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Solsbury Hill

Little Solsbury Hill (more recently known as Solsbury Hill, because of the popularity of the Peter Gabriel song) is a small flat-topped hill and the site of an Iron Age hill fort, above the village of Batheaston in Somerset, England. The hill rises to 625 ft above the River Avon, which is just over 1 mi to the south, and gives views of the city of Bath and the surrounding area. It is within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The hill is one of several possible locations of the Battle of Badon and shows the remains of a medieval field system. Part of the hill was quarried in the 19th century. In 1930, it was acquired by the National Trust. The hill was the inspiration of the Peter Gabriel song "Solsbury Hill", recorded in 1977. A small turf labyrinth was cut into the turf by protesters during the widening of the A46 in 1994.

Etymology
It is sometimes misspelled as Salisbury, or Solisbury, perhaps because of confusion with Salisbury Plain (a plateau in southern England), or the city of Salisbury. Salisbury and Solsbury can be difficult to distinguish in speech; Salisbury is often pronounced "Saulsbury", and sometimes the "a" in "Salisbury" is pronounced as an "o", and the "i" is elided, making the pronunciations of the two words practically identical. The name 'Solsbury' may be derived from the Celtic god Sulis, a deity worshipped at the thermal spring in nearby Bath. A geological map by Horace B Woodward in the back of the 1888 Handbook of Bath labels the hill as 'Stilisbury Hill'.

Geology
The hill is formed in layers from a variety of sedimentary rocks of Jurassic age. In common with the Cotswold plateau to the north, the summit is formed from rocks ascribed to the Chalfield Oolite Formation. The oolite, together with the Fuller's Earth Formation which underlies it, forms a part of the Great Oolite Group of rocks of Bathonian age. Beneath these are, successively, Bajocian age limestones of the Inferior Oolite Group and sandstones of the Bridport Sand Formation. The last-named unit forms a part of the Lias Group of rocks of Toarcian age. Beneath all of these is the relatively thick Charmouth Mudstone Formation sequence rising from the edge of the valley floor alluvium. All faces of the hill are subject to large areas of landslip.

The 625 ft high hill is just over 1 mi north of the River Avon.

Hill fort

Solsbury Hill was an Iron Age hill fort occupied between 300 BC and 100 BC, comprising a triangular area enclosed by a single univallate rampart, faced inside and out with well-built dry stone walls and infilled with rubble. The rampart was 20 ft wide and the outer face was at least 12 ft high. The top of the hill was cleared down to the bedrock, then substantial huts were built with wattle and daub on a timber frame. After a period of occupation, some of the huts were burnt down, the rampart was overthrown, and the site was abandoned, never to be reoccupied. This event is probably part of the Belgic invasion of Britain in the early part of the 1st century BC.

The hillfort is protected as a Scheduled Monument.

Later history
The hill is near the Fosse Way Roman Road as it descends Bannerdown hill into Batheaston on its way to Bath. Solsbury Hill is a possible location of the Battle of Badon, fought between the Britons (under the legendary King Arthur) and the Saxons c. 496, mentioned by the chroniclers Gildas and Nennius. The hilltop also shows the remains of a medieval or post medieval field system.

The hill also has two disused quarries, one listed on the northwest side on a 1911 map, and another one listed between 1885 and 1900 as an old quarry on the west side. It was acquired by the National Trust in 1930. People protesting against the building of an A46 bypass road cut a small turf maze into the hill, during the construction of the bypass in the mid-1990s. In one day of protests, 11 people, including George Monbiot, were hospitalised as a result of beatings by the security guards.

Wildlife
The plants and animals that live on Little Solsbury reflect the habitat provided by grassland overlying the limestone rock beneath. Specialist plants and animals, some of which are rare species, have adapted to the calcareous grassland. Most of the landscape is largely unaffected by agriculture as shown by the yellow meadow ant.

Examples of plant species found include bird's foot trefoil, vetches, greater knapweed, harebells, yarrow (Achillea millefolium), and scabious. It is one of a series of flower-rich habitats that Avon Wildlife Trust are trying to link together. The plants attract a range of insects including: the six-spotted burnet moth, hummingbird hawk-moth and a number of butterflies including chalkhill blues. A small population of common buzzard (Buteo buteo) nest in the area. Roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), badger and red fox are seen. Skylarks also nest on the hill.

In popular culture
Solsbury Hill (More accurately 'Little Solsbury') is the inspiration for an eponymous song, released in 1977 by rock musician Peter Gabriel as his first solo single. A recording of the natural sounds on the hill forms the track "A Quiet Moment" on Gabriel's 2011 album New Blood, which precedes the orchestral version of his song.

The Warlord Chronicles, a historical fiction trilogy of books, places the site of Mount Badon at Solsbury Hill.

title: Solsbury Hill


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title: User talk:66.129.40.177


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Barlin, Pas-de-Calais

Barlin is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France.

Geography
A small ex-coal mining town, now a light engineering and farming commune, Barlin is situated 7 mi south of Béthune and 30 mi southwest of Lille, at the junction of the D57, D179 and the D188 roads.

History
Barlin dates to at least 1141, the year of the first mention of the parish of Barlin in a manuscript now kept in the National Archives. It was then spelt Ballin or Bellin. The name changed several times over the centuries, being recorded as Ballin in 1141, Bellin in 1438 and Barlaing in 1556; it was not until the next century that it became Barlin.

In the 12th century, the territory of Barlin was divided into several lordships that depended on Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise, Arras or Béthune. In 1207, Thomas Hasbare was seigneur of Barlin. The Melun family succeeded him and one of their lords, nicknamed Le Brun, the king's chamberlain, saw his property confiscated by Duke John the Fearless, who had accused him of allegiance with his enemies. The Duke of Burgundy then donated the land and income of Barlin to Walleran de Juhaucourt.

In the mid-nineteenth century, coalmining began at Barlin, and the town flourished. Its mines closed in the 1960s.

Today, Barlin is a modern and dynamic place that offers its residents numerous amenities: schools, colleges, a swimming pool, a library and sports halls.

Sights

 * The church of St. Pierre, dating from the eighteenth century
 * The Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery
 * The museum

title: Barlin, Pas-de-Calais


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Foxhole (band)

Foxhole is a post-rock band from Bowling Green, Kentucky. Founded in November 2000 on the campus of Western Kentucky University, the group was heavily influenced by other Kentucky-linked bands such as Slint and June of 44. Foxhole has released three albums on Philadelphia's Burnt Toast Vinyl label and in December 2018 their latest LP, Well Kept Thing, was Grammy-nominated for "Best Recording Package."

About
The band initially focused on melding experimental sounds with melody. A staple of early performances was a fully improvised song (designated "X") randomly inserted into the set list, and which often featured several homemade instruments, including the "juggophone", "shatterophone", "topophone", and "pyrophone", which utilized the sounds of beating water jugs, breaking bottles, clinking pot tops, and micing fireworks, respectively. They also made frequent use of the sounds of a signal generator. Gradually, Foxhole integrated slightly more traditional song structures and held to typical instruments, dispensing mostly with the use of gimmick instrumentation. Songs typically featured a gradual build in intensity, and featured rare and unaugmented vocals.

2002 brought EP1, the debut Foxhole release. 500 CDs were pressed and packaged in hand-stitched canvas and embossed cardstock. That summer, the band embarked on a two-week tour across the Eastern half of the United States. In spring 2003 Foxhole released a second EP, EP2:X, a compilation of "X" improvisations recorded mostly during the previous summer's tour. It too was hand packaged and screenprinted.

As Foxhole continued to change musically, the lineup also changed. Founding member Nathan McBroom left the band in December 2003; 2004 brought on a partnership with Selah Records, from Lansing, MI. Selah funded the release of the Foxhole's first full-length. Recorded by Greg at the church which doubled as the band's rehearsal space, We The Wintering Tree was a monumental undertaking for the band. Tim Bushong of T-Bush Record Plant mixed the album, and it was mastered at John Golden Mastering. 1000 copies of We the Wintering Tree were released in late 2004 and packaged in letterpress-printed white cardstock. Shortly after the album's release, Matt Wilson left the band, also on good terms. Alex O'Nan, drummer for Louisville "math-rock" band, Of Asaph, filled in for several shows, as did Adam Tanaka, formerly of the hardcore band With Blood Comes Beauty. In January 2005 the band found a permanent replacement in Jason Torrence, drummer for Nashville Americana act God's Lonely Man.

