks (adjacent to the major Scottish Office building there) and Haymarket on the vacant railway goods yard, in the west end of the city. The Holyrood site was not entered into the picture until after the official closure date of the competition between the three sites. The date for announcing the winner overran and on the date of the expected announcement instead it was announced that they were going to "rethink their decision" (inferring that indeed a decision had been made) and add the Holyrood Brewery site into the running (which had only just closed). However negotiations with the brewing company Scottish and Newcastle, who owned the land, resulted in the company indicating that they would be able to vacate the site in early 1999. As a consequence, the Secretary of State for Scotland agreed that the Holyrood site merited inclusion on the shortlist of proposed locations. The Scottish Office commissioned feasibility studies of the specified areas in late 1997 and in January 1998, the Holyrood site was selected from the shortlist.
Following on from the site selection, the Scottish Office announced that an international competition would be held to find a designer for a new building to house the Parliament. A design committee was appointed under the chairmanship of Dewar, and was tasked with choosing from a shortlist of designs. Proposals were submitted from internationally renowned architects such as Rafael Viñoly, Michael Wilford and Richard Meier. Twelve designs were selected in March 1998, which were whittled down to five by the following May. The five final designs were put on public display throughout Scotland in June 1998. Feedback from the public displays showed that the designs of the Spanish architect Enric Miralles were amongst the most popular. The design team took account of public opinion on the designs and invited all five shortlisted entrants to make presentations on their proposed designs before announcing a winner.
On 6 July 1998, it was declared that the design of Enric Miralles was chosen, with work being awarded to EMBT/RMJM (Scotland) Ltd, a Spanish-Scottish joint venture design company created for the project. Construction, which was undertaken by Bovis, commenced in June 1999, with the demolition of the Scottish and Newcastle brewery and the beginning of foundation work to support the structure of the building. MSPs began to move into the building complex in the Summer of 2004, with the official opening by the Queen taking place in October of the same year.


Scrabo Hill rises to a height of 540 feet (160 m) above mean sea level. The viewing platform or parapet walk of the tower, reached by climbing 122 steps, provides views over Strangford Lough and its islands, as well as the towns of Newtownards and Comber. As the area to the south and southwest of Scrabo Hill is part of the Ulster Drumlin Belt, this glacial landform can be very well observed from the tower.
On clear days Helen's Tower in the north, the Copeland Islands with their lighthouse and the Scottish coast (Mull of Kintyre, Ailsa Craig and Rhins of Galloway) beyond the North Channel in the northeast, the Isle of Man in the southeast, the Mourne Mountains in the south, as well as Divis Mountain and Cave Hill over Belfast in the west can be seen.
Scrabo Country Park, in which the tower stands, includes parts of the top and the eastern and southern slopes of Scrabo Hill as well as Killynether Wood. The eastern part of the hill is of geological interest because outcrops in the South Quarry reveal contacts between sediments (sandstone) and locally cross-cutting sills of intrusive rocks (dolerite). This eastern part, which includes the site of the tower, has been declared an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI). Much of the plateau on top of the hill to the west of the tower is occupied by Scrabo Golf Course.


Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium is a Southern Ocean and Antarctic aquarium in central Melbourne, Australia. It is located on the banks of the Yarra River beside and under the Flinders Street Viaduct and the King Street Bridge. The attraction is a Sea Life Centre owned by Merlin Entertainments.


The Seaton Tramway is a 2 ft 9 in (838 mm) narrow gauge electric tramway in the East Devon district of South West England. The 3-mile (4.8 km) route runs alongside the Axe Estuary and the River Coly, running between the coastal resort of Seaton, the village of Colyford, and the ancient town of Colyton. For much of its route, it operates between the estuary and the Seaton Wetlands nature reserves, offering views of the wildlife of both.
The tramway operates over part of the former Seaton Branch Line, which closed in March 1966. It was established in 1970 by Claude Lane, founder of Modern Electric Tramways Ltd, which had previously operated in Eastbourne between 1954 and 1969. Fourteen tramcars are part of the visitor attraction, which sees over 100,000 visitors per year. All of the tramcars are based on classic British designs, and vary in size between half-scale (1:2) and two thirds-scale (2:3). Most were built from scratch by Claude Lane and/or his successor Allan Gardner, but three were rebuilt from full-size cars which originally ran in London, Bournemouth and Exeter.


From 1970 to 1975, when Seaton tram station first opened, the line's southern terminus was located at Riverside, just to the north of Riverside Depot. Riverside temporarily became the terminus again in 2017–2018, whilst the new Seaton station was under construction, during which time booking office facilities were provided through the location of tram 01 to the south of Riverside Depot. Riverside has fully surfaced platforms, and a passing loop, and is sometimes used out of season in connection with special events. In February 2020, a new decked extension was constructed, sited between the track and over the river bank, in preparation for Riverside's use as a permanent halt. Completion was delayed due to the effects of the COVID-19 lockdown, and the opening has been postponed until 2022.
From Riverside northwards, the tramway follows the old Seaton railway branch line. As far as Colyford, this ran on an embankment separating the Seaton Wetlands, to the west, and the Axe Estuary, to the east. The nature reserves of Seaton Marshes, Black Hole Marsh, Colyford Common and Stafford Marsh are all visible from the tram, as is the tidal estuary and the village of Axmouth on the far bank. Along this stretch there are two passing loops, known as Axmouth and Swans Nest. Work has been undertaken to turn Swan's Next loop into a tram stop, to be known as Wetlands, which will allow passengers direct access to the Seaton Wetlands nature reserves. Work was about to get underway when the COVID-19 lockdown came in to force, so work had to be postposed until winter 2021–2022.


The aquarium opened on May 20, 1977, and was initially owned and operated by the City of Seattle's Department of Parks and Recreation. On July 1, 2010, the nonprofit Seattle Aquarium Society - the official 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization for the aquarium - assumed management of the institution from the city. Bassetti/Norton/Metler/Rekevics were the architects for the building.
The aquarium promotes marine conservation and educates over 800,000 visitors each year (including 50,000 students) on the impact of mankind on marine life. It also conducts research in these fields. In 2007, an 18,000-square-foot (1,700 m²) expansion added a 2,625-square-foot (243.9 m²) gift store and café to the aquarium, as well as two new exhibits: Window on Washington Waters and Crashing Waves.


The park mainly provides leisure activities, particularly fishing from both its Atlantic and Indian River shores; fishing jetties extend from both sides of the inlet into the ocean. There are facilities for swimming, surfing, snorkeling and scuba diving from the 5 km (3.1 mi) of Atlantic beach. Boats can be launched into the Indian River, and there is a marina complex at the north end of the park. Camping is permitted in a designated area.
Wildlife is abundant in the park, and the casual visitor can reasonably hope to see ospreys and many species of shorebird. Sea turtles nest in the park, and visitors during the summer may make reservations for a nighttime foray to observe nesting loggerhead turtles. The park also contains two museums: McLarty Treasure Museum and Sebastian Fishing Museum.
A tidal pool (Robert Campbell Cove) within the state park contains varied marine and bird life and permits a safe area for swimming and a beach for children.
A new activity, which will include interactive signs that highlight different birds throughout the park, should be ready for visitors to use by May of 2021. Guests can use a QR code to learn as they walk the designated path to find out various information and facts about these birds. Bonnie Lizer, who died last year, made a significant contribution to the Florida State Parks Foundation, which is allowing this current project to be funded.


WikiWeb_Sebring Downtown Historic District_0

The Sebring Downtown Historic District is a U.S. historic district (designated as such on March 16, 1990) located in Sebring, Florida. The district is at Circle Drive and Ridgewood Drive from Mango Street to Magnolia Avenue. It contains 22 historic buildings.


The area has been internationally known since 2009, when digging for an underground parking facility uncovered the remains of prehistoric pile dwellings. Remains were found in the immediate vicinity of this wetland soil settlement, Kleiner Hafner, in the lower basin of Lake Zürich. The construction works were suspended for nine months and the settlement remains were systematically archaeologically recorded. The results of the excavations are permanently displayed in a pavilion next to the lakeshore.
Located on what was then swampland between the river Limmat and Lake Zürich, around present-day Sechseläutzenplatz–Bürkliplatz, the prehistoric dwellings were set on piles to protect against occasional flooding by the rivers Linth and Jona. The Neolithic settlement Zürich–Enge Alpenquai is located at the Bürkliplatz in Enge, a locality of the municipality of Zürich. It was neighbored by the settlements at Kleiner Hafner (a former island/peninsula at Sechseläutenplatz) and Grosser Hafner island (which was also part of the Celtic and Gallo-Roman settlement area) in the effluence of the Limmat, within an area of about 0.2 square kilometres (50 acres) in the heart of the city of Zürich.
Kleiner Hafner and Grosser Hafner are very rare sites, representing all periods of pile dwelling. There are finds from the Neolithic Egolzwil, Cortaillod and Horgen cultures, forming an important reference which allows study of the cultural development during the late 5th and early 4th millennia BC. They and other prehistoric settlements in the lower Lake Zürich area are part of Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps, an UNESCO World Heritage Site, recognized as one of 111 world locations with the greatest scientific potential.


