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Wymondham

Wymondham is a market town and civil parish in the South Norfolk district of Norfolk, England. It lies on the River Tiffey, 12 mi south-west of Norwich and just off the A11 road to London. The parish, one of Norfolk's largest, includes rural areas to the north and south, with hamlets of Suton, Silfield, Spooner Row and Wattlefield. It had a population of 14,405 in 2011, of whom 13,587 lived in the town itself.

Development
The community developed during the Anglo-Saxon period and expanded with the establishment of a priory in 1107 and a market in 1204. Industrially, Wymondham became known as a centre of woodturning and brush-making, retaining its brush factories until the late 20th century. New housing to the north and east of the town centre brought rapid expansion. Dual carriageways for the A11 and the development of rapid rail links to Norwich and Cambridge means Wymondham is now a commuter town. Major local employers include the headquarters of Norfolk Constabulary and the Lotus Cars factory at nearby Hethel.

The ancient centre, much damaged in a fire of 1615, contains landmarks and listed buildings that include the twin-towered Wymondham Abbey. Modern Wymondham continues to grow. The current local-authority action plan envisages building 2,200 new homes by 2026, while promoting it as "a forward-looking market town which embraces sustainable growth to enhance its unique identity and sense of community."

Origin of the name
The uncertain, Anglo-Saxon origins of the name probably consist of a personal name such as Wigmund or Wimund, with hām meaning village or settlement, or hamm meaning a river meadow. The place has been referred to as Windham on occasions.

Early history
The site where Wymondham stands shows evidence of occupation from the earliest period of human settlement in Norfolk. Pot boilers and burnt flint have been found in nearby fields, as have flint axe-heads, scrapers and many other objects. Evidence of the Bronze Age appears in a number of ring ditches, enclosures and linear crop marks. Objects found include an arrowhead, fragments of rapiers, assorted metal tools and pottery sherds.

Iron Age artefacts were investigated systematically while the A11 bypass was being built in the early 1990s. There are postholes, quarries and evidence of iron smelting and bone working. Objects from the period include coins, jewellery and pottery.

Roman remains include an aisled structure and a copper-alloy metal-working site. A Roman road from Venta Icenorum to Watton and beyond is visible as cropmarks. Large numbers of coins and pottery sherds have been found, as have personal items such as brooches, cosmetic tools and a duck figurine.

Few Saxon buildings survive, although excavations showed a sunken-featured building with Early and Middle Saxon pottery. Remains of a possible Late Saxon church were discovered during excavations at Wymondham Abbey in 2002.

Middle Ages
By 1086, Wymondham had 376 households (giving an estimated total population of 1,880), which put it among the top 20 per cent of settlements recorded in Domesday. The land was held by two feudal Lords: William the Conqueror and William de Warenne. The Saxon church made way for a new Norman priory in 1107, its church shared between the monks and the townspeople. This evolved over the centuries into the Wymondham Abbey seen today.

Earthworks at Moot Hill are probably a medieval ring-work dating between 1088 and 1139. It is on the Historic England's Heritage at Risk register.

The first market charter came from King John in 1204, although an earlier market was probably held. The charter was renewed by Henry VI in 1440 and a weekly market is still held on Fridays.

Early modern period
Wymondham Abbey was dissolved in 1538 and the domestic buildings and monastic half of the church were gradually demolished. Loye Ferrers, the last Abbot, became Vicar when the post fell vacant, and the remaining church buildings continued in use as the parish church.

Robert Kett led a rebellion in 1549 of peasants and small farmers against enclosure of common land. His force of scarcely armed men held the city of Norwich for six weeks until defeated by the King's forces. He was hanged at Norwich Castle and his brother William was hanged from the church west tower. Kett's Oak, ostensibly the rallying point of the rebellion, can be seen on the B1172 road between Wymondham and Hethersett, part of an earlier main road to London.

The town suffered a major fire beginning on Sunday, 11 June 1615. Losses included the Market Cross, the vicarage, the old town hall and the schoolhouse. Buildings that survived include the Green Dragon inn. Thereafter, 327 inhabitants – some 55 per cent of residents at the time – made claims for lost goods and houses. The register of St Andrew's Church in Norwich records that John Flodder and others were executed for arson on 2 December 1615. Rebuilding varied in pace. A new Market Cross was completed in 1617, but in 1621 there were still some 15 properties to be rebuilt.

In 1695, the Attleborough road was the second British turnpike built, pre-dated only by the Great North Road.

Later Wymondham
In 1785, a prison was built in line with the ideas of the prison reformer John Howard. The first in England to have separate cells for prisoners, it was widely copied there and in the United States. It now serves as Wymondham Heritage Museum.

The collapse of the woollen industry in the mid-19th century led to poverty. In 1836 there were still 600 hand looms, but by 1845 only 60. The town became a backwater in Victorian times, untouched by development elsewhere.

The Norwich & Brandon Railway opened in 1845 and a branch north to Dereham and Wells-next-the-Sea in 1847. Another branch opened in 1881 ran south to the Great Eastern Main Line at Forncett.

The Murders at Stanfield Hall occurred on 28 November 1848.

In 1943, a military hospital at Morley was handed to the United States Army Air Forces. Over 3,000 patients were treated there after D-Day. It was later converted for use by Wymondham College.

For much of the 20th century, there were two brush factories together employing up to 1,000 people. They both closed in the 1980s and the land was turned over to housing.

Governance
Wymondham has a town council responsible for local matters laid down by law, including a role in urban planning. It has 14 members elected every four years. Wymondham divides into four wards: North, East, Central and South. Spooner Row, though within the parish of Wymondham, elects its own community council.

Wymondham civil parish falls in the district of South Norfolk, returning six district councillors. In elections in May 2023, Wymondham elected three Liberal Democrat District councillors, two Conservatives and one Labour. In Town Council elections fourteen councillors are returned. After May 2023 local elections, the Town Council consisted of seven Liberal Democrats, four Labour, two Green and a solitary Conservative councillor. In 2023 the Town Council elected two women for the roles of mayor and deputy mayor, the first time this had occurred in Wymondham's history.

In County Council elections, the north part, with the Town Centre, returns one councillor to Norfolk County Council as Wymondham electoral division. The southern part elects a county councillor as part of Forehoe electoral division.

For much of the 20th century, Wymondham belonged to the South Norfolk parliamentary constituency. After a boundary review, Wymondham was moved to the Mid Norfolk constituency. However, Wymondham will revert to South Norfolk again after another boundary review, a long drawn out process which was only formalised in late 2023.

Geography
At 52.57°N, 1.116°W (52.57°, 1.116°), and 91 mi north-north-west of London, Wymondham stands 134.5 ft above sea level, 9 mi south-west of Norwich, at the confluence of two small rivers. The largely rural parishes around it include Hethersett, Hethel, Ashwellthorpe, Bunwell, Wicklewood, Crownthorpe and Wramplingham. The market town of Attleborough lies to the south-west. Wymondham has a temperate maritime climate, like much of the British Isles, with relatively cool summers and mild winters. There is regular but generally light precipitation throughout the year. Wymondham was struck by an F1/T2 tornado on 23 November 1981, as part of the record-breaking nationwide tornado outbreak on that day.

Wymondham's topography is marked by its river meadow and flat, low-lying agricultural landscape, much like the rest of East Anglia. The parish has an area of 17.11 sqmi. The geology is based on chalk, with a layer of boulder clay laid down in the last ice age. The River Tiffey, flowing north, forms a boundary between the built-up town centre and the rural southern part of the parish.

The built environment of Wymondham's town centre is marked by early-modern town houses and a number of buildings that survived the 1615 fire, including Wymondham Abbey. Much of the centre forms a conservation area with numerous listed buildings. Beyond the centre lie 20th and 21st-century housing estates of mainly detached and semi-detached properties. There are trading and industrial estates along the route of the A11, which passes north-east through the south of the parish. The heavy rail Breckland line crosses the parish in the same direction. The rest of the parish is largely arable farmland.

The parish has one of the largest areas in Norfolk. It includes swaths to the north and south of the town, including the hamlets of Suton, Silfield, Spooner Row and Wattlefield.

Demography
The United Kingdom Census 2001 gave Wymondham a total resident population of 12,539 and a population density of 733 /mi2. By 2011, the population had risen to 14,405, with a density of 840 /mi2. Wymondham has an average age of 41.8.

