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User talk:Arpingstone/ArchiveJul10-2003

Hi Adrian,

re the images on Irish Houses of Parliament, unfortunately italics is a disaster because one browser in one version (Internet Explorer of course, who else!) turns them particularly when small into barely legible spiderly writing. I put the captions in in the way they are because they were the only way I could get didn't produce this effect. As to alternation, I've moved some but that too is highly problematical because some images interfere with headlines. That problem occurs on some versions of netscape because it does not recognise the command and so text laid out as small which work perfectly on most browsers grow to full size on some versions of netscape, throwing everything all over the place and indenting some headlines, as well as crashing into other images if they are anyway close. (In putting on a lot of images with captions lately I have run into those problems over and over and over again and had to avoid the practice. Unless we get everyone to collectively bin IE and netscape - and oh god I wish they would. Of all the browsers I have used they are by far the worst! - italics (which I love using in professional documents I lay out) is a problem and alternation of pictures needs to be used very sparingly, and not with the  commands unless there are a clear two paragraphs between a left indent and the next headline. Even then all sorts of additional problems occur. I found these problems when using IE, then Netscape as a replacement. (I now use safari which is 100 times better!) I thought it was just a problem with my version of them, but others reported that different versions also produced the same problems. For some reason, it seems on netscape the newer the version the more it tends to screw up wiki images, or so I was told when I mentioned my problems. Older versions seemed not to have a problem. As one person joked, it seems bizarre that in every version of that damned browser they produce, things get worse not better! ÉÍREman 19:28 May 11, 2003 (UTC)

Sounds like you're going to have lots of aircraft pictures to add after last weekend, eh? :) -- John Owens 09:00 16 May 2003 (UTC)
 * There won't be many aircraft articles to illustrate because lots of the aircraft I photographed last weekend at Kemble (in south west England) have no Wikipedia entry. I took 360 pics (!) at the Kemble Great Vintage Fly-in Weekend where four hundred British vintage light aircraft were on display. The first one I've added is a Piper Super Cub, look at The New Piper Aircraft, which was in a hangar at the time. I used up two 128 megabyte Smart Media cards on my digital camera, each card holds 180 pictures. Thanks for your interest, Best Wishes, Adrian Pingstone 15:03 16 May 2003 (UTC)

 * I think it's perfectly reasonable, Adrian. The distinction between a DC-9 and an MD-88, as you know, is more semantic than real, and as I recall the text of the entry takes the sensble line that they should all be regarded as one big family of aircraft. So go right ahead! Nice to hear that you have lots of nice new photographs. Maybe I can get my head out of the mammals long enough to write you a type entry or two to put them in. Cheers -- Tannin

 * Woops! I thought I had written a great long article to go there! Must be thinking of DC-8. No matter, the entry will take that line, once I get around to writing it. Tannin

 * Nice picture (as always). I have always thought that the DC-9 was one of the best looking commercial aircraft ever made. Nothing unusual or radical, they just got the proportions exactly right somehow. Tannin

-

The Peacock's Display

Just saw the large peacock photo by you. I've never seen peacocks so close in the zoos. This photo of yours is doubtlessly the most professional I've seen on WP so far. Because of this photo, I plan to translate the peacock article into Chinese. --Menchi 10:17 25 May 2003 (UTC)
 * Thanks for your kind comment, much appreciated. I am just an amateur photographer with only a mid range digital camera but I have a firm rule that I will only put my best photos on Wikipedia and only if I have a large version as well. Nowadays, I do the big one 750 pixels wide so that an 800 pixel wide screen is not overwhelmed. The little one I do at 300 pixels wide so that text can flow down the side. The peacock was roaming free on an island in Poole harbour in south western England and was displaying to a female (not to me!) Best Wishes Adrian Pingstone 10:44 25 May 2003 (UTC)

Replied to your query on my talk page as requested. jimfbleak 10:37 27 May 2003 (UTC)

Thanks for your good work at Clifton Suspension Bridge. I thought the new versions were a bit too light when I looked at them at home, but on my monitor at work they're just right and my versions are horribly dark! The 750px versions look a bit fuzzy to me (you must have blown them up from my 600px versions), so I will go back to my original scans (nearly 4000px wide), try to recreate what you've done, and we'll see whether it produces any real improvement this evening. --rbrwr

 * You are quite right, I should have left the big pic at 600px wide. I blew it up to 750 px which was probably not a good idea. I did the blow up because I've standardised on a 750px pic, a size that doesn't overwhelm an 800 by 600 screen and is obviously OK at higher resolutions as well. I did all the processing in Photoshop. For your interest, I've discovered that any embedded thumbnail over 300px wide can squeeze the surrounding text down to just a few words in width, on an 800 by 600 screen (I use 1024 by 768). The effect is particularly serious if the reader has their Preferences set to have a menu down the left hand side. That's why I use 300px. All the articles I've illustrated are listed at User:Arpingstone
 * Cheers! Adrian Pingstone 08:28 28 May 2003 (UTC)

 * Well, I've given it a go, and the first file is up at Image:Clifton.bridge.745pix.jpg - my version ended up a little darker in the sky but lighter on the bridge. Does it look Ok to you? It's definitely sharper, but is close to half the file size. Mine's not as rotated as yours, either. I'm still not sure what I should take to be a correct vertical in the image... --rbrwr

 * Excellent picture, I don't see any need to change it any more. I took my vertical as a line through the bridge pier but I was being too fussy and the tiny lean really doesn't matter. Best Wishes Adrian Pingstone 08:04 29 May 2003 (UTC)

 * Thanks. I'll upload the other one tonight. --rbrwr

Thanks for the tip on portrait format, Adrian - I'd already spotted the 250 and 600 px sizes as you will see from University of Bristol... --rbrwr

Yes, I was a little unsure about the tilt on the university tower myself. I came to the conclusion that it's close enough to the angle where the nearest vertical edge of the tower (which goes right up the middle of the picture) should appear exactly vertical, and cropped it that way. By the way, today's uploads are the product of having got up bright and early on bank holiday Monday. --rbrwr

In response to your question, I'm using Photoshop 5.0LE for Windows, which came free with some piece of kit (scanner? printer? both?). Most of my recent JPEGs have been saved with quality setting 7 and "baseline optimised" format. I have picked up a few tips from Philip & Alex, of which I think the use of unsharp mask is the one making the difference that you can see - it artificially emphasises the edges of things a bit. When working with my own photos I also have the advantage of always cropping and rotating the high-quality original before I resize it. Hope that helps... --rbrwr
 * Good reply, thanks for the hints. That website is most interesting. Thanks again, Best Wishes Adrian Pingstone 12:10 1 Jun 2003 (UTC)

I notice you like putting pictures on articles. I was just wondering is their any chance that you could find a picture to go on the Thrust 2 and Thrust SSC articles. By-the-way where do you get your pictures from. G-Man 2/6/03
 * I'm sorry I can't answer properly for 2 days but my computer is going for repair. I promise I will answer you when it comes back.
 * Adrian Pingstone 15:13 3 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * Hi! My pics come from the following sources:
 * My own digital photography.
 * Long hours searching the internet using Google (I'm retired).
 * US sources such as NOAA, NASA, Navy, Army and Air Force.
 * The Canadian Air Force (I no longer use the Australian Air Force, I think their copyright message is too restricting for Wikipedia).
 * I have two photographers who let me use the pics off their sites.

 * That's it! The easy way to see exactly where a pic comes from is simply to click on it. I always explain, in great detail, my source.
 * I've added two ThrustSSC pics but got in a mess trying to correct a mistake you made. You called them Thrust SSC and Thrust 2 (which is wrong, it's ThrustSSC and Thrust2). So I made a Redirect from Thrust SSC and Thrust 2 to the correct titles but now, when I put Thrust SSC or Thrust 2 into the Search box there's no result and I can't understand what I did wrong.
 * Best Wishes Adrian Pingstone 14:04 6 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Just out of curiosity, you seem to have been around the British aircraft biz a bit, albeit seemingly mostly on the civilian side... ever been to RAF Brize-Norton? -- John Owens 10:32 6 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * No, I haven't been to Brize, even though it's only about 40 miles from where I live. My interest has been photography at Heathrow since I bought a digital (Olympus 3020Z) camera about a year ago. For your interest, Brize has 19 VC10s, 8 Tristars and 4 C17s. Lyenham (about the same distance from me) has 51 C130s. I love illustrating Wikipedia and I cast about endlessly over the net for public domain pics (now that I've used up all the pics I've taken myself). I won't use any poor images so it's a hard search (but fun). Luckily I've got double speed broadband (1 megabyte cable) compared to the 56K dialup I used to have (and I'm retired) so I have loads of time for the searches.
 * Best Wishes Adrian Pingstone 13:33 6 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * Huh, the C-17s are new. I asked because that's where I was stationed for about a month during the Kosovo dust-up, working on KC-135s that went there. I definitely remember the VC-10s, since those were our equivalent there, but I'd have noticed C-17s if they'd been there then. One of the curious aspects of that time was getting visits from one of the big Antonovs, I forget exactly which one, complete with the Russian tricolour on it. That seemed a little weird. ;)
 * Unfortunately, I'm still among the digital-camera-lacking unwashed, and to top it off, some of my prints are in storage (and I didn't have a huge store to begin with). So I'm waiting to use a friend's scanner sometime, and then I should have a couple of decent pictures to add. -- John Owens 21:26 6 Jun 2003 (UTC)

I've moved your photo comments onto my talk page. CGS 17:32 11 Jun 2003 (UTC).

Sistine Chapel ceiling
I showed my little sister in first-grade those photos, and she exclaimed, "How did he take those so close? Did he stand up there, like a spider or something?!" :-) --Menchi 20:57 14 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Didn't really take that long at all, I just used search and replace.

I've been kind of torn in such instances whether I should be replacing with &rdquot; etc., but I finally guessed it would probably be better to go with uniformity with most of the other articles. - Hephaestos 20:51 15 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Hi Adrian. I think this link to Swarovski ought to answer your question. :) I have heaps more on this stuff if you are interested. -- Beat Tannin

Adrian, I was using a different computer from my normal one the other day and I looked at those Winchester Cathedral photos, and suddendly mine did seem to be very dark. I always thought the PNG format compensated for this problem with a gamma correction field. I'm going to switch them (upload yours into mine). CGS 17:58 19 Jun 2003 (UTC).