WikiWeb_Second Presbyterian Church (Chicago)_1

Second Presbyterian Church organized in 1842 as an offshoot of the city's first Presbyterian congregation, which had formed in 1833. From 1851 until 1871, the congregation worshipped in a church at the northeast corner of Wabash Avenue and Washington Street in downtown Chicago. Known as the spotted church because of the tar deposits in its limestone blocks, this building was designed by the noted eastern architect, James Renwick, Jr. Renwick later designed St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City and the original building of the Smithsonian Institution. Already in the late 1860s, downtown Chicago was becoming more commercial and less residential, and Second Presbyterian's leaders prepared plans to follow its membership to the near South Side. Just a few weeks before the Great Chicago Fire in October 1871, which destroyed the spotted church, the congregation had merged with another congregation and had relocated to the South Side.
Many wealthy Chicago residents attended Second Presbyterian, including members of the George Pullman, Silas B. Cobb, Timothy Blackstone, and George Armour families. These were men who moved to Chicago from New England or New York State in the mid-nineteenth century to make their fortunes and build a new metropolis on the prairie. Proud of their adopted city, they endowed cultural institutions like the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Chicago. Robert Todd Lincoln, the president's son, was also a church trustee. When the South Side emerged in the 1870s as the city's premier residential neighborhood, the business elite built imposing houses on South Prairie Avenue, South Michigan Avenue, South Calumet Avenue and other streets.


The bath is situated at Utoquai respectively in the Seefeld quarter at the Zürichsee lake shore on the right bank. Public transport is provided by the VBZ transport company by the tram lines 2 and 4, bus lines 33 and postauto bus lines 912 and 916 to Chinagarten Zürich stop.  It is situated opposite of Strandbad Mythenquai on the other bank of the lower Zürichsee lake shore in Zürich.


As the old bathhouse had to make place for the construction of quais, the then independent municipality of Riesbach built two new bathing facilities Strandbad Tiefenbrunnen (1886) and Seebad Utoquai (1890). For the latter, a bathing palace on stilts with delicate, tower-like structures in the Moorish style was implented. For the first time in Zürich, it was allowed to men and women to bathe in the same bath. In 1942 the towering domes were added by sun terraces, also in a wooden construction, were built, and the basic structure of the original bathroom is still preserved. The Utoquai figures in Inventar der schützenswerten Gärten und Anlagen von kommunaler Bedeutung, being the inventory of estimable gardens and grounds of local importance that was established in 1989.


The Seedam was built on an ice age moraine located between the three Swiss cantons of Schwyz, St. Gallen and Zürich. This morain forms a peninsula protruding from the south shore of the lake containing the village of Hurden, a small island to the Rapperswil side of the lake, and a section of shallow water dividing Lake Zürich and its upper part, Obersee. The causeway and two bridges that span this area of shallow water, are 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) in length and carry a road and a railway line. To the east of the modern causeway and bridges is the Holzbrücke Rapperswil-Hurden (wooden pedestrian bridge), built in 2001 as a reconstruction of the first bridge between the eastern and western lakesides around 1500 BC. Situated to the southwest, Frauenwinkel is a mire landscape situated around the Seedamm area on the easterly Zürichsee lakeshore between Hurden and Pfäffikon, respectively between the Lützelau and Ufenau islands.


Since initial completion, the structure had always been a place that many people chose to commit suicide. This culminated in the 1990s, when suicides occurred at a rate of at least four per month. Even the first viaduct had to be fenced off due to multiple suicides. The total is unknown, but this would put the number at well over 500 just for the 20th century. It was often locally referred to as the suicide bridge. In October 1998, under the term of José María Álvarez del Manzano, the City of Madrid installed thick acrylic glass barriers to keep people from jumping off, partially due to the danger it was posing to pedestrian and vehicular traffic below. It has been successful at deterring further jumpers.
It features frequently in the literary-bohemian world of Madrid in works by authors such as Valle-Inclán  (Bohemian Lights), and Benito Pérez Galdós. The second viaduct is present in several novels by authors such as Enrique Jardiel Poncela, as well as Camilo José Cela. It appears often in Spanish cinema, including Matador, High Heels and I'm So Excited! (2013) by Pedro Almodóvar.


It is one of the relatively few surviving abbey churches of the medieval period, and, although not a cathedral, is one of the biggest. It was founded by Benedict of Auxerre in 1069 and subsequently built by the de Lacy family.
On 31 May 1256, the Abbey was bestowed with the grant of a Mitre by Pope Alexander IV and from this date was a "Mitred Abbey". This privilege fell in abeyance a number of times, but on 11 April 1308, Archbishop William Greenfield confirmed the grant, and Selby remained a "Mitred Abbey" until the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
Archbishop Walter Giffard visited the monastery in 1275 by commission, and several monks and the Abbot were charged with a list of faults including loose living, (many complaints referred to misconduct with married women). In 1279 Archbishop William de Wickwane made a visitation, and found fault with the Abbot as he did not observe the rule of St Benedict, was not singing mass, preaching or teaching, and seldom attending chapter. Things had not improved much in 1306 when Archbishop William Greenfield visited and similar visitations in later years resulted in similar findings.
The community rebuilt the choir in the early fourteenth century, but in 1340, a fire destroyed the Chapter House, Dormitory, Treasury and part of the church. The damage was repaired and the decorated windows in the south aisle of the Nave were installed.
In 1380-1 there was the abbot and twenty-five monks. In 1393 Pope Boniface IX granted an indulgence to pilgrims who contributed to the conservation of the chapel of the Holy Cross in the Abbey.
The fifteenth century saw more alterations to the Abbey. The perpendicular windows in the North Transept and at the west end of the nave were added and the Sedilia in the Sanctuary was added. One of the final additions was the Lathom Chapel, dedicated to St Catherine, east of the North Transept, in 1465.
In the Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1535 the Abbey was valued at £719 2s. 6¼d (equivalent to £467,021 in 2021). The abbey surrendered on 6 December 1539. The community comprised the Abbot, and 23 monks. The abbot was pensioned off on £100 a year (equivalent to £71,416 in 2021)  the prior got £8 and the others between £6 6s. 8d. and £5 each.


There are two levels of basement beneath the lower-ground shop floor: the ‘sub’ and the ‘sub-sub’. Combined, these descend 60 metres (200 ft) below street level. These two areas are then split into two more areas: the dry sub and sub-sub, and their "wet" equivalents. The wet area is beneath the original nine-and-a-half bays closest to the Duke Street corner of the 1909 building. The "dry" is under the rear of the building, known as the SWOD after the surrounding four streets – Somerset, Wigmore, Orchard and Duke – that once enclosed it.
During World War II after the entry of the United States into the conflict, from 1942 the dry sub-sub SWOD was used by the United States Army. The building had one of the only secure telex lines, was safe from bombing, and was close to the US Embassy on Grosvenor Square. Initially used by U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the commander of SHAEF, it later housed 50 soldiers from the 805th Signal Service Company of the US Army Signal Corps, who installed a SIGSALY code-scrambling device connected to a similar terminal in the Pentagon building. The first conference took place on 15 July 1943. Initial visitors included Prime Minister Winston Churchill, to enable secure communications with the President of the United States, although later extensions were installed to both 10 Downing Street and the Cabinet War Rooms. Rumours persist of a tunnel built from Selfridges to the embassy so that personnel could move between the two in safety, with interrogation cells for prisoners hewn from the resultant uneven space available.


Selfridges' 27 Oxford Street windows have become synonymous with the brand, and to a certain degree have become as famous as the store and the Oxford Street location itself. The windows consistently attract tourists, designers and fashionistas alike to marvel at the current designs and styling and fashion trends.
Selfridges has a history of bold art initiatives when it comes to the window designs. When the building opened, Harry Selfridge initiated a "signature" window which was signed by all of the stars and famous people who came to shop at the store. This was cracked in the first bombing during the blitz, and was never restored.
Today, the visual merchandising team calculate that 20% of business-winning trade is from the windows. When Alannah Weston became Creative Director after the purchase by her family in 2003, she approached artist Alison Jackson to put her trademark Tony Blair and David Beckham lookalikes in the windows. The resultant display brought traffic to a standstill, with the Metropolitan Police finally insisting they stop the project because it was clogging up Oxford Street.
Since 2002, the windows have been photographed by London photographer Andrew Meredith and published in magazines such as Vogue, Dwell, Icon, Frame Magazine, Creative Review, Hungarian Stylus Magazine, Design Week, Harper's Bazaar, New York Times, WGSN and much more including worldwide press, journals, blogs and published books all over the world.


After his wife died in 1918, and his mother in 1922, Gordon squandered his fortune. In 1941, he left Selfridges.
In 1951 the store was acquired by the Liverpool-based Lewis's chain of department stores, which was in turn taken over in 1965 by the Sears Group owned by Charles Clore. Expanded under the Sears group to include branches in Oxford, Manchester and Birmingham, in 2003 the chain was acquired by Canada's Galen Weston for £598 million.


In the spring of 1946, the Eisfelder Talmühle–Hasselfelde and Herzogschacht–Lindenberg sections of the Selke Valley Railway were dismantled and almost all the rolling stock and track material was sent as reparations to the former Soviet Union. The operational management between Efelder Talmühle and Hasselfelde was transferred to the NWE from 15 April 1946.
Because of its importance for the transport of fluorite, reconstruction began in the autumn of 1946 between Gernrode and Lindenberg (now Straßberg), which dragged on because of lack of material until 1950. The Lindenberg–Stiege section was not initially rebuilt. The GHE was nationalised in 1946 and it was absorbed by Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) on 1 April 1949.
In 1983, the reconstruction of the Straßberg–Stiege section was approved, especially to ensure the supply of lignite from Nordhausen to the new cogeneration plant of Silberhütte. Scheduled passenger services between Hasselfelde and Gernrode were resumed on 3 June 1984. Since then, the three Harz narrow gauge lines (Selke Valley Railway, Harz Railway and Brocken Railway—Brockenbahn) have again been connected as one network, now 140 kilometres-long. On 1 February 1993, the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways (Harzer Schmalspurbahnen GmbH, HSB) took over the Harz Railway, the Brocken Railway and the Selke Valley Railway from DR.