In 2011, 94.5 per cent of the population were White British, 1.1 per cent Asian, 0.5 per cent White Irish and 0.3 per cent Black.

Christianity accounts for 60.3 per cent of the population, while 29.9 declare no religious affiliation. There are small populations of Muslims (0.5%), Buddhists (0.3%) and Hindus (0.2%).

The 2011 census showed 72.6 per cent of the adult population economically active, 2.9 per cent unemployed and 16.8 per cent retired. The population is well-educated: 27 per cent have post-18 qualifications.

The following table outlines the population change in the town since 1801, with slow growth, then decline in the 19th century, followed by recovery and rapid growth by the end of the 20th century.

Economy
Wymondham is a commuter town mainly for Norwich, Cambridge and London. The 2011 census reported as the commonest employment sectors the wholesale and retail trade (15.4%), health and social work (13.6%) and education (11.3%).

A major employer is Norfolk Constabulary. There is a retail area centred on the market square, with national-chain branches and independent shops and businesses. Traditionally, Wymondham was a centre of woodturning and brush-making; a spigot and spoon feature on the town sign to mark this. Major brush factories appeared, with railway sidings, saw mills and engineering workshops. These closed in late 20th century and were developed as housing.

War memorial
Wymondham war memorial is a 7.5 m stone obelisk above an octagonal three-stepped base, at the junction of Vicar Street, Town Green and Middleton Street. Unveiled on 24 July 1921, and updated after World War II, it recalls 189 military and civilian deaths in the two World Wars. It is a Grade II listed feature.

Wymondham Abbey
Wymondham Abbey, founded in 1107, is a Grade I listed building. Originally a Benedictine priory, it became an independent abbey in 1449. During this period the two-tower design evolved. The east tower was built first to an octagonal design (1409) and the west tower completed in 1498.

The abbey was dissolved in 1538, after which many of its buildings were demolished. Their remains, including the surviving arch of the chapter house, are scattered around the church. The open land to the south of the church, above further remains of the medieval abbey, is a scheduled monument. The east end of the church was demolished at the dissolution. The surviving 70 m-long building is about half the original length.

The remainder survived the dissolution and continued in use as the local Church of England parish church. Some elements of the original Norman architecture are visible externally, while internally a 15th-century hammerbeam roof and a reredos by Ninian Comper can be seen.

Cavick House
Cavick House, a Grade I listed building, dates from the early 18th century. It is a red-brick building with painted quoins and some original interior decoration. It had fallen into disrepair by 1999, but has since been restored. The nearby Cavick House Farmhouse, built in the early 18th century, is a Grade II listed building.

Beckett's Chapel
Beckett's Chapel is thought to have been founded in the late 12th century by the son of William d'Aubigny and founder of Wymondham Abbey. The current chapel dates largely to about 1400, when it was rebuilt. In the post-Reformation period it was turned into a school and also used for a time as a lock-up for remand prisoners. Restoration in 1873 was followed by use as a public hall, a school and Wymondham's library. In 1999, a plaque was attached to mark the 450th anniversary of Kett's Rebellion. In 2008, it became Wymondham Arts Centre. Original elements of the chapel, including an arch-braced hammerbeam roof, are still visible inside. It is a Grade I listed building. In 2018, it was placed on Historic England's Heritage at Risk register, as it suffers from damp and is slowly decaying.

The Market Cross
The Market Cross was built in 1617–1618 after the original was destroyed in the fire of 1615. It is a timber-framed octagonal building with an upper floor raised above an open undercroft. It served as the centre of administration of the town's weekly market. In the late 19th century it was converted into a subscription reading room. After restoration in 1989, it reopened as the town's Tourist Information Centre. It is a Grade I listed building.

Grade II* listed buildings
The six Grade II* listed buildings in Wymondham are The Green Dragon pub, Kimberley Hall, Priory House, Stanfield Hall, The Chestnuts and 3 Market Street.

Other landmarks
The former jail, known as Wymondham Bridewell, was built in 1787. It houses the Wymondham Heritage Museum. having once been a police station and a law court. It is a Grade II listed building.

Wymondham railway station, built in 1844, retains much of its atmosphere, including a timber signal box for semaphore signalling from 1877, in use until 2012. Almost derelict by 1988, the site was transformed by the local businessman and railway enthusiast David Turner, who restored the buildings and ran a Brief Encounter-themed restaurant on Platform 1 before retiring in 2011. The station was voted Best Small Station in the 2006 National Rail Awards. Both station and signal box are Grade II listed buildings.

Toll's Meadow is a nature reserve and wildlife site with footpaths along the River Tiffey. Wildlife there includes kingfishers, herons, roe deer and water voles. The Lizard is a conservation area and wildlife site managed locally as a "piece of informal, natural countryside for the general benefit and enjoyment of the people of Wymondham". The Tiffey Trails offer accessible walks, interpretation boards, wood-carvings, benches and waymarkers. In Spring 2022, a new Ketts County trail was added, forming a 16-mile walk starting at Becketswell near the Abbey. This is part of the wider 500 mile plus Norfolk Trails network.

Transport

The Breckland line runs through the parish, with stations at Wymondham and Spooner Row. The typical service is one train an hour east to Norwich and one train west, alternating between Cambridge and Stansted Airport. Three stopping trains a day are provided by East Midlands Railway; these run either to/from Liverpool Lime Street, Nottingham or Sheffield.

The Mid-Norfolk Railway operates a station at Wymondham Abbey for heritage services to Dereham, along a section of the branch to Wells. The town once had a third station, Spinks Lane, which closed shortly after opening in the 19th century.

Buses by First Norfolk & Suffolk offer at least a 30-minute service to Hethersett, Norwich and Attleborough. Konectbus serves the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, Norwich and Watton. National Express coach services are available to London.

The A11 trunk road from Norwich to London once ran through the town centre. The B1135 passes the northern edge of the town on its way to Dereham.

Sport
Wymondham Town Football Club, founded in 1883, is based at Kings Head Meadow. The senior men's team plays in the Anglian Combination Division One and has topped it five times, most recently in 2017–18. The club last won the Norfolk Senior Cup in 1888–89. Ian Gibson MP played for the club in the 1965–66 season. The senior women's team plays in the Eastern Region Women's Football League, which it won in 2017–18. In the same season it won the County Cup, which it successfully defended in 2018–19.

Wymondham Town United Football Club, based at Kett's Park, is one Norfolk's largest youth teams, with over 600 players across 22 teams.

Wymondham Rugby Club was founded in 1972 at the Foster Harrison Memorial Ground on Tuttles Lane. A new ground, Barnard Fields, opened in 2018. The senior men's team plays in the London 2 North East league, winning the Norfolk Plate in 2015–16. The senior women's team, Wymondham Wasps, plays in the Championship 2 Midlands League.

Wymondham Dell Bowls Club was a founder member of Norfolk Bowls Association in 1936. It has won the Bales Cup and the County League more often than any other club in Norfolk: twelve and fifteen times respectively. The members include the 2002 Commonwealth Games gold medallist, John Ottaway.

Media
Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC East and ITV Anglia. Television signals are received from the Tacolneston TV transmitter. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Norfolk, Heart East, Greatest Hits Radio East (formerly Radio Norwich 99.9), Kiss and South Norfolk Radio, a community based station which broadcast from the town. The town is served by the local newspaper, The Wymondham and Attleborough Mercury including the regional newspaper Eastern Daily Press.

Education
Wymondham Grammar School was founded in 1567 by the Norwich-born Archbishop of Canterbury, Matthew Parker. It was originally housed in Beckett's Chapel, then moved to Priory House, and closed in 1903. Silfield School opened in 1876 and closed in 1993. It is now a private dwelling.

Wymondham High Academy is located near the town centre. Wymondham College, one of 36 state boarding schools in England and the largest of its type, stands just outside the parish in Morley.

The four state primary schools are Ashleigh Primary School and Nursery, Browick Road Primary and Nursery School,  Robert Kett Primary School  and Spooner Row Primary School.

Public services
Policing in Wymondham is provided by Norfolk Constabulary, which is headquartered in the town. Statutory emergency fire and rescue service is provided by the Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service, which has a station in London Road.