Hi Arpingstone, I find the image of the Austrian town Kaprun really nice, but why did you put it on the "Austria" page? I don't see any relation to the article. Fantasy 08:11 20 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * moved discussion to talk:Austria Fantasy 09:18 20 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Hi Adrian, again me. Another question: It seems to me, that you are (apart from airplanes) also interrested in cableways, Aerial tramways and things like that. Are you often in Austria, have you been also in South Tyrol? Are you also interrested in trains? Fantasy 10:06 20 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * Hi Adrian, thanks for your reply on my page. I had just some friends from England that are interrested in trains and things like that, for this my question. I think this is a really good job, you are doing. A lot of the people that add "knowledge" to Wikipedia forget that you have also to enjoy the reading, and facts alone are "dry" ;-)  I look forward for many other fotos you add to Wikipedia. Have fun with you digicam, I think i will learn from you and also start to add my private fotos to Wikipedia! Greetings from Germany,  Fantasy 14:44 20 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Hi Adrian, saw your query re duck names. Individual species capitalised throughout apart from hyphenated bits, eg Barrow's Goldeneye, Green-winged Teal, but for article titles there must be a lower case redirect to the capitalised version. Groups of birds not capitalised. eg the water kingfishers, the tree swifts. Scientific names as Anas crecca. Any queries, get back to me or Tannin,   jimfbleak 05:30 23 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Hm, that's odd. I was using css to get the text smaller, but I guess IE's not picking it up. I went ahead and put it back to smaller in HTML, if you would have a look and make sure it works now that would be great. (Either css or html works in my browser; unfortunately I've done quite a few pages the css way, but I'll switch to the html tags from now on.) I put the parentheses in to differentiate between the rest of the text for flow, but I'm not adamant about it, if you'd like to change that back that's fine. - Hephaestos 13:17 23 Jun 2003 (UTC)

NASA logo

Hello, I've found a logo from NASA and I've uploaded it here: Image:Nasa-logo.png.

You seem to be the imaging expert here, so I'm hoping that you would process the image to a more manageable size.

Thanks. -- Erzengel 15:46 25 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Nice work. -- Erzengel 21:43 25 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Hi Adrian. We have had a bit of a burst of articles about various duck species recently, which of course would be greatly enhanced by images. Those that occur in N America aren't too bad because of the US Fishery and Wildlife Service public domain images, but most European species (and Mandarin Duck) have nothing.

I remember you saying you had been to Slimbridge, and wondered if you had any images you could add to these articles. Alternatively, if you have images for which there are no articles, I could prioritise those species on my "to do" list. Thanks for any help you can give (incidentally, I'll be off-line for a few days after tomorrow morning, so if you reply and I don't respond, I'm not ignoring you.  jimfbleak 08:19 26 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * The following definitely exist

 * Bean Goose
 * Black Swan ? has some pics
 * Mute Swan ? has some pics
 * Snow Goose
 * Whistling Swan (may be under Tundra Swan)
 * Whistling duck (group article)
 * Red-breasted Goose
 * White-fronted Goose
 * Shelduck could go under Tadorninae for now

I'll check the others, and write (eventually) those I know something about.

Many thanks

jimfbleak 14:18 26 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Hi Adrian, I replied to your question on my page. I think, it is easyer to keep a discussion on the same page (otherwise i get confused... ;-) Fantasy 14:01 26 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Hi Adrian, thanks for your pictures in the Bremen article. Photos are doubling the value of a city article. As for the pronunciation guide, I am sorry for forgetting to leave a comment on my deletion. There are two reasons: Firstly, it is not correct; if the first syllable would rhyme with clay, the city would be spelled "Brejmen". Secondly, it seems to me, that pronunciation guides rather belong to a dictionary than to an encyclopedia. We don't have pronunciation guides for all the other cities and places (at least I didn't find them). So it is somewhat strange to have it here and nowhere else. If you strongly feel that a pronunciation guide for foreign language places is necessary, then we should ask the community on village pump what they do think about it. Admittedly, I'd be quite unhappy with it. -- Cordyph 14:28 26 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * OK, so Bray-mun is not quite right but surely close enough for a non-German speaker! And if we don't have pronunciation for the other difficult city names then we should, such a guide is perfectly well part of an encyclopedia (and a dictionary) However, lifes too short to worry about this, you and I just have different opinions of how much the reader should be told. We'll agree to disagree, and the reader can stay ignorant of how to pronounce the title of the article he/she is reading! I won't revert you.
 * Best Wishes Adrian Pingstone 17:14 26 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * I am sorry, that you feel that angry. That was not intended by me. I would feel more comfortable with a phonetic alphabet, since there are some sounds in foreign languages, which do not exist in English and which can't be represented in English syllables. And in my own defence, it is not, that German city names are usually pronounced in a very strange way. Like in Italian or Spanish or several other languages, pronunciation is almost identical with the phonetic alphabet. I am interested, what other Wikipedians think about a pronunciation guide, so maybe I will bring this topic onto the mailing list. -- Cordyph 21:21 26 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * Sorry, I am a mild person normally but I felt strongly on this and obviously it came over that way. Thanks for your polite response to my unfriendly reply. I'll carry the discussion on just a little further please .....
 * Wouldn't a phonetic alphabet, with its specialised symbols, be much more confusing than my simple attempt to approximate to the pronunciation and a key would be needed to the phonetic alphabet. How would the reader access the key? I think the issue is..... how to give a rough guide in the rare case where the assumption a reader would make on the pronunciation could be wrong. Are you aware that most English-speakers would assume it to be Bremen as in lemon? It would be good to sort the matter out so by all means discuss it further in another area of Wikipedia. Best Wishes,
 * Adrian Pingstone 08:15 27 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * I'm not sure if it's a genyooine Wikipedia standard or not, but I usually see such things done around here with the SAMPA alphabet, q.v. See SAMPA/English for the English rendition; SAMPA Chart kind of covers other languages. Usually it will have a link to the SAMPA page somewhere near the pronunciation's representation. I do favour having a simple pronunciation tip for the casual reader as well, though. -- John Owens 08:29 27 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * Hello, I just posted this to the mailing list. Maybe both of you want to join a discussion there? (http://mail.wikipedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2003-June/thread.html) I regret again, that I was so fast in deleting the pronunciation guide, but I strongly feel, that we should not give rough approximations for correct spelling. So SAMPA might be a solution that I would not oppose. -- Cordyph 08:33 27 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * Although it's easy to see the good intention behind the pronunciation guide, I too feel a transcription to English being a less than optimal solution, in particular as English as a mother tongue is pronounced quite differently in different parts of the world. Further I would warn against the clay-rhyme, as the last syllable in "clay" is a diphthong which both the English and US-Americans tend to insert falsly in their French (and sometimes in German) for stressed é-sounds. In my opinion both the "e" in "Bremen" is closer to the first "e" in "remedy", although the first "e" of "Bremen" is more than duplicated in length. Maybe some US-English pronounciations of "bear" would come close? -- Ruhrjung 12:46 27 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * OK, I now accept that Cordyph and Ruhrjung are right i.e. that non-English words can't be accurately rhymed with English sounds. Thanks for all your inputs. Which means, Cordyph, that you were right to revert me. Best Wishes, Adrian Pingstone 14:04 27 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Dump the drawings, they're just there on a better-than-nothing basis, and the taxobox is the standard place for the first picture/link to larger combination.

Thanks again for your help. I hope this is enough, because after tomorrow am I'm going to be off line for a few days. jimfbleak 18:47 26 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * Ok, that's fine, I'll sort out how to do it by looking at other taxoboxes that have a "Larger Version" message. Have a nice break (or whatever).
 * Adrian Pingstone 20:01 26 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * Nice Bean Goose. We will make a birder of you yet. The two white-fronted geese might be an ID challenge. I realised what had happened with Black Swan, and just reverted it; I assumed you hadn't suddenly embarked on a campaign of vandalism!- -jimfbleak 12:59 27 Jun 2003 (UTC)

No, I'm afraid you have jumped to conclusions. I am not a "troublemaker." Have a look at my 1900+ contributions if you need convincing. The fact is, no real explanation was given for the removal beside that jimfbleak didn't like my illustration. He jumped to the conclusion (much like you) that it was a "cartoon" or "parody." I find this insulting. There was no good reason to remove an illustration that is perfect for that article (it's a woodpecker finch, look at the images description!). I don't know what you have against people contributing original works, but it seems to be the consensus that my illustrations are not wanted in the bird pages. MB 14:37 27 Jun 2003 (UTC)

As it happens, as an inveterate Recent Changes checker, I'd picked up on that and your excellent White-front and swan pics. Now, if you book your next holiday in the Galapagos Islands, I'll write the woodpecker finch article to go with your pics.

Hi Adrian. Your Snow Goose image should definitely be first choice, preferably labelled as blue phase. Whether it's worth keeping the other one for the tim being as well, to show the white phase, is more difficult given the difference in appearance - you decide what looks best, and I'll go with that. jimfbleak 05:28 28 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Hi Adrian. I,ve been off line for a couple of days with the builders in. Don't the waterfowl articles look better with good pictures? As you say, the Bewick's can wait. There are large numbers that winter at Slimbridge, can't remember if they feed them there though (they do at Welney WWT). BTW, despite the similarity, Ross's Goose is a different species to the Snow Goose. Keep up the good work! jimfbleak 07:28 30 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Please see Talk:Finch. MB 21:29 30 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Nice Shelduck pic. Common Shelduck is the politically correct version of Shelduck to avoid Eurocentricity. However, since it's a European bird...

When I get time I'll write a shelduck article, so we can use the pic again - there are none written in Tadorninae yet. to busy today though (ordered to make a bookcase) jimfbleak

It's a not quite fully adult Orange-headed Thrush, Zoothera citrina, tropical species from India across to S China and down to Indonesia. Likes thick forest, so not easy to see in the wild. (copied from Village Pump).

Amazingly, I'd already done an article for this species, on the strength of having seen it in India. The full adult male is brighter orange, greyer-backed and the face streaks almost invisible. Adult female similar to your bird, but face less marked. A super bird, but likes thick undergrowth, so takes some finding. jimfbleak 11:05 3 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Hi Adrian,

It is great to see you turning your photographic skills to the birds now. It really make a huge difference to articles to have a picture, I think - especially for fauna ones (as opposed to, say, Constitution of Belgium).

I thought your 250px version of the Orange-headed Thrush seemed a bit blurry, and remembered the 750px original looking sharper than that. On checking, I saw that it was indeed nice and sharp, so out of curiosity I shrank it down to 250px myself using PMView (my usual image editor). Compare the old:

With the new:

(Hint: look at the wing feathers.) Interestingly, the new one is also smaller: both are 24-bit JPEGs but the old is 27.8k and the new 15.8k. Riddle me this if you can! I didn't do anything fancy, just used PMView to resize at the factory default settings. There is a new version of PMView out, called PMView Pro. Just for fun, I tried that one out too,and it does even better: 15.6k and a very slightly sharper picture (probably not enough difference to bother uploading and over-writing a third time, but I can pick them apart). Anyway, it occurs to me that maybe you could benefit from a top-class image viewer and manipulator, and though I have no commercial connection with PMView, I've been using it and recommending it for years, and in this particular case the difference is very visible. It's wonderfully easay to use so you might like to give it a whirl. You can download a 30-day free trial from their site. (End of free plug!)

