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The Trouble with this is the Russians CAN swim...

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The Fox

Foxes live on every continent except Antarctica. The most common and widespread species of fox is the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) with about 47 recognized subspecies. The global distribution of foxes, together with their widespread reputation for cunning, has contributed to their prominence in popular culture and folklore in many societies around the world. The hunting of foxes with packs of hounds, long an established pursuit in Europe, especially in the British Isles, was exported by European settlers to various parts of the New World. Fox hunting with hounds has now been banned in the UK, but hounds following a scent trail is still permitted in the UK but remains controversial, and an outright ban is still sought by many.

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Dunster Castle - Somerset County - England

Dunster Castle is a former motte and bailey castle, now a country house, in the village of Dunster, Somerset, England. The castle lies on the top of a steep hill called the Tor, and has been fortified since the late Anglo-Saxon period. After the Norman Conquest of England in the 11th century, William de Mohun constructed a timber castle on the site as part of the pacification of Somerset. A stone shell keep was built on the motte by the start of the 12th century, and the castle survived a siege during the early years of the Anarchy. At the end of the 14th century the de Mohuns sold the castle to the Luttrell family, who continued to occupy the property until the late 20th century.

The castle was expanded several times by the Luttrell family during the 17th and 18th centuries; they built a large manor house within the Lower Ward of the castle in 1617, and this was extensively modernised, first during the 1680s and then during the 1760s. The medieval castle walls were mostly destroyed following the siege of Dunster Castle at the end of the First English Civil War, when Parliament ordered the defences to be slighted to prevent their further use. In the 1860s and 1870s, the architect Anthony Salvin was employed to remodel the castle to fit Victorian tastes; this work extensively changed the appearance of Dunster to make it appear more Gothic and Picturesque.

The Castle is owned by The National Trust and is open to the public

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Blaise Castle - Bristol - England

Blaise Castle is a folly built in 1766 near Henbury in Bristol, England. The castle sits within the Blaise Castle Estate, which also includes Blaise Castle House, a Grade II* listed 18th-century mansion house. The folly castle is also Grade II* listed and ancillary buildings including the orangery and dairy also have listings. Along with Blaise Hamlet, a group of nine small cottages around a green built in 1811 for retired employees, and various subsidiary buildings, the parkland is listed Grade II* on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England.

The site has signs of occupation during the Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman periods. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries the site was sold. In 1766 Thomas Farr commissioned Robert Mylne to build the sham castle in Gothic Revival style.

The Blasie Castle Estate, gardens, woodlands and grounds, are open to the public...

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Sham Castle - City of Bath - England

Sham Castle is a folly on Claverton Down overlooking the city of Bath, Somerset, England. It is a Grade II* listed building.[1][2] It is a screen wall with a central pointed arch flanked by two 3-storey circular turrets, which extend sideways to a 2-storey square tower at each end of the wall. These "Sham" castles were built by wealthy landowners to provide a topical viewpoint and to enhance the landscape.

It was probably designed around 1755 by Sanderson Miller and built in 1762 by Richard James, master mason for Ralph Allen, "to improve the prospect" from Allen's town house in Bath.

Sham Castle is now illuminated at night.

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Lulworth Castle - Dorset County - England

Lulworth Castle, in East Lulworth, Dorset, England, situated south of the village of Wool, is an early 17th-century hunting lodge erected in the style of a revival fortified castle, one of only five extant Elizabethan or Jacobean buildings of this type. It is listed with Historic England as a scheduled monument. It is also Grade I listed. The 18th-century Adam style interior of the stone building was devastated by fire in 1929, but has now been restored and serves as a museum. The castle stands in Lulworth Park on the Lulworth Estate. The park and gardens surrounding the castle are Grade II listed with Historic England.

The foundations for Lulworth Castle were laid in 1588, and it was completed in 1609, supposedly designed by Inigo Jones. It was built as a hunting lodge by Thomas Howard, 3rd Viscount Howard of Bindon, a grandson of the 3rd Duke of Norfolk. In 1607 Viscount Bindon wrote to Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, crediting him with the origins of the design:

Archive tourist image

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Nunny Castle - Somerset County - England

Nunney Castle is a medieval castle at Nunney in the English county of Somerset. Built in the late 14th century by Sir John Delamare on the profits of his involvement in the Hundred Years' War, the moated castle's architectural style, possibly influenced by the design of French castles, has provoked considerable academic debate. Remodelled during the late 16th century, Nunney Castle was damaged during the English Civil War and is now ruined.