The nearest NHS hospital is Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital in Norwich, administered by Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. In the town itself are Wymondham Health Centre and Wymondham Medical Centre offering general-practice care. Ambulance services are provided by East of England Ambulance Service.

Waste management is co-ordinated by South Norfolk Council. Locally produced inert waste for disposal is processed into fuel for use in combined heat and power facilities in Europe. Wymondham's distribution network operator for electricity is UK Power Networks; there are no power stations in the town. Drinking water and waste water are managed by Anglian Water. There is a water treatment plant to the north-west of the town.

Culture
Wymondham Heritage Museum, in the former prison, has permanent displays on Robert Kett, brush-making and the museum building. Occasional displays are renewed every season. Wymondham Arts Centre, in Beckett's Chapel, runs a summer programme of free exhibitions by local and regional artists. Regular arts and theatre events take place in Wymondham Central Hall.

The Town's pubs include The Green Dragon, one of England's oldest, open since about 1371. The Cross Keys Inn in the Market Place occupies an early 17th-century Grade II listed building. The White Hart, Feathers and The Queen's Head are other notable pubs.

In the past, town events have been staged by a group of volunteers known as Wymondham Town Team They organised community events such as Wynterfest, Community Picnics, carnivals and Vintage Days.

There are many community groups and charities offering a wide range of activities and volunteering opportunities for locals.

Wymondham Music Festival, begun in 1996, ran mostly free summer events at several venues with a Midsummer Jazz Picnic at Becketswell every June. Occasional events in the past included a carnival and a winter Dickensian Evening.

Wymondham currently has no twin town. Links were developed in the 1990s with Votice and local dignitaries from the Czech Republic visited Wymondham. A plaque on the former Wymondham Town Hall in Middleton Street commemorates the links between the two. (The new Town Hall building is located at nearby Ketts Park).

Community facilities
The many parks and playgrounds, include Toll's Meadow – an area of rare UK lowland meadow- Kett's Park which boasts an artificial 3G pitch, part-funded by South Norfolk Council and the Premier League, opened in 2019 by Norwich City player Grant Holt. Browick Road Recreational Park features a skatepark and cycle pump track, facilities which are due for a revamp for the whole park. One section of Browick is being developed as a community orchard by volunteers. The public library moved from Beckett's Chapel to purpose-built premises in 2008. It hosts events to encourage learning and reading, such as weekly Bounce and Rhyme sessions.

Religious sites
The two Church of England churches are Wymondham Abbey – at first dedicated to the Virgin Mary but after the martyrdom of St Thomas Becket in 1170, his name was added – and a chapel-of-ease, Holy Trinity Church, in Spooner Row.

The building of a 17th-century Quaker meeting house Chapel Lane survives as a private residence. Fairland United Reformed Church was founded in 1652. The current façade dates from 1877. It has regular Sunday services.

A Primitive Methodist chapel built in Silfield Street in 1867 is now a private residence. A Wesleyan Methodist chapel built in Damgate Street in 1879 is now used by Freemasons. Wymondham Methodist Church was built in 1870. Wymondham Baptist Church has been at its current Queen Street site since 1910. It holds regular Sunday services and a successful twice weekly community café called Roots.

The Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady and St Thomas of Canterbury, built in 1952, contains a memorial to World War II prisoners and internees of the Japanese who did not survive their imprisonment. An annual memorial service is held every May. A digital and print archive of 61,000 names of those who died is maintained by the church.

The two churches of the Evangelical Alliance are Hope Community Church in Ayton Road and Alive Church which meets at Central Hall. There is a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in Harts Farm Road.

Notable people
Wymondham people are sometimes known as Wymondhamers.
 * Several MPs were connected to Wymondham: John Payn MP (died 1402), John Wildman MP (c. 1621–1693), Edwin Gooch MP (1889–1964) and Bert Hazell MP (1907–2009).
 * Robert Kett (c. 1492–1549), leader of Kett's Rebellion, was a yeoman farmer from Wymondham. He and his brother William have roads named after them in north Wymondham.
 * Robert Kett's nephew, Francis Kett (c. 1547–1589), also from Wymondham, was burned in a ditch of Norwich Castle for denying Christ's divinity.
 * John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley (1826–1902), a Whig and Liberal politician after whom Kimberley, South Africa was named, was born in Wymondham.
 * Thomas Jeckyll (1827–1881), architect and pioneer Japonaiserie interior designer
 * Notable sporting personalities include the cricketer Philip Fryer (1870–1950) and the bowls player and 2002 Commonwealth Games gold medallist John Ottaway (born 1955). Other sporting Wymondhamers are James Hubbard (born 1992), the PDC darts player and 2012 World Youth champion, and Aimee Palmer (born 2000), professional footballer in the Super League.
 * Harry Daniels (1884–1953), soldier and Victoria Cross recipient, born in the town, received his medal for valiant action in the World War I Battle of Neuve Chapelle. A road in Silfield is named after him.
 * Ethel Gooch (1887–1953), wife of Edwin Gooch, was the town's first woman councillor and the first woman to chair Wymondham Urban District Council. Roads in the town are named after her and her husband.
 * W. G. Sebald (1944–2001), German-born writer and academic, lived in the town.
 * George Szirtes (born 1948), a Hungarian-born poet and translator, lives in the town.
 * Adam Buxton (born 1969), a comedian and actor, has lived in Wymondham since 2004.
 * Jack W Gregory (born 1977), An Actor known for The Souvenir Parts 1 and 2, Poet, Investigative Journalist, Podcaster, author of A Personal Apocalypse: The Poetic Ramblings of a troubled man, Between the Streetlights and Red Lights and Co-Author of Paul Massey: A Salford Heart has lived in Wymondham since 2014.

Cultural references
The Murders at Stanfield Hall were depicted in the 1948 film Blanche Fury.

The now-closed Brief Encounter-themed restaurant at Wymondham railway station featured in Mark Greenstreet's 1996 comedy film Caught in the Act, starring Sara Crowe, Annette Badland and Nadia Sawalha.

The eighth in C. J. Sansom's Shardlake series of novels, Tombland (2018), has the protagonist embroiled in Kett's Rebellion.

title: Wymondham


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Saloum

The Kingdom of Saloum (Serer: Saluum or Saalum) was a Serer kingdom in present-day Senegal as well as parts of Gambia, then called Lower Saluum. The precolonial capital of Saloum was the city of Kahone. It was a sister to the Kingdom of Sine. Their history, geography and culture were intricately linked and it was common to refer to them as the Sine-Saloum and the Serer Kingdoms of Sine and Saloum.

Typonymy
Serer oral traditions recount that the area was named Saluum/Saloum by the Maad Saloum Mbegan Ndour upon succeeding to the throne, which was in the later part of the 15th century (c. 1493/4). It was named after Saalum Suwareh, the marabout of Mbegan Ndour.

History

Saloum, just like its sister kingdom, Sine, is known for its many ancient burial mounds or "tumuli" containing the graves of kings and others. The Kingdom has numerous mysterious stone circles.

The Kingdom of Saloum was previously known as Mbey (in Serer) and was renamed Saloum by the Maad Saloum Mbegan Ndour in the later part of the 15th century (c. 1494). For several centuries prior to its renaming, its capital was called Ngap. According to Serer oral tradition, Mbegane Ndour named the Kingdom after his marabout, Saalum Suwareh.

Like the Kingdom of Sine, the population is overrun and ruled by the Serer people. The two are generally referred to as the Serer Kingdoms. Many parts of present-day Gambia were former colonies of the Kingdom of Saloum. Originally, Saloum extended south to the north banks of the Gambia River. Present-day Gambia was referred to as Lower Saloum. Upper Saloum was where modern day Saloum is in Senegal. The States of Sabakh and Sandial were ruled by the Fara Sabakh and Fara Sandial (respective titles of the chiefs), and were both tributary to the king of Saloum who took residence at Kahone. Around 1862, Sambou Oumanneh Touray, a disciple of Maba Diakhou Bâ (later foe) launched a jihad in Sabakh and Sandial. Having defeated the Fara Sabakh and Fara Sandial, he joined the two countries together (hence : Sabakh-Sandial) and ruled it. The final Fara Sabakh and Fara Sandial died in that jihad. During the Serer paternal and Guelowar maternal dynasties from the 15th century to 1969, nearly 50 kings have been enthroned. The kings continued to hold their court in Kahone, but the city was eclipsed commercially by neighboring Kaolack.