Best -- Tony (Tannin)

Ahh, yes. I didn't think it was up to your usual superb standard, Adrian. Not a bad picture by any means (I've seen lots worse here), but with the consistent quality of your photographs here on the 'pedia, you have made a rod for your own back - we all expect perfection as routine!

But for this particular bird, don't worry too much. They are common as mud here. If, after all the money I've just spent on photography gear, I can't come up with a nice Australian Shelduck in the wild over the next little while, I'll put the camera, the scope, the tripod, and all the accessories into a big cardboard box and post the lot over to you, then start my new career as a coal miner or something. So long as the light is good - i.e., between about 10AM and about 3PM at this time of year - I only need to get within about 50 or even 100 metres of one. Doing birds without a long lens is seriously difficult!

On another matter, it's really odd to hear that Photoshop of all things is doing sub-optimal JPEG shrinks. It really shouldn't do that - as you know, it's supposed to be the big banana in graphics software. I imagine that there is some sort of setting that you have to change to make it optimise a bit better, but I have absolutely no idea what! It's too complicated for me. I'm strictly a hardware man these days.

Cheers -- Tony (Tannin)

Hi Adrian,

regarding APOD: All the images I "bookmarked" contain "Credit: NASA", and since NASA is a US government institution, I assumed the pictures to be in the public domain. Is this wrong? -- JeLuF 22:39 4 Jul 2003 (UTC)

I made you a taxoduck :) Tannin

Hi Adrian, I've written articles for Néné, both shelducks and Common Moorhen. I will do Andean Goose and Cape Teal when time permits. Are there any others where there is an uploaded pic but no individual species account?

Jim

Wow! I'm impressed! I think I might have to download a copy of Serif Photo Plus for myself. Is it difficult to use? (Yes, I'm a computer guy, but my expertise is hardware and (to a lesser extent) strictly business apps like spreadsheets - I look at Photoshop sometimes and just groan at the time I'd have to spend to learn how to use it. As for tinkering, not at all - a bettter picture is a better picture. More strength to your arm. Tannin

(PS: 50k is fine, IMO.)

 * I'm a dunce! My favourite PMView does the sharpening thing just fine, and I've owned it for years. Never thought to look before. And, do you know, I very nearly spent $US99 to buy Photo Plus last night. In other words, I've had all the software I need to do all the things you listed on my page just now all along. Time I started using it!

Best -- Tony

title: User talk:Arpingstone/ArchiveJul10-2003


text:
Vicia faba

Vicia faba, commonly known as the broad bean, fava bean, or faba bean, is a species of vetch, a flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated as a crop for human consumption, and also as a cover crop. Varieties with smaller, harder seeds that are fed to horses or other animals are called field bean, tic bean or tick bean. Horse bean, Vicia faba var. equina Pers., is a variety recognized as an accepted name. This legume is very common in Southern European, Northern European, East Asian, Latin American and North African cuisines.

Some people suffer from favism, a hemolytic response to the consumption of broad beans, a condition linked to a metabolism disorder known as G6PDD. Otherwise the beans, with the outer seed coat removed, can be eaten raw or cooked. In young plants, the outer seed coat can be eaten, and in very young plants, the seed pod can be eaten.

Description

Vicia faba is a stiffly erect, annual plant 0.5 to 1.8 m tall, with two to four stems that are square in cross-section. The leaves are 10 to 25 cm long, pinnate with 2–7 leaflets, and glaucous (grey-green). Unlike most other vetches, the leaves do not have tendrils for climbing over other vegetation.

The flowers are 1 to 2.5 cm long with five petals; the standard petals are white, the wing petals are white with a black spot (true black, not deep purple or blue as is the case in many "black" colorings) and the keel petals are white. Crimson-flowered broad beans also exist, which were recently saved from extinction. The flowers have a strong sweet scent which is attractive to bees and other pollinators.

The fruit is a broad, leathery pod that is green, but matures to a dark blackish-brown, with a densely downy surface; the wild species has pods that are 5 to 10 cm long and 1 cm diameter, but many modern cultivars developed for food use have pods 15 to 25 cm long and 2–3 cm thick. Each bean pod contains 3–8 seeds. They are round to oval and have a 5–10 mm diameter in the wild plant, but are usually flattened and up to 20–25 mm long, 15 mm broad and 5–10 mm thick in food cultivars. V. faba has a diploid (2n) chromosome number of 12 (six homologous pairs). Five pairs are acrocentric chromosomes and one pair is metacentric.

Genome
The diploid genome of Vicia faba contains 13 GB of DNA, mostly obtained through amplification of retrotransposons and satellite repeats. The genome is one of the largest diploid field crops and contains a predicted 34,221 protein-coding genes.

History and cultivation

Broad beans have a long tradition of cultivation in Old World agriculture, being among the most ancient plants in cultivation and also among the easiest to grow. However, their wild ancestor has not been identified and their origin is unknown. Charred faba bean remains were discovered at three adjacent Neolithic sites in Israel's Lower Galilee (Yiftah'el, Ahi'hud and Nahal Zippori). Based on the radiocarbon dating of these remains, scientists now believe that the domestication of the crop may have begun as early as 8,250 BCE.

Broad beans are still often grown as a cover crop to prevent erosion because they can overwinter and, as a legume, they fix nitrogen in the soil. The broad bean has high plant hardiness; it can withstand harsh and cold climates. Unlike most legumes, the broad bean can be grown in soils with high salinity, as well as in clay soil. However, it prefers rich loams.

In much of the English-speaking world, the name "broad bean" is used for the large-seeded cultivars grown for human food, while "horse bean" and "field bean" refer to cultivars with smaller, harder seeds that are more like the wild species and used for animal feed, though their stronger flavour is preferred in some human food recipes, such as falafel. The term "fava bean" (from fava for the bean) is used in some English-speaking countries such as Canada and the US, and "broad bean" is the most common name in Commonwealth countries like the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

Pests and diseases
Many diseases appear at a higher rate in higher humidity. Therefore, cultivars being bred for higher density should be evaluated for disease problems. This can be mitigated by west–east rows for more sun drying effect.

Disease tolerance is an important part of breeding V. faba.

If transplanted instead of direct seeded there is a lower risk of some diseases including Botrytis fabae.

Parasites
In mainland Europe and North Africa, the plant parasite Orobanche crenata (carnation-scented broomrape) can cause severe impacts on fields of broad beans, devastating their yields.

Botrytis fabae
Vicia faba is attacked by Botrytis fabae, the chocolate spot fungus, which can have a severe impact on yield. It is one of the worst diseases in fava beans, as it results in foliar damage, reduced photosynthesis, and reduced bean productivity. The fungus switches from non-aggressive growth to aggressive pathogenicity under the combination of increased temperature and humidity, which is worsened by low soil potassium and phosphorus content and by the higher humidity caused by higher seeding rates. The non-aggressive phase is marked by small red-brown leaf lesions, and sometimes the same on stems and pods. Treatment is less effective than prevention. Early planting avoids the problematic combination of high temperature and humidity in late spring into early summer. Decreasing seeding rate or thinning after emergence is also effective. Foliar fungicide is effective. If fava beans flower during the heights of summer temperatures there is an increased risk of this disease. If transplanted instead of direct seeded there is a lower risk of Botrytis fabae outbreaks.

Erysiphe cichoracearum
Erysiphe cichoracearum overwinters on residue and has alternate hosts. Resistant cultivars and overhead irrigation are preventative. Sulfur fungicides are recommended in severe outbreak.

Fusarium solani
This soil borne pathogen is mitigated by lower temperature, aeration, drainage, and sufficient nutrition. Symptoms include stunting, yellowing, necrotic basal leaves, and brown or red or black streak-shaped root lesions that grow together and may show above the soil as the disease progresses.

Uromyces viciae-fabae var. viciae-fabae
Faba bean rust is a fungal pathogen commonly affecting broad bean plants at maturity, causing small orange dots with yellow halos on the leaves, which may merge to form an orange lawn on both leaf surfaces.

Sclerotinia stem rot
Both Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and S. trifoliorum are pathogens of interest. Lithourgidis et al. have done extensive work over the years, including in 2007 for S. t., 2005 for S. s., and 1989 regarding procedures for field testing with S. s.

Xanthomonas campestris and X. axonopodis
Xanthomonas campestris and X. axonopodis can be inoculated by seed contamination and by overwintering in crop residue. Increased incidence with higher temperatures, rainfall, and humidity. Produces deliquescent, necrotic lesions, sometimes with a wider yellow lesion around them, and in advanced disease the plant will look burned. Can be prevented or treated by use of uninfected seed, resistant cultivars, seed treatments, and copper bactericides.

Pseudomonas syringae
Pseudomonas syringae overwinters on residue. Uninfected seed, rotation, and removal of residue are preventative.

Viral diseases
Faba bean necrotic yellows virus which it shares with other Vicia. Timchenko et al. 2006 find Clink is not obviously necessary but highly conserved nonetheless, suggesting it is maintained by necessity for infection of other Vicia.

Aphis fabae
Broad bean plants are highly susceptible to early summer infestations of the black bean aphid, which can cover large sections of growing plants with infestations, typically starting at the tip of the plant. Severe infestations can significantly reduce yields, and can also cause discolouration of pods and reduction in their saleable values.

Aphis fabae is a major pest. May infest transplants. Reflective plastic mulch may be preventative. May be mechanically removed by high pressure water once plant is established. V. fabae is tolerant to low and medium degrees of infestation, so insecticide application is only required under high infestation.

Toxicity
Beans generally contain phytohaemagglutinin, a lectin that occurs naturally in plants, animals, and humans. Most of the relatively low toxin concentrations found in V. faba can be destroyed by boiling the beans for 10 minutes.

Broad beans are rich in levodopa, and should thus be avoided by those taking irreversible monoamine oxidase inhibitors to prevent a pressor response.

Genetic predisposition
Sufferers of favism must avoid broad beans, as they contain the alkaloid glycoside vicine which may initiate a hemolytic crisis. A low-content vicine-convicine faba bean line was identified in the 1980s and the trait has been introduced into several modern cultivars. Low vicine-convicine faba beans are safe for consumption by G6PD-deficient individuals. As of 2019, a molecular marker may be used for marker-assisted breeding to reduce levels of vicine-convicine in fava beans.