English Heritage maintains the site as a tourist attraction. The architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner has described Nunney as "aesthetically the most impressive castle in Somerset."

The castle is open to the public and is in the care of English Heritage

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Devizes Castle - Wiltshire County - England

This image shows the Victorian "Castle" built in the 1800's the original Castle lies underneath the present structure being built in around 1080 as an early Norman motte and bailey with wooden pallisade and tower, built by Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury. It is first mentioned in 1106, when Robert of Normandy was imprisoned in it.

The original structure burned down in 1113 and was rebuilt in stone by Roger, Bishop of Salisbury, by 1120. In that era, it was said (by an unknown source) that it was the most beautiful fortress in Europe. He occupied it under Henry I and the castle was claimed by Stephen, King of England in the 1130s; Empress Matilda once took it but returned the castle to King Stephen when he threatened to kill her son. Matilda later reclaimed it and held the castle for some time. The property was owned by the Crown until the 17th century. It was used as a prison by Henry II and Henry III. It went on to become the property of Henry VIII who gifted it to his wife Catherine of Aragon and then reclaimed it after their divorce.

Important prisoners were held at the castle, including (from 1106) Robert Curthose, eldest son of William the Conqueror, and (in 1232) Hubert de Burgh. Also, in 1206, John, King of England held his second wife Isabella here as a prisoner.

In 1643, during the Civil War, the castle was occupied by Royalist troops and besieged by Parliamentary forces under Sir William Waller. However, three days later in the Battle of Roundway Down, Waller's army was routed by Royalist forces. At that time, Devizes was a base for Lord Hopton's forces. The castle and town remained in Royalist hands under the military governorship of Sir Charles Lloyd, the King's Chief Engineer, who defended the town against repeated attacks and bombardments by the Parliamentarians. In September 1645, Cromwell with large forces and heavy artillery invaded the town and laid siege to the castle, which surrendered after a bombardment by the 5,000 man Parliamentary army. In May 1648 the castle was dismantled following a Parliamentary Order, a process known as slighting. The stone used for building other local structures.

The remains of original castle (below the current castle) became a scheduled monument in 1953 based on excavations at the site, and is in the care of Historic England

In 1838 the castle lands were acquired by J. N. Tylee who sold them in 1838 to Valentine Leach, a Devizes tradesman. The present castellatedVictorian era 'castle', in a mixture of Neo-Norman and Gothic Revival styles, was designed by Henry Goodridge, an architect from Bath. It was begun about 1840 with a boldly asymmetrical design, and was extended northwards in the 1860s and succeeding decades. The north tower incorporates the remains of a 17th-century brick windmill.

This building is NOT open to the public and is in private hands

Text from Wikipieda

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Bobsleigh - The Famous Ice Race between Ralley Car and Bobsleigh on the BBC TV Show 'Top Gear' at the Lillihammer Course in Norway

The Image shows my late son, Chris Walker (series 'Sound Recordist") checking the bobsleigh set-up before the race in Lillihammer in 2004 (Chris J Walker 06/03/1974 - 08/01/2005)

In a special episode of Top Gear, the hosts organized their own "Winter Olympics" in Lillehammer, Norway, using cars for various events. One of the highlights was a race between a rally car (over the same distance) with the bobsleigh on its ice track and the car on an adjacent mountain track - The bobsleigh won the race...

In Series 5 Episode 8 of the show, Hammond and May travelled to Lillehammer in 2004 to make use of the 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) bobsleigh course. Their aim was to see if a bobsleigh team aided by Hammond, who would be subject to cornering forces of up to 5G, could beat a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution rally car, which would be driven by Norwegian Henning Solberg with May as co-driver. For the rally car, it would run on a snowy dirt road that had exactly the same length of the course, not only starting and stopping the same places, but also consisting of slippery surfaces and sharp corners. While the bobsleigh would be timed by the course officials, May would be timing the rally car. Despite a close race, the bobsleigh turned in a time of 59.68 at the end, beating the rally car by just over 2 seconds after it came in with a time of 1:02.24.

BBC TV - Top Gear presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May

You can still watch this episode on YouTube...

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Ash Tree to the Sky...