As writing for another EP began, Foxhole also increased the frequency of its live performances. In May 2006 they released Push/Pull on Philadelphia's Burnt Toast Vinyl, after roughly 18 months of recording and pre-production. Recorded by Torrence and Leppert and mixed and mastered by Torrence, the album was thematically inspired by videographer and band friend Aaron Marrs' death at sea. The complexity and additional production on Push/Pull prompted the band to add a sixth member, Brian Toppenberg, to augment live shows.

In early 2010, Foxhole announced plans to return from their 4-year long hiatus and record a new album; drummer Chris Vicari (formerly of Nashville post-rock group Maps) replaced Torrence around this time. The band set to work recording at Nashville's Brown Owl Studio in October 2010, with former drummer Torrence serving as lead engineer; however, due to a variety of life events that saw the members disperse to locales including Austin, TX, Louisville, KY and New York City, the sessions were left to simmer for the next few years.

In December 2016, Foxhole gathered back in Bowling Green to revisit the recordings, undertaking rearranging and additional recording at Tyler Cook's The Refinery recording studio just blocks away from Shepherd's home; Leppert recorded the final portions in a cabin in Cambridge, Mass., in April 2017. The finished album, Well Kept Thing, was released on Sept. 22, 2018 on Burnt Toast Vinyl. It was mixed by Grammy-winning engineer Stephen Roessner, and mastered by Shellac's Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service. In December 2018, Well Kept Thing was nominated for a Grammy for "Best Recording Package."

Members

 * Derek Holt
 * Adam Moore
 * Greg Leppert
 * R. Justin Shepherd
 * Chris Vicari

Former members and participants

 * Nathan McBroom (Founding Member) – Guitar, Bass
 * Matthew Wilson (Founding Member) – Drums
 * Alex O'Nan – Drums
 * Adam Tanaka – Drums
 * Joey Wilcox – Percussion
 * Jason Torrence – Drums
 * Brian Toppenberg — Electronics
 * Brittany Jarboe Jennings — Cello on Push/Pull
 * Timbre Cierpke — Vocals on Well Kept Thing

Releases

 * EP1 (2002)
 * EP2:X (2003)
 * We the Wintering Tree (Burnt Toast Vinyl, 2004)
 * Push/Pull EP (Burnt Toast Vinyl, 2006)
 * Well Kept Thing (Burnt Toast Vinyl, 2018)

Trivia

 * In January 2017, NPR's Morning Edition used two Foxhole songs ("Spectacle" and "The End of Dying" from their album We the Wintering Tree). NPR Morning Edition
 * Foxhole's song "Wake Up Get Dressed We're Sinking" was featured in the 2012 movie "The Zipper".
 * The Foxhole song "The End of Dying" can be heard on a 2006 promotional BMX DVD distributed by the major skate shoe company etnies.
 * "The End of Dying" was also featured (though shortened) on Mono Vs. Stereo Records' national release "The Revolution Will Begin In The Blink Of An Eye", along with House of Heroes, Anathallo, Aireline, and Matthew Thiessen of Relient K.
 * Paul Hinojos of the band Sparta chose Foxhole's We the Wintering Tree as one of his ten favorite albums of 2004.
 * Foxhole's album We the Wintering Tree was recommended by independent record review site Decoy Music as one of the 10 best instrumental records of 2004.

Reviews

 * Buzzgrinder Review: Push/Pull
 * Colossians 3:16 Review
 * The Indie Workshop Review
 * Splendid Review
 * Decoy Music write up
 * Derives (in French) Review
 * Decapolis Concert Review at Cornerstone Festival
 * Japanese Review

Videos

 * "X" collaboration with Timbre
 * "End of Dying" with Alex O'Nan
 * "At Right Angles" with Alex O'Nan

title: Foxhole (band)


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Andy Serkis

Andrew Clement Serkis (born 20 April 1964) is an English actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his motion capture roles comprising motion capture acting, animation and voice work for computer-generated characters such as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001–2003) and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), King Kong in the eponymous 2005 film, Caesar in the Planet of the Apes reboot series (2011–2017), Captain Haddock / Sir Francis Haddock in Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin (2011), Baloo in his self-directed film Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018) and Supreme Leader Snoke in the Star Wars sequel trilogy films The Force Awakens (2015) and The Last Jedi (2017), also portraying Kino Loy in the Star Wars Disney+ series Andor (2022).

Serkis' film work in motion capture has been critically acclaimed. He has received an Empire Award and two Saturn Awards for his motion-capture acting. He earned a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of serial killer Ian Brady in the British television film Longford (2006) and was nominated for a BAFTA for his portrayal of new wave and punk rock musician Ian Dury in the biopic Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (2010). In 2020, Serkis received the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema. In 2021, he won a Daytime Emmy Award for the series The Letter for the King (2020).

Serkis portrayed Ulysses Klaue in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) and Black Panther (2018), as well as the Disney+ series What If…? (2021). He also played Alfred Pennyworth in The Batman (2022). Serkis has his own production company and motion capture workshop, The Imaginarium in London, which he used for Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle. He made his directorial debut with Imaginarium's 2017 film Breathe. He directed Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021), which is set in Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU).

Early life
Serkis was born on 20 April 1964 in Ruislip Manor in Middlesex (now within Greater London). He grew up in both Ruislip and Baghdad, Iraq. His mother, Lylie Weech, was half Iraqi and half English, and taught disabled children; his father, Clement Serkis, was an Iraqi-Armenian gynaecologist. His parents are Catholic. His ancestors' original surname was "Sarkisian". His father often worked abroad in the Middle East, while Serkis and his siblings were raised in Britain, with regular holidays in the Middle Eastern cities of Tyre, Sidon, Damascus and Baghdad.

Serkis was educated at St Benedict's School, Ealing. He studied visual arts and theatre as part of his degree at Lancaster University and graduated in 1985. Serkis was a member of The County College and part of the student radio station Bailrigg FM. He joined the Nuffield Studio, getting involved in designing and producing plays.

Having agreed to act in a couple of productions towards the end of his first year, Serkis played the lead role in Barrie Keeffe's play Gotcha as a rebellious teenager holding a teacher hostage. As a result, he changed his major subject to acting, constructing his Independent Studies Degree around acting and set design, studying Konstantin Stanislavski and Bertolt Brecht, and including minor modules in art and visual graphics. In his final year at Lancaster he adapted Raymond Briggs's graphic novel The Tin-Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman, a satire about the Falklands War, as a one-man show, which he performed to acclaim.

Career
In his third year at university, Serkis joined the backstage team at the local Duke's Playhouse to earn his Equity card. On graduating, although advised to take a one-year post-graduate acting course, he joined Dukes as an actor. Under director Jonathan Petherbridge, who used workshops based on the methods of Augusto Boal, he spent 18 months acting in a broad range of productions from Brecht, Shakespeare and modern British playwrights.

After 16 months, and having gained his Equity card, Serkis joined a series of touring companies, including productions of: Bouncers opposite Hull Truck; Florizel in The Winter's Tale; and the fool in King Lear with director Max Stafford-Clark. In the early 1990s he settled in London, and took a role in April De Angelis's Hush (Royal Court) as Dogboy. Also the Royal Court Theatre's production of Mojo, and Wilson Milam's production of Hurlyburly (1997) at the Queen's Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, with Rupert Graves and David Tennant. Serkis also developed a career in television, appearing in small roles such as Greville in an episode of The Darling Buds of May (1992) and a criminal called Maxwell in an episode of Pie in the Sky (1994). Serkis joined director Mike Leigh's ensemble for two film productions, and appeared in the romantic comedy Loop (1997) alongside Susannah York. Serkis portrayed Victorian choreographer John D'Auban in Topsy-Turvy, a 1999 film about Gilbert and Sullivan's creation of The Mikado. In 1999, Serkis played Bill Sikes in ITV's adaptation of Oliver Twist. He appeared alongside Sacha Baron Cohen in The Jolly Boys' Last Stand in 2000.

Serkis first came to wide public notice for his performance as Sméagol / Gollum, in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001–2003), for which he provided motion-capture movements and voice for the CGI character. His work on The Lord of the Rings started a debate on the legitimacy of CGI-assisted acting. Some critics felt Serkis should have been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, since his voice, body language and facial expressions were used.

Serkis has performed motion-capture work in several other films, including the title character in the 2005 version of King Kong (in which he also played the ship's cook in live-action) and as Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), and War for the Planet of the Apes (2017). He also worked with game developers Ninja Theory on the 2007 release Heavenly Sword, providing the motion capture and voice for King Bohan (the game's main villain).