Culinary

Raw mature fava beans are 11% water, 58% carbohydrates, 26% protein, and 2% fat. A 100-gram reference amount supplies 1425 kJ of food energy and numerous essential nutrients in high content (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV). Folate (26% DV), and dietary minerals, such as manganese, phosphorus, magnesium, and iron (range of 52 to 77% DV), have considerable content. B vitamins have moderate to rich content (19 to 48% DV). Fava beans present the highest protein-to-carbohydrate ratio among other popular pulse crops, such as chickpea, pea and lentil. Moreover, their consumption is recommended along with cereals as both foods are complementary in supplying all essential amino acids.

Broad beans are generally eaten while still young and tender, enabling harvesting to begin as early as the middle of spring for plants started under glass or overwintered in a protected location, but even the main crop sown in early spring will be ready from mid to late summer. Horse beans, left to mature fully, are usually harvested in the late autumn, and are then eaten as a pulse. The immature pods are also cooked and eaten, and the young leaves of the plant can also be eaten, either raw or cooked as a pot herb (like spinach).

Preparing broad beans involves first removing the beans from their pods, then steaming or boiling the beans, either whole or after parboiling them to loosen their exterior coating, which is then removed. The beans can be fried, causing the skin to split open, and then salted and/or spiced to produce a savory, crunchy snack.

Algeria
In south Algerian cuisine, broad beans are used to make besarah and doubara. Doubara is popular in the city of Biskra.

China
In the Sichuan cuisine of China, broad beans are combined with soybeans and chili peppers to produce a spicy fermented bean paste called doubanjiang.

Colombia
Fava beans (Colombia: Haba(s)) are a common food in most regions of Colombia, mostly in Bogota and Boyacá.

Ecuador
Steamed fava beans (known as habitas) with cheese are common in the cold-weather regions of Ecuador, especially around the Andes mountains and surroundings of Ambato.

Egypt
Fava beans (Egyptian Masri:  ) are a common staple food in the Egyptian diet, eaten by rich and poor alike. Egyptians eat fava beans in various ways: they may be shelled and then dried, or bought dried and then cooked in water on very low heat for several hours. They are the primary ingredient in Egyptian-style falafel (unlike the Levantine style, where the primary ingredient is chickpeas). The most popular way of preparing them in Egypt is by taking the cooked and partially mashed beans and adding oil, salt, and cumin to them. The dish, known as ful medames, is traditionally eaten with bread (generally at breakfast) and is considered one of Egypt's national dishes.

Ethiopia
Broad beans (baqella) are one of the most popular legumes in Ethiopia. They are tightly coupled with every aspect of Ethiopian life. They are mainly used as an alternative to peas to prepare a flour called shiro, which is used to make shiro wot (a stew used widely in Ethiopian dishes). During the fasting period in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church tradition called Tsome Filliseta, Tsome arbeå, Tsome Tahsas, and Tsome Hawaria (which are in August, end of February, April, mid-November, beginning of January, and June–July), two uncooked spicy vegetable dishes are made using broad beans. The first is hilibet, a thin, white paste of broad bean flour mixed with pieces of onion, green pepper, garlic, and other spices. The second is siljo, a fermented, sour, spicy thin yellow paste of broad bean flour. Both are served with other stews and injera (a pancake-like bread) during lunch and dinner.

Baqella nifro (boiled broad beans) are eaten as a snack during some holidays and during a time of mourning. This tradition goes well into religious holidays, too. On the Thursday before Good Friday (in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church tradition, tselote hamus (the Prayer of Thursday)), people eat a different kind of nifro called gulban. Gulban is made of peeled half-beans collected and well-cooked with other grains such as wheat, peas, and chickpeas.

England
In England, broad beans are usually boiled.

There is a project aimed at increasing broad bean consumption, particularly by use of broad bean flour in bread.

Finland
In Finnish, the word for "fava bean" is härkäpapu (literally "ox bean"). Fava beans are used to make a meat substitute called Härkis.

Greece
The Greek word fáva (φάβα) does not refer to broad beans, but to the yellow split pea and also to another legume, Lathyrus clymenum. Broad beans are known instead as koukiá (κουκιά), and are eaten in a stew combined with artichokes, while they are still fresh in their pods. Dried broad beans are eaten boiled, sometimes combined with garlic sauce (skordalia).

In Crete, fresh broad beans are shelled and eaten as a companion to tsikoudia, the local alcoholic drink.

Favism is quite common in Greece because of malaria endemicity in previous centuries, and people afflicted by it do not eat broad beans.

India
In India, fava beans are eaten in the Northeastern state of Manipur. They are locally known as hawai-amubi and are ingredients in the dish eromba.

Iran
Broad beans, or "Baghalee" are primarily cultivated in the central and north parts of Iran. The city of Kashan has the highest production of broad beans with high quality in terms of the taste, cooking periods and color. However, broad beans have a very short season (roughly two weeks). The season is usually in the middle of spring. When people have access to fresh beans in season, they cook them in brine and then add vinegar and Heracleum persicum depending on taste. They also make an extra amount to dry to be used year-round. The dried beans can be cooked with rice, which forms one of the most famous dishes in north of Iran (Gilan) called baghalee polo which means "rice with broad beans". In Iran, broad beans are cooked, served with Golpar-origan and salt and sold on streets in the winter. This food is also available preserved in metal cans.

Iraq
Broad beans which are called Bagilla (باگله/باقله) in the Iraqi dialect of Arabic are a common ingredient in many Iraqi foods. One of the most popular Iraqi dishes that uses the broad bean is Bagilla Bil-Dihin (باگله بالدهن) also called Tishreeb Bagilla (تشريب باگله). This dish is a common breakfast dish in Iraq and consists of bread soaked in boiled broad beans’ water then topped with broad beans, melted Ghee, and often also a boiled or fried egg. Fool (فول) is another common breakfast dish in Iraq as well as many other Arab countries and consists of mashed fava beans. Another famous Iraqi dish is Timmen Bagilla (تمن باگله), which is Arabic for 'broad bean rice'. This classic Iraqi dish consists of rice cooked with broad bean and dill.

Italy
In Sardinia, broad beans are traditionally cooked with lard, often substituted or paired with bacon or minced pork.

In Rome, fava beans are popular either cooked with guanciale or with globe artichokes, as side dish together with lamb or kid, or raw with pecorino romano. Fave e pecorino is the traditional dish for 1 May picnic in Liguria, Tuscany, Marche, Umbria and Latium.

In Sicily, maccu is a Sicilian soup prepared with fava beans as a primary ingredient.

In Apulia, broad bean purée with wild chicory is a typical dish.

Japan
Broad beans, called Soramame (Japanese: そら豆) lit: "Sky Bean", are consumed in a variety of ways in Japan. Most commonly, the beans are boiled and are eaten straight or added to rice. It is also consumed as a popular snack called "ikarimame" (Japanese: いかり豆) lit: "Anchor Bean", where the beans are roasted or fried.

Luxembourg
Judd mat Gaardebounen, or smoked collar of pork with broad beans, is the national dish of Luxembourg.

Malta
They are a primary ingredient of the Maltese kusksu, a vegetable soup primarily containing fava beans and pasta beads. They are also used in an appetizer called bigilla where they are served as a pureé mixed with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, parsley and mint. It is served with bread or crackers.

Mexico
In Mexico, fava beans are often eaten in a soup called sopa de habas, meaning "fava soup". They are also eaten fried, salted, and dried, as a snack, either by themselves or in combination with other salted, dried beans and nuts.

Morocco
In Morocco, fava beans are cooked, steamed or made into tabiṣart, a dip sold as a street food and commonly eaten in winter.

Nepal
In Nepal, fava beans are called bakulla. They are eaten as a green vegetable when the pods are young, generally stir-fried with garlic. When dried, fava beans are eaten roasted, or mixed with other legumes, such as moong beans, chick peas, and peas, and called qwati. The mixture, soaked and germinated, is cooked as soup and consumed with rice or beaten rice on the occasion of Janai Purnima also known as Rakshya Bandhan, a festival celebrated by the Hindus. The dry and stir-fried version of qwati is called biraula. The qwati soup is believed to reinvigorate the body affected by monsoon paddy season.

Netherlands
In the Netherlands, they are traditionally eaten with fresh savory and some melted butter. The combination of the beans tossed with crispy fried bacon is also common. When rubbed, the velvet insides of the pods are a folk remedy against warts.

Peru
Fava beans (Peruvian Spanish: haba(s)) are eaten fresh or dried toasted, boiled, roasted, stewed or in soup. Habas are one of the essential ingredients of "Pachamanca" in the Andes of Peru, and are also an additive for "Panetela", which is a homemade remedy to keep your child fed and hydrated in cases of diarrhea or stomach infection and even for cholera treatment.

Peruvian dishes with fava beans include:
 * Aji de habas
 * Saltado de habas
 * El chupe de habas
 * Ajiaco de Papas y habas
 * Pachamanca
 * Guiso de habas
 * Shambar (heavy soup, traditional in Trujillo)

Portugal
Fava beans (favas) are widely cultivated in Portugal and are very popular throughout the country. The most popular dish cooked with favas is "favada", a stew with onion and pork—depending on the region of the country the pork may be chorizo, bacon, pork shoulder, ribs or the mixture of many of these. In Alentejo a lot of coriander will be added in the end. Besides favada, fava beans may be served dry and fried as an appetiser.

Serbia
Broad bean aspic (Serbian: bobove pihtije) is a Serbian winter dish in which the pureed cooked beans are combined with crushed garlic and set in a mould, topped with ground paprika in hot oil.

Spain
Broad beans (habas) are widely cultivated in Spain. Culinary uses vary among regions, but they can be used as the main pulse in a stew (Habas estofadas, michirones) or as an addition to other dishes (menestra, paella). In certain regions they can be eaten while unripe or fried and packaged as a snack.

Sudan
Fava beans are one of the most widely consumed foods in Sudan. For most Sudanese they form the main dish during breakfast time (fatoor), especially more so for city and urban dwellers. The beans are cooked by steadily boiling over a sustained period of time. Similar to Egypt, the cooked beans are mashed, and prepared by adding salt and pepper. For additional flavour, sesame oil is added along with a sprinkling of jibna ("feta" cheese) on top. The dish is then eaten with bread, sometimes mix all in one dish this called (fatta or boash).

Sweden

Broad beans (bondbönor), which in Sweden were traditionally eaten as soaked brown, and boiled, dried broad beans fried in lard, were for a very long time popular to add to other foods as a filling side, specially with fried pork. The green, raw, and lightly boiled broad beans were used seasonally as a side green.