Portuguese explorers in the 15th century referred to Saloum as the kingdom of Borçalo, after 'Bor-ba-Saloum' (Wolof corruption for "King of Saloum" - Maad Saloum).

Although the Kingdom won some major battles against the French, it was later defeated. However, like the Kingdom of Sine, the royal dynasty survived up to 1969, when the last absolute monarch of Saloum, Maad Saloum Fode N'Gouye Joof had died. His year of death corresponded with the death of Maad a Sinig Mahecor Joof, who was the last absolute monarch of Sine. These two kings were the last Serer and kings of the Senegalese kingdom with absolute power. After their deaths, both Kingdoms were incorporated into the new Republic of independent Senegal which gained its independence in 1960. Thus the Kingdom of Sine and the Kingdom of Saloum were the last pre-colonial kingdoms of present-day Senegal to have survived up to the 20th century. In 2017, the Serer of Saloum decided to reinstate their monarchy, and Thierno Coumba Daga Ndao was selected from the Guelowar matrilineage to succeed the throne. After a contentious election, he was crowned King on 21 May 2017 at Kahone. He is the current King of Saloum as of 2024, and the maternal uncle of the current King of Sine, Niokhobaye Fatou Diène Diouf, from the Royal House of Semou Njekeh Joof. The Sine reinstated their monarchy in 2019, and Niokhobaye Fatou Diène Diouf from the Royal House of Semou Njekeh and of Guelowar matrilineage was crowned on 8 February 2019 at Diakhao, the precolonial capital of Sine. The current Kings of Sine and Saloum are not absolute monarchs compaired to their predecessors. Their roles are merely ceremonial and diplomatic. Although the have influence, especially the King of Sine, they have no official powers as Sine and Saloum are now part of independent Senegal. They ruled under a form of constitutional monarchy with no official powers. Despite their lack of power, the King of Sine in particular is very influential, and has been able utilise his influence on the President of Senegal (notably Macky Sall), and the old pleasant cousinship between the Serer and Jola people by liaising with the King of Oussouye (Maan Sibiloumbaye Diédhiou) to help bring about economic and cultural development in the Senegambia region, and peace in Casamance, after decades of the Casamance conflict—which has plagued the Gambia, Senegal, and Guinea-Bissau since 1982. He has also been very vocal in calling for a peaceful transition of political power since 2023, in preparation for Senegal's 2024 Presidential Elections.

People and language
Ethnically, Saloum was and still is Serer,  but gradually the Wolof immigrants  have settled in along with the Fulas, Mandinkas, etc. Unlike the Kingdom of Sine which is ethnically Serer and deeply rooted in "Serer-conservatism", such as the preservation of Serer religion, culture, traditions, etc., Saloum is more cosmopolitan and multi-religious. This explains why some Serer traditionalists who adhere to the tenets of Serer religion are reluctant to afford it the same religious status afforded to Sine as one of the sacred Serer holy sites, in spite of housing many of the Serer sites (see Serer ancient history). Although very cosmopolitan, it is also ethnically Serer, the other ethnic groups are migrants. The Serer language and Wolof are both widely spoken in Saloum. The Cangin languages are also spoken.

Commerce and geography
Saloum includes flat, swampy tideland areas inland from the Saloum River delta. In recent years large areas of mangrove growth have been destroyed. There was a flourishing industry of salt-manufacture at the salt flats along the delta. Its economic base was groundnut trade, exporting large quantities of nuts to Europe.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Saloum


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Talk:Korean cuisine

Silver chopstick
The silver chopstick was not used when everyday eating. It is only used to check the poison in the food. Korean chopstick was made of cast iron or bronze. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.189.246.84 (talk) 00:53, 10 January 2011 (UTC)

Lisa Fritscher source
At first I was just going to question the "Korean Food Basics" source by Lisa Fritscher, but then I looked at it more closely (see ), and it explicitly states that it "has been written by an outside contributor. It has not been reviewed by the LifeScript editorial staff for accuracy." In other words, it's half-a-step up from a blog. As such, I'm removing the source, and if Melonbarmonster2 wants to alter the ingredients on the list, I don't mind. It's weird--if the list is unsourced, I'm willing to trust a native editor, but if there is a source, we need to conform to whatever the source says. I'll go ahead and remove tofu and noodles, per Mb2's change. If another editor does think they are an important part of Korean cuisine, please re-add them and then discuss here. Qwyrxian (talk) 00:52, 28 September 2011 (UTC)

Korean Mellon
We do not have an article on Korean Mellons. My Korean language skills are only basic and would like to work with a Korean speaking editor to start an article about Korean Mellons on Wikipedia.--Woogie10w (talk) 00:22, 9 August 2012 (UTC)

Drinking etiquette
I think 'Drinking etiquette' section is shorter than other sections. It is important when someone drinks with elder person because Korean think drinking etiquette is important to them.--Dhtpgus90 (talk) 11:46, 10 September 2013 (UTC)
 * Sure, I also think that could use expansion. Just provide us with some reliable sources to build from and we can go from there. Qwyrxian (talk) 12:03, 10 September 2013 (UTC)

I think the investigation into drinking etiquette was done too long ago. It was last surveyed in 2013, and these days, young people do not maintain much of the traditional drinking etiquette. I recommend to expand the investigation about young people's drinking etiquette.Cpdus0923 (talk) 06:09, 16 October 2023 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 16 external links on Korean cuisine. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
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Nomination of Portal:Korean cuisine for deletion
A discussion is taking place as to whether Portal:Korean cuisine is suitable for inclusion in Wikipedia according to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines or whether it should be deleted.

The page will be discussed at Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion/Portal:Korean cuisine (2nd nomination) until a consensus is reached, and anyone is welcome to contribute to the discussion. The nomination will explain the policies and guidelines which are of concern. The discussion focuses on high-quality evidence and our policies and guidelines.

Users may edit the page during the discussion, including to improve the page to address concerns raised in the discussion. However, do not remove the deletion notice from the top of the page. North America1000 09:00, 12 July 2019 (UTC)

Someone vandalized many pages
Someone bulk-changed the description of the articles for a lot of korean foods to "consumption of feces", letting yall know. Also changed the South Korean cuisine photo to a fly consuming feces.

I wonder what could make someone that mad 2603:7000:4C41:908:A409:7EBF:2D3E:1E63 (talk) 00:29, 3 April 2023 (UTC)

 * Which articles? --jpgordon𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇 15:10, 3 April 2023 (UTC)

Possibly too many pictures
There are a lot of pictures squeezed together especially in the beginning of the article. We should prune a couple to those that are most strongly tied to the body of the text, and not just pictures of assorted Korean foods that aren't mentioned where the picture is. 104.232.119.107 (talk) 06:02, 16 June 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Korean cuisine


text:
Robert Plant

Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band Led Zeppelin from its founding in 1968 until their breakup in 1980; since then he has had a successful solo career, sometimes collaborating with other artists such as Alison Krauss. Regarded by many as one of the greatest singers in rock music, he is known for his flamboyant persona and raw stage performances.

Plant was born and brought up in the West Midlands area of England, where after leaving grammar school he briefly trained as a chartered accountant before leaving home at 16 years old to concentrate on singing with a series of local blues bands, including Band of Joy with John Bonham. In 1968, he was invited by Peter Grant and Jimmy Page to join The Yardbirds, which Grant and Page were attempting to keep going. The new version of The Yardbirds changed their name to Led Zeppelin, and from the late 1960s to the end of the 1970s the band enjoyed considerable success.

Plant developed a compelling image as a charismatic rock-and-roll front man, comparable to contemporaries such as Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones, Roger Daltrey of the Who, Jim Morrison of the Doors, and Freddie Mercury of Queen. After Led Zeppelin dissolved in 1980, Plant continued to perform and record continuously on a variety of solo and group projects. His first two solo albums, Pictures at Eleven (1982) and The Principle of Moments (1983), each reached the top ten on the Billboard albums chart. With his band The Honeydrippers he scored a top-ten singles hit with a remake of "Sea of Love", which featured former Led Zeppelin bandmate Jimmy Page on guitar. Solo album Now and Zen (1988) was certified 3× Platinum and is Plant's biggest-selling solo album to date. In the 1990s, another reunion project called Page and Plant released two albums and earned a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1998 for "Most High". In 2007, Plant began a collaboration with bluegrass artist Alison Krauss, releasing the album Raising Sand, which won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2009 and produced the hit song "Please Read the Letter", which won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year the same year. In 2010, he revived the Band of Joy (which shared its name with an early band he performed with in the 1960s), and in 2012 formed a new band, the Sensational Space Shifters, followed by a reunion with Alison Krauss in 2019.