In 2006, Serkis starred as serial killer Ian Brady in the BAFTA-nominated Longford, co-starring Samantha Morton as Myra Hindley and Jim Broadbent as Lord Longford. That same year, Serkis appeared in the role of Mr. Grin in the film rendition of Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider novel Stormbreaker. He also acted in the film The Prestige as Mr. Alley (assistant to Nikola Tesla), as the voice of one of the henchrats in the Aardman Animations film Flushed Away named Spike, and appeared in Jim Threapleton's improvised feature film Extraordinary Rendition, which premiered in 2007. In 2007, he appeared in Sugarhouse, a low-budget independently made film, playing local crime lord Hoodwink, who terrorises an east London housing estate. For the role, Serkis shaved his head and had sessions lasting 20 hours each to have temporary tattoos stencilled onto his body. The film premiered at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival and released in the UK on 24 August. Also that year, Serkis provided the voiceover for Monkey Life, on Five broadcast for three weeks from 13 to 31 August 2007. This series was about Monkey World, the popular ape and monkey sanctuary and zoo near Wool, Dorset. In the joint BBC/HBO production Einstein and Eddington, (2008) Serkis played Albert Einstein, following the development of his theory of relativity, while David Tennant played scientist Sir Arthur Eddington. In 2008, Serkis appeared as Rigaud in the BBC Television adaptation of Charles Dickens' Little Dorrit and as Capricorn in Inkheart, the film adaptation of Cornelia Funke's novel. In 2010, Serkis played 1970s new wave singer Ian Dury in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll. Serkis reunited with Peter Jackson, as a cast member in Jackson's and Steven Spielberg's Tintin trilogy, based on The Adventures of Tintin. Serkis supplied the voice and motion capture performance of Captain Haddock (adopting a Scottish accent) as well as his ancestor, Sir Francis Haddock. Filming began in January 2009 and the film was released in 2011. Filming was due to begin in September 2008, but was delayed due to Universal pulling out of backing the project.

In 2009, Serkis voiced the role of the demon Screwtape in Focus on the Family's Radio Theatre audio adaptation of C. S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters. In 2010, Serkis was cast as William Hare, with Simon Pegg as Burke, in the John Landis black comedy film Burke and Hare based on the Burke and Hare murders in Scotland in 1828. He also featured in the TV series The Accused, in "Liam's Story", written by Danny Brocklehurst and Jimmy McGovern. He played Caesar in the 20th Century Fox science-fiction film Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Serkis was acclaimed for his performance as Caesar in 2011, and in a high-profile campaign by 20th Century Fox for him to be honoured with a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination, his co-star James Franco stated: "Andy Serkis is the undisputed master of the newest kind of acting called 'motion capture,' and it is time that Serkis gets credit for the innovative artist that he is." In 2010, Serkis played Monkey, the lead character along with Lindsey Shaw in the videogame Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. In January 2011, it was confirmed that Serkis would reprise the role of Gollum in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey the first film in the three-part The Hobbit films. It was released in 2012, and the follow-ups were released in 2013 and 2014. He was also the trilogy's second unit director, which included directing aerial shots and battle scenes. He was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in June 2012 along with 175 other individuals. In 2014, Serkis reprised his role as Caesar in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and again in 2017 for War for the Planet of the Apes, the last of the trilogy.

In Gareth Edwards' 2014 science-fiction monster film Godzilla, Serkis was the consultant on the film's motion capture sequences in order to "control the souls" of the creatures. Serkis played Ulysses Klaue in Marvel Studios' Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), and was also a motion capture consultant on the film. He reprised the role in Marvel Studios' Black Panther (2018), and provided the voice in the sixth episode of Marvel's What If...?. He played Supreme Leader Snoke in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) and reprised the role in Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019). Serkis appeared as the Ghost of Christmas Past in the 2019 BBC/FX three-part miniseries A Christmas Carol. In 2019, it was announced that Serkis would play Alfred Pennyworth in The Batman (2022).

In late 2015, it was announced that Serkis was working on a modern film adaptation of Rumpelstiltskin, titled Steelskin. In addition to starring in the film, Serkis will serve as producer and director.

Serkis received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Performer in a Daytime Fiction Program in 2021 for his role as Mayor of Mistrinaut, the father of his real life daughter Ruby's character, in the Netflix fantasy series The Letter for the King. Also for Netflix, Serkis is scheduled to star alongside Idris Elba and Cynthia Erivo in a new TV movie of Elba's show, Luther. In 2022, Serkis returned to the Star Wars franchise in a different, non-CGI role in the Disney+ television series Andor, as Kino Loy.

The Imaginarium Studios
In 2011, Serkis founded The Imaginarium Studios with film producer Jonathan Cavendish. The Imaginarium is a production company and creative digital studio based in Ealing, London and is dedicated to invention of believable, emotionally engaging digital characters using Performance Capture technology, in which Serkis specialises. On 20 October 2012, the studio acquired rights to The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon, and in 2023 was in production with a new motion capture adaptation of George Orwell's Animal Farm.

Directing
Serkis served as the second unit director for The Hobbit films and made his directorial debut with Breathe (2017). He also directed and starred in the film, Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle. In August 2019, Serkis closed a deal to direct the superhero film Venom: Let There Be Carnage, the sequel to Venom (2018). It was released in theatres on 1 October 2021 in the United States and 15 October in the United Kingdom. In April 2022, he was set to direct Animal Farm, an animated adaptation of George Orwell's novella of the same name. In May 2024, it was announced that Serkis would direct, executive produce, and star in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum for Warner Bros. Pictures, a working title for a new installment in the Lord of the Rings film series, with Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens co-writing the screenplay and Jackson co-producing alongside Walsh and Boyens; the film is expected to be released in 2026.

Other activities
Serkis made an appearance in the music video for Neneh Cherry's "Woman", portraying an abusive boyfriend, in 1996. After portraying Gollum in The Lord of the Rings series, he published a memoir about his experiences, titled Gollum: How We Made Movie Magic, published in late 2004. In 2015, Serkis collaborated with rock band Coldplay in the making of the music video for "Adventure of a Lifetime". The group performed as chimpanzees with Serkis acting as a motion-capture consultant.

In December 2018, he appeared in a video for People's Vote as UK Prime Minister Theresa May using the voice of Gollum, spoofing May's Brexit deal. He also appears in the BBC Earth programme, Neanderthals: Meet Your Ancestors.

Serkis, together with fellow Lord of the Rings castmates Sean Astin, Sean Bean, Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, Ian McKellen, Dominic Monaghan, Viggo Mortensen, Miranda Otto, John Rhys-Davies, Liv Tyler, Karl Urban and Elijah Wood, plus writer Philippa Boyens and director Peter Jackson, on 1 May 2020 joined Josh Gad's YouTube series Reunited Apart, which reunites the cast of popular movies through video-conferencing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and promotes donations to non-profit charities.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, on VE Day, Serkis read the entire book of The Hobbit to raise money for NHS Charities Together and Best Beginnings, a pregnancy charity of which he has been an ambassador. More than 650,000 people tuned in worldwide, and Serkis raised more than £283,000 ($351,000). On 2 July 2020, HarperCollinsUK announced that Serkis would professionally narrate The Hobbit again to be published for Audible. The audiobook was released on 3 September 2020 in the UK, published by HarperCollins, and 21 September in the US, published by Recorded Books. The cover art, by Alan Lee, was drawn specially for the release.

On 7 July 2021, HarperCollinsUK and Recorded Books announced Serkis would follow up his narration of The Hobbit with a professional recording of all three The Lord of the Rings novels that were released on 16 September. The CDs were released on 14 October 2021.

Serkis and producer Andrew Levitas are creating a comic book series titled Eternus, about Heracles, the son of Zeus, trying to identify Zeus's killer. The series is published by Thunder Books.

In 2022, Serkis recorded a new audiobook version of the Terry Pratchett Discworld book Small Gods with Bill Nighy and Peter Serafinowicz.

Personal life
Serkis was born to Catholic parents. An atheist since his teenage years, he is "drawn to the karmic possibilities of energy transference", specifically "the idea that your energy lives on after you".