Syria
In Syria, broad beans are prepared in multiple ways for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Ful medames is the same as the Egyptian dish (it is not mashed though) but with the addition of tomato, parsley and onion and with olive oil. Another version of it includes the addition of tahini (sesame paste), olive oil, garlic and lemon. For lunch, broad beans are cooked with a mix of minced and big chunks of meat and is topped on white rice and eaten with cold yogurt and cucumber salad. Bulgur is sometimes used in preparing this recipe instead of rice. Broad beans are cooked with pieces of garlic, meat and meat stock with the addition of lemon juice and cilantro. This dish is called foulieh and is eaten on the side with rice. The same recipe is prepared without meat as a vegan dish eaten on Lent by Christians in Syria.

Turkey
In Turkey, broad beans are called bakla. This is also the name of a zeytinyağlı dish made by simmering young and tender broad bean pods with chopped onions in olive oil. It is traditionally garnished with dill and served cool, together with yoghurt. Another dish is fava, a meze prepared by pureeing beans with olive oil. Broad beans are also cooked with artichoke (enginarlı iç bakla), which is another zeytinyağlı dish.

Vietnam
In Southern Vietnam, fava beans (đậu móng heo) are usually stir fried with rice noodles, durians, shrimps, Thai basil, quail eggs and pig intestines in a dry stew called hủ tiếu lòng heo.

Other uses

 * In ancient Greece and Rome, beans were used in voting; a white bean was used to cast a yes vote, and a black bean for no. Even today, the word koukia (κουκιά) is used unofficially, referring to the votes. Beans were used as a food for the dead, such as during the annual Lemuria festival.
 * The ancient Roman family name Fabius and the modern political term Fabian derive from this particular bean.
 * Both Porphyry and Iamblichus report that Pythagoras once persuaded a bull not to eat beans
 * In Ubykh culture, throwing beans on the ground and interpreting the pattern in which they fall was a common method of divination (favomancy), and the word for "bean-thrower" in that language has become a generic term for seers and soothsayers in general.
 * The colloquial expression 'not worth a hill of beans' alludes to their widespread economy and association with the peasant diet.
 * In Italy, broad beans are traditionally sown on November 2, All Souls Day. Small cakes made in the shape of broad beans (though not out of them) are known as fave dei morti or "beans of the dead". According to tradition, Sicily once experienced a failure of all crops other than the beans; the beans kept the population from starvation, and thanks were given to Saint Joseph. Broad beans subsequently became traditional on Saint Joseph's Day altars in many Italian communities. Some people carry a broad bean for good luck; some believe that if one carries a broad bean, one will never be without the essentials of life. In Rome, on the first of May, Roman families traditionally eat fresh fava beans with Pecorino Romano cheese during a daily excursion in the Campagna. In northern Italy, on the contrary, fava beans are traditionally fed to animals—and so some people, especially the elderly, might frown on human consumption. But in Liguria, a maritime region near northern Italy, fava beans are loved raw, and consumed fresh in early spring as the first product of the garden, alone or with fresh Pecorino Sardo or with local salami from Sant'Olcese. In some Central Italian regions, a once-popular and recently rediscovered fancy food is the bagiana, a soup of fresh or dried fava beans seasoned with onions and beet leaves stir-fried, before being added to the soup, in olive oil and lard (or bacon or cured ham fat).
 * In Portugal and Spain a Christmas cake called bolo Rei in Portuguese and roscón de reyes in Spanish (King's cake) is baked with a fava bean inside. Whoever eats the slice containing it, is supposed to buy next year's cake.
 * A similar tradition exists in France, where the fève (originally a dried bean, but often now a small china or metal trinket) is placed in the galette des rois; the person who finds it in their slice becomes the king or queen of the meal, and is often expected to serve the other guests to drink.
 * Pliny claimed they acted as a laxative.
 * European folklore also claims that planting beans on Good Friday or during the night brings good luck.
 * Frederick E Rose (London) Ltd v William H Pim Junior & Co Ltd [1953] 2 QB 450, is an English contract law case where the two litigants had both mistaken feveroles for ordinary horse beans.
 * Can be used as a green manure, due to nitrogen fixation it produces.
 * In the Netherlands, roasted or fried broad beans are regarded as a local delicacy of the city of Groningen, and is locally called molleboon. Until the 1800s, the city council used mollebonen for the voting process, sometimes real beans, sometimes made of stone or clay. The word Molleboon became a nickname for the inhabitants of the city.

Research
The first experimental demonstration that the pattern of replication of eukaryotic chromosomes follows the semiconservative DNA replication scheme proposed in 1953 by Watson and Crick was reported in 1957 using V. faba root cells.

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

title: Vicia faba


text:
Shed

A shed is typically a simple, single-story roofed structure, often used for storage, for hobbies, or as a workshop, and typically serving as outbuilding, such as in a back garden or on an allotment. Sheds vary considerably in their size and complexity of construction, from simple open-sided ones designed to cover bicycles or garden items to large wood-framed structures with shingled roofs, windows, and electrical outlets. Sheds used on farms or in the industry can be large structures. The main types of shed construction are metal sheathing over a metal frame, plastic sheathing and frame, all-wood construction (the roof may be asphalt shingled or sheathed in tin), and vinyl-sided sheds built over a wooden frame. Small sheds may include a wooden or plastic floor, while more permanent ones may be built on a concrete pad or foundation. Sheds may be lockable to deter theft or entry by children, domestic animals, wildlife, etc.

Etymology
The word is recorded in English since 1481, as shadde, possibly a variant of shade. The word shade comes from the Old English word sceadu, which means "shade, shadow, darkness". The term's P.Gmc. cognate, skadwo also means "shady place, protection from glare or heat".

The Old English word is spelled in different ways, such as shadde, shad or shedde, all of which come from an Old Teutonic/Anglo-Saxon root word for separation or division. The first attested usage of the word, in 1481, was in the sentence, "A yearde in whiche was a shadde where in were six grete dogges".

The Anglo Saxon word shud, which means "cover" may also have been part of the development of the word. In 1440, a shud was defined as a "... schudde, hovel, swyne kote or howse of sympyl hyllynge [covering] to kepe yn beestys".

Terminology
Depending on the region and type of use, a shed may also be called a shack, outhouse, or "outbuilding". Sheds may be classified as "accessory buildings" in municipal bylaws which may regulate their size, appearance, and distance from the principal building and boundary lines.

Agricultural sheds

Arena sheds may have a simple open roof structure, or be partially walled or fully enclosed. They are typically used as horse-riding equestrian venues, providing all-year usage of the facility with protection from the weather.

Farm sheds and other outbuildings are used to store farm equipment, tractors, tools, hay, and supplies, or to house horses, cattle, poultry or other farm animals. Run-in sheds are three-sided structures with an open face used for horses and cattle.

Shearing sheds can be large sheds found on sheep stations to accommodate large-scale sheep shearing.

Bike sheds
Bicycle sheds usually contain a framework on which bikes can be supported and locked and a roof to keep rain and/or snow off the bikes and their riders while mounting and dismounting. Bike sheds range from little more than a supported roof to more complex structures with walls and locking doors or gates.

The color of a bikeshed is the topic of a well-known adage about the challenges of group work in organizational psychology.

Boatsheds
Boatsheds (or boat sheds) are typically lockable wooden sheds built near a body of water to store small private boats, bathing suits, life vests and related items. Boat sheds used for rowing clubs are generally larger structures for storing rowing skiffs.

Garden sheds
Garden tool sheds, including allotment sheds, are used to store seeds, soil, hoses, portable sprinklers, or garden tools such as hand rakes, shovels, lawnmowers, etc.

Railway sheds
Engine sheds are structures used for the maintenance or storage of railway locomotives. In Britain, these are also called motive power depots.

Goods sheds are railway buildings designed for storing goods before or after carriage in a train.

Train sheds are buildings adjacent to a railway station where the tracks and platforms are covered by a roof. The first train shed was built in 1830 at Liverpool's Crown Street Station.

Snow sheds are strongly built timber or reinforced-concrete tunnels that protect railroad tracks (or roads) from avalanches.

Storage sheds
These may contain any items any person wishes to store and to organize and/or protect from the weather and theft.

Tool sheds
These may contain hand tools and/or power tools used to repair automobiles or for construction.

Wood sheds
These sheds are used for the storage of large quantities of firewood. Woodsheds help protect firewood from adverse weather and moisture, especially in snowy or wet climates. Woodsheds are commonly in close proximity to buildings heated by a wood-burning stove, such as a log cabin.

In the United States, "the woodshed" was the traditional location for parents to administer corporal punishment to children.

Miscellaneous
In the 19th century military barracks, sheds were used as auxiliary buildings for various purposes. The Royal Artillery park barracks in Halifax used sheds as gun sheds, carriage sheds, repair sheds, wheel sheds, wagon sheds and storage sheds.

Small domestic
The simplest and least-expensive sheds are available in kit form. These kits are designed for regular people to be able to assemble themselves using commonly available tools (e.g., screwdriver). Both shed kits and DIY (do-it-yourself) plans are available for wooden and plastic sheds. Sheds are used to store home and garden tools and equipment such as lawn tractors, and gardening supplies. In addition, sheds can be used to store items that are not suitable for indoor storage, such as petrol (gasoline), pesticides, or herbicides. For homes with small gardens or modest storage needs, there are several types of very small sheds. The sheds not only use less ground area but also have a low profile less likely to obstruct the view or clash with the landscaping.

These small sheds include corner sheds, which fit into a corner (3 x—tall, wide, deep), vertical sheds (5 x), horizontal sheds (3 x), and tool sheds. When a shed is used for tool storage, shelves and hooks are often used to maximize the storage space. Gambrel-style roofed sheds (sometimes called baby barns), which resemble a Dutch-style barn, have a high sloping roofline which increases storage space in the "loft" area. Some Gambrel-styles have no loft and offer the advantage of reduced overall height. Another style of small shed is the saltbox-style shed.

Many sheds have either a pent or apex roof shape. A pent shed features a single roof section that is angled downwards to let rainwater run off, with more headroom at the front than the back. This is a simple, practical design that will fit particularly well next to a wall or fence. It is also usually lower than the typical apex shed, so could be a better choice if there are any height restrictions. A pent shed may be free-standing or attached to a wall (when it is known, unsurprisingly, as a wall shed).

An apex shed has a pointed roof in an inverted V shape similar to the roofline of many houses. Two roof sections meet at a ridge in the middle, providing more headroom in the centre than at the sides. This type is generally regarded as a more attractive and traditional design and may be preferable if the shed is going to be visible from the house.

A twist on the standard apex shape is the reverse apex shed. In this design, the door is set in a side wall instead of the front. The main advantage of the reverse apex design is that the door opens into the widest part of the shed instead of the narrowest, so it is easier to reach into all areas to retrieve or store equipment.