The route is used daily by steam trains and railcars. According to the summer and winter timetable, there are five daily services in both directions over the whole route, some with changes in Alexisbad and Stiege, as well as on the side branches to Harzgerode and Hasselfelde (2016/2017 timetable). Other trains run between Quedlinburg or Gernrode and Alexisbad. The number of pairs of trains operated by steam trains or diesel railcars is approximately the same in the summer timetable, with railcars predominating in the winter half-year. Although the Selke Valley Railway has some importance for regional traffic on the Quedlinburg–Gernrode section, the passengers on the other sections of the line are mostly tourists, people on excursions and hikers.
Since April 2010, steam trains have also run regularly on the connecting line (Stiege–Eisfelder Talmühle); before 1996 it was exclusively served by diesel multiple units. Depending on the timetable, there may be simultaneous departures from Eisfelder Talmühle, Stiege and Alexisbad.


In Gernrode and Nordhausen Nord are the locomotive depots for the Selke Valley Railway. The diesel railcars of the Selke Valley Railway are based in Nordhausen Nord. Both locomotives and motor coaches are serviced and the steam locomotives are fueled and cleaned.
The rolling stock of the Selke Valley Railway, like all HSB rolling stock, are maintained in Wernigerode-Westerntor. This is the location of the HSB's central rolling stock depot, where all examinations and repair work are performed on all rolling stock. For the main examinations, however, the locomotives are taken to special maintenance facilities.


Semeru's eruptive history is extensive. Since 1818, at least 55 eruptions have been recorded (11 of which resulted in fatalities) consisting of both lava flows and pyroclastic flows. All historical eruptions have had a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of 2 or 3. Semeru has been in a state of near-constant eruption from 1967 to the present.
Semeru is regularly climbed by tourists, usually starting from the village of Ranu Pane to the north, but though non-technical, it can be dangerous. Soe Hok Gie, an Indonesian political activist of the 1960s, died in 1969 from inhaling poisonous gases while hiking on Mount Semeru.
Semeru is named after Sumeru, the central world-mountain in Hinduism. As stated in legend, it was transplanted from India; the tale is recorded in the 15th-century East Javanese work Tantu Pagelaran. It was originally placed in the western part of the island, but that caused the island to tip, so it was moved eastward. On that journey, parts kept coming off the lower rim, forming the mountains Lawu, Wilis, Kelud, Kawi, Arjuno and Welirang. The damage thus caused to the foot of the mountain caused it to shake, and the top came off and created Penanggungan as well. Indonesian Hindus also hold a belief that the mountain is the abode of Shiva in Java.


After the First World War the University of London, then based at the Imperial Institute in Kensington was in urgent need of new office and teaching space to allow for its growth and expansion. In 1921, the government bought 11 acres (4.5 ha) of land in Bloomsbury from the Duke of Bedford to provide a new site for the university. However, many within the university were opposed to a move, and, in 1926, the Duke bought back the land. However, the election of William Beveridge to the post of vice-chancellor of the university in June 1926 was highly significant as Beveridge supported a move to Bloomsbury. Beveridge persuaded the Rockefeller Foundation to donate £400,000 to the university and the original site was reacquired in 1927.
Beveridge saw the university as one "for the nation and the world, drawing from overseas as many students as Oxford and Cambridge and all the other English universities together." and specified that "the central symbol of the University on the Bloomsbury site can not fittingly look like an imitation of any other university, it must not be a replica from the Middle Ages. It should be something that could not have been built by any earlier generation than this, and can only be at home in London ... (the building) means a chance to enrich London – to give London at its heart not just more streets and shops ... but a great architectural feature ... an academic island in swirling tides of traffic, a world of learning in a world of affairs."
The grand art deco design was the work of Charles Holden, who was appointed as architect in March 1931 from a short list which also included Giles Gilbert Scott, Percy Scott Worthington, and Arnold Dunbar Smith. In making their choice, Beveridge and the Principal, Edwin Deller, were influenced by the success of Holden's recently completed 55 Broadway, designed as the headquarters for the London Electric Railway and then the tallest office building in London.
Holden's original plan for the university building was for a single structure covering the whole site, stretching almost 1,200 feet (370 m) from Montague Place to Torrington Street. It comprised a central spine linked by a series of wings to the perimeter façade and enclosing a series of courtyards. The scheme was to be topped by two towers; the taller Senate House and a smaller one to the north. The design featured elevations of load-bearing brick work faced with Portland stone. Construction began in 1932 and was undertaken by Holland, Hannen & Cubitts. King George V laid the ceremonial foundation stone on 26 June 1933 and the first staff moved in during 1936, the University's centenary year. On 27 November 1936, a group of University officials, led by the Principal, Sir Edwin Deller, went out to inspect the work in progress.  Suddenly, without warning, a skip being pushed by a workman overhead accidentally fell down and hit them.  All were rushed to University College Hospital, where three days later, Deller died of his injuries. Due to a lack of funds, the full design was gradually cut back, and only the Senate House and Library were completed in 1937, although the external flanking wings of the north-eastern courtyard were not constructed. As he had with his earlier buildings, Holden also prepared the designs for the individual elements of the interior design. The completion of the buildings for the Institute of Education and the School of Oriental Studies followed, but the onset of the Second World War prevented any further progress on the full scheme.


Sennyū-ji was founded in the early Heian period. According to one tradition, it was founded as Senyū-ji (仙遊寺) in 855 at the former mountain villa of Fujiwara no Otsugu. According to another tradition, this temple was a reconstruction of an earlier temple, Hōrin-ji (法輪寺), which had been founded by Kōbō-Daishi in the Tenchō era (824-834). The major buildings in Sennyū-ji were reconstructed and enlarged in the early 13th century by the monk Shunjō.
Tsukinowa no misasagi
Emperor Go-Horikawa and Emperor Shijō were the first to be enshrined in an Imperial mausoleum at Sennyū-ji.  It was called Tsukinowa no misasagi.
Go-Momozono is also enshrined in Tsukinowa no misasagi along with his immediate Imperial predecessors since Emperor Go-Mizunoo -- Meishō, Go-Kōmyō, Go-Sai, Reigen, Higashiyama, Nakamikado, Sakuramachi, Momozono and Go-Sakuramachi.
Nochi no Tsukinowa no Higashiyama no misasagi
Kokaku and Ninko are enshrined at Nochi no Tsukinowa no misasagi (後月輪陵) and Komei is also enshrined in form of kofun at Nochi no Tsukinowa no Higashiyama no misasagi (後月輪東山陵).


Precise dating of the church is based on the inscription found on the northern wall of the eastern aisle. The text is as follows:
+ Ἐνεκεν[ίσ]θ(η), ἐνεώσ[θ(η)] ὁ να[ὸς] τ(ῆς)
ὑπεραγίας θ(εοτόκ)ου ἐπὴ βασηλ[είας
Νηκηφώρου, Βασηλ[είου] καὶ [Κωνσταντίνου
κὲ Δα(υὶ)δ ἐξουσηωκράτορ(ος) [Ἀλανίας
κ(αὶ) Μαρίας ἐξουσ[η]ωκράτ[ορίσσης
μ]ην(ὴ) Ἀπρη(λίου) β´, ἡμέρᾳ ἁγ[ή]ου Α[ντιπάσχα (?)
δηὰ χηρὸς Θεοδώρου, μητ[ροπο-
λ(ίτου) καθηγη(ασμένου) Ἀλανί(ας), ἀπ[ὸ] κ[τί-
σε(ως) κό(σμου) ἔτ(ους) ςυογ´. Ἀν[ε-
γράφε[το] δηὰ χειρὸς [τοῦ δεῖνος
ἀποκρησ(ιαρίου) πατρ(ικίου).

Which means:
+Sanctified, renewed the church
of the Blessed Virgin is in the reign of
Nikephoro, Basil and Constantine
and David, exusiocrator (a special title for ruler of Alania, byzantine exarch) of Alania
and Maria, exusiocratoriss
on 2 April, in the day of the saint Antipascha,
by the hand of Theodorе,
sanctified mitropolite of Alania
in the year 6473 from the creation of the world.
Written by the hand of [name],
apocrisiarius patricius
Like the Shoana Church and the Arkhyz Cathedral, Senty Church is believed to have been constructed in connection with missionary activities of Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos in the 10th century.
In the second half oh the 19th century an orthodox Spassko-Preobrazhenskiy convent was built near the Senty church. The church was much altered at the urging of the nuns, its original form was changed.
In the soviet times the convent was turned into an orphan house. At the present time it is being rebuilt.
Near the church lie the ruins of a mausoleum which is also dates back to the 10th century. Supposedly it was intended to be used as a burial place for higher church officials. This building is unique for the northern Caucasus.


The Seokchon Lake Music Concert is held at East Side Central Waterfront Stage every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from mid-April to November. There are performances of various genres such as singing, dancing, pop, musical instrument.


From 2010 to 2013, the average water level of Seokchon lake was lowered from 4.63 meters to 4.17 meters. About 4 million tons of water was leaked from Seokchon Lake. Also, several large underground voids and sinkholes were observed near the lake and caused controversy about safety problems. According to an investigation by the City of Seoul, it was caused by massive underground operation from the construction of Lotte World Tower and Seoul Subway Line 9. In 2013, the City of Seoul started supplying water to maintain the lake's water level. As of 2015, the lake had an average water level of 4.8 meters.


As of 1 June 2011, the Plaza along with Gwanghwamun Plaza are designated as smoke-free zones by the Seoul Metropolitan Government. Smokers are fined ₩100,000 in violation.
Every winter since 2004, the Plaza has hosted an open air ice-rink from mid-December to February the following year, following which are replaced with green lawn and the fountain operational again.


