Herts at War Exhibition

The civil War, Letchworth Style by Paleoman52!

Here's what I did on my last day of vacation. After finishing putting the roof on the East side of the mancave this mornig, I was looking for some entertainment that didn't involve work so I headed off to Letchworth and checked out the civil war re-enactment that was setting up for the weekend. These guys and gals do a great job and I had a good time visiting with the participants. This is a yearly event in Letchworth and always takes place this time of year!

WW1 Then and Now - German War Hospital - Hitchin

Short vidéo looking at Pinehill Hospital, Hitchin and it's role as a German Hospital in WW1. More information is available at hertsatwar.co.uk

Hitchin Detachment Opening

The official opening of Hitchin Detachment

Remembrance Sunday Hertford Castle 2018

16 History Of Hertfordshire St Peters Church Ayot St Lawer

St Peter's Church had already been rebuilt more than once. St Peter's is mentioned as early as 1282 AD. By the latter part of the 17th century it was considerably altered but was rebuilt in the middle of the 18th century as an octagonal brick building with a detached belfry over the church yard gate. This in turn was rebuilt in a little more appropriate style in 1862 but this building only lasted until 1874 when it was struck by lightning and burned down. Today not a scrap of the building remains. Building the new church started the following year more than a mile away and survives to this day. Dates at the old churchyard confirm that burials continued into the early 20th century but seem to end just after the Great War.

Garden city movement

The garden city movement is a method of urban planning that was initiated in 1898 by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the United Kingdom. Garden cities were intended to be planned, self-contained communities surrounded by greenbelts, containing proportionate areas of residences, industry and agriculture.
Inspired by the Utopian novel Looking Backward and Henry George's work Progress and Poverty, Howard published his book To-morrow: a Peaceful Path to Real Reform in 1898 (which was reissued in 1902 as Garden Cities of To-morrow). His idealised garden city would house 32,000 people on a site of 6,000 acres (2,400 ha), planned on a concentric pattern with open spaces, public parks and six radial boulevards, 120 ft (37 m) wide, extending from the centre. The garden city would be self-sufficient and when it reached full population, another garden city would be developed nearby. Howard envisaged a cluster of several garden cities as satellites of a central city of 50,000 people, linked by road and rail.


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British Tabulating Machine Company | Wikipedia audio article

This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:



00:02:50 HEC computer
00:03:40 Merger



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Speaking Rate: 0.7539497868889741
Voice name: en-US-Wavenet-C


I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.
- Socrates


SUMMARY
=======
The British Tabulating Machine Company (BTM) was a firm which manufactured and sold Hollerith unit record equipment and other data-processing equipment. During World War II, BTM constructed a number of bombes, machines used at Bletchley Park to break the German Enigma machine ciphers.
The company was formed in 1902 as The Tabulator Limited, after Robert Porter obtained the rights to sell Herman Hollerith's patented machines from the US Tabulating Machine Company (later to become IBM). By 1909, the company had been renamed the British Tabulating Machine Company Limited. In 1920, the company moved from London to Letchworth, Hertfordshire; it was also at this point that it started manufacturing its own machines, rather than simply reselling Hollerith equipment.
Annual revenues were £6K in 1915, £122K in 1925, and £170K in 1937. In 1916 there were 45 staff; this increased to 132 in 1922, 326 in 1929 and 1225 in 1939.
In return for the exclusive right to market Hollerith equipment in Britain and the Empire (excluding Canada), BTM paid 25% of its revenues to the American company by way of royalties. This became an ever-increasing burden as the years progressed; BTM attempted to renegotiate the agreement on several occasions, but it was only finally terminated in 1948.
During World War II, BTM was called upon to design and manufacture a machine to assist breaking the German Enigma machine ciphers. This machine, known as a Bombe, was initially conceived by Alan Turing, but the actual machine was designed by BTM chief engineer Harold 'Doc' Keen, who had led the company's engineering department throughout the 1930s. The project was codenamed CANTAB. By the end of the European war, over two hundred bombes had been built and installed.

Avro Lancaster PA474 Flypast At Stotfold Water Mill 2014

BBMF Lancaster PA474 performs a superb flypast at Stotfold Water Mill in Hertfordshire

Stevenage

Stevenage /ˈstiːvənɨdʒ/ is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England. It is situated to the east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), and is between Letchworth Garden City to the north, and Welwyn Garden City to the south.
Stevenage is roughly 30 miles (50 km) north of central London. Its population has increased significantly over the last century, the population was 1,430 in 1801, 4,049 in 1901, 79,724 in 2001 and 84,651 in 2007. The largest increase occurred in the 1950s and 1960s, after Stevenage was designated a new town under the New Towns Act of 1946.