Serkis married actress Lorraine Ashbourne in July 2002. He lives in Crouch End, North London with Ashbourne and their three children: Ruby (b. 1998), Sonny (b. 2000) and Louis (b. 2004), all of whom are actors. Louis and Ruby starred in the 2019 film The Kid Who Would Be King and the 2020 Netflix series The Letter for the King respectively. Serkis also starred alongside Ruby, and they played father and daughter. Louis also voiced Bhoot in Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, which was directed by and co-starred his father as Baloo.

Selected theatre

 * The Porter in Macbeth. Directed by Braham Murray at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. (1988)
 * Tony Lumpkin in She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith. Directed by James Maxwell at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. (1990)
 * Sean Grogan in Your Home in the West by Rod Wooden. World premiere directed by Braham Murray at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. (1991)
 * Doctor Jan Heart in Doctor Heart by Peter Muller. English premiere directed by Braham Murray at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. (1991)
 * David in Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love by Brad Fraser. Directed by Braham Murray at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. (1995)
 * Iago in Othello. Directed by Braham Murray at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. (2002)

title: Andy Serkis


text:
José Miguel Carrera

José Miguel Carrera Verdugo (October 15, 1785 – September 4, 1821) was a Chilean general, formerly Spanish military, member of the prominent Carrera family, and considered one of the founders of independent Chile. Carrera was the most important leader of the Chilean War of Independence during the period of the Patria Vieja ("Old Republic"). After the Spanish "Reconquista de Chile" ("Reconquest"), he continued campaigning from exile after defeat. His opposition to the leaders of independent Argentina and Chile, San Martín and O'Higgins respectively, made him live in exile in Montevideo. From Montevideo Carrera traveled to Argentina where he joined the struggle against the unitarians. Carreras' small army was eventually left isolated in the Province of Buenos Aires from the other federalist forces. In this difficult situation Carrera decided to cross to native-controlled lands all the way to Chile to once and for all overthrow Chilean Supreme Director O'Higgins. His passage to Chile, which was his ultimate goal, was opposed by Argentine politicians and he engaged together with indigenous tribes, among them the Ranquel, in a campaign against the southern provinces of Argentina. After the downfall of Carrera's ally, the Republic of Entre Ríos, and several victories against the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, Carrera's men were finally defeated by numerically superior forces near Mendoza. Carrera was then betrayed by one of his Argentine helpers, leading to his capture and execution in that city.

Early years
José Miguel Carrera was of Basque descent. He was born in Santiago, the second son (third child, after his sister Javiera and his brother Juan José) of Ignacio de la Carrera y Cuevas and Francisca de Paula Verdugo Fernández de Valdivieso y Herrera. Carrera carried out his first studies in the Convictorio Carolino, the best school in the country at the time. During these years, he became friends with Manuel Rodríguez, a classmate and neighbour, future guerrilla leader of the Chilean independence movement.

After school he was sent to Spain by his parents. There he joined the Spanish Army in 1808. He fought against the Napoleonic forces, obtaining the rank of Sergeant Major and receiving the command of the Húsares de Galicia regiment.

In Spain he also made contact with the United States independence movement and joined the Cádiz Order.

La Patria Vieja ("Old Republic") (1810–1814)
When he learned about the Junta de Gobierno that had been established in Chile to rule during the absence of the Spanish monarch, he went back to Chile and got involved in politics. As the Carreras were one of the three major political forces, he became part of the government. On 15 November 1811 the Carreras made a coup d'état and José Miguel became the sole ruler of Chile (his brothers were military commanders). Because of his more personal and Chilean-national point of view about Chilean independence, Carrera came into conflict with the Lautaro Lodge, whose more Latin-Americanist centered objective was to unite all Latin America in the same way as the United States of America.

During his government, he helped create several Chilean national symbols and institutions: Carrera created the first Chilean Constitution, made the first Chilean flag and coat of arms, and promoted the press by bringing the first printing press to Chile, which directly led to the appearance of the first newspaper in Chile: La Aurora de Chile. Carrera also established September 18 as the national day of Independence (which is still celebrated in Chile), even though the real independence date is on February 12 of 1818. He also abolished slavery, rescinded the clergy's right to legal immunity, and founded the first state-sponsored school in Chile, the Instituto Nacional.

As the Spanish Army and Navy invaded the South of Chile, he became Commander in Chief of the patriotic forces and left the government. He had a successful campaign, expelling the Spaniards from the city of Concepción.

After the Surprise of El Roble, in which Carrera was surrounded and had to jump into a river to save himself (not without first shooting straight at the enemy's head of commander), the government relieved him of his duties and appointed Brigadier Bernardo O'Higgins, who had managed to repel the enemy incursion. Carrera was taken prisoner by the Spaniards but managed to escape, he finally exchanged prisoner after the Gainza treaty, and went on to overthrow the government for the third time. Bernardo O'Higgins did not acknowledge Carrera and fought against the Carrera's army at the Battle of Tres Acequias (Carrera's youngest brother, Luis Carrera, defeated O'Higgins using a cunning defensive strategy). During this chaos, the Spanish army retook Concepción and advanced towards Santiago. Carrera and O'Higgins decided to re-unite the army; Carrera's plan was to draw the Spaniards to the Angostura del Paine, while O'Higgins wanted to make his stand at the town of Rancagua. It was settled to make it at the Angostura de Paine, a gorge that formed an easily defended bottleneck, which seemed to be the most logical plan considering that the local forces were outnumbered. However, at the last hour and against direct orders, O'Higgins garrisoned the Chilean forces at the main square of Rancagua. He and his forces were promptly surrounded, and after an entire day of fighting, the Spanish commander Mariano Osorio was victorious in the Disaster of Rancagua, (1–2 October 1814).

Argentina and the United States
With the defeat of the Chilean forces, many patriots escaped to Mendoza, which was governed at the time by José de San Martín. As San Martín was a member of the Lautaro Lodge, he welcomed O'Higgins and his allies. After committing acts of vandalism José Miguel and his brothers were arrested and sent to Buenos Aires, where Carlos María de Alvear, a friend of Carrera since the war against Napoleon in Spain, had just been proclaimed national hero. Alvear would shortly go on to take power in Argentina.

While Alvear was in government, Carrera was in a good position in Buenos Aires. But after Alvear was overthrown, power was taken by members of the Lautaro Lodge, forcing Carrera to leave Buenos Aires for the United States. With the help of Commodore David Porter, and by sheer force of personality, José Miguel Carrera managed to obtain—on credit—four ships with American crews for the Chilean independence enterprise.

However, as he arrived in Buenos Aires with this fleet, the pro-San Martin Argentine government confiscated the ships and put Carrera in prison. During his imprisonment, San Martín organized an army in Mendoza. This group crossed the Andes and defeated the Spaniards in the Battle of Chacabuco, on 12 February 1817.

Carrera received help from the United States' envoy who came with him, Joel Roberts Poinsett, and was able to escape from San Martin's forces, taking refuge in Montevideo under the protection of Brazilian General Carlos Frederico Lecor. While in Montevideo, his brothers Juan José and Luís plotted against O'Higgins, because of his having betrayed the Carreras to San Martin and the Lautaro Lodge. They were arrested in Mendoza and executed by the command of Bernardo de Monteagudo, after the Royalists defeated San Martin and O'Higgins at the Second Battle of Cancha Rayada. The Lautaro Lodge had already made plans that, in case of defeat, all political enemies—including the Carrera brothers—would be executed. After José Miguel was informed of this, he openly and vociferously began opposing both San Martin and O'Higgins.

Subsequently, Jose Miguel Carrera was one of the main promoters of the Argentine federalist war and fought against the Unitarian government. Carrera and the federalist forces defeated the Directorship government and entered Buenos Aires. On 23 February 1820, they signed the Treaty of Pilar, the document that first established the Argentine federal system. However, because of national rivalries, Carrera is not often recognised in Argentine Historiography.

As a result of this treaty, Carrera received money and troops, with which he marched towards Chile. One of Carrera's main ally before his death was the Boroanos tribe that had recently migrated from Araucanía to the Pampas. However, he was intercepted in Mendoza and taken prisoner.

Trial and execution
After being judged by his enemies on a show trial,, Carrera was executed by a firing squad on 4 September 1821.