The museum is situated in a traditional Caucasian-style building and consists of two floors. Comprising some 1,400 exhibits, the museum's collection includes installations, collages, assemblages, drawings, dolls and hats. The museum also showcases unpublished screenplays, librettos and various artworks which Parajanov created while in prison. Among the other exponates of museum are two re-created memorial rooms, original posters, festival prizes, signed letters by Federico Fellini, Lilya Brik, Andrey Tarkovsky, Mikhail Vartanov, and Yuri Nikulin, gifts by famous visitors Tonino Guerra, Vladimir Putin and Roman Balayan, who is the author of "A Night at Paradganov's Museum" film. The museum uses art and exposition principles of Parajanov himself.
The museum has organized about 50 exhibitions, including those at Cannes, Athens, Tokyo, Moscow, Rome, Tehran, and Hollywood.
According to "Rediscovering Armenia" guide, "the best museum in Yerevan is small and idiosyncratic, the would-be final home of famed Soviet filmmaker Sergei Parajanov".


In previous years, the civilization responsible for the creation of the Serpent Mound had been highly disputed amongst archaeologists, as can be seen in the material published in 2002. Its construction was often attributed to different civilizations. Very little additional evidence, such as artifacts and burials, can be found at the site of the mound, leaving it hard for archaeologists to trace its construction back to one civilization. Archaeologists generally acknowledged that the Adena culture (800 BC to 100 AD) and the Fort Ancient Culture (1000 to 1750 AD) as the main contributors to the mound's creation. They argued that the Adena culture completed a majority of their contribution to the mound around 320 BC, while the Fort Ancient Culture contributed some work around 1070 AD.
The mound's lack of physical artifacts has led archaeologists to rely on radiocarbon dating to determine when the mound was created. An article published in July 2014, titled "New Radiocarbon Dates Suggest Serpent Mound is More Than 2,000 Years Old", provides evidence supporting the mound's creation by the Adena culture around 300 BC (2300 years ago). The article references the radiocarbon data that was published in October 2014 by "The Journal of Archaeological Science". Furthermore, these scholars argued that it was renovated around 1400 AD by Fort Ancient Culture.
In 2019, additional research was published in "The Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology" by Monaghan and Hermann. These scholars corroborate the 2014 research, and refine the radiocarbon dates. Monaghan and Hermann determined that the mound was built around 2,100–2,300 years ago (300-100 BC) during the Adena period, but was subsequently rebuilt (or repaired) about 900 years ago (1100 AD) during the Fort Ancient period.
Nevertheless, archaeologist Bradley Lepper recently expressed some doubt about the connection with the Adena culture.
The Serpent Mound at Rice Lake in Peterborough County, Ontario, Canada, dating over 2000 years old, has been linked with the Adena culture.


During excavation of The Serpent Mound archaeologists uncovered pipes, points, and earspool from the Hopewell culture as well as Gorgets and points from the Adena culture.
After raising sufficient funds, Putnam returned to the same site in 1886. He worked for four years to excavate the burial sequence contents of both The Serpent Mound and two nearby conical mounds. After completing his excavation and publishing his work, Putnam worked on restoring the mounds to their original state.
One of the conical mounds that was excavated by Putnam in 1890 yielded several artifacts of a principal burial hosted by during the period of the Adena people. Along with these findings, Putnam found and excavated nine intrusive burials in the mound through his discovery of an ash bed containing many prehistoric artifacts, north of the conical mound. After the excavation, the conical mound was reconstructed and currently stands just south of the parking lot at The Serpent Mound State Memorial.
In 2011, archaeologists took the opportunity to excavate the property prior to installation of utility lines at The Serpent Mound State Memorial. The excavations focused on three sides of the conical mound which had previously been excavated by Putnam in 1890. In addition to these concentrations of artifacts, an ashy soil horizon was excavated north of the conical mound, where archaeologists were able to uncover many prehistoric artifacts. It is believed that the ashy deposit of charcoal is the remainder of a Fort Ancient Culture ash bed. The wood charcoal from within the remnant bed was carbon dated back to the time of the Fort Ancient Culture, between the years of 1041 A.D. and 1211 A.D. Given the results found through carbon dating, burials in the conical mound dated to the Early Woodland and Fort Ancient periods, suggestive of ritual reuse of the circum mound area and ash bed.


Serra Geral National Park is in the Atlantic Forest biome. It covers 17,302 hectares (42,750 acres). The park was created by decree 531 of 21 May 1992, and is administered by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation. The park covers parts of the municipalities of Cambará do Sul in Rio Grande do Sul and of Jacinto Machado and Praia Grande in Santa Catarina. It is made up of two separate sections adjacent to Aparados da Serra National Park.


The Serra Mariola Natural Park ([ˈsɛra ðe maɾiˈɔla], Spanish: Parque Natural de la Sierra de Mariola) is a mountain range in the Valencian Community, Spain, one of the most peripheral offsprings of the Baetic System. Most of its territory is included in a natural park founded in 2002, covering an area of 17,257 ha. The park is surrounded by the towns of Cocentaina and Bocairent and the cities of Ontinyent and Alcoy.
It has a rectangular shape and altitudes higher than 1,000 metres, the highest peak being the Montcabrer, at 1,389 metres high. To the north the Benicadell Mountain Range has a peak bearing the same name and is 1,104 metres high. The Serra is predominantly composed of limestone. The climate is largely Mediterranean.
Covering these mountain ranges are some 200 or more different aromatic and medicinal plants with hundreds of different trees, which include a variety of yew unique to this area.


WikiWeb_Serra da Mocidade National Park_0

Serra da Mocidade National Park (Portuguese: Parque Nacional Serra da Mocidade) is a national park in the states of Amazonas and Roraima, Brazil.


The Serra da Tiririca State Park is divided between the municipalities of Niterói and Maricá, Rio de Janeiro.
It has an area of 3,493 hectares (8,630 acres).
This includes a marine park that extends 1,700 metres (5,600 ft) offshore between Pontas do Alto Mourão and Costão de Itacoatiara.
It has rugged terrain with slopes above 50° in some places. The average altitude is around 286 metres (938 ft).
The park includes eight hills, namely Morro do Elefante: 412 metres (1,352 ft), Alto Mourão: 369 metres (1,211 ft), Costão de Itacoatiara: 217 metres (712 ft), Morro do Telégrafo: 357 metres (1,171 ft), Morro do Catumbi: 325 metres (1,066 ft), Morro da Penha: 128 metres (420 ft) and Morro da Serrinha: 277 metres (909 ft).


Cadí-Moixeró Natural Park was created in July 1983 to protect the Serra del Cadí, as well as the adjacent Serra de Moixeró, Pedraforca mountain, and part of the Tosa d'Alp and Puigllançada.


The Serra do Cabral State Park is divided between the municipalities of Buenópolis and Joaquim Felício in  Minas Gerais.
It has an area of 22,494 hectares (55,580 acres).
The park is in the north-central region of the state in the Serra do Cabral range, part of the Espinhaço Mountains.
Altitudes vary from 900 to 1,300 metres (3,000 to 4,300 ft).
The park is on the watershed between the das Velhas and Jequitaí rivers, both right tributaries of the São Francisco River.
There are many waterfalls and natural pools.
Springs in the park supply water to the urban areas of Buenópolis and Joaquim Felício.
Vegetation includes forest and cerrado, including evergreens and sweet palmetto (Euterpe edulis).
Fauna include the threatened South American tapir (Tapirus terrestris).
The park holds many prehistoric archaeological sites.
There are cave paintings representing animals in several places.


The Serra do Rola-Moça State Park is in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte, divided between the municipalities of Belo Horizonte, Nova Lima, Ibirité and Brumadinho.
It has an area of 3,941.09 hectares (9,738.6 acres).
It contains six important springs that supply water to the city, and this area is closed to the public.


The park is readily accessible to residents of the nearby urban areas, and supports eco-tourism and environmental education as well as scientific research.
The Praia dos Naufragados beach on the tip of Santa Catarina Island has become a tourism and recreation site.
It can be reached by boat or by hiking along a trail through the secondary-growth forest.
The hike from the end of the bus line takes about two hours each way along a path through subtropical rainforest thick with vines.
The headquarters and visitor centre are in Palhoça and there are two thematic centres in the municipal seats of Imarui and São Bonifácio.
The headquarters is on the BR-101 coastal highway, 40 kilometres (25 mi) south of Florianópolis, and was opened on 6 June 1978.
The visitor's centre includes a conference room and a gazebo from which the tops of the trees can be viewed.
There is a 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) ecological trail where visitors are given guided tours.
There is a program to restore the animals that once lived in the Baixada do Massiambu but have since vanished.
Animals such as tapirs and capybaras that have been taken from hunters are held in semi-captivity in preparation for release.


The first requests for a light came in 1848, with initial appropriations in 1851. Delays in planning and bidding pushed the start of construction to 1854. The house consisted of a cylindrical structure of wrought iron plates, with the ninth pile in the center. Total construction costs came to $43,000 by its completion the following year. Most parts were fabricated in Baltimore at the Murray and Hazelhurst iron foundry. The parts were then shipped to Seven Foot Knoll by boat where they were assembled atop of the screw piles.  Ice, the perennial threat to screw-pile structures, caused damage in 1884 and 1894, leading to the piling of 790 cubic yards (600 m³) of riprap around the piles.
The light was automated in 1949, and fell into disrepair, eventually being supplanted by a skeleton tower. In 1988, the lighthouse was removed from Seven Foot Knoll, carried by a 1000 Ton Capacity Shearleg derrick, and placed ashore in Baltimore's Inner Harbor where it was donated to the city. On August 22, 1989 the lighthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Aided by the Lady Maryland Foundation (now the Living Classrooms Foundation), many members of the Steinhice family descendants worked to restore the structure prior to its re-opening.
The lighthouse is a contributing element in the Baltimore National Heritage Area and part of the Historic American Engineering Record.