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Arts and Crafts movement | Wikipedia audio article

This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:



00:01:30 1 Origins and influences
00:01:41 1.1 Design reform
00:05:50 1.2 A. W. N. Pugin
00:07:21 1.3 John Ruskin
00:08:37 1.4 William Morris
00:11:15 2 Social and design principles
00:11:26 2.1 Critique of industry
00:16:44 2.2 Socialism
00:17:47 2.3 Association with other reform movements
00:18:24 3 Development
00:25:53 3.1 Later influences
00:27:40 4 Outside England
00:27:50 4.1 Ireland
00:28:59 4.2 Scotland
00:30:42 4.3 Wales
00:30:59 4.4 Continental Europe
00:35:23 4.5 North America
00:42:32 4.5.1 Architecture and Art
00:45:08 4.5.2 Museums
00:45:28 4.6 Asia
00:45:58 5 Architecture
00:48:23 5.1 Architectural examples
00:51:27 6 Garden design
00:53:03 7 Art education
00:57:42 8 Leading practitioners
00:57:52 9 Decorative arts gallery
00:58:03 10 See also



Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.

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Speaking Rate: 0.8564955441287385
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I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.
- Socrates


SUMMARY
=======
The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that began in Britain and flourished in Europe and North America between about 1880 and 1920, emerging in Japan in the 1920s as the Mingei movement. It stood for traditional craftsmanship using simple forms, and often used medieval, romantic, or folk styles of decoration. It advocated economic and social reform and was essentially anti-industrial. It had a strong influence on the arts in Europe until it was displaced by Modernism in the 1930s, and its influence continued among craft makers, designers, and town planners long afterwards.The term was first used by T. J. Cobden-Sanderson at a meeting of the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society in 1887, although the principles and style on which it was based had been developing in England for at least 20 years. It was inspired by the ideas of architect Augustus Pugin, writer John Ruskin, and designer William Morris.The movement developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America. It was largely a reaction against the perceived impoverishment of the decorative arts at the time and the conditions in which they were produced.

List of Masonic buildings | Wikipedia audio article

This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:



00:01:23 1 Australia
00:01:32 1.1 New South Wales
00:01:59 1.2 Queensland
00:04:45 1.3 South Australia
00:05:18 1.4 Victoria
00:07:30 1.5 Western Australia
00:08:33 1.6 Tasmania
00:08:46 2 Bermuda
00:09:17 3 Canada
00:09:26 3.1 Alberta
00:10:07 3.2 Newfoundland and Labrador
00:11:00 3.3 Ontario
00:12:16 3.4 Quebec
00:12:29 4 Denmark
00:12:52 5 Hong Kong
00:13:27 6 India
00:13:49 7 Liberia
00:14:20 8 Malaysia
00:14:33 9 New Zealand
00:16:13 10 Pakistan
00:16:49 11 Philippines
00:16:59 11.1 Metro Manila
00:17:38 11.2 Visayas
00:18:10 11.3 Mindanao
00:18:32 12 Spain
00:18:47 13 Sri Lanka
00:19:00 14 United Kingdom
00:19:10 14.1 England
00:20:40 14.2 Scotland



Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.

Learning by listening is a great way to:
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Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.

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Speaking Rate: 0.7534219670335918
Voice name: en-US-Wavenet-D


I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.
- Socrates


SUMMARY
=======
List of Masonic buildings identifies notable buildings around the world associated with Freemasonry. Often these are significant landmarks in their towns or cities, and reflect the influence of Masons at one time. Most are buildings built for exclusive or shared use by Masonic lodges, Grand Lodges or other Masonic bodies. Many include original commercial space on ground or lower floors, with space intended for group meetings above. (For a list of those within the United States, see: List of Masonic buildings in the United States)
Most of the buildings on this list were purpose-built to house Masonic lodge meetings and ritual activities. In a few cases, Masonic bodies converted existing landmark buildings to Masonic use. Also included are buildings constructed by the Freemasons as part of their charitable endeavors (such as hospitals and schools). This list is intended to include any building having some form of landmark status such as being listed on a heritage registers, and other notable ones as well.