Warrior
Carrera entered the military career, in Chile, as a mere boy at the age of six. At the age of 22 (1808) he entered the Napoleonic Wars participating in the campaigns of 1808, 1809, and 1810. In Europe Carrera became an elite cavalry officer and a captain in the hussar regiment Húsares de Farnesio. He also became commander of the Húsares de Galicia. He distinguished himself in the Battle of Talavera and was awarded the Cruz of Talavera. He was wounded in the Battle of Ocana. In total he participated in some 20 armed engagements and battles on European soil. On his return to Chile he led his men in some 10 battles and/or armed engagements against the Spanish Army. Later, following his trip to the US, and in his attempt to return to Chile, from Argentina, he and his men fought the Argentine in a series or armed confrontations and battles some of which were particularly cruel and bloody. Notable in his Argentine campaign was the Battle of Rio Cuarto. In all, Carrera participated in combat in some 40 separate occasions.

Legacy
Carrera is today considered one of the Chileans Padres de la Patria (Fathers of the Nation). The conflict between followers of O'Higgins and Carrera continues to some extent to this day, when many declare themselves Carreristas or O'Higginistas. Carreristas claim that his figure is not given enough recognition, in comparison with O'Higgins, whom they openly despise.

Apart from ending slavery in Chile, Carrera abolished the titled nobility and ended their legal prerogatives and privileges. He also founded the first free newspaper in the nation, La Aurora de Chile; instituted the first national flag and national seal; and founded the first free secular school, which eventually became known as the Instituto Nacional, its full name being Instituto Nacional General José Miguel Carrera; several Chilean presidents and dozens of senators and parliamentarians have graduated from its halls.

In the Patagonian region in the south of Chile, there is the General Carrera Lake.

All five of Carrera's legitimate offspring married prominently in Chilean society, and their descendants, who number in the few hundred, make up the bulk of the Chilean upper classes.

His prominent descendants include:

 * Ignacio Carrera Pinto, his grandson, a hero who died during the Battle of La Concepción, in the War of the Pacific.
 * Federico Santa María, industrialist and millionaire, who gave his money to build Federico Santa María Technical University, one of the best technical and engineering schools in Chile.

In popular culture
The life of José Miguel Carrera is shown through the television project Heroes. The series include 6 related movies about Chilean Founding Fathers and Heroes, and in it, José Miguel Carrera was portrayed by Diego Casanueva.

title: José Miguel Carrera


text:
Dagnall

Dagnall is a village in the parish of Edlesborough, in Buckinghamshire, England.

The place name is derived from the Old English for "Daegga's Knoll". In manorial rolls of 1196 it was listed as Dagenhale. The spelling Dagenhale appears in a legal record of 1450. Thomas Bradwater is listed as a husbandman of the place.

Dagnall is in the Chiltern Hills and in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is next to the Ashridge Estate, owned and managed by The National Trust. House prices are significantly higher than average, in common with comparable locations in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

Location
Four main roads link Dagnall with the nearby towns of Dunstable, Leighton Buzzard, Tring, Hemel Hempstead and Berkhamsted, and slightly further on to the larger towns of Luton, Aylesbury and Milton Keynes. The nearest villages to Dagnall are Ashridge, Studham and Whipsnade. Whipsnade Zoo is on the hill above the village.

The tripoint of Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire is immediately to the south of Dagnall.

Parish church
All Saints' parish church is a Church of England and Methodist local ecumenical partnership and has clergy from both denominations.

Dagnall C of E School
Dagnall Church of England School is a mixed, community church primary school, which has capacity for 105 pupils and today educates children from the ages of three to eleven. The school became a voluntary aided church school, under the Diocese of St Albans, in 2016, and changed its name to Dagnall VA C of E School. Dagnall School, as it was then called, opened in 1909. In 1989 the number of registered pupils at Dagnall County First School, as it was then called, had fallen to just 13 and the school was at risk of closure. This risk came partly from the Education Reform Act 1988 which would introduce a National Curriculum that the school might not have been able to meet. A dedicated campaign saved the school by 1990.

Local amenities
Amenities include one public house and two local farm shops. A further gastro pub is located just north of the village boundary. School buses are provided for children that go to Edlesborough School and Secondary Schools such as The Cottesloe School in Wing. The village falls within the catchment area of the prestigious and renowned Aylesbury Grammar School. There are also private schools nearby.

A popular convenience store is located in nearby Little Gaddesden. The village is well serviced by a wide variety of the popular supermarkets, located in nearby towns, including Waitrose, Tesco's, Sainsbury's, Morrison's, Aldi, Lidl and more.

The nearest main line railway stations are a short distance away at Tring and Berkhamsted from where you can link to all destinations throughout the UK.

The nearest international airport London Luton Airport is a 25 minute drive away - Heathrow can be reached within a 30 mins. drive time

There are many entertainment venues and restaurants close by in Tring, Berkhamsted and Hemel Hempstead, with popular theatre's in both Berkhamsted and Tring, with larger theaters in nearby Watford and Milton Keynes. The art deco Rex Cinema can also be found in Berkhamsted.

The village is located in an area of outstanding natural beauty, adjoining Ashridge Forest to the west (where herds of wild deer roam) and close to Whipsnade Zoo to its east flank. The Grand Union canal is also not far away.

The ancientIcknield Way Path passes through the village on its 110-mile journey from Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire to Knettishall Heath in Suffolk. The Icknield Way Trail, a multi-user route for walkers, horse riders and off-road cyclists also passes close to the village. The village is also on a popular route for road cyclists of all levels.

Notable residents
Tim Sherwood, a former professional footballer, lives on the edge of the village. He played for Watford, Norwich City, Blackburn Rovers, Tottenham Hotspur, Portsmouth and Coventry City.

Graham Barber, retired FA referee, used to live in the village.

A number of films and television shows have been filmed around Dagnall, including First Knight, Dinotopia, Humans (TV series), Worzel Gummidge.

Recent developments
There have been many improvements made within the village over the last few years, the most notable being the building of a children's play area and a running track around the recreation ground which is located towards the north of the village. There are also plans for the village hall to be extended within the near future.

More recently, red kites have been observed in increasing numbers and have become a common sight in the village.

title: Dagnall


text:
Talk:U.S. Presidents who did not win majorities in elections

Untitled
Isn't all this already on the US President's page? Is this page even necessary? Rmhermen 14:25, Dec 15, 2003 (UTC)


text:
Talk:Saddam Hussein/Archive 2

->Talk:Saddam Hussein/naming

I rolled back the added pictures that J.J. included. This article is already huge as it is, we have sufficient pictures now. -- Zoe

I disagree, my pictures were relevant and high quality, and I am re-adding them. -- user:J.J.

You don't think one picture is enough to show a person? I can't imagine it's something like a complicated building or physical concept that needs more than one photo to have the reader understand it and recognize it. Koyaanis Qatsi P.S. actually, for that matter, I don't think we need the 2nd or 3rd ones that are there already.

I agree with JJ. They were 100% relevant and once there is no problem with their usage, they should be included. They showed the three sides of the 'cult' of Saddam; the 'enthroned' Saddam as the great Arab leader, the 'military' Saddam (a key part of the iconography of his leadership) and the standard 'radical' image of Saddam the gunman. They were 100% useful in symbolising the aspects of the personality cult that played such an important part in his rule. They are far more relevant than the images we currently have. And given the degree of text, we need more not less pictures to make the page user-friendly. I disagree totally with Zoe's decision and think it should be reversed. ÉÍREman 04:17 May 8, 2003 (UTC)

Re Koyaanis Qatsi's comment, the answer is absolutely and totally not. You need them if
 * 1) they inform as to the nature of the person's appeal
 * 2) they break up a text-heavy page, and this page needs as many images as possible. It looks amateurish without them. A professionally designed encyclopædia would have no problem using these images. Why shouldn't wiki strive to look as professionally laid out and as reader-friendly as possible? We aren't dealing with an 1860s New York Times. We are dealing with a technology that has access to images and the ability to lay them out. We would be crazy not to use them. Wiki's main problem is that it has far too few images, not too many.  ÉÍREman 04:17 May 8, 2003 (UTC)

 * There were four images in an already-exceedingly long article. And he still hasn't discussed their copyright status. -- Zoe

The longer the article, the more it needs images to break it up and give it a professionally laid out look, as opposed to school essay, which an article lacking proper illustration can look like, which acres of text alone. As to copyright, that is the only issue that could justify their removal, but only once the issue has been raised. But it is wrong to unilaterally slash images out of an article and then raise the question of copyright.