A Specimen Ash Tree (Fraxinus) Family Oleaceae - Genus: Fraxinus; L this one seen on the Blaise Castle Estate in Bristol England and photographed by Martin Hewer

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Forde Abbey -Somerset - UK

Forde Abbey is a privately owned former Cistercian monastery in Dorset, England, with a postal address in Chard, Somerset. The house and gardens are run as a tourist attraction while the 1,600-acre (650 ha) estate is farmed to provide additional revenue. Forde Abbey is a Grade I listed building.

Between 1133 and 1136, wealthy nobleman Richard de Brioniis built a priory on his land at Brightley (meaning "bright" or "clear" pasture) and invited Gilbert, Abbot of Waverley in Surrey, to send 12 monks to form a new Cistercian community there. One story is that the agricultural land surrounding the new priory was insufficiently fertile, forcing the monks to consider returning to the mother house in 1141. However, Adelicia de Brioniis, the sister of Richard and successor to his estate, offered them an alternative site close to the River Axe in the manor of Thorncombe. Here, between 1141 and 1148, they built a new priory which came to be known as "Ford" due to its proximity to an old river crossing. The monastery was dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

The Abbey and grounds are open to the public from the 1st March to 31st October (10.3am till 5.00pm) But the house is closed on Monday's and Saturday's

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F15 Fighter Pilot Brian Udell (US) - Photo taken by my late son Christopher Walker (Sound Recordist) during the making of a documentary about the Ejector Seat.

Brian Udell Survived a SUPERSONIC Ejection from an F-15 Fighter Jet

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Farleigh Hungerford Castle - Somerset - UK

Farleigh Hungerford Castle, sometimes called Farleigh Castle or Farley Castle, is a medieval castle in Farleigh Hungerford, Somerset, England. The castle was built in two phases: the inner court was constructed between 1377 and 1383 by Sir Thomas Hungerford, who made his fortune as steward to John of Gaunt. The castle was built to a quadrangular design, already slightly old-fashioned, on the site of an existing manor house overlooking the River Frome. A deer park was attached to the castle, requiring the destruction of the nearby village. Sir Thomas's son, Sir Walter Hungerford, a knight and leading courtier to Henry V, became rich during the Hundred Years War with France and extended the castle with an additional, outer court, enclosing the parish church in the process. By Walter's death in 1449, the substantial castle was richly appointed, and its chapel decorated with murals.

The castle largely remained in the hands of the Hungerford family over the next two centuries, despite periods during the War of the Roses in which it was held by the Crown following the attainder and execution of members of the family. At the outbreak of the English Civil War in 1642, the castle, modernized to the latest Tudor and Stuart fashions, was held by Sir Edward Hungerford. Edward declared his support for Parliament, becoming a leader of the Roundheads in Wiltshire. Farleigh Hungerford was seized by Royalist forces in 1643, but recaptured by Parliament without a fight near the end of the conflict in 1645. As a result, it escaped slighting following the war, unlike many other castles in the south-west of England. The Castle in now in ruins and in the ownership of English Heritage, it is open to the public.

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Farleigh House (Farleigh New Castle) Somerset UK

Farleigh House, or Farleigh Castle, sometimes called Farleigh New Castle, is a large English country house in the county of Somerset, formerly the centre of the Farleigh Hungerford estate. Much of the stone to build it came from the nearby Farleigh Hungerford Castle and the house is now a Grade II listed building.

Farleigh House was built and extended during the 18th and 19th centuries and until 1970 served as the centre of a country estate owned by the Houlton family until 1899, then by others. In 1970 it was sold to be used as a prep school called Ravenscroft School. After this closed in 1996, the house was leased from the last owners of the school by the new Farleigh College until 2001, and it was then sold to Inspecs, a manufacturer of optical instruments. In 2010 a 99-year lease was acquired by Bath Rugby Club, which now occupies it as its headquarters and training centre.

Archive images

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Deciduous Azalea "Golden Eagle" First time flowering, planted in 2024 in my Dorset Garden (UK)

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1940 - Border Crossing - Canada/ USA - Border Bridge Between Calais (US) and New Brunswick (Canada) Crossing the Saint Croix River at Saint Stephen

Photo taken by Jack Delano

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1940 - Pie Town - New Mexico - Standard Gas Filling Station

Photo taken by Russell Lee