In 1995, Led Zeppelin were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Rolling Stone ranked Plant as one of the 100 best singers of all time (2008); and he was the top pick for the greatest lead singer in a 2011 readers poll. Hit Parader named Plant the "Greatest Metal Vocalist of All Time" (2006). Plant was named one of the 50 Great Voices by NPR. In 2009, Plant was voted "the greatest voice in rock" in a poll conducted by UK classic rock radio station Planet Rock. Billboard ranked him number 4 on their list of The 50 Greatest Rock Lead Singers of All Time (2023).

Early life and musical beginnings
Robert Anthony Plant was born on 20 August 1948, in the Black Country town of West Bromwich, Staffordshire, England, to Robert C. Plant, a qualified civil engineer who worked in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, and Annie Celia Plant (née Cain), a Romani woman. He grew up in the Hayley Green area of Halesowen, Worcestershire. Plant gained an interest in singing and rock and roll music at an early age; in an interview with Andrew Denton on the Denton talk show in 1994, Plant stated his desire, as a ten-year-old, to be like Elvis Presley:"When I was a kid I used to hide behind the curtains at home at Christmas and I used to try and be Elvis. There was a certain ambience between the curtains and the French windows, there was a certain sound there for a ten-year-old. That was all the ambience I got at ten years old ... And I always wanted to be ... a bit similar to that."He left King Edward VI Grammar School for Boys in Stourbridge in his mid-teens and developed a strong passion for the blues, mainly through his admiration for Willie Dixon, Robert Johnson and early renditions of songs in this genre.

"I suppose I was quite interested in my stamp collection and Romani-British history. I was a little grammar school boy and I could hear this kind of calling through the airwaves."

He abandoned training as a chartered accountant after only two weeks to attend college in an effort to gain more GCE passes and to become part of the English Midlands blues scene. "I left home at 16", he said, "and I started my real education musically, moving from group to group, furthering my knowledge of the blues and of other music which had weight and was worth listening to".

Plant's early blues influences included Johnson, Bukka White, Skip James, Jerry Miller, and Sleepy John Estes. Plant had various jobs while pursuing his music career, one of which was working for the major British construction company Wimpey in Birmingham in 1967 laying tarmac on roads. He also worked at Woolworth's in Halesowen town for a short period of time. He cut three obscure singles on CBS Records and sang with a variety of bands, including the Crawling King Snakes, which brought him into contact with drummer John Bonham. They both went on to play in the Band of Joy, merging blues with newer psychedelic trends.

Early years
In 1968, guitarist Jimmy Page was in search of a lead singer for his new band and met Plant after being turned down by his first choice, Terry Reid, who referred him to a show at a teacher training college in Birmingham (where Plant was singing in a band named Hobbstweedle). In front of Page, Plant sang Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love", leading Page to end his search. As recalled by Plant and Page: "Plant: I was appearing at this college when [ manager Peter Grant ] and Jimmy turned up and asked me if I'd like to join the Yardbirds. I knew the Yardbirds had done a lot of work in America – which to me meant audiences who would want to know what I might have to offer – so naturally I was very interested."

"Page: When I auditioned him and heard him sing, I immediately thought there must be something wrong with him personality-wise or that he had to be impossible to work with, because I just could not understand why, after he told me he'd been singing for a few years already, he hadn't become a big name yet. So I had him down to my place for a little while, just to sort of check him out, and we got along great. No problems."

With a shared passion for music, Plant and Page immediately developed a strong relationship, and began their writing collaboration with reworkings of earlier blues songs.

Initially dubbed the "New Yardbirds" in 1968, the band soon came to be known as Led Zeppelin. The band's eponymous debut album hit the charts in 1969 and is widely credited as a catalyst for the heavy metal genre. Plant has commented that it is unfair for people to think of Zeppelin as heavy metal, as almost a third of their music was acoustic.

In 1975, Plant and his wife Maureen (now divorced) were seriously injured in a car crash in Rhodes, Greece. This significantly affected the production of Led Zeppelin's seventh album Presence for a few months while he recovered, and forced the band to cancel the remaining tour dates for the year.

In July 1977, his son Karac died at the age of five while Plant was on Led Zeppelin's concert tour of the United States. Plant retreated to his home in the Midlands of England and, for months afterward, questioned his future.

Lyrics

Plant began writing song lyrics with Led Zeppelin during the making of Led Zeppelin II, in 1969. According to Jimmy Page:

"The most important thing about Led Zeppelin II is that up to that point I'd contributed lyrics. Robert hadn't written before, and it took a lot of ribbing to get him into writing, which was funny. And then, on the second LP, he wrote the words of Thank You. He said, 'I'd like to have a crack at this and write it for my wife.'"

Plant's lyrics with Led Zeppelin were often mystical, philosophical and spiritual, alluding to events in classical and Norse mythology, such as "Immigrant Song", which refers to Valhalla and Viking conquests. However, the song "No Quarter" is often misunderstood to refer to the god Thor; the song actually refers to Mount Thor (which is named after the god). Another example is "The Rain Song".

Plant was influenced by J. R. R. Tolkien, whose book series inspired lyrics in some early Led Zeppelin songs. Most notably, "The Battle of Evermore", "Misty Mountain Hop", "No Quarter", "Ramble On" and "Over the Hills and Far Away" contain verses referencing Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Conversely, Plant sometimes used more straightforward blues themes dealing with sex, as in "The Lemon Song", "Trampled Under Foot" about giving in to sexual temptation, and "Black Dog" narrated by a man obsessed with a woman.

Welsh mythology forms a basis of Plant's interest in mystical lyrics. He grew up close to the Welsh border and would often take summer trips to Snowdonia. Plant bought a Welsh sheep farm in 1973, and began taking Welsh lessons and looking into the mythology of the land (such as Black Book of Carmarthen, Book of Taliesin, etc.) Plant's first son, Karac, was named after the Welsh warrior Caratacus. The song "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" is named after the 18th-century Welsh cottage Bron-Yr-Aur, owned by a friend of his father; it later inspired the song "Bron-Yr-Aur". The songs "Misty Mountain Hop", "That's the Way", and early dabblings in what would become "Stairway to Heaven" were written in Wales and lyrically reflect Plant's mystical view of the land. Critic Steve Turner suggests that Plant's early and continued experiences in Wales served as the foundation for his broader interest in the mythologies he revisits in his lyrics (including those myth systems of Tolkien and the Norse).

Page's passion for diverse musical experiences influenced Plant to explore Africa, specifically Marrakesh in Morocco, where he encountered Umm Kulthum:

"I was intrigued by the scales, initially, and obviously the vocal work. The way she sang, the way she could hold a note, you could feel the tension, you could tell that everybody, the whole orchestra, would hold a note until she wanted to change."

Both he and Jimmy Page revisited these influences during their reunion album No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded in 1994. During his solo career Plant tapped into these influences many times, most notably on the 2002 album Dreamland.

Most of the lyrics of "Stairway to Heaven" from Led Zeppelin IV were written spontaneously by Plant in 1970 at Headley Grange while the track was being recorded. While never released as a single, the song has topped polls as the greatest song of all time.

Stage persona

Plant enjoyed great success with Led Zeppelin throughout the 1970s and developed a compelling image as the charismatic rock-and-roll front man, similar to his contemporaries the Who's singer Roger Daltrey, Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones, Freddie Mercury of Queen, and Jim Morrison of the Doors. With his mane of long blond hair and powerful, bare-chested appearance, Plant helped to create the "god of rock and roll" or "rock god" archetype. On stage, Plant was particularly active in live performances, often dancing, jumping, skipping, snapping his fingers, clapping, making emphatic gestures to emphasise a lyric or cymbal crash, throwing back his head, or placing his hands on his hips. As the 1970s progressed he, along with the other members of Led Zeppelin, became increasingly flamboyant on-stage, and wore more elaborate, colourful clothing and jewellery.