As to he still hasn't discussed their copyright status - Zoe you gave him precisely two minutes, from the moment you left a msg on his talk page to the time you removed the images. Come on, be fair. If you did that to me, either you'd get a burst of my infamous temper or I would ignore you completely and refuse to reply on a point of principle. You know how much I admire your editing work. Just be careful not to trample over some guy who has got some very good images for the article and so has clearly been working on his own time to wiki's benefit. At least give him some time to explain the origins. And give other users a chance to say whether they think there are two many images. lol ÉÍREman 05:09 May 8, 2003 (UTC)

Thanks for the defense, ÉÍREman. You have summed up my opinions perfectly so I won't bother repeating. All the photos I posted have either been used with permission, or are copyright free. I quite liked the photo of Saddam on the throne, but I'm willing to accept if a more recent photo of him is considered preferable. On a related note, and this is adressed to everyone, when it comes to copyright issues, sometimes it doesn't hurt to use a little common sense before comdeming someone as a copyright violator. If a propaganda photograph issued by a government that no longer exists is posted, I think it is fair to assume that no one is currently enforcing its terms of use. user:J.J. 06:11 May 8, 2003

If you read what it said, Graft, you would know that I did not say why that woman held up that image. The caption explained how Saddam's use of imagery was central to his ability to project himself as a great Arab leader worthy of support. No-one knows why she held up that image. But the fact that she had such an image is evidence of his mastery of the use of such images. She didn't have a photocopied image of Saddam, a cut out from a newspaper or the sort of poster you get in elections in the west. It was not some amateur image she had made herself. She had an image designed to show Saddam in a certain light, in that image Saddam the personification of Iraq. It is an image freely available in the arab countries and projects a clear message with all the subtlety of Bush and the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers walking over a bridge together (a bridge specially constructed over a swimming pool for that one image - subminimal meaning: we are building bridges and crossing threshholds), of the visual statements made by the pope on his international visits (meaning: bringing catholicism to the people, being in touch with the people around the world), of the British royals with a rock concert in the grounds of Buckingham Palace (meaning: we are in touch with modern culture and with modern Britain), of Putin in St. Petersburg, (meaning: we are an old nation proud of our history and post-communist) etc etc. It all falls down to the power of image in agenda-setting. And Saddam as the images on the page show was a master tactician at using images. As the caption was perfectly accurate I am re-instating it. FearÉIREANN 03:31 7 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * Might want to rephrase it a little - the way you wrote it implies that you meant the -woman's- use of the image etc. etc. Graft 03:34 7 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Fair point. I have changed the wording a little. Have a look and see if it is OK. If it isn't, let me know and I'll try to change it. FearÉIREANN 03:55 7 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * Fine by me. Graft

Arabic -> Talk:Saddam Hussein/naming

I don't mind the Wikiquote project, in fact I think it's a good thing; a lot of Wikipedia articles are overloaded with quotes from the subject of the article. (I'll go fix one in a minute.) However, I think a defining quote on a subject is very germane to Wikipedia, and I don't like seeing a quote taken out when it's the only one. - Hephaestos 01:23 20 Jul 2003 (UTC)

I agree -- just because Wikiquote exists, doesnt mean the Wikipedia shouldnt contain quotes. Pizza Puzzle

 * OK, I won't remove the last quote (or any 'good' quotes) on a Wikipedia page from now on when linking to Wikiquote. I have also raised a note on one of the Wikiquote pages that this is an issue so others are aware of it (with a pointer back to this talk page). Nanobug

once this combination of greed and arrogance has misled him into a sense of undefeatable capability and power, as he takes the road of falsehood and aggression, committing the most heinous acts and proceeding from that sick imagination, to fall down the precipice and then into hell.

would u like to explain what that is saying? Pizza Puzzle
 * Absolutely not. It's Saddamese and therefore beyond me.  All that's really important here is that this is the only Saddam quote Wikipedians have so far been able to come up with.  Maybe there's a better one.  ;) Hephaestos

In the future, please do not revert to gibberish by stating that it isnt gibberish. I am glad that u agree it was gibberish. Since Im the person that added the quote in the first place, and, since it is gibberish -- id appreciate your agreement that gibberish is not conducive to a good article. Pizza Puzzle

 * I agree that it's gibberish; I don't agree that it's not germane to the article. What would you suggest for a quote other than "something Saddam said?" - Hephaestos 14:49 20 Jul 2003 (UTC)

The title "quote" is potentially confusing, because it could give the impression to some that it is a third-party quote which the author is choosing to apply to Saddam, rather than necessarily a quote from Saddam (even if ironically it could be held to apply also to himself). Indeed I at first misinterpreted it this way, and consequently worried that its inclusion was highly POV. I will therefore change the title to "Quote from Saddam" in order to disambiguate. --Trainspotter 11:00, 1 Aug 2003 (UTC)

To JoeM -- do you really think "Saddam Hussein is an evil tyrant. He has murdered millions. America right now is uncovering the mass graves where he buried the victims of his Islamic-fascist-socialist rule. He hates America and freedom, has ties to Al Qaida, was probably involved in 9/11, he has been amassing chemical, biological, and nuclear weaponry." is NPOV? It isn't proved that he has murdered millions (tens of thousands maybe), the rule wasn't Islamic, the ties to Al Qaida are disputed, and the chemcial, biological and nuclear weapons haven't been found yet. So I will rv to the old intro. To others: have a look at Islamofascism -- till we *) 13:22, Aug 10, 2003 (UTC)

His rule was Islamist. I proved you wrong earlier. You are not making any sense. He has murdered millions when you count the victims of all his wars of aggression. And if you don't believe his Al Qaida ties, then DISPROVE the Prague Memo. JoeM

 * His rule was -not- Islamist. For most of it he allowed the sale of alcohol, had Christians in his government, presided over a sunni-shia state with participation from both parties (which an Islamist state would not have), and is universally condemned by real Islamists for being an "atheist", i.e., secular. Furthermore, he's been involved in only three wars, the first of which could only dubiously be called a war of aggression, since Iran could hardly be called an innocent victim. In the last, he was the -victim- rather than the instigator, and the tens of thousands murdered were at the hands of the aggressor, the United States. As to his victims, 200,000 is the high number I've seen for the most egregious campaign of slaughter, the repression of the Shi'ite rebellion of 1991. Although 1.5 million people died in the course of the Iran-Iraq war, a good fraction of these were Iraqis, and the 1M+ iranians who died were mostly a result of Iran's suicidal tactic of "human wave" attacks, and the fault probably lies more with Iranian commanders than it does with Saddam.
 * As to the Prague report, let me DISPROVE it, right here. The CIA and FBI were always dubious about it, because Atta was in Florida two days prior to the alleged meeting with an Iraqi intelligence officer and there were no records indicating a quick flight over to the Czech republic. Furthermore, as you may read here [], the Czechs themselves disavowed the memo. So, no one believes that particular piece of evidence. If you know of anything else, I'd be interested to see it.
 * Lastly, I realize you're a raving fanatic who probably isn't interested in facts, but I have fun reading about this stuff anyway, so thanks for the opportunity to refresh my memory about some of these facts. Graft 17:25, 10 Aug 2003 (UTC)

--- I see Saddam Hussein is popular around here. He is a Baathist, which is a mix of Islamism, fascism, nationalism, socialism, and communism. So in his propaganda he's a little less pure in his Islamism than bin Laden, but this is a matter of degrees, like Stalin's communism being more virulent than Castro's. This isn't saying that a less virulent brand of communism isn't evil. For instance, OJ Simpson is less murderous than Ted Bundy, but he's still evil. He is an Islamofascist nonetheless. How do you explain all the mosques he was building (including the Saddam mosque- to be the biggest in the world and him preaching matyrdom and jihad and protecting Islam all these years? JoeM

 * It's perfectly possible to build mosques and not be an Islamist (which is not the same as being a Muslim, see Islamism). For example, Arafat talks about martyrdom and jihad but is a staunch secularist as well, and has strong disagreements with Islamists like Hamas, e.g. on issues like the veil. Saddam did not require the veil, and was generally liberal on many issues. In fact, I would have a hard time identifying any actual policies Saddam implemented which could be called Islamist. As to his rhetoric, remember that he presides over a majority-Muslim nation, and so naturally he would use language that appeals to them, just as George Bush appeals to Christianity, and Fidel Castro talks about how he's doing things for the People. Making a distinction between what people say and what they actually believe is very important if you don't want to end up looking like a chump.
 * As to Saddam being "popular" here, I think you will find few people here who are fans - rather, you will find people who are fans of accuracy and hold themselves to some standard of objective scholarship. Graft 21:27, 10 Aug 2003 (UTC)

I protected this page at the request of Evercat in order to stop the edit war. -- Cordyph 13:46, 10 Aug 2003 (UTC)

 * Well, he's not around at the moment, so I've unprotected. Evercat 17:27, 10 Aug 2003 (UTC)

There's an figure allegedly sourced from Ramsey Clark on casualties. Would appreciate if someone could verify this; the original quoter didn't get Clark's occupation right, throwing into question the figure as well. Some source ought to be stated for the figure. Clark is an antiestablishment gadfly which suggests the figure is from a propagandist grasping for an authoritative source.