Larger domestic
Larger, more-expensive sheds are typically constructed of wood and include features typically found in house construction, such as windows, a shingled roof, and electrical outlets. Larger sheds provide more space for engaging in hobbies such as gardening, small engine repair, or tinkering. Some sheds have small porches or include furniture, which allows them to be used for relaxation purposes. In some cases, remote workers who live in mild climates use small to medium-sized wooden garden sheds as outdoor offices. There is a growing industry in providing "off the peg" garden offices to cater to this demand, particularly in the UK but also in the US. Shed owners can customize wooden sheds to match the features (e.g., siding, trim, etc.) of the main house. A number of decorative options can be added to sheds, such as dormers, shutters, flower boxes, finials, and weathervanes. As well, practical options can be added such as benches, ramps, ventilation systems (e.g., in cases where a swimming pool heater is installed in a shed), and electric lighting. Sheds designed for gardening, called "potting sheds", often feature windows or skylights for illumination, ventilation grilles, and a potter's bench for mixing soil and re-potting plants.

Materials
The main types of shed construction are metal sheathing over a metal frame, plastic sheathing and frame, all-wood construction (wood frame, wood siding and wood roof), and vinyl-sided sheds built over a wooden frame. Each type has various advantages and disadvantages that a homeowner has to consider. For example, while metal sheds are fire and termite-resistant, they can rust over time, or be severely damaged by high winds or heavy snow loads. Wood sheds are easier to modify or customize than plastic or metal because carpentry tools and basic carpentry skills are more readily available. Vinyl-sided, wood-framed sheds blend the strength of a wood frame with the maintenance-free aspect of vinyl siding (it does not need to be painted or varnished). The International Building Code (IBC) defines a shed as a building or structure of an accessory character; it classifies them under utility and miscellaneous group U (Chapter 3 Section 312).

Metal
Metal sheds are made from thin sheet metal sheathing (galvanized steel, aluminium, or corrugated iron) attached to a metal frame. Metal sheds are a good choice when long-term strength and resistance to fire, rot, or termites are desired. However, metal sheds may rust over time, particularly if they are constructed from steel that is not galvanized. Be aware that concrete is highly corrosive so care needs to be taken when assembling your shed to avoid contact with the outside panels.

As well, some types of metal sheds that have thin walls are easily dented, which may make some types of thin metal sheds a poor choice for vandal-prone areas or for high-traffic activities such as small businesses. In cold climates, metal sheds with thin walls need to have snow and ice cleared from the roof, because the thin metal may be damaged by a heavy accumulation. Since thin metal sheds weigh much less than wood or PVC plastic sheds, thin metal sheds are more at risk of being damaged by heavy winds. To prevent wind damage, thin metal sheds should be attached to a concrete foundation with screws. In countries where the climate is generally mild, such as Australia, very large metal sheds are used for many types of industry. Corrugated metal sheds may be better able to withstand wind and snow loads, as the corrugated shape makes the metal stronger than flat tin.

Plastic
Plastic shed kits utilizing heavy molded plastics such as PVC and polyethylene may be less expensive than sheet-metal sheds. PVC resins and high-impact, UV light-resistant polyethylene make plastic outdoor sheds stronger, lighter, more durable, and more resistant to denting and chipping than wood, and tend to be more stable. Plastic shed kits sided with vinyl are typically among the least-expensive types of shed construction. Higher-quality sheds use UV-resistant plastic and powder-coated metal frames. Many plastic sheds are modular to allow for easy extensions, peg-boards, shelving, attic-storage, windows, skylights, and other accessories to be added later if these additions are purchased from the manufacturer.

Plastic sheds are not susceptible to termite or wood-boring insect damage, and they require little maintenance. Being rot-proof they do not need to have preservatives applied. This makes them preferable in climates where the weather can be changeable, such as the United Kingdom. Unlike wooden or metal sheds, which often require a permit to build, in many areas, plastic sheds do not. However, this is something property owners will need to verify. A call to your council/town's planning or building code office can provide information on permits.

Wood

Wooden sheds have a natural look that can blend in well with garden environments. Despite the strength of wood, over time, untreated and neglected wood can rot, split, warp or become susceptible to mold and mildew, so wood sheds should be treated for protection with stain and varnish. Wood sheds need regular maintenance. This includes keeping plant matter and debris from piling up beside the walls and on the roof, and occasional rot-proofing with preservatives. Sheds are sometimes also re-stained or varnished at times for aesthetic and wood protection reasons. Fire and, in some regions, termite attack are also potential problems.

Stains and preservatives can be applied to wood sheds to prevent damage to the wood caused by exposure to rain, damp ground, UV light, harsh climatic conditions, fungal attack and wood-boring insects. If a coloured preservative oil or stain is used, a wooden shed can either be made to stand out as a feature within a garden, or to blend in with its surroundings. Red cedar coloured stain is popular. Legislation such as the European Biocidal Products Regulation has reduced the number of effective active ingredients available for wood preservative formulations. For this reason, in recent years, there has been a greater emphasis on preserving wood by keeping it dry, for example through the application of water-repellent "wood protection creams."

Some types of wood, such as cedar, are more naturally resistant to water damage.

When looking for a wooden shed, it is important to understand the difference between the two types of preservative used in their manufacture. The timber will have been treated in one of two ways: dip treatment or pressure treatment. Dip-treated sheds are made from components that are lowered into a tank of preservatives before the panels are assembled. This is a quick and simple process that keeps costs down and encourages manufacturers to produce a wide variety, making dip-treated sheds the most popular and affordable type on the market. They are easily recognisable by their golden brown colour, which is due to a dye added to the preservative. Most manufacturers offer a 10-year anti-rot guarantee on dip-treated sheds, but they have to be re-coated every year or two.

Pressure-treated sheds are made from timber planks that have had the moisture sucked out of them under vacuum conditions in a special cylinder. A powerful preservative is then forced into the wood at high pressure until it is absorbed deep into the grain, becoming an integral part of the timber. This provides excellent protection against the weather—so much so that manufacturers generally give a 15-year anti-rot guarantee. These sheds are usually distinguished by a pale green tinge which will fade eventually to a silvery grey. Although pressure-treated sheds tend to be more expensive than dip-treated ones, their big advantage is that they will not need any further preservative treatment during the guarantee period, saving owners time and money.

One advantage of using wood sheds over metal versions is that it is easier to modify them by adding windows, doors, shelving, or exterior trim (etc.) because wood can be cut and drilled using commonly available tools, whereas a plastic or metal shed requires specialized tools. Some homeowners may prefer wood sheds because wood is a renewable resource.

Vinyl-sided
Vinyl-sided sheds are typically built with standard wood framing construction and oriented strand board (OSB) on the walls covered with standard vinyl siding. The vinyl siding protects the OSB wood and the frame from moisture from rain and snow. Vinyl-sided sheds never need to be painted, and are maintenance-free. They are stronger than plastic or metal sheds, and are usually built to conform with the local building codes. They offer good value for money because they hold up in all weather, including winters with heavy snowfall, as they use a strong wooden frame and the OSB panels have stronger structural support than thin metal or PVC siding or roofs. Metal, plastic and resin sheds are cheaper, but they cannot handle the weight of snow in winter (roofs may cave in). Vinyl sheds also offer more colour options.

Asbestos
In the early and middle years of the 20th century, many garden sheds and domestic garages were made of asbestos-cement sheets supported on a very light angle-iron frame. Concerns about safety led to the practice being discontinued, but they were cheap and long-lasting, and many can still be seen in British gardens. Advice on continued use or disposal is available.

Culture

In Australia and New Zealand the term shed can be used to refer to any building that is not a residence and which may be open at the ends or sides, or both. Australia's passion for sheds is documented in Mark Thomson's Blokes and Sheds (1998). Jim Hopkins' similarly titled Blokes & Sheds (1998), with photographer Julie Riley Hopkins, profiles amateur inventors from across New Zealand. Hopkins and Riley followed up that book with Inventions from the Shed (1999) and a 5-part film documentary series with the same name. Gordon Thorburn also examined the shed proclivity in his book Men and Sheds (2002), as did Gareth Jones in Shed Men (2004).

Recently, "Men's Sheds" have become common in Australia. In New Zealand, the bi-monthly magazine The Shed appeals to the culture of "blokes" who do woodwork or metalwork DIY projects in their sheds. The Australian Men's Shed Association is one organisation that has been set up involving sheds.

Another magazine called The Shed, a bi-monthly PDF magazine produced in the UK, but with a global audience, targets people who work (usually in creative industries) in garden offices, sheds and other shed-like atmospheres. In the UK, people have long enjoyed working in their potting sheds; the slang term "sheddie", refers to a person enamoured of shed-building, testifies to the place of sheds in the UK popular culture. The Usenet newsgroup "uk.rec.sheds" has long championed this subculture.

Since 2007 there has been a UK competition called Shed of the Year. Each year British sheddies enter their shed builds and after a short list is produced (including Pub Sheds, Eco Sheds, Workshops & unexpected categories), a public vote helps to decide the ultimate Shed, it also featured on Channel 4 television as George Clarke's Amazing Spaces: Shed of the Year, for four series (with host George Clarke)

In the United States, Shed Builder Magazine is a bimonthly magazine dedicated to the builders, dealers, and manufacturers within the shed industry. The magazine owns and manages Shed Builder Expo, a yearly, two-day conference for the shed industry.

Author Gordon Thorburn examined the shed proclivity in his book Men and Sheds, which argues that a "place of retreat" is a "male necessity" which provides men with solace, especially during their retirement. In contrast, in the novel Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons, Aunt Ada Doom saw "something nasty in the woodshed" and retreated to her bed for half a century.

To woodshed, or 'shed, in jazz jargon, is "to shut oneself up, away from the world, and practice long and hard, as in 'going to the woodshed'."

A shed built onto the chassis of an old car, and called Fastest Shed, is legally roadworthy in the UK, and holds the world speed record for sheds.

title: Shed


text:
John Lydgate

John Lydgate of Bury (c. 1370) was an English monk and poet, born in Lidgate, near Haverhill, Suffolk, England.

Lydgate's poetic output is prodigious, amounting, at a conservative count, to about 145,000 lines. He explored and established every major Chaucerian genre, except such as were manifestly unsuited to his profession, like the fabliau. In the Troy Book (30,117 lines), an amplified translation of the Trojan history of the thirteenth-century Latin writer Guido delle Colonne, commissioned by Prince Henry (later Henry V), he moved deliberately beyond Chaucer's Knight's Tale and his Troilus, to provide a full-scale epic.

The Siege of Thebes (4716 lines) is a shorter excursion in the same field of chivalric epic. Chaucer's The Monk's Tale, a brief catalog of the vicissitudes of Fortune, gives a hint of what is to come in Lydgate's massive Fall of Princes (36,365 lines), which is also derived, though not directly, from Boccaccio's De Casibus Virorum Illustrium.