According to Classic Rock magazine, "once he had a couple of US tours under his belt, "Percy" Plant swiftly developed a staggering degree of bravado and swagger that irrefutably enhanced Led Zeppelin's rapidly burgeoning appeal." In 1994, during his "Unledded" tour with Jimmy Page, Plant himself reflected tongue-in-cheek upon his Led Zeppelin showmanship:

"I can't take my whole persona as a singer back then very seriously. It's not some great work of beauty and love to be a rock-and-roll singer. So I got a few moves from Elvis and one or two from Sonny Boy Williamson II and Howlin' Wolf and threw them all together."

One of the oddest awards he received was the Rock Scene magazine "Chest O Rama". Readers of the magazine had to decide who had the best chest in rock, and Plant was the winner. When they contacted him about it, he replied: "I'm really greatly honoured although it's hard for me to be eloquent on the subject of my chest."

Early career and success (1981–1993)
After Led Zeppelin disbanded in December 1980 (following the death of drummer John Bonham), Plant briefly considered abandoning music to pursue a career as a teacher in the Rudolf Steiner education system, going so far as to be accepted for teacher training. He nevertheless embarked on a successful solo career, helped by encouragement from Genesis drummer Phil Collins, who would go on to play with him. Plant's solo career began with the album Pictures at Eleven in 1982, followed by 1983's The Principle of Moments. Popular tracks from this period include "Big Log" (a Top 20 hit in 1983), "In the Mood" (1983), "Little by Little" (from 1985's Shaken 'n' Stirred), "Far Post" (the B-side of "Burning Down One Side"), which appeared on the soundtrack of the 1985 movie White Nights starring Gregory Hines and Mikhail Baryshnikov, and popularised by airplay on album-oriented rock stations), "Tall Cool One" (a No. 25 hit from 1988's Now and Zen) and later "I Believe" (from 1993's Fate of Nations). This last track, like Led Zeppelin's "All My Love", was written for and dedicated to his late son, Karac. Whilst Plant avoided performing Led Zeppelin songs through much of this period (although he would occasionally improvise his unique Zeppelin screams into his set), his tours in 1983 (with Phil Collins on drums) and in 1985 were very successful, often performing to sold-out arena-sized venues. In 1986 Plant performed at the Birmingham Heart Beat Charity Concert with other famous Midlands musicians.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s Plant co-wrote three solo albums with keyboardist/songwriter Phil Johnstone. These were: Now and Zen in 1988, Manic Nirvana in 1990, and the 1993 Fate of Nations (which features Moya Brennan of Clannad and former Cutting Crew guitarist Kevin Scott MacMichael). Songs from this third album, plus a smattering of Led Zeppelin classics, made up the set-list for Plant's acclaimed sunset performance on the Main Stage at Glastonbury Festival, in 1993. It was Johnstone who talked Plant into playing Led Zeppelin songs in his live shows, something Plant had always previously resisted, not wanting to be forever known as "the former Led Zeppelin vocalist".

Although Led Zeppelin disbanded in 1980, Plant occasionally collaborated with Jimmy Page on various projects through this period, including forming a short-lived all-star group with Page and Jeff Beck in 1984, called the Honeydrippers. They released an EP called The Honeydrippers: Volume One, and the band had a No. 3 hit with a remake of the Phil Phillips' tune "Sea of Love", plus a follow-up hit with a cover of Roy Brown's "Rockin' at Midnight". The pair again worked together in the studio on the 1988 Page solo effort Outrider, and in the same year Page contributed to Plant's album Now and Zen. Also, on 15 May 1988 Plant appeared with Page as a member of Led Zeppelin, at the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary concert (where he also performed in his own right as a solo artist). Plant's live collaborations with other well-known musicians continued when he took to the stage with Queen at Wembley Stadium, for 1992's "The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert" for AIDS Awareness; where he sang Queen's "Innuendo" and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", and Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" and "Thank You".

Page and Plant (1994–1998)
Page and Plant became a full-fledged performing act from 1994 through 1998, releasing the No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded album in 1994 and following with an enormously successful tour in 1995, including a return to the Glastonbury Festival. Fourteen years of speculation from their fans and occasional sniping between the two former members ended when they reconvened their former musical partnership to produce No Quarter. Having long resisted offers from MTV to reform to do an Unplugged show, they finally accepted as part of a deal that also allowed them to visit Morocco to record new material. The album combines the results of both of these projects. The Led Zeppelin material features new arrangements and new instrumentation, including strings, Egyptian musicians and the vocals of British-Asian star Najma Akhtar.

Page and Plant recorded their only post-Zeppelin album of original material as the 1998 album Walking into Clarksdale, an effort that was unsuccessful commercially, leading Plant to return to his solo career after another world tour. A song from this album, "Please Read the Letter", was re-recorded by Plant with Alison Krauss, and was featured on their 2007 album which won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year.

Priory of Brion and reunion with Page (1999–2001)
Starting in mid-1999, Plant performed until the end of 2000 at several small venues with his folk-rock band, named Priory of Brion. This band consisted of the original Band of Joy guitarist Kevyn Gammond alongside Andy Edwards (drums), Paul Timothy (keyboards), and Paul Wetton (bass). The Priory of Brion played around one hundred concerts across Europe at various small clubs and festivals. The band performed cover versions of songs that had influenced Plant in his formative years. Many of these cover versions would crop up later on his Dreamland album.

In 1999, Plant contributed to the tribute album for Moby Grape co-founder Skip Spence, who was terminally ill. The album, More Oar: A Tribute to the Skip Spence Album (Birdman, 1999), with the album title referring to Spence's only solo album, Oar (Columbia, 1969), contained Plant's version of Spence's "Little Hands". Plant had been an admirer of Spence and Moby Grape since the release of Moby Grape's eponymous 1967 debut album.

In 2001, Plant appeared on Afro Celt Sound System's album Volume 3: Further in Time. The song "Life Begin Again" features a duet with Welsh folksinger Julie Murphy, emphasising Plant's recurring interest in Welsh culture (Murphy would also tour in support of Plant).

In the summer of 2001, Plant reunited with Page for both a cover of "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It" for a Sun Records tribute album and an appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival, the last time they worked outside of Led Zeppelin together.

Strange Sensation and further collaborations (2002–2009)
In 2002, with his then newly formed band Strange Sensation, Plant released a widely acclaimed collection of mostly blues and folk remakes, Dreamland. Contrasting with this lush collection of often relatively obscure remakes, the second album with Strange Sensation, Mighty ReArranger (2005), contains new, original songs. Both have received some of the most favourable reviews of Plant's solo career and four Grammy nominations, two in 2003 and two in 2006.

As a former member of Led Zeppelin, along with Page and John Paul Jones, Plant received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005 and the Polar Music Prize in 2006.

From 2001 to 2007, Plant actively toured the US and Europe with Strange Sensation. His sets typically included recent, but not only, solo material and plenty of Led Zeppelin favourites, often with new and expanded arrangements. A DVD titled Soundstage: Robert Plant and Strange Sensation, featuring his Soundstage performance (filmed at the Soundstage studios in Chicago on 16 September 2005), was released in October 2006.

With Strange Sensation's Justin Adams he appeared at the 2003 Festival au Desert held in Essakane in the North of Mali, captured in a French-language documentary film entitled Le Festival au Désert (2004).

On 23 June 2006, Plant was the headliner (backed by Ian Hunter's band) at the Benefit For Arthur Lee concert at New York's Beacon Theatre, a show which raised money for Lee's medical expenses from his bout with leukaemia. Plant and band performed thirteen songs – five by Arthur Lee & Love, five Led Zeppelin songs and three others, including a duet with Ian Hunter. At the show, Plant told the audience of his great admiration for Arthur Lee dating back to the mid-'60s. Lee died of his illness six weeks after the concert.

An expansive box set of his solo work, Nine Lives, was released in November 2006, which expanded all of his albums with various B-sides, demos, and live cuts. It was accompanied by a DVD. All his solo works were re-released with these extra tracks individually.

In 2007, Plant contributed two tracks to the Fats Domino tribute album Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino, "It Keeps Rainin with the Lil' Band o' Gold and "Valley of Tears" with the Soweto Gospel Choir.