Glaspie
Okay, can we have out this Glaspie business? I have the Iraqi transcript in front of me, and it says:

 * GLASPIE: I think I understand this, I have lived here for years. I admire your extraordinary efforts to rebuild your country. I know you need funds. We understand that and our opinion is that you should have the opportunity to rebuild your country. But we have no opinion on the Arab-Arab conflicts, like your border disagreement with Kuwait. (emphasis mine). I was in the American embassy in Kuwait during the late '60s. The instruction we had during this period was that we should express no opinion on this issue and that the issue is not associated with America. James Baker has directed our official spokesmen to emphasize this instruction. We hope you can solve this problem using any suitable methods via Klibi or President Mubarak. All that we hope is that these issues are solved quickly. With regard to all of this, can I ask you to see how the issue appears to us? My assessment after twenty-five years' service in this area is that your objective must have strong backing from your Arab brothers. I now speak of oil. But you, Mr. President, have fought through a horrific and painful war. Frankly we can only see that you have deployed massive troops in the south. Normally that would not be any of our business. But when this happens in the context of what you said on the national day, then when we read the details in the two letters of the foreign minister, then when we see the Iraqi point of view that the measures taken by the UAE and Kuwait is, in the final analysis, parallel to military aggression against Iraq, then it would be reasonable for me to be concerned. And for this reason, I received an instruction to ask you, in the spirit of friendship-not in the spirit of confrontation-regarding your intentions.

 * [Paraphrasing - Saddam says basically, We tried everything, we talked to them (Kuwait) many times, but they're committing economic war against us, which is just like military attack. The other arab states should value Iraq's protection (from Iran). Saddam expresses his intent to hold more talks with Kuwait; Glaspie congratulates him.]

Later in Senate testimony about whether she had told him that the U.S. would defend Kuwait if Iraq invaded, she said she had not. She also contested that the Iraqi transcript was inaccurate, and she urged Saddam away from violence. Ramsey Clark claims that State Department cables prove this was a lie (if someone can dig up the NYT article he references, that would be more useful than Clark himself). The State Department refuses to release their own transcripts, which suggests to me they are embarassing, and therefore that the Iraqi transcript is probably accurate.

So, let's assume that the transcript we have is accurate. Glaspie characterizes Saddam's mood in her March 20, 1991 Congressional testimony as: "[Saddam] wanted me to assure President Bush that he would not, absolutely would not take military action against Kuwait without the blessing of the United States." (If someone can dig up a transcript of THIS testimony, it would be very useful - this sort of stuff must be archived somewhere?) Which suggests she knew Saddam was seeking approval, and judging by the transcripts of their conversation he got a "We're staying out of this one - your call". Whether this constitutes a "green light" in light of Saddam's dissembling about his intent is the subject of debate. At any rate, i'm not sure what's "unsubstantiated allegation". Graft 22:32, 7 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * First off, we can't assume the transcript is accurate. It was provided by Iraq (and I believe originially in Arabic), and the State Department has not confirmed (nor denied) its accuracy.  There may be several reasons the SD has not commented; even if they are hiding something, it could be anything.

 * Secondly, even if it is accurate, yes, I've read the entire transcript, including the portion above. Glaspie is asking — very politely and cautiously — if Saddam is going to attack Kuwait.  There is absolutely nothing anywhere about her assuring Saddam the US would not respond; on the contrary, she notes she would be "concerned" (again politespeak).  If anything it is Saddam who assures her at the end of the conversation that he will not attack before another (promising?) negotiation session to be held with Kuwait, and it is on this upbeat note that Glaspie seems reasonably satisfied.

 * (The "no opinion" portion, so often quoted alone, is in reference to the slant drilling issue discussed previously. The fact that it does not mean "Go ahead and invade Kuwait, we don't care" is confirmed by the later statements such as "Normally that would not be any of our business.  But..." (my emphasis) and "... be concerned".)

 * To say that the claim that the US gave Saddam a "green light" is unsubstantiated understates the case. In fact, it is flatly contradicted by Iraq's own transcripts. -- VV 23:58, 7 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * Regarding the accuracy of the transcript, I see no reason to deny it: the only one who has is Glaspie, who can't substantiate her claim and has reason to lie. The State Department could very well give the lie to Iraq by releasing its own copy, and there's absolutely no reason for them not to do so that I can think of. So, my own feeling is that the Iraqi transcript is probably pretty good, translation mishaps aside. But, that's just my own feeling.
 * I agree that the "green light" case is overstated, and that "no opinion" sentence by itself is pretty weak, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it's contradicted. If "no opinion" is pretty weak, "concerned" is also pretty weak, especially when she says she's "concerned" in the "spirit of friendship", not the "spirit of confrontation". I want to see the Congressional testimony because I think it would give some insight into what Glaspie intended, and what she thought she was telling Saddam. Of course it'll be tortured by hindsight and CYA, but I'd find that far more useful than attempting to guess our way through diplomat-speak. Graft 01:18, 8 Nov 2003 (UTC)

title: Talk:Saddam Hussein/Archive 2


text:
Denham, Buckinghamshire

Denham is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, approximately 17 mi from central London,2 mi northwest of Uxbridge and just north of junction 1 of the M40 motorway. The name is derived from the Old English for "homestead in a valley". It was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Deneham. Denham contains the Buckinghamshire Golf Club.

Buildings
The Church of England parish church of Saint Mary has a flint and stone Norman tower and Tudor monuments. The tree-lined Village Road includes several old red brick houses with mature Wisteria on them, and has been used as a location in British films and television.

Southlands Manor is a Grade II listed building. Its entry on the English Heritage website states that it was built in the 16th century, with a variety of later changes including the addition of four chimney stacks in the early 17th-century. Analysis of a sample of timbers from the main building and its associated barn have found that they were felled in the winters of 1472/3 and 1473/4, indicating that the relevant parts of the building were erected in 1474 or soon after.

The Old Bakery, built in about C14, it is one of the earliest surviving buildings along the village High Street. It is located along what would have been medieval burgage plots. The plots were for laying out a town. Built for the Abbot of Westminster, probably on instructions by Nicholas de Littlington, for his reeve. One survey suggests a very precise date of building of 1367–68, although no dendrochronology has been undertaken. The building phases and outlay are complex, with much alteration. Prior to the 1950s demolition of the former E wing the building formed three cottages/shops.

Denham Film Studios were near the village and where famous films, including Brief Encounter and In Which We Serve were produced. The buildings were demolished in 1980 and the site re-landscaped as a business park and later as a site for luxury homes.

Bosch has its UK head office in Denham.

Development

 * Denham Village, the original settlement
 * Denham Garden Village, north of Denham Green Lane – built in the 1950s, renovated in 2006
 * Denham Green grew up around the shops beside the railway station. Alexander Korda's Denham Film Studios (now demolished) used the Broadwater (Business) Park land between the junction of the road to Rickmansworth (A412) and Moor Hall Road towards Harefield
 * New Denham is a linear part on the old Oxford Road north-west of Uxbridge, west of the Grand Union Canal
 * Higher Denham is a locality on the site of a World War I army training and transit camp, placed to take advantage of the adjacent Denham Golf Club station. After the War, the camp land was sold off piecemeal for housing, following a similar trend all over Metro-land. Martin-Baker, manufacturers of aircraft ejector seats, have a small factory in Higher Denham
 * Tatling End is on the Oxford Road, west of the junction with the A412, at the top of the hill leading out of the Misbourne valley
 * Tilehouse Lane forms the western boundary of the old Tile House and grounds, which were constructed in 1800 and fell into dereliction in the mid 20th Century. The site was purchased by BP who built the Durdent Court residential training and conference centre there in 1983. BP subsequently sold the facility and it is now the Denham Grove Hotel.

Transport
Denham railway station has direct services to London Marylebone and High Wycombe and limited services to Princes Risborough, Aylesbury and Banbury. Connecting services link to Birmingham Snow Hill, Stratford-upon-Avon and Kidderminster.