The Seven Mile Bridge is a bridge in the Florida Keys, in Monroe County, Florida, United States.  It connects Knight's Key (part of the city of Marathon, Florida) in the Middle Keys to Little Duck Key in the Lower Keys. Among the longest bridges in existence when it was built, it is part of the Overseas Highway in the Keys, which is part of the 2,369-mile (3,813 km) U.S. Route 1.
There are two bridges in this location. The modern bridge is open to vehicular traffic; the older one only to pedestrians and cyclists. The older bridge, originally known as the Knights Key-Pigeon Key-Moser Channel-Pacet Channel Bridge, was constructed from 1909 to 1912 under the direction of Henry Flagler and Clarence S. Coe as part of the Florida East Coast Railway's Key West Extension, also known as the Overseas Railroad.


The bridge has been featured in films and television series, such as Licence to Kill, True Lies, 2 Fast 2 Furious, and Burn Notice.


The Seven Rila Lakes (Bulgarian: Седемте рилски езера, romanized: Sedemte rilski ezera, [sɛdɛmˈtɛ ˈriɫski ɛzɛˈra]) are a group of glacial lakes, situated in the northwestern Rila Mountain in Bulgaria. They are the most visited group of lakes in Bulgaria. The lakes are situated between 2,100 and 2,500 metres elevation above sea level.
Each lake carries a name associated with its most characteristic feature. The highest one is called Salzata ("The Tear") due to its clear waters that allow visibility in depth. The next one in height carries the name Okoto ("The Eye") after its almost perfectly oval form. Okoto is the deepest cirque lake in Bulgaria, with a depth of 37.5 m. Babreka ("The Kidney") is the lake with the steepest shores of the entire group. Bliznaka ("The Twin") is the largest one by area. Trilistnika ("The Trefoil") has an irregular shape and low shores. The shallowest lake is Ribnoto Ezero ("The Fish Lake") and the lowest one is Dolnoto Ezero ("The Lower Lake"), where the waters that flow out of the other lakes are gathered to form the Dzherman River.
The Seven Lakes are a tourist attraction in Bulgaria because of its natural environment. The lakes are located one above the other and are connected by small streams, which form tiny waterfalls and cascades. Tourist accommodation in the lakes' vicinity include a chalet on the northeastern shore of The Fish Lake, at an elevation of 2,196 m. The most common time to visit the lakes is summer, in July and August, when temperature is above 10 degrees Celsius and the risk of sudden storms is lower. During the rest of the year the weather can be severe. The lakes usually freeze during October, and do not melt before June. The ice cover can reach up to 2 meters.


The building was designed by architect Charles Clinton in the Gothic Revival style and dedicated in 1880.  The builder was R. L. Darragh and bricklayers were Van Dolson & Arnott. It is one of the two remaining armories in the United States to be built and furnished with private funds. It originally served as the headquarters and administrative building for the 7th New York Militia Regiment, known as the Silk Stocking Regiment due to the disproportionate number of its members who were part of the city's social elite.  The building is known for detailed interior rooms that are furnished with ornamental woodwork, marble and stained glass.
The main facade of the administration building faces Park Avenue between 66th & 67th Streets, with the large vaulted space for the drill hall in the center of the block. The administration building has provisions for a reception room, a library, veterans room and staff offices for ten regimental companies. Architects and interior designers of the American Aesthetic Movement were commissioned to furnish the rooms and company quarters. The library is known as the Silver Room or "Trophy Room" and was designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany who worked with architect Stanford White as a consultant on the project. The masterpiece of the armory building is the Veterans Room, also known as the Tiffany Room, with hand carved wood panelling and coffered ceiling in the Viking Revival style.  Other significant craftsmen with work in the building include Kimbel and Cabus, Alexander Roux, Francis Davis Millet, and the Herter Brothers.


The first proposal for a bridge across the Severn, approximately in the same location as that eventually constructed, was in 1824 by Thomas Telford, who had been asked to advise on how to improve mail coach services between London and Wales. No action was taken, and over the next few decades the railways became the dominant mode of long-distance travel, with the Severn Railway Bridge at Sharpness being opened in 1879 and the main line Severn Tunnel in 1886.
The growth of road traffic in the early 20th century led to further calls for improvements, and in the early 1920s Chepstow Urban District Council convened a meeting of neighbouring local authorities to consider a Severn crossing to ease congestion and delays on the A48 passing through the town. In 1935 Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire County Councils jointly promoted a Parliamentary Bill to obtain powers to build the bridge over the estuary, with 75% of costs to be met by the Ministry of Transport from the Road Fund. The bill was rejected by Parliament after opposition from the Great Western Railway Company.
After the Second World War, plans began to be made for a nationally funded network of trunk roads, including a Severn Bridge, for which the contract was awarded to Mott, Hay and Anderson, with Freeman Fox and Partners. The public inquiry into the scheme was held on 24 September 1946 at Bristol University. Because Government funding was prioritised for the similar Forth Road Bridge (opened in 1964), construction of the Severn Bridge was not started until 1961: the UK government announced in 1962 that construction costs would be recovered by a toll of 2s 6d (£0.125) on all vehicle crossings, though walking or cycling across the bridge would be charge-free. The substructure was completed by contractors John Howard and Co in 1963. The superstructure contract was awarded to Associated Bridge Builders Ltd (a joint venture of Sir William Arrol & Co., Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company and Dorman Long) in 1963, and completed in 1966.
The bridge has been featured in several promotions.
In January 1977, it was announced that bridge traffic would be restricted to a single lane in each direction following the discovery of several weaknesses in the ten-year-old structure. The lane closures would last for several months.
The Severn Bridge crossing was strengthened and resurfaced in the late 1980s as the weight of traffic grew. The work included the strengthening of the Severn Bridge towers and deck, an extension to the Wye Bridge towers and the replacement of the original single stays with two stays. The open structure of the new stays is designed to facilitate maintenance. Most of the strengthening work was inside the deck box and towers and so is not visible. Design of the strengthening was by Flint & Neill. The surfacing is a 35 mm (1+3⁄8 in) thick layer of mastic asphalt over an acrylic waterproofing membrane.
During its 40th year of operation in 2006, the bridge was inspected to check for corrosion of the suspension cables. According to the Highways Agency, the inspection concluded that the bridge needed restrictions on heavy goods vehicles. Such vehicles are now restricted to one lane on the bridge, with weight restriction signs in place. A system of rubber casing on the cables with dry air circulation, as used on the Forth Road Bridge, was installed in 2007–2009 in a move to halt the progress of the corrosion.
The bridge is also home to Severn Bridge parkrun, one of the many free, weekly 5k runs held in both the UK and internationally.
In October 2021, the Welsh Government announced it is considering reclassifying the M48 into an A-road. This is due to lower amounts of traffic on the bridge and M48, following the opening of the Prince of Wales bridge, and the high costs to improve the M48 to motorway standards for the decreased amounts of traffic it handles. Reclassification requires approval from both the Welsh Government and Secretary of State for Wales, with the Department for Transport stating they have no plans to reclassify the M48 in England.


The Severn Estuary (Welsh: Aber Hafren) is the estuary of the River Severn, flowing into the Bristol Channel between South West England and South Wales. Its high tidal range, approximately 50 feet (15 m), means that it has been at the centre of discussions in the UK regarding renewable energy.


Definitions of the limits of the Severn Estuary vary. At the upstream boundary, the tidal limit of the river is at Gloucester. Downstream, the International Hydrographic Organization places the boundary between the estuary and the open sea of the Bristol Channel at a line between Sand Point, Somerset (immediately north of Weston-super-Mare) and Lavernock Point (immediately south of Penarth in south Wales). This definition is used by the Severn Estuary Partnership and Visit England.
A narrower definition adopted for navigation purposes by some maps includes only the area downstream of the Second Severn Crossing near Severn Beach, South Gloucestershire. The definition used on Admiralty Chart SC1179 and the Bristol Channel and Severn Cruising Guide is that the estuary extends upstream to Aust, the site of the Severn Bridge.
On the north-west (Welsh) side, the rivers Wye and Usk flow into the estuary, and on the south-east (English) side, the River Avon joins at Avonmouth.  West of the Wye, the estuary forms the boundary between Wales and England. On the northern side of the estuary are the Caldicot and Wentloog Levels which are on either side of the city of Newport; and, to the west, the city of Cardiff together with the resort of Penarth. On the southern, English, side, are Avonmouth, Portishead, Clevedon, and Weston-super-Mare. Denny Island is a small rocky island of 0.24 hectares (0.6 acres), with scrub vegetation, approximately three miles north of Portishead. Its rocky southern foreshore marks the boundary between England and Wales, but the island itself is reckoned administratively to Monmouthshire, Wales.
The estuary is about 2 miles (3.2 km) wide at Aust, and about 9 miles (14 km) wide between Cardiff and Weston-super-Mare. It has one of the highest tidal ranges in the world — about 50 feet (15 m). This funnel shape, large tidal range, and the underlying geology of rock, gravel and sand, produce strong tidal streams and high turbidity, giving the water a notably brown coloration. During the highest tides, rising water is funnelled up the estuary into the Severn bore, a self-reinforcing solitary wave that travels rapidly upstream against the river current.
West of the line between Lavernock Point and Sand Point is the Bristol Channel, which in turn discharges into the Celtic Sea and the wider Atlantic Ocean. The islands of Steep Holm and Flat Holm are located close to that line, in the middle of the estuary. The Ordnance Survey refers on its published mapping to a section of the estuary seaward of the two estuarine motorway crossings as the Mouth of the Severn.