Plant performed with Strange Sensation guitarist Justin Adams and the West African riti (a one-string violin) master Juldeh Camara for the finale of the three day World of Music, Arts and Dance Festival in Abu Dhabi. Approximately 50,000 attended each of the free Womad concerts, which took place on the Corniche public beach from 23–25 April 2009.

Alison Krauss (2007–2009 & 2021)

In 2007 and 2008, Plant recorded and performed with bluegrass star Alison Krauss. A duet album, Raising Sand, was released on 23 October 2007 on Rounder Records. The album, recorded in Nashville and Los Angeles and produced by T Bone Burnett, includes performances of lesser-known material from R&B, blues, folk and country songwriters including Mel Tillis, Townes Van Zandt, Gene Clark, Tom Waits, Doc Watson, Little Milton and the Everly Brothers. In February 2008 the song "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)" from Raising Sand won a Grammy for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 50th Grammy Awards. In February 2009 at the 51st Grammy Awards, Raising Sand won 5 Grammys, for Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals, Best Country Collaboration with Vocals, and Contemporary Folk/Americana Album. The album has been successful critically and commercially, and was certified platinum on 4 March 2008. The album was also nominated for the Mercury Prize in July 2008.

Plant and Krauss began an extended tour of the US and Europe in April 2008, playing music from Raising Sand and other American roots music as well as reworked Led Zeppelin tunes. Also in 2008, Plant performed with bluegrass musicians at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. He appeared as a surprise guest during Fairport Convention's set at the 2008 Cropredy Festival, performing Led Zeppelin's "The Battle of Evermore" with Kristina Donahue as a tribute to Sandy Denny.

In 2021, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss released the 12-track studio album Raise the Roof, produced by T Bone Burnett, as a follow-up to Raising Sand. Accompanying the album's launch, Plant and Krauss performed a globally live-streamed set, broadcast from Nashville's Sound Emporium Studios.

Band of Joy (2010–2011)

In July 2010, Plant embarked on a twelve-date summer tour in the United States with his newly formed group called Band of Joy (reprising the name of his first band in the 1960s). The group included singer Patty Griffin, singer-guitarist Buddy Miller, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Darrell Scott, bassist-vocalist Byron House, and drummer-percussionist-vocalist Marco Giovino.

A one-off show in the United States on 12 September 2010 at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City, was followed by an eleven-date autumn 2010 tour in Europe and a North America tour in 2011.

A new studio album called Band of Joy was released on 13 September 2010 on the Rounder Records label. The album was nominated for Best Americana Album in the 2011 Grammy Awards, and Plant's performance of "Silver Rider" on the album (a cover from the Low album The Great Destroyer) was nominated for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance.

The band played their final scheduled show together at the Big Chill Festival at Eastnor Castle Deer Park in Herefordshire on 7 August 2011. The show ended with Plant bidding his bandmates "a fond farewell".

September 2011 – Plant played in Marfa, TX at El Cosmic Trans – Pecos Festival as part of a band called Crown Vic consisting of Patty Griffin, Dony Wynn, David Grissom, Glenn Fukunaga, Michael Ramos.

On 30 September 2011, Plant and Band of Joy played in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, as part of the 11th Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival.

Released in October 2011, Plant duetted with Alfie Boe on "Song to the Siren" for Alfie's sixth album, Alfie, which he also recorded himself on 2002's Dreamland.

Sensational Space Shifters (2012–2018)
It was first reported that Robert Plant's new band, the Sensational Space Shifters, would be debuting at 2012's WOMAD festival in Wiltshire, England. An intimate warm up gig was then announced in Gloucester on 8 May 2012 to a crowd of 400. Although it was initially reported that there were 10 members of the band, along with Plant the band consists of former Strange Sensation members, Cast guitarist Liam "Skin" Tyson, Justin Adams, Billy Fuller and John Baggott along with Dave Smith and Juldeh Camara. Patty Griffin was the special guest on the first few shows prior to her new album release and subsequent tour.

On 13 July 2012, the band released a download live album called Sensational Space Shifters (Live in London July '12). This album featured a mix of Strange Sensation and Led Zeppelin reinterpretations as well as covers and a spot by Patty Griffin. In addition to WOMAD and the Gloucester show, the Sensational Space Shifters were scheduled for the free Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival's 25th anniversary in Clarksdale, Mississippi on 10–12 August 2012.

Released in 2014, Lullaby and...The Ceaseless Roar is Plant's tenth solo album and the first studio recording with his band the Sensational Space Shifters. On 28 June 2014, Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters played at the Glastonbury Extravaganza. The band featured West African musician Juldeh Camara, guitarists Skin Tyson and Justin Adams, drummer Dave Smith, Massive Attack keyboardist John Baggott, and bassist Billy Fuller. On 7 August 2014, Plant announced an autumn 2014 7-date North American tour from 25 September (in Port Chester, NY) to 7 October 2014 (in Los Angeles, CA).

To celebrate Record Store Day 2015 (Saturday 18 April), Plant released a special 10-inch live EP titled More Roar, which was limited to 10,000 copies. During a concert at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on 19 September 2015, Plant hinted at plans for a new album with the Sensational Space Shifters, stating, "We'll go make another record and then we'll come see you guys even more."

On 25 April 2015, Plant headlined a special event, "Lead Belly at 125" – a tribute to American Folk Legend Lead Belly at Kennedy Centre in conjunction with the Grammy Museum and performed with Alison Krauss, Viktor Krauss, Buddy Miller.

Plant covered Elbow's track, "Blanket of Night", featured on the British Red Cross' compilation LP "The Long Road", released on 4 March 2016. The LP aimed to raise awareness of the "struggles faced by refugees and asylum seekers at a time of increased global conflict and migration". "We have a worldwide international catastrophe," says Plant. "Talking about it is one thing, doing something about it is another. The position we are in, it's paramount we all do our best one way or another to help." Plant later confirmed that in October he would join artists including Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Patty Griffin, for select dates on the Lampedusa Concerts for Refugees tour. The tour across 11 North American cities was a series of acoustic concerts intended to raise awareness of the worldwide refugee crisis and funds to support educational programs for refugees.

Plant's eleventh solo album, Carry Fire, was released on 13 October 2017 and was the second studio album to be supported by his band the Sensational Space Shifters. In 2018, Plant received the AMA Lifetime Achievement Award at the UK Americana Honors & Awards. Plant headlined the Sunday night of Iceland's Secret Solstice Festival in Reykjavík on 23 June 2019.

John Blease joined the Sensational Space Shifters in June 2018 and replaced Dave Smith on drums.

Saving Grace (2019–present)
On 7 March 2019, Plant performed at the Third Annual LOVE ROCKS NYC, a benefit concert for God's Love We Deliver at the Beacon Theatre in NYC, hosted by Bill Murray, Martin Short and Chevy Chase amongst others, featuring an all-star line up including Sheryl Crow, Buddy Guy, Hozier, Billy F Gibbons, Jimmie Vaughan. The concert was presented by John Varvatos and Greg Williamson. Released via Plant's own Es Paranza label, a remastered version (with updated artwork) of Fate of Nations as part of 2019 Record Store Day with proceeds going to Greenpeace.

In 2019, Plant formed a low-key acoustic band called Saving Grace and performed support slots in February 2019 for Fairport Convention and Seth Lakeman In March 2020, Saving Grace announced a US tour scheduled for May 2020 that was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On 19 July 2021, Plant appeared onstage for his first post-pandemic show in Worthing, England, performing with his band Saving Grace for the first time since 2019. He went on to tour the UK with Saving Grace for their rescheduled shows.

Led Zeppelin-related projects and reunion rumours

Plant performed with living members of Led Zeppelin both on 13 July 1985 for Live Aid (with Phil Collins and Tony Thompson on drums) and on 15 May 1988 for Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary. At the 1988 reunion, Jason Bonham, the son of Led Zeppelin's late drummer John Bonham, played drums. Both sets featured only a few songs, performed with minimal rehearsal. Plant was unhappy with both performances, saying that "it was like sleeping with your ex-wife but not making love." At the 1990 Silver Clef Award Winners Concert at Knebworth, Plant was joined by Jimmy Page. Some of their set was released on the subsequent live album and video. In 1995, Led Zeppelin were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; Plant performed a medley of blues numbers at the induction show with Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Jason Bonham, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, then they were joined by fellow inductee Neil Young for "When the Levee Breaks".