The Man of Law's Tale, with its rhetorical elaboration of apostrophe, invocation, and digression in what is essentially a saint's legend, is the model for Lydgate's legends of St. Edmund (3693 lines) and St. Alban (4734 lines), both local monastic patrons, as well as for many shorter saints' lives, though not for the richer and more genuinely devout Life of Our Lady (5932 lines).

Early life and education
In a graffito written towards the end of his life, Lydgate admitted to all manner of childhood sins: "I lied to excuse myself. I stole apples … I made mouths at people like a wanton ape. I gambled at cherry stones. I was late to rise and dirty at meals. I was chief shammer of illness". He was admitted to the Benedictine monastery of Bury St Edmunds Abbey in 1382, took novice vows soon after and was ordained as a subdeacon in 1389. Based on a letter from Henry V, Lydgate was a student at Oxford University, probably Gloucester College (now Worcester College), between 1406 and 1408. It was during this period that Lydgate wrote his early work, Isopes Fabules, with its broad range of scholastic references.

Career
Having literary ambitions (he was an admirer of Geoffrey Chaucer and a friend to his son, Thomas) he sought and obtained patronage for his literary work at the courts of Henry IV of England, Henry V of England and Henry VI of England. His patrons included, amongst many others, the mayor and aldermen of London, the chapter of St. Paul's Cathedral, Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick and Henry V and VI. His main supporter from 1422 was Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester.

In 1423 Lydgate was made prior of Hatfield Broad Oak, Essex. He soon resigned the office to concentrate on his travels and writing. He was a prolific writer of poems, allegories, fables and romances. His most famous works were his longer and more moralistic Troy Book (1412–20), a 30,000 line translation of the Latin prose narrative by Guido delle Colonne, Historia destructionis Troiae, the Siege of Thebes which was translated from a French prose redaction of the Roman de Thebes and the Fall of Princes. The Fall of Princes (1431–8), is the last and longest of Lydgate's works.

Of his more accessible poems, most were written in the first decade of the fifteenth century in a Chaucerian vein: The Complaint of the Black Knight (originally called A Complaynt of a Loveres Lyfe and modelled on Chaucer's The Book of the Duchess); The Temple of Glas (indebted to The House of Fame); The Floure of Curtesy (like the Parlement of Foules, a Valentine's Day Poem); and the allegorical Reason and Sensuality.

As he grew older, his poems grew progressively longer, and it is regarding Lydgate's later poetry that Joseph Ritson's harsh characterization of him is based: 'A voluminous, prosaick and drivelling monk'. Similarly, one twentieth-century historian has described Lydgate's verse as "banal".

At one time, the long allegorical poem The Assembly of Gods was attributed to him, but the work is now considered anonymous. Lydgate was also believed to have written London Lickpenny, a well-known satirical work; however, his authorship of this piece has been thoroughly discredited. He also translated the poems of Guillaume de Deguileville into English.

In his later years he lived and probably died at the monastery of Bury St. Edmunds. At some point in his life he returned to the village of his birth and added his signature and a coded message in a graffito onto a wall at St Mary's Church, Lidgate, discovered as recently as 2014.

Editions

 * Henry Noble MacCracken, The Minor Poems of John Lydgate. Part 1: 1. The Lydgate Canon. 2. The Religious Poems. EETS e.s. 107. London: Early English Text Society, 1911.
 * Henry Noble MacCracken,  The Minor Poems of John Lydgate. Part 2: Secular Poems. EETS o.s. 192. London, Early English Text Society, 1934.
 * J. Allan Mitchell, ed. John Lydgate, The Temple of Glass. Series: TEAMS Middle English Texts. Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, 2007.

Modern renditions
A few of Lydgate's works are available in modernised versions:

 * John Lydgate's Troy Book: A Middle English Iliad (The Troy Myth in Medieval Britain Book 1) by D M Smith (2019 Kindle) – complete
 * John Lydgate Troy Book: The Legend of the Trojan War by D.J. Favager (2021 Kindle) – complete
 * The Siege of Thebes: A Modern English Verse Rendition by D.J. Favager (2018 Kindle)
 * The Legend of Saint Alban: In a Modern English Prose Version by Simon Webb (2016 the Langley Press)
 * Lydgate's Disguising at Hertford Castle Translation and Study by Derek Forbes (1998 Blot Publishing)

Quotations
—an old proverb Lydgate included in his moral fable The Churl and the Bird
 * "Who lesith his fredam, in soth, he lesith all."
 * Lydgate wrote that King Arthur was crowned in "the land of the fairy", and taken in his death by four fairy queens, to Avalon where he lies under a "fairy hill", until he is needed again.
 * Lydgate is also credited with the first known usage of the adage "Needs must" in its fullest form: "He must nedys go that the deuell dryves" in his The Assembly of Gods. Shakespeare later uses it in All's Well That Ends Well.

title: John Lydgate


text:
Gareth Gates

Gareth Paul Gates (born 12 July 1984) is an English singer-songwriter and actor. He was the runner-up in the first series of the ITV talent show Pop Idol in 2002. As of 2008, Gates had sold over 3.5 million records in the UK. He is also known for having a stutter, and has talked about his speech impediment publicly.

In 2009, Gates moved into musical theatre, playing the title role in the West End production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Adelphi Theatre. In 2009–2011, Gates completed an 18-month stint as Marius, initially in the touring production and then in the West End production of Les Misérables. He also took the roles of Eddie in the musical Loserville, Warner in Legally Blonde in 2012 and Dean in Boogie Nights the Musical in Concert in 2013. He was part of the pop group 5th Story, set up for The Big Reunion.

Early life
Gates was born in West Bowling, Bradford, to Paul Gates and Wendy Gates (née Broadbent Farry). He has three sisters, and grew up with a cousin who was fostered by the family. His parents regularly foster other children. Gates and his sisters attended Dixons City Technology College in West Bowling, Bradford where Gates studied art and music at GCSE level.

He joined Bradford Cathedral choir at age nine. He was head chorister by the age of eleven, singing solo for the Queen when she visited in 1997. Gates achieved Grade 8 in piano, classical guitar and singing. He became a Christian through Bradford's Abundant Life church, where he played his guitar. He gained a reserve place at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester before the finals of Pop Idol.

2002–2003: Pop Idol, What My Heart Wants to Say and Go Your Own Way
Gates was the runner-up to Will Young on the first series of Pop Idol in February 2002. Gates auditioned with Flying Without Wings and was put through to the next round of the show. Despite not winning the competition, he was soon signed up by Simon Cowell to the BMG label.

Gates' first single, a cover of "Unchained Melody", entered the UK Singles Chart at number one. The single went double-platinum in the UK, and was voted 2002's The Record of the Year by ITV viewers. This was followed by another number-one single, "Anyone of Us (Stupid Mistake)". His third single, a double A-side "Suspicious Minds"/"The Long and Winding Road", a duet with Pop Idol winner Will Young, also reached number one. His fourth, "What My Heart Wants to Say", reached number five. Gates's debut album What My Heart Wants to Say achieved first week sales of 100,000 copies, peaking at number two in the UK Albums Chart, and eventually earned double platinum status in the UK.

Smash Hits magazine dedicated 7 October 2002 as International Gareth Gates Day. In 2003, Gates sang the 2003 Comic Relief charity single, "Spirit in the Sky", with The Kumars. The single was a UK number-one for two weeks. He also appeared in Comic Relief's Celebrity Driving School. Through Comic Relief, he became involved with Body and Soul, a charity that helps people affected by HIV and AIDS.

His next single, "Sunshine", reached number three and was taken from his second album Go Your Own Way, which was released in October 2003. However, the album was far less successful than his debut album. It peaked at number eleven in the UK before dropping to No. 32 the following week, and only spent four weeks on the album chart altogether. The album enjoyed slightly more success in a number of Asian countries however, and Gates won MTV Asia's award for Best International Male in 2003/04. He was awarded the same title by MTV China and MTV Taiwan.

His next single, "Say it Isn't So", reached number four in late 2003, but proved to be Gates' last single release in the UK until April 2007. At the start of 2004 he did an arena tour of the UK, then continued to promote his album throughout Europe and Asia, before taking a break and training as a speech coach and course instructor with the McGuire Programme.

By this point, Gates had sold just over three million music singles in the UK, including the second and sixth best selling singles in 2002 ("Unchained Melody", which sold 1.4 million, and "Anyone of Us (Stupid Mistake)", which sold 581,000) and the second-best-selling single in 2003 ("Spirit in the Sky", 561,000 copies). All three of these singles were listed in the Top 100 singles of the decade (2000–2009) as announced on Radio 1 with Spirit in the Sky at no. 62, Anyone of Us (no. 56), and Unchained Melody (no. 2). The biggest-selling single of the decade was "Anything is Possible"/"Evergreen" by Will Young, whom Gates had lost the Pop Idol contest to. In the 2003 film Seeing Double, alongside pop group S Club, Gates played a clone version of himself. He also promoted AIDS awareness through a charity concert to 50,000 people with MTV in Indonesia.

2004–2009: Pictures of the Other Side and Dancing on Ice
In 2003 and 2004, it was reported that Gates was being dropped by his record company BMG. The reports, which also cited low sales of his second album and low concert ticket sales as reasons, were denied by both Gates and the record company at the time. Gates was later dropped from the label in April 2006 before the release of any new material.

In 2006, Gates appeared in a television documentary for ITV1 called Whatever Happened To Gareth Gates?, which dealt with his experiences in the music industry and his life outside it. The documentary was screened in December 2006, and confirmed a new record deal with UMTV (part of Universal) and a new album as well as showcasing snippets of the new material. An early preview of his new album was given at a secret gig on 29 November 2006. Gates had been working with writers such as Sacha Skarbek (who has worked with James Blunt), Ricky Ross (of Deacon Blue), Gary Clark and Pete Gordeno, and new the album was produced by Martin Terefe, Jon Hall and Nick Whitecross.

Since 2004 Gates had also been working with singer-songwriter Judie Tzuke. Initial contact was apparently made through Lucie Silvas. Gates' regular acoustic guitarist, Graham Kearns, also worked with Tzuke and has writing credits with Gates on both albums. Appearing at the Limelight venue in Crewe during Tzuke's October 2004 tour, Gates sang backing vocals to a surprised audience on Tzuke's track "Bully" (from her album Secret Agent). A song Gates co-wrote with Tzuke, "Dark Days", appeared on Tzuke's 2007 album Songs 1.

On 30 March 2007, Gates appeared on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, the first time he had participated in an interview for a mainstream television chat-show since his speech improvement.

