THE MALL, LONDON

 

The Mall /ˈmæl/ is a grand processional route in honour of Queen Victoria, which has seen innumerable historic Royal processions including coronations, state openings of Parliament and state visits. And of course, the fateful funeral of Elizabeth II on Monday 19th September 2022. The Mall began as a field for playing pall-mall. In the 17th and 18th centuries it was a fashionable promenade, bordered by trees. It was envisioned as a ceremonial route in the early 20th century, matching the creation of similar ceremonial routes in other main cities.  During King Charles II reign, in 1660 he ordered the redesign of St. James's Park and this included a centerpiece - a straight canal, 2,560ft long and 125ft wide, lined on each side with avenues of trees.

The name is derived from Pelle Melle, a game introduced by King Charles which was traditionally played in St. James's Park. Traffic was permitted on The Mall in 1887. It is now closed to traffic on Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays and on ceremonial occasions. The surface of The Mall is coloured red to give the effect of a giant red carpet leading up to Buckingham Palace. This colour was devised by chemist Ernest Lovell. It was David Eccles's decision, as Minister of Works from 1951 to 1954, to make The Mall red. The annual London Marathon finishes on The Mall. It was also the start and finish line for the marathon course, the road race and the race walks of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. During the Trooping the Colour events and other big National events, the Mall is used.

ANGEL OF THE NORTH, GATESHEAD, NEWCASTLE

The Angel of the North is as much a part of Gateshead's identity as the Statue of Liberty is to New York. Since it first spread its wings in February 1998, it has become one of the most talked about and recognisable pieces of public art ever produced.

It was in 1990 that the site, a former colliery pithead baths, was re-claimed and earmarked for a future sculpture. When sculptor Antony Gormley was selected as the winning artist in 1994, his designs originally caused uproar. The controversial material and site of the sculpture were frowned upon. However, once in place many people's original views on the piece changed completely. Local residents have fallen in love with the Angel and it has become synonymous with Gateshead.

Amazing facts about the Angel of the North.

It is believed to be the largest angel sculpture in the world

It is one of the most famous artworks in the region - almost two thirds of people in the North East had already heard of the Angel of the North before it was built

Its 54 metre (175 foot) wingspan is bigger than a Boeing 757 or 767 jet and almost the same as a Jumbo jet

It is 20 metres (65 feet) high - the height of a five storey building or four double decker buses

It weighs 200 tonnes - the body 100 tonnes and the wings 50 tonnes each

There is enough steel in it to make 16 double decker buses or four Chieftain tanks

It will last for more than 100 years

It will withstand winds of more than 100 miles per hour

Below the sculpture, massive concrete piles 20 metres deep will anchor it to the solid rock beneath

It is made of weather resistant Cor-ten steel, containing a small amount of copper, which forms a patina on the surface that mellows with age

Huge sections of the Angel - up to six metres wide and 25 metres long - were transported to the site by lorry with a police escort

The total cost of The Angel of the North was £800,000.

 

RECULVER (KENT)

Reculver is a village and coastal resort about 3 miles (5 km) east of Herne Bay on the north coast of  Kent in south-east England near Canterbury.

Reculver once occupied a strategic location at the north-western end of the Wantsum Channel, a sea lane that separated the Isle of Thanet and the Kent mainland until the late Middle Ages. This led the Romans to build a small fort there at the time of their conquest of Britain in 43 AD, and, starting late in the 2nd century, they built a larger fort, which later became one of the chain of Saxon Shore forts. Following the withdrawal of the Western Roman Empire in ca. early C4th, the Brythons again took control of the lands until Anglo-Saxon invasions shortly afterward.

By the 7th century Reculver had become a landed estate of the Anglo-Saxon kings of Kent. The site of the Roman fort was given over for the establishment of a monastery dedicated to St Mary in 669 AD, and King Eadberht II of Kent was buried there in the 760s. During the Middle Ages Reculver was a thriving township with a weekly market and a yearly fair. The settlement declined as the Wantsum Channel silted up, and coastal erosion claimed many buildings constructed on the soft sandy cliffs. The village was largely abandoned in the late 18th century, and most of the church was demolished in the early 19th century. Protecting the ruins and the rest of Reculver from erosion is an ongoing challenge.

The 20th century saw a revival as local tourism developed and there are now two caravan parks. The census of 2001 recorded 135 people in the Reculver area, nearly a quarter of whom were in caravans at the time. The Reculver coastline is within a Special Protection Area and a Ramsar site, including most of Reculver Country Park, which itself includes much of Bishopstone Cliffs local nature reserve. While nationally scarce plants and insects are found there, the location is also important for migrating birds and is of significant geological interest.

DUNNOTTAR CASTLE, SCOTLAND

 

Dunnottar Castle (Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Fhoithear, "fort on the shelving slope") is a ruined medieval fortress located upon a rocky headland on the north-eastern coast of Scotland, about 2 miles (3 kilometres) south of Stonehaven. The surviving buildings are largely of the 15th and 16th centuries, but the site is believed to have been fortified in the Early Middle Ages. Dunnottar has played a prominent role in the history of Scotland through to the 18th-century Jacobite risings because of its strategic location and defensive strength. Dunnottar is best known as the place where the Honours of Scotland, the Scottish crown jewels, were hidden from Oliver Cromwell's invading army in the 17th century. The property of the Keiths from the 14th century, and the seat of the Earl Marischal, Dunnottar declined after the last Earl forfeited his titles by taking part in the Jacobite rebellion of 1715. The castle was restored in the 20th century and is now open to the public.

The ruins of the castle are spread over 1.4 hectares, surrounded by steep cliffs that drop to the North Sea, 160 feet (50 metres) below. A narrow strip of land joins the headland to the mainland, along which a steep path leads up to the gatehouse. The various buildings within the castle include the 14th-century tower house as well as the 16th-century palace. Dunnottar Castle is a scheduled monument, and twelve structures on the site were listed buildings.