After years of reunion rumours, Led Zeppelin performed a full two-hour set on 10 December 2007 at the Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert, with Jason again filling in on drums. Despite enormous public demand, Plant declined a $200 million offer to tour with Led Zeppelin after the 2007 show. In interviews following the 2007 show, Plant left the door open to possible future performances with Led Zeppelin, saying that he enjoyed the reunion and felt that the show was strong musically. Although Page and Jones have expressed the strong desire to tour as Led Zeppelin, Plant has consistently opposed a full tour and has responded negatively to questions about another reunion. In a January 2008 interview, he stated that he does not want to "tour like a bunch of bored old men following the Rolling Stones around." In a statement on his web site in late 2008, Plant stated, "I will not be touring with Led Zeppelin or anyone else for the next two years. Anyone buying Led Zeppelin tickets will be buying bogus tickets."

In February 2013, Plant hinted that he was open to a Led Zeppelin reunion in 2014, though suggesting that he was not the reason for Led Zeppelin's dormancy, saying that Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones "are Capricorns...They're quite contained in their own worlds and they leave it to me", adding that he was "not the bad guy" and that "You need to see the Capricorns – I've got nothing to do in 2014".

In a spring 2014 interview with the BBC about the then forthcoming reissue of Led Zeppelin's first three albums, Page said he was sure fans would be keen on another reunion show, but Plant later replied that "the chances of it happening [were] zero". Page then told The New York Times that he was "fed up" with Plant's refusal to play, stating: "I was told last year that Plant said he is doing nothing in 2014, and what do the other two guys think? Well, he knows what the other guys think. Everyone would love to play more concerts for the band. He's just playing games, and I'm fed up with it, to be honest with you. I don't sing, so I can't do much about it", adding: "I definitely want to play live. Because, you know, I've still got a twinkle in my eye. I can still play. So, yeah, I'll just get myself into musical shape, just concentrating on the guitar."

On 30 July 2014, NME revealed that Plant was "slightly disappointed and baffled" by Page in an ongoing Led Zeppelin dispute during which Page declared he was "fed up" with Plant delaying Led Zeppelin reunion plans. Instead, Plant offered Led Zeppelin's guitarist to write acoustically with him as he is interested in working with Page again but only in an unplugged way. Page responded:

"He would have no intention whatsoever of doing it ... I've had enough of all this stuff, to be honest: 'Robert says this, Robert says that.' ... The only reality of it is that we did one concert. No matter how you dress it up, look at the situation. That's it."

Personal life
Plant married Maureen Wilson on 9 November 1968. The couple had three children: daughter Carmen Jane (1968) (who later married Charlie Jones, Plant's bass player for solo tours); and sons Karac Pendragon (1972–1977), and Logan Romero (1979). In 1977, during Led Zeppelin's US tour, their five-year-old son, Karac, died of a stomach illness. The song "All My Love", co-written with John Paul Jones, is a tribute to him.

The couple divorced in August 1983.

In 1991, Plant and Shirley Wilson (sister of ex-wife Maureen) had a son, Jesse Lee.

Plant is interested in Welsh history and donated money to the creation of a bronze statue of the Welsh prince Owain Glyndŵr, at Pennal Church, near Machynlleth, in Wales, unveiled in September 2004. He is also believed to have contributed funds to a slate carving of Glyndŵr's coat of arms at the Celtica museum in Machynlleth. Plant is part of a Glyndŵr network, and attends meetings about him in Wales.

In the New Year Honours List 2009, Plant was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire "for services to music" and on 10 July 2009 invested by then Prince of Wales King Charles III.

On 14 August 2009, football club Wolverhampton Wanderers announced that Plant has become the club's third vice-president. Plant officially received the honour before kick-off at the club's first match of the season against West Ham United. Plant was five years old when he first visited Molineux Stadium. He recalled in an interview with his local paper, the Express & Star, in August 2010: "I was five when my dad took me down for the first time and Billy Wright waved at me. Honest, he did. And that was it – I was hooked from that moment."

In late 2010, BBC Two aired a documentary titled Robert Plant: By Myself. It features Robert Plant discussing his journey with Led Zeppelin and various projects since.

In a July 2012 interview with The Independent newspaper, Plant stated he "eloped and ran off to Texas" with American singer Patty Griffin. Plant's UK-based manager later told E! News that Plant was apparently being cheeky when he used the word "eloped" to describe his home life, for "Robert has not married Patty Griffin," instead "He was just referring to the fact that he's been residing in Texas" with her. According to a July 2012 Ultimate Classic Rock article, Plant and Griffin had been dating for over a year, spending half of their time together in Austin, Texas. On 23 August 2014, The Independent indicated Plant had broken up with Griffin: ""Patty and I tried a sort of zig-zag across the Atlantic," Plant told the publication, "but she didn't share my penchant for cider and she used to marvel at the Black Country character I became after four pints of Thatchers. My feelings are very much ones of sadness and regret."

In early 2013, Plant contributed to a community buyout scheme to save the Bath music venue, the Bell Inn.

He currently resides at Shatterford, near Bewdley in the Wyre Forest District of Worcestershire.

In 2020, Plant donated money towards frontline medical supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The money went to the GoFundMe page of a small clothing manufacturer in Kidderminster, England that makes scrubs for local hospitals.

Legacy
Plant has influenced the style of many of his contemporaries, including Geddy Lee, Ann Wilson, Sammy Hagar, and later rock vocalists such as Jeff Buckley and Jack White who imitated his performing style. Freddie Mercury of Queen, and Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses were influenced by Plant. Encyclopædia Britannica notes that "Exaggerating the vocal style and expressive palette of blues singers such as Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters, Plant created the sound that has defined much hard rock and heavy metal singing: a high range, an abundance of distortion, loud volume, and emotional excess". Plant received the Knebworth Silver Clef Award in 1990.

In 2006, hard rock/heavy metal magazine Hit Parader named Plant as No. 1 on its list of the 100 Greatest Metal Vocalists of All Time, a list that included Rob Halford of Judas Priest (No. 2), Steven Tyler (No. 3), Freddie Mercury (No. 6), Geddy Lee (No. 13) and Paul Stanley (No. 18), all of whom were influenced by Plant. In 2008, Rolling Stone named Plant the 15th-greatest singer of all time on their list of 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. In 2009, he was voted the "greatest voice in rock" in a poll conducted by Planet Rock. He was included in the Q magazine's 2009 list of "Artists of the Century" and was ranked at number 8 in their list of "100 Greatest Singers" in 2007. In 2009, Plant also won the Outstanding Contribution to Music prize at the Q Awards. He was placed at No. 3 on SPIN's list of "The 50 Greatest Rock Frontmen of All Time".

On 20 September 2010 National Public Radio (NPR) named Plant as one of the "50 Great Voices" in the world.

In July 2018, Plant won the Silver Cleff Integro Outstanding Award, announced by music charity Nordoff Robbins.

On 15 March 2022 Plant was the guest on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. His musical choices included "I Ain't Superstitious" by Howlin' Wolf and "Ohio" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. His book choice was The Earliest English Poems, translated by Michael Alexander, his luxury item was a basket containing photos of homing pigeons and his favourite musical piece was "Serenade" by Mario Lanza.

Discography
Studio albums
 * Pictures at Eleven (1982)
 * The Principle of Moments (1983)
 * Shaken 'n' Stirred (1985)
 * Now and Zen (1988)
 * Manic Nirvana (1990)
 * Fate of Nations (1993)
 * Dreamland (2002)
 * Mighty ReArranger (2005)
 * Band of Joy (2010)
 * Lullaby and the Ceaseless Roar (2014)
 * Carry Fire (2017)

Compilation albums
 * Sixty Six to Timbuktu (2003)
 * Nine Lives (Box Set) (2006)
 * Digging Deep (2019)
 * Digging Deep: Subterranea (2020)

Live albums
 * Sensational Space Shifters (Live in London July '12) (2012)

Collaborative albums
 * The Honeydrippers: Volume One (1984) (with Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck)
 * No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded (1994) (live album with Jimmy Page)
 * Walking into Clarksdale (1998) (with Jimmy Page)
 * Raising Sand (2007) (with Alison Krauss)
 * Raise the Roof (2021) (with Alison Krauss)

title: Robert Plant