The first single from Gates' third album was "Changes" which was released on 9 April 2007. The single peaked at Number 14. A second single, "Angel on My Shoulder", was released on 18 June 2007, peaking at Number 22. Both singles remained in the UK Top 40 for only one week. Gates' third album, Pictures of the Other Side, was released on 25 June 2007. It proved to be Gates' lowest selling album to date and spent only two weeks on the UK album chart, entering at Number 23 before falling to Number 66 the following week, then dropping out of the chart altogether.

On 6 July 2008, Gates starred in the line-up for A Spoonful of Stiles & Drewe, a charity fundraiser to celebrate 25 years of musical theatre composers George Stiles and Anthony Drewe. Gates played the part of Robbie in a preview of a new musical Soho Cinders and features on the album.

In 2008, Gates appeared on ITV1's Dancing on Ice with skating partner Maria Filippov, finishing fourth, losing a place in the final to Zaraah Abrahams and dancing partner Fred Palascak.

During his time working with Judie Tzuke, Gates also co-wrote the song "Christmas and I'm Home" with her. It was first premiered live by Gates in 2004 in Bradford, and Tzuke recorded the song with pianist Haim Cotton. Tzuke's version was released commercially in November 2008, as a charity single download and as a physical CD single sold exclusively through the CD Baby website.

In 2009, Gates was cast in the lead role in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Adelphi Theatre, London. Taking over the role from Lee Mead, Gates began the role on 7 February 2009 and continued to play the part until the final performance on 30 May 2009.

Gates performed at the charity event "Broadway To West End by Special Arrangement" on 4 October 2009 at the Drury Lane Theatre, singing "Why God, Why?" as a solo and "The Last Night of the World" as a duet with Ima Castro. Both songs come from the musical Miss Saigon. The event was to honour the work of orchestrator William David Brohm and raised funds for CLIC Sargent Cancer care.

In June 2009, it was announced that Gates was joining the cast of the International 25th Anniversary World Tour production of Les Misérables in the role of Marius. Gates had been offered the choice of playing Marius in London's West End or in the anniversary tour, but opted for the tour as it was a new production and there was the opportunity to make the part his own. A live cast recording, Les Misérables Live, was recorded in Manchester and released as a double album in September 2010 on the label First Night Records.

In December 2009, Gates took part in ITV's All Star Family Fortunes, along with his then wife Suzanne, mum Wendy, sister Nicola and best friend Matt, and won £30,000 for The Bobby Moore Fund for bowel cancer. Other TV and sporting activities for charity have included an appearance on Sky's Don't Forget the Lyrics! and ITV's Mr. and Mrs. again for the Bobby Moore Fund and various events for the Rhys Daniels Trust.

2010–2012: Les Miserables, documentary, and Loserville
Following the final performance of the anniversary tour at The Barbican, London, in October 2010, Gates joined the West End production of Les Misérables at Queen's Theatre where he continued to play the part of Marius until June 2011.

Gates took a break from musical theatre to work on other projects, including writing a new album, but planned to return in March 2012, taking the part of Claude in the UK touring production of Hair It was later announced that the musical would not proceed as efforts to rescue the tour following the bankruptcy of the original production company had failed.

In January 2012, Gates featured in a one night only charity production of Children of Eden playing the part of Cain/Japeth in aid of Crohn's disease.

A documentary, Stop My Stutter, was broadcast on BBC Three in February 2012. In the documentary, Gates worked with five young men and women who've stammered since childhood. Speaking of the documentary, he said "Hopefully this documentary will give people an insight into something that most take for granted – speaking!"

Instead, Gates played Eddie in the new musical Loserville at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in 2012. The musical was written by Busted's James Bourne and Elliot Davis. Along with Gates, the cast also included EastEnders Aaron Sidwell and Lil' Chris.

In July 2012, Gates took over the role of Warner in the UK tour of the musical Legally Blonde.

2013–2017: The Big Reunion, Greatest Hits, and Footloose
In early 2013 he toured in the musical Boogie Nights, with members of The Osmonds, Louise Lytton, Shane Ritchie, Chico & Andy Abraham.

On 27 December 2013, it was announced that Gates, along with Dane Bowers (from Another Level), Kenzie (from Blazin' Squad), Adam Rickitt, and Kavana would be forming a "supergroup" called 5th Story for the ITV2 documentary The Big Reunion. Following the programme, the newly formed group toured in October 2014 as part of the Big Reunion Boyband Tour.

In January 2014, Gates again took part in Dancing on Ice for the final series, partnered this time by Brianne Delcourt. That year's show consisted of former series champions and public favourites. He finished in 7th place, and went on to appear in the very last Dancing on Ice tour in March and April 2014.

A compilation album, The Very Best of Gareth Gates, was released by Sony Music in March 2014. It includes the hit singles from his first two albums and two other tracks from his first album (all of which are owned by Sony Music), plus three brand new acoustic tracks which he recorded with his guitarist Pete Rinaldi. The album failed to chart.

In 2016, Gates starred as Willard in a national tour of Footloose. He took several breaks during the tour, and during his absences his part was played by Lee Brennan.

During spring 2017, Gates appeared in Robin Hood Easter Panto at various locations within the United Kingdom.

2022–present: Festival headlining and Celebrity SAS
In June 2022, Gates hosted a Bradford-based Jubilee party, Big 80s Festival, in celebration of the Queen's seventieth year on the throne. Gates said, "I speak to people in Bradford. To see a huge act, they often have to go to a different city. Whether that’s over to Manchester, Leeds or even Birmingham. To bring all these acts to Bradford, we are trying to do something where we are now their go-to events company to see world class acts. Our main aim is make sure the people of Bradford don’t have to travel and they can get all these shows on their doorstep."

On 2 July 2022, Gates headlined Dartford Pride.

Gates won the 2023 edition of British reality TV show Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, beating Member of Parliament Matt Hancock and model Danielle Lloyd in the final.

Personal life
Gates lived in Chiswick, West London, with wife Suzanne Gates (née Mole) until their split in 2012. The couple met when she was a dancer at the Record of the Year awards in 2002, which Gates won for "Unchained Melody". In October 2006, The People newspaper incorrectly reported that they had secretly married. However, Gates and Mole got engaged on New Year's Eve 2007 and were married on 18 July 2008 in a private ceremony for family and friends. The couple had a daughter on 6 April 2009.

Gates met Faye Brookes in 2012 when they starred together in Legally Blonde: The Musical, shortly before he split from his wife. Gates and Brookes ended their relationship in 2019.

Gates qualified as a speech coach and latterly as a course instructor with the McGuire Programme where he helps those with stammers similar to his own. He co-led his first full course in February 2005 and in August 2006 he instructed his first course single-handedly in Galway, Ireland. He led his second at Bournemouth in November 2006. Gates spoke to MPs including David Amess, Robert Buckland, and Steve Brine at the Palace of Westminster as part of a briefing on communication disability hosted by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists and the Centre for Social Justice. Gates said, "By speaking today I hope to shed light on the issues that surround speech and language difficulties. In particular, through my own experiences, I want to explain how the inability to converse and communicate drastically shapes and moulds people's lives. It determines the sort of people they become and the paths they follow." On 18 October 2011, his work as an ambassador, raising awareness of the issues surrounding speech difficulties, was recognised at the Giving Voice Awards Ceremony.

In 2012, Gates, alongside Jonathan Wilkes, then-wife Suzanne and Wilkes' wife Nikki, set up the Gates and Wilkes Academy of Performing Arts for young people from ages 5–18, in his home town of Bradford. Gates and Wilkes opened a second academy in Milton Keynes. During an interview with BBC Radio Leeds on 16 June 2012, Gates announced plans to open a further academy in Leeds. After the separation from his wife, the partnership was broken up, though Gates now has three performing arts academies of his own in Yorkshire.

In 2009, it was reported that Gates had made an estimated £6.5 million during his career to date. The Irish Independent newspaper reported that Gates was one of a number of celebrities with investments in the company Ingenious Media, which backed a number of films, including Avatar and X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Charitable causes
On 7 September 2008, Gates played for England against The Rest of the World in Soccer Aid 2008 at Wembley in aid of UNICEF.

Gates is a patron of the HIV/AIDS charity Body and Soul and of The Bobby Moore Fund, which supports research into bowel cancer. He took part in the 2009 Cosmo Everyman campaign to raise awareness of prostate and testicular cancer.

In 2020, Gates presented the BBC Lifeline Appeal for the British Stammering Association.

Studio albums

 * What My Heart Wants to Say (2002)
 * Go Your Own Way (2003)
 * Pictures of the Other Side (2007)

Compilation albums

 * The Very Best of Gareth Gates (2014)

Theatre

 * Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. Joseph. West End 2009
 * Les Misérables international tour. Marius 2009/10
 * Les Misérables. Marius. West End 2010/11
 * Loserville. Eddie Arch. West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds 18 June – 14 July 2012
 * Legally Blonde UK Tour. 'Warner' At various venues from 17 July 2012 to September 2012
 * Sleeping Beauty. The Prince. Marlowe Theatre 30 November 2012 to 20 January 2013
 * Boogie Nights. Dean. UK tour January to April 2013
 * Footloose. Willard. UK tour January to October 2016
 * Jack and the Beanstalk. Jack. Hull New Theatre December 2022
 * SpongeBob: The Musical. Squidward. UK Tour 2023.

Tours
Pop tours
 * Pop Idol Arena Tour (2002)
 * Will Young and Gareth Gates Arena Tour (2002)
 * Go Your Own Way Arena Tour – UK and Asia (2004)

Awards
UK Overseas
 * The Record of the Year 2002: "Unchained Melody"
 * Smash Hits Awards 2002: best male, best hair, best newcomer, most fanciable male
 * Smash Hits Awards 2002 Nominees: Best Live Act, Best Singles for "Anyone of Us" and "Unchained Melody"
 * Smash Hits Awards 2003: best male, best single ("Sunshine")
 * Young Achievers Yorkshire 2002
 * Special award for service to Yorkshire 2002
 * Giving Voice Celebrity Ambassador award. October 2011
 * Top of the Pops Awards 2002 Nominees: Best Pop Act, Best Newcomer
 * Top of the Pops Awards 2003 Nominees: Singer of the Year, Best Official Site, Best Fan Site, Song of the Year, Video of the Year for "Sunshine"
 * MTV Asia: Best International Male 2003/2004
 * MTV China: Best International Male 2003/2004
 * MTV Taiwan: Best International Male 2003/2004
 * TMF Belgium: Best International Pop
 * MTV Taiwan: Inspiration to Youth
 * G-Music (Taiwan): Best International Artist 2003
 * Hit FM: Best single of 2003 (AOU)

title: Gareth Gates