The tidal range results in the estuary having one of the most extensive intertidal wildlife habitats in the UK, comprising mudflats, sandflats, rocky platforms and islands. These form a basis for plant and animal communities typical of extreme physical conditions of liquid mud and tide-swept sand and rock.  The estuary is recognised as a wetland area of international importance and is designated as a Ramsar site. The estuary is recognised as a Special Protection Area (SPA) under the EC Directive on the conservation of Wild Birds. The estuary is recognised as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) under the EU Habitats Directive.
Parts of the estuary have also been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest.  The SSSI includes most of the foreshore upstream from Cardiff and Brean Down and most of the upper estuary as far as Sharpness.  The Upper Severn Estuary SSSI covers the tidal river between Purton and Frampton on Severn.
The Severn Estuary SSSI original designation involves the then counties of Somerset, Avon and Gloucestershire in England, and Gwent and South Glamorgan in Wales.  The Severn Estuary SSSI designation overlaps individual site designations for separate sites in Avon (Spring Cove Cliffs, Middle Hope, Portishead Pier to Black Nore, Aust Cliff), Gloucestershire (Purton Passage) and South Glamorgan (Penarth Coast). The 1976 designation includes two sites previously notified in 1952 (Brean Down and Uphill Cliff). The SSSI forms the major part of a larger area which includes the Taff/Ely Estuary and Bridgwater Bay (as well as the Upper Severn Estuary)
The Upper Severn Estuary SSSI designation involves the English county of Gloucestershire. The site (Severn Estuary and Upper Severn Estuary) is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).
Both SSSI citations provide detail of the geological and biological interest and of particular note is the international importance for wintering and wading birds of passage, and of estuarine habits of outstanding ornithological significance. It is stated that the estuary supports over 10% of the British wintering population and is the single most important wintering ground for dunlin, and for significant numbers of Bewick's swans, European white-fronted geese and wigeon. Nationally important wintering populations are supported such as gadwall, shoveller and pochard.
There are notably seven species of migratory fish which pass through the estuary in both directions.  These include significant numbers of Atlantic salmon and common eel.   At Black Rock, Portskewett,  a traditional method of fishing for salmon with lave nets is practised. The fishermen promote the fishery as a tourist attraction.  In 2021, they reduced their activities in response to pressure from Natural Resources Wales to reduce their catch.


Although buried deep beneath the volcanic debris around Mount Merapi, the temple ruins were not completely forgotten by the local Javanese inhabitants. However, the origins of the temple were a mystery. Over the centuries, tales and legends infused with myths of giants and a cursed princess were recounted by villagers. Prambanan and Sewu were purport to be of supernatural origin, and in the legend of Loro Jonggrang they were said to have been created by a multitude of demons under the order of Bandung Bondowoso. Such tales are most likely the reason the temples were preserved through the centuries prior to the Java War (1825–1830). The local villagers dared not remove any of the temple stones, believing the ruins to be haunted by supernatural beings.
In 1733, Pakubuwono II granted the Dutch merchant Cornelius Antonie Lons permission to make a sightseeing tour through the heartland of Mataram. Lons' report of this trip contains the first known extant description of the Sewu and Prambanan temples. In the years 1806–07, the Dutch archaeologist Hermann Cornelius unearthed the Sewu temples and created the first lithographs of Candi Sewu's main temple and the Perwara temple. After Britain's short-lived rule of the Dutch East Indies, Thomas Stamford Raffles included Cornelius' image of Candi Sewu in his 1817 book The History of Java. In 1825, the Belgian architect Auguste Payen created a series of Candi Sewu images.
During the Java War (1825–1830) some of the temple  stones were carted away and used in fortifications. In the years that followed the temples suffered from looting. Many of the Buddha statues were decapitated and the heads stolen. Some Dutch colonists stole sculptures and used them as garden ornaments, and native villagers used the foundation stones as construction material. Some of the temple's best preserved bas-reliefs, Buddha's head, and some ornaments were carried away from the site and ended up in museums and private collections abroad.
In 1867, Isidore van Kinsbergen photographed the ruins of Candi Sewu after an earthquake had caused the dome in main temple to collapse. In 1885 Jan Willem IJzerman, revising some plans of the temple complex made earlier by Cornelius, made notes regarding the temple's condition. He noted that several Buddha heads were missing. By 1978 none of the Buddha heads had survived, all of them having been looted from the site completely.
In 1901 a new set of photographs was taken, sponsored by Leydie Melville. In 1908 Theodoor van Erp initiated the clearing and reconstruction of the main temple, and in 1915 H. Maclaine Pont drew the reconstruction of a temples of the second row. It was de Haan who reconstructed the Perwara temples with the aid of Van Kinsbergen's photographs. Subsequently, the temple became a subject of study among archaeologists such as Willem Frederik Stutterheim and Nicolaas Johannes Krom in 1923. In 1950 Johannes Gijsbertus de Casparis also studied the temple. Most of the archaeologists concurred that the temple was built in the first half of ninth century. However, in 1960 an inscription discovered in Perwara temple number 202 dated the year 792, meaning that the temple was constructed a few years earlier, in the late eighth century. Later in 1981, Jacques Dumarçay conducted a thorough research of the temple.


The Shab Bhar Mosque (Urdu: شب بهر مسجد; meaning "Overnight mosque") is a colonial era mosque in the Shah Alami neighbourhood of Lahore, Pakistan. The mosque is said to have been built overnight, following a dispute between local Hindus and Muslims in 1917.


The theatre was designed for the Melville Brothers by Bertie Crewe and opened on 26 December 1911 with a production of The Three Musketeers. It was originally named the New Prince's Theatre, becoming the Prince's Theatre in 1914. The original capacity of the auditorium is unknown, but with standing room in the Stalls it is possible that over 3000 people were able to attend performances. The current capacity is between 1300 and 1400.
The Prince's was the last theatre to be built in Shaftesbury Avenue, and is located on the junction between Shaftesbury Avenue and High Holborn.
During the First World War, the Prince's advertised itself as ‘The Laughter House where you can forget the War.’
In September 1919, the theatre had considerable success with a season of Gilbert and Sullivan operas, presented by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. The success of these revivals led to a number of similar seasons over the next few decades, with the Theatre selling out every time. Other productions during this time included The Return of Sherlock Holmes starring Eille Norwood and a season of classical plays, including Medea and Macbeth, starring Sybil Thorndike. In 1928, Fred and Adele Astaire starred in Funny Face with Leslie Henson. The musical was a great success, but was cut short by a gas explosion on High Holborn outside the theatre.
Despite heavy bombing in the West End, and several periods of forced closure, the Prince's was able to continue a programme of shows during the Second World War. Many of these were presented by and named for Firth Shepherd, such as Shepherd’s Pie. Shepherd’s Pie was a comedic and musical revue of the kind that was popular in London theatres during the war, and was heralded as one of the most successful of its kind.
In 1948, Jack Hylton presented Burlesque starring Marjorie Reynolds at the Prince's. Hylton was also the producer for Buoyant Billions (1949), a play written by George Bernard Shaw when he was 93. In 1953, Hylton and Sam Wanamaker presented The Shrike by Joseph Kramm, and in 1955 Pat Kirkwood appeared at the theatre in Wonderful Town.
After a period of years presenting plays and musicals at the Prince's, Hylton was reported to have bought the theatre in 1961, but this was later corrected in the press. Hylton had been the lessee of the theatre in June 1961 and had negotiated the sale of the building to Television Wales and West. Two months later, TWW sold it on to Charles Clore and EMI, which changed the name of the theatre in 1962.
The programme in the 1960s under the ownership of EMI included a number of long- running musicals, such as the Broadway transfer How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1963) and Our Man Crichton (1964), based on a book by JM Barrie. The theatre experienced a much less successful run with Lionel Bart’s Twang!! – a musical based on the story of Robin Hood which was plagued with creative and financial issues. Twang!! starred Ronnie Corbett and Barbara Windsor, and ran at the Shaftesbury for only a few weeks between December 1965 and January 1966. It was one of the most expensive flops that had ever been produced.
From 1968 to 1973 the Shaftesbury was host to the controversial musical Hair. The opening of the show coincided deliberately with the removal of the Lord Chamberlains powers of censorship over theatre in England, which allowed for the nude scene. While Hair was still running, the theatre was sold to a property development company called Peureula Investments. On 20 July 1973 the production was forced to close because a small section of the ceiling collapsed in the auditorium. There were allegedly plans to redevelop the theatre and the surrounding areas, and a campaign to save the theatre began. This included an occupation of the site. The Save London Theatres Campaign, led by actor Marius Goring, eventually succeeded in securing protected status for the Shaftesbury. In 1976, the Theatres Trust was formed by an Act of Parliament to promote the protection of theatres.
The theatre reopened with West Side Story in December 1974. Other productions in the decade included a musical stage version of Dad’s Army, starring Arthur Lowe, John Le Mesurier and Clive Dunn, and Dracula starring Terence Stamp, with scenic designs by Edward Gorey.
They’re Playing Our Song (1980–1982) starring Tom Conti and Gemma Craven was produced by actor and writer Ray Cooney. After a nine-month period of closure, Cooney presented Run For Your Wife with Richard Briers, Bernard Cribbins and Bill Pertwee. This was the first play under the banner of the Theatre of Comedy. The Theatre of Comedy became the lessee of the Shaftesbury, and later purchased the building. The company was jointly founded and financially backed by a group of distinguished actors, playwrights and producers including Tom Conti, Ray Cooney, Tom Courtenay, Bernard Cribbins, Judi Dench, Liza Goddard, Sheila Hancock, Nigel Hawthorne, Maureen Lipman, Derek Nimmo, Geoffrey Palmer, Donald Sinden, Eric Sykes and Michael Williams. The intention was for the Shaftesbury to have a programme of British comedy showcasing existing and new talent.
Notable runs in the 1980s included Pygmalion (1984) with Peter O'Toole, Two into One (1984–1986), a revue by Rowan Atkinson (1986), The Entertainer starring Peter Bowles (1986) and Stephen Sondheim’s Follies (1987–1989). From April 1989 there was a production of M. Butterfly starring Anthony Hopkins.
In 1986 Don Taffner became a significant shareholder in the Theatre of Comedy. Taffner went on to become the majority shareholder and chairman in 1992. Shows in the 1990s included Kiss of the Spiderwoman (1992-1993) with Chita Rivera, Eddie Izzard in Definite Article and Tommy, the musical by Pete Townshend and Des McAnuff (1996 -1997). From May 1998 the Shaftesbury was host to Rent, starring original Broadway cast members Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal.


Shaho (Kurdish: شاھۆ ,Şaho) is a mountain of the central Zagros Mountains range. It is located between cities of Kamyaran, Sarvabad, Marivan, Nowdeshah, Nowsud, Paveh, Javanrud, Ravansar in the district of Kurdistan and Kermanshah provinces, western Iran. The highest peak of this mountain is called Havi Khani, located at the height of 3400 meters. Some of the other highest peaks are Zavoli 3205 meters, Pir Kheder 3090 meters, Nour 3110 meters highest from the sea level. The Shaho mountain is close to the Sirvan River.
This area contains notable villages such as  Hajij, Shamshir, Palangan and Hawraman Takht.
'Shaho' is a rather popular male name in the Kurdish speaking cities of Iran.
Bears, foxes, jackals, wolves, pigs, rabbits, antelope and Partridges are usual animals of this mount.


The Munqidhites controlled territory east of Shaizar, across the al-Ansariyah mountains to the Mediterranean coast, from the coastal cities of Latakia in the north to Tortosa in the south.
During the First Crusade, the emir assisted the Crusaders passing through his land, giving them horses and food and other provisions. After the crusade it was bordered by the crusader Principality of Antioch and was subject to raids from both Antioch and the County of Tripoli.
When the Crusaders briefly conquered Qalaat al-Madiq, a fortress to the northwest of Shaizar and overlooking ancient Apamea, in 1106, the Banu Munqidh clan harassed them from their base in Shaizar.
In 1106, the Munqidhite emirs Murshid and Sultan defeated William-Jordan of Tripoli, and in 1108 and 1110 they had to bribe Tancred to leave. Tancred, Baldwin I of Jerusalem, and Bertrand of Tripoli besieged the city during the battle of Shaizar of 1111 for two weeks, but returned home when the army of Mawdud of Mosul cut off their access to food and water. Tancred nevertheless built a castle nearby on Tell ibn Ma'shar, in order to keep Shaizar under close watch.
When Ridwan of Aleppo died in 1113, Shaizar was inundated by many of his Assassin supporters that were expelled from the city by his son Alp Arslan al-Akras. Shaizar participated in Ilghazi's campaign against Antioch in 1119. When Baldwin II of Jerusalem was taken captive by the Artuqid Belek Ghazi outside Edessa in 1123, he was held at Shaizar until his release the next year.  As part of his ransom he was forced to give up his daughter Ioveta as a hostage, who was also held at Shaizar until her own ransom in 1125. As Shaizar was a friendly state, Baldwin was allowed to visit his daughter there, but Shaizar was also friendly to its Muslim neighbours, and in 1125 was incorporated into the territory of Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi, atabeg of Mosul. When Zengi succeeded-Bursuqi's son in Mosul in 1127 and claimed Aleppo as well, Shaizar recognized his suzerainty.
In 1137, Byzantine emperor John II Comnenus arrived to impose Byzantine authority on Antioch, and promised Raymond of Antioch a principality consisting of Shaizar, Aleppo, Homs, and Hama if Antioch was returned to the Empire. In April 1138, the Byzantine army led the siege of Shaizar, but Raymond and Joscelin II of Edessa did not assist the emperor.  Zengi soon arrived to relieve the fortress in May. The emir preferred Byzantine control to Zengid, and offered to recognize John as his overlord. Neither John or Zengi ever really enforced their authority there and Shaizar remained independent.
The emirate lasted until the enormous earthquake of 1157, during which the citadel collapsed, killing almost the entire family, who had assembled there to celebrate a circumcision. The only survivors out of the whole family were the wife of emir, and the emir's nephew Usama ibn Munqidh, the famed poet-knight who was on a diplomatic mission to Damascus.


Other 18th-century so-called "sham castles" exist at Hagley Hall, Clent Grove, Castle Hill, Filleigh and two at Croome Court (Dunstall and Pirton castles).
Ralph Allen's nearby Prior Park Landscape Garden is home to the Sham Bridge. This structure is likewise a screen at the end of the Serpentine Lake which appears to be a bridge. Much like the Sham Castle, it dates from the mid-18th century.
Another nearby folly castle is that of Midford Castle. Sham Castle is one of three follies overlooking Bath, the others being Beckford's Tower and Browne's Folly.


Shamlaji temple is located on the banks of the Meshvo river in the valley surrounded by well wooded hills. It is also referred to as Dholi Dhajawala due to white silk flag fluttering on top of the temple.
Built of white sandstone and brick it is surrounded by a wall with a gateway. It is of two stories, supported on pillars, and a canopy with arches on each side. The lower courses of richly carved stone are of great age. Above them runs a frieze with an unintelligible pattern, and, above this, running right round the building, a fringe of elephants' heads and forequarters carved in stone. Above this is a very ranch worn frieze full of figures in bass-relief, men on horseback with bows, and animals. The elephant is a very frequent emblem. Besides the fringe frieze above mentioned, there are, on the outer wall, between every two angles, larger figures of semi-rampant elephants standing out in relief, and, in front of the entrance, stands on either side of the doorway a gigantic cement elephant. Above the shrine, a pyramid-based tower rises into a spire like a high-shouldered cone with flattened sides. The forepart of the roof consists of a number of small domes springing from a flat roof, or rather of a flat trabeate roof, with domes here and there, the largest being in the centre. Outside at all the angles of the roof are figures of animals and the gargoyles. On walls, there are some scenes from the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana.
Of the two inscriptions, one is to the left in the upper story and bears date 94 AD and 102 AD. This writing, cut in stone, is not very archaic and could not be of the date it professes to record. It may be a transcript of an older inscription or the record of an old tradition. The other, on copper at the entrance of the temple, records repairs executed in 1762 AD by the then Thakor of Tintoi. From these two inscriptions, name of the deity seems to be Gadadharji, the holder of the club, a well known title of Vishnu, Krishna, or Shamlaji. The cow idols are also worshiped depictiong childhood of Krishna as cowherd. It is one of the 154 important pilgrimage sites of Vaishnavism.
The temple was claimed by Jains in the past. Years ago the Idar State rulers gave the fiefdom of Shamlaji temple to the Modhari Rao Saheb with other villages like Revdar, Devdar, Napada, Khalsa, Sunsar, Modhari, etc. The Rao of Modhari still holds trusteeship of Shamlaji Temple.


Under the impetus of the Rev. James L. Hughes, the Toronto-based York Pioneer and Historical Society raised funds to purchase the temple and its grounds in 1917 and opened the temple as a museum in 1918. Shortly afterwards, the York Pioneers moved David Willson's study to the site. This is significant as one of the earliest examples of historic preservation in Canada, one of the reasons for which the temple received its National Historic Designation in 1993. The York Pioneers collected artifacts from throughout York County and created a county museum and park, which they displayed in the temple. A baseball diamond, recreation area and refreshment stand were added on the surrounding grounds. In the 1950s, the site's focus began to change, emphasizing the story of the Children of Peace. The York Pioneers restored and moved the 1819 home of Ebenezer Doan, master builder of the temple, and a log house associated with Jesse Doan, bandmaster of the Children of Peace, to the site. These acquisitions were followed in 1967, Canada's centennial year, by the construction of an exhibit building. The baseball diamond and other remnants of the park's early days were removed. Lastly, they moved the Cookhouse, and the Gatehouse, to the temple grounds.


In the Shatsk Lakes territory, 1180 species of plants belonging to 124 families are found. Among them there are 795 species of higher vascular plants and 112 bryophytes. 332 vertebrate species have been noted in the park: 55 mammals, 241 birds, 7 amphibians, and 29 fish (11 families).
Pine and blueberry forests dominate the territory of the park. Alder and birch forests grow in the lowlands. Fauna is represented by typical woodlands species: elk, wild boar, roe deer, rabbits, squirrels. Otter, badger, polecat, marten are rarer. In the waters of the park are about 30 species of fish: Common roach, Common bream, Northern pike, carp, two catfish species (the introduced Channel catfish and the native Wels catfish), European eel and others.
Three major faunal types are represented within Shatsk National Park: forest, wetland and synanthropic. In proportion, the first and second types dominate.
The composition of the forest complex includes a third of the mammals and more than a half of the entire fauna in the park. Most characteristic representatives of a forestry complex are:


Following a major restoration Shaw House opened to the public in 2008. It is also a conference venue and home to West Berkshire's Registration Service for Births, Deaths and Ceremonies. Work began in 2005 after the mansion was awarded more than £4m from the Heritage Lottery Fund. English Heritage and Vodafone also contributed to the £6m project.
Visitors can now enjoy a programme of events and activities whilst wandering the house and spending time in the exhibitions and family corner. The House is open most weekends and some school holidays.


She Changes, known locally as anémona (the anemone), is a sculpture designed by artist Janet Echelman for the cities of Porto and Matosinhos, Northern Portugal. The installation consists of three steel poles, cables, a 20-ton steel ring and a net structure of varying densities and colors. The sculpture is Echelman's first permanent public art installation.


Sheep Meadow is a 15-acre (61,000 m²) meadow near the southwestern section of Central Park, between West 66th and 69th Streets in Manhattan, New York City. It is adjacent to Central Park Mall to the east, The Ramble and Lake to the north, West Drive to the west, and Heckscher Playground and Ballfields to the south.
Sheep Meadow was originally designed as a parade ground and incorporated into the Greensward Plan, the original plan for Central Park developed in the 1850s. However, Central Park's designers Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux opposed the use of the meadow for military purposes, so it was instead converted to a pasture with sheep. Housed in a nearby sheepfold that now contains the Tavern on the Green restaurant, the sheep were removed in 1934.
Sheep Meadow has a long history as a gathering place for large-scale demonstrations and political movements. These have included festivals, rallies, concerts, and protests such as the be-ins of the 1960s. Though sports and gatherings were gradually allowed through the late 19th century, Sheep Meadow saw significant deterioration because of overuse. A regulation prohibiting sports was enacted following a 1980 renovation, and the meadow was restored again in 2000.


The large events and the lack of maintenance of the 1960s and 1970s severely eroded the lawn, and it was one of the first parts of Central Park to be restored by the Central Park Conservancy. This led New York state government to give $310,000 toward replacing Sheep Meadow's sod in 1979. With the help of James Taylor, who held a free benefit concert that July, the city renovated the meadow and installed a sprinkler system beginning in September 1979. The renovation was supposed to be completed within six or seven months, but because of discrepancies during construction, the grass began turning brown before the renovation was complete, and the reopening date was delayed. Sheep Meadow was reopened in September 1980. Once the lawn was reopened, team sports were banned and had to use the Great Lawn instead. In 1985, Sheep Meadow and four city beaches were designated as "quiet zones" where loud radio-playing was prohibited.
In 1992, a consortium of cheese producers brought a flock of sheep to graze on the meadow as a promotional stunt. They also pledged to finance the meadow's maintenance through 1993.
In November 2000, the Central Park Conservancy began the installation of a new irrigation system. The project, funded from a grant by the Marc Haas Foundation, was completed in five months, and Sheep Meadow reopened in April 2001.


Sheep Meadow is on the western side of Central Park just north of the 65th Street transverse road. Adjacent features include The Dairy and Central Park Carousel to the southeast, Central Park Mall to the east, The Ramble and Lake to the north, Strawberry Fields memorial to the northwest, West Drive to the west, and Heckscher Playground and Ballfields to the south.


The Sheffield Botanical Gardens are botanical gardens situated off Ecclesall Road in Sheffield, England, with 5,000 species of plants in 19 acres (77,000 m²) of land.
The gardens were designed by Robert Marnock and first opened in 1836.  The most notable feature of the gardens are the Grade II* listed glass pavilions, restored and reopened in 2003. Other notable structures are the main gateway, the south entrance lodge and a bear pit containing an 8' tall steel statue of an American Black Bear called Robert the Bear. In the rose garden is a bronze sculpture "Pan: Spirit of the Wood", a gift in 1934 from Sir Charles Clifford, owner of the Sheffield Telegraph and Star, to the city. The sculptor is not known.
The Sheffield Botanical and Horticultural Society was formed in 1833 and by 1834 had obtained £7,500 in funding. The money was raised selling shares, permitting the purchase of 18 acres (73,000 m²) of south-facing farmland from the estate of local snuff manufacturer Joseph Wilson. 12,000 people visited the Gardens on their opening in the summer of 1836. Sheffield's Town Trust assumed the management of the gardens in the closing years of the 19th. century, when they repaid the shareholders the nominal value of their £5 shares. The Trust abolished the existing entry charge and since that time entry to the Botanical Gardens has remained free. Though the Town Trust are still the owners, Sheffield Corporation signed a 99-year lease on 18 December 1951, thereby taking over management.
The gardens hold the national collection of the genus Sarcococca, Weigela and the closely related Diervilla.


Performers at the City hall included the American singer/pianist Nat King Cole in April 1954 and the American singer/trumpeter, Louis Armstrong in March 1959. the Beatles performed in March/May 1963 and November 1964.
Other performers have included the progressive rock band, The Nice, in 1969, the singer/pianist/composer, Elton John, in December 1971, the rock band Bon Jovi in November 1986, the singer, Kylie Minogue, in November 1991 and the mezzo-soprano, Katherine Jenkins in January 2012.


Sheffield Winter Garden is a large temperate glasshouse located in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire. It is one of the largest temperate glasshouses to be built in the UK during the last hundred years, and the largest urban glasshouse anywhere in Europe. It is home to more than 2,000 plants from all around the world. It was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 22 May 2003.
Part of the £120 million Heart of the City regeneration project that has created the Peace Gardens and the £15 million Millennium Galleries, the Winter Garden was designed by Pringle Richards Sharratt Architects and Buro Happold and is some 70 metres (77 yd) long and 21 metres (23 yd) high.
The building has background frost protection to a minimum of 4 degrees Celsius and it is one of the largest Glued Laminated Timber or "Glulam" buildings in the UK (Glulam is made by forming and gluing strips of timber into specific shapes). The wood used is Larch, a durable timber which will, over time, turn a light silvery grey colour. The larch, derived from sustainable forests, requires no preservatives or coatings. This reduces the use of solvents and also avoids the use of chemicals that could harm the plants. It has an intelligent Building Management System which controls fans and vents to make sure the plants are cooled in summer and kept warm in winter. The system will "learn" year by year.
The bedding plants are changed five times a year, to give a seasonal change, and all the plants are watered by hose or by watering can, as it is the only way to ensure that all the plants get the correct amount of water.


The Winter Garden was funded by the Millennium Commission, Sheffield City Council and English Partnerships.


In addition to being the headquarters for the group, it also acts as the main offices of the following Shell businesses; refining and marketing, along with a number of functional support activities such as finance and human resources. The Shell Centre is also the head office of Shell's United Kingdom business (Shell UK Ltd.), which was formerly located in Shell Mex House.
In 2004, a planning application was approved to convert the lower floors of the Upstream Building courtyard and the former staff cafeteria into a shopping centre, and to construct a contrasting new glazed office building on the Podium Site to the south, which is currently a paved open space.  The sculptures would be relocated.
In 2009, staff working in the building were notified of a proposal to redevelop much of the site whilst leaving the tower intact. This would require relocating staff during 2011 for up to seven years whilst construction work took place, incorporating parts of the open spaces around the current building. No planning permission has yet been sought.
In July 2011, Shell announced that a joint venture of Canary Wharf Group and Qatari Diar had bought a virtual freehold (an 999-year lease) on the Shell Centre for £300m, and would redevelop the site. The tower was to be left in place, but the rest of the site was replaced by a new scheme of offices, shops and restaurants. The new development is called Southbank Place.


The building was for many years the London headquarters of Shell-Mex & BP, for which it was originally built. Shell-Mex & BP was a joint venture company created by Shell and British Petroleum in 1932, when they decided to merge their United Kingdom marketing operations. Upon the UK marketing separation of Shell and BP in 1976, Shell Mex House became the head office of Shell UK, which was Shell's UK operating company. Changes in the way that Shell was run in the 1990s led to the disposal of the property by Shell. Today, simply known as 80 Strand, most of its floors are occupied by companies belonging to Pearson plc.
The entrance of the building, which is set back from the Strand, is through a large gated archway. A green plaque was affixed to the wall just inside the gate in March 2008, proclaiming: "The Royal Air Force was formed and had its first headquarters here in the former Hotel Cecil 1st April 1918". Below it is a brass plate stating: "This plaque was unveiled by the Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy to mark the 90th anniversary of the formation of the Royal Air Force".
During World War II, the building became home to the Ministry of Supply, which co-ordinated the supply of equipment to the national armed forces.  It was also the home of the Petroleum Board, which handled the distribution of petroleum products during the war. It was badly damaged by a bomb in 1940.
The building reverted to Shell-Mex & BP on 1 July 1948, with a number of floors remaining occupied by the Ministry of Aviation (latterly the Board of Trade, Civil Aviation Division) until the mid-1970s. During this time, until the department's move to the present location in Farnborough, the building was also the headquarters for the Air Accidents Investigation Branch.
On 17 May 2006, The Times reported that the building was for sale and that the Indian-Kenyan Kandhari family was the front-runner in the battle to buy it from the existing owners, Vincent and Robert Tchenguiz. The Kandharis were said to have offered £530 million for the building, but they were competing with other interested groups, including Menorah, the Israeli insurer, an Irish company, and several British companies. An offer believed to be for £520 million ($1.02 billion) was made in December 2006 by Istithmar, the investment agency of the Dubai government, which withdrew its offer before completion. The property was subsequently sold in July 2007 to a fund managed by Westbrook Partners.


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The ground was originally constructed for football in the late 1980s, and first hosted matches at the 1987 Asian Club Championship. The venue was taken over by the Bangladesh Cricket Board in 2004, replacing the Bangabandhu National Stadium as the home of both the men's and women's national teams. The stadium has a field dimensions of 186 m X 136 m.
The first international match at the redeveloped ground was held in December 2006, and the stadium has since hosted matches of the 2011 World Cup, 2012 and 2014 Asia Cup, 2016 Asia Cup along with majority of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) matches. The finals of the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 and Women's World Twenty20 were hosted at the stadium. The stadium hosted its first International T20 on 11 October 2011, Bangladesh vs West Indies.
On 17 January 2018 during 2017–18 Bangladesh Tri-Nation Series, it became the sixth and the fastest to host 100 ODIs.
For the 2019–20 Bangabandhu BPL Final, 27,725 people gathered at this venue, the highest crowd attendance for the venue and beyond its capacity.


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Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge of the United States in Sherburne County, Minnesota. The 30,700-acre (124 km²) refuge protects mixed habitat types including oak savanna, Big Woods, and wetlands.  The St. Francis River flows through the eastern side of the park.  Over 230 species of birds, 58 species of mammals, and 25 species of reptiles and amphibians have been recorded in the refuge.