The 724 Green Line bus service links Harlow and Heathrow Airport—passing through St Albans, Watford, Rickmansworth, Denham and Uxbridge—and terminating at Heathrow Central bus station.

The 331 bus service between Uxbridge and Ruislip stations (operated by Metroline West for London Buses) calls at the Station Parade shops in Denham Green. The 581 circular bus service provides a link between the various areas of Denham and Uxbridge bus station. The Saturdays-only 582 service links the various Denhams with Iver, Slough and Windsor. The 101, 102 and 104 run through the outskirts of Denham.

Denham Aerodrome  is an operational general aviation aerodrome established in the early 1900s. Sited on higher land to the north of the village, it is the base of many private and executive aircraft and helicopters with several hangars and a hard runway. During the First World War in 1915, RAF Denham was established as a flying training school for Flight Cadets.

Schools
Denham Village School (formerly Denham Village Infant School, and originally had classes for Reception and Years 1 and 2), in Cheapside Lane, is the original school for Denham, and now has classes from Reception to Year 6. The school building dates from 1832 and is listed.

Denham Green E-ACT Primary Academy is located on Nightingale Way and opened in September 2013. Replacing the former Tilehouse Combined School, it is for children ages 4–11, and offers pre-school services. The school's current leadership team completed an Ofsted inspection shortly before converting to an academy. Ofsted noted that the school was a Good school with Outstanding features. The academy accepts all children from the Denham area (including Denham Village, Denham Green, Maple Cross, Harefield and North Uxbridge) who wish to attend the school.

Sports

 * Denham contains the Buckinghamshire Golf Club and the Denham Golf Club.
 * Denham Cricket Club, on Cheapside Lane, currently play in Morrant's Chiltern Cricket League.
 * Denham United Football Club, on Tilehouse Lane, play in the High Wycombe Sunday Football Combination Division 1.

Notable residents

 * Raymond Baxter, BBC Television presenter, lived in Denham until 1978.
 * Mary Hayley Bell English actress and writer, married to Sir John Mills, lived in Denham from 1975 until her death in 2005.
 * Cilla Black, singer, entertainer and television personality had her main residence in Denham Green, bought with her late husband Bobby in the 1970s. In a burglary in 2002 £1 million worth of gems were stolen.
 * Sir George Bowyer, 5th Baronet was born at Denham Court.
 * Brian Connolly, lead singer with 1970s glam rock band Sweet, lived at Denham until his death in 1997.
 * Jess Conrad, actor and singer, lived in Denham.
 * Edward Cooke, British politician and pamphleteer was born in Denham.
 * Dame Isobel Cripps, overseas aid organiser, was born in Denham.
 * Paul Daniels, magician, lived in Denham.
 * Lt-Gen. Gerald Goodlake VC, British soldier and recipient of the Victoria Cross, lived and died at Savay Farm, close to Denham.
 * Sir John Mills, film actor, was a resident of the village for many years, and is commemorated by a blue plaque on Hills House, his former residence by the church.
 * Sir Roger Moore, actor, lived in Sherwood House, Tilehouse Road, Denham.
 * Oswald Mosley, British politician and founder of the British Union of Fascists, lived at nearby Savay Farm with his wife, Diana Mosley.
 * Mike Oldfield, musician, lived in Tilehouse Lane, Denham 1979–86.
 * Harry Saltzman, Canadian-born Hollywood producer who produced the James Bond films in the 1960s lived most of his life in Denham.
 * Robert Vansittart, 1st Baron Vansittart, senior British diplomat and Chief Diplomatic Adviser to the British Government in the 1920s and 30s, lived in Denham Place until his death in 1957.
 * Dennis Wise, former Wimbledon, Chelsea and England football player and manager, lives in Denham.

Twinning
Twinned with Denham, Shark Bay, Western Australia

title: Denham, Buckinghamshire


text:
Talk:Salon (disambiguation)

I'm not sure it's fair to call salon.com a left-leaning organization. Goodralph 14:35, 15 Dec 2003 (UTC)

title: Talk:Salon (disambiguation)


text:
DJ Patife

Wagner Ribeiro de Souza (born September 15, 1976), better known by his stage name DJ Patife, is a prominent Brazilian drum and bass DJ.

DJ Patife's first gig was at São Paulo's Arena Music Hall. In 1997, he accompanied Roni Size in the delivery of the Mercury Prize. Patife released his first album in 2000, Sounds of Drum'n'bass. The album was praised by English magazines Muzik and Mixmag,.

In 2000, Patife, Marky, and the Drumagick duo played for 5,000 people in São Paulo. Patife's remix for Max de Castro's "Pra Você Lembrar" was a hit in the Londoner dance tracks and was included in the main dance magazines' playlists. Three of Patife's songs were included in the compilation Brazil EP, released by V Recordings. In 2000, he participated in Otto's double-CD Changez Tout - "Samba Pra Burro Dissecado" and in Fernanda Porto's album. Patife played in the 2001 version of the Rock in Rio festival. Also in 2001, he performed in the U.S., Scotland, London, and Amsterdam.

title: DJ Patife


text:
Talk:Cytosine

Untitled
Cytosine is defined here as "one of 5 main nucleobases..."

As one of four bases in DNA, the other 3 (Guanine, Adenine and Thymine) are each defined as "one of 4 main nitrogenous bases..." Though it is true that in RNA, Uracil replaces Thymine, it (uracil) is also defined as "one of the 4 main nitrogenous bases..."

I wonder if Cytosine should be changed to also be defined as "one of 4 main nitrogenous bases" to make it consistent with the other bases, though the article for "nitrogenous base" might need to be modified to further clarify the 4 main bases in DNA (guanine, adenine, thymine and cytosine) and the additional role uracil plays in RNA.

If this change were to happen, though, "uracil" would be odd base out and the article for that would need to be modified as (stated above) it also states it is one of the 4 main bases.

The other option is to re-define each of the others to "one of 5 main nitrogenous bases" because there technically are 5, but when speaking of DNA, uracil is excluded.

 * Happety 14:46, 15 Dec 2003 (UTC)

It should be 5 nitrogenous bases. And who on earth put cytosine (as opposed to cytidine) triphosphate? People shouldn't modify the page if they don't know what they're doing. Kr5t 02:59, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

So scientist used cytosine to store information. Cytosine can be used to store information. DNA stores information, Cytosine is in DNA. Is it possible that DNA has been using quantum states of cytosine to store information in addition to the genetic code information that is stored as sequences of base pairs? "People shouldn't modify the page if they don't know what they're doing." What about BEBOLD? --Zerothis (talk) 05:33, 29 August 2008 (UTC)

IUPAC Name
The IUPAC name currently listed appears to be incorrect in that the indicated hydrogen 1H does not precede the ketone locant. Also, and it's a minor issue, but whilst the diones uracil and thymine are pyrimidinediones, cytosine is a pyrimidinone and as such the e is dropped. I am therefore changing the name to 4-aminopyrimidin-2(1H)-one. Nomenclature gurus, your thoughts are valued. Eutactic (talk) 05:06, 15 January 2009 (UTC)

Renaming cytosine
I'm not sure who decides these things, but it'd be really useful to rename cytosine as kytosine. You could pronounce it the same, but this way the bases would be A,T,K,G not A,T,C,G. C and G look really similar and I keep mixing them up. 193.60.95.72 (talk) 16:20, 19 October 2010 (UTC)

Great idea! I bet the entirety of the scientific community will from now on use Kytosine instead of Cytosine. 193.83.7.247 (talk) 10:57, 3 March 2021 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 12:38, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

Missing Hydrogens
I noticed the diagram is missing some Hydrogens. Also, Carbon is not marked with a C. It is the same with just about every other diagram on the wiki. It is really confusing. Could someone add in the missing parts? I don`t know how to upload pictures. 32ieww (talk) 21:43, 28 September 2016 (UTC)
 * This is an entirely standard skeletal formula representation. Jonathan A Jones (talk) 13:52, 25 September 2017 (UTC)
 * I am not sure whether the diagram you were looking at before is the same as the one now uploaded. However, this diagram is accurate. It is called a skeletal representation, and hydrogens do not have to be explicitly drawn (they are implied from carbons). The carbon atoms are also part of the skeletal backbone, so they are not indicated with a C, but rather with a new angled line which indicates a new single bond. Juk.22 (talk) 18:13, 20 April 2022 (UTC)

History: toning down reports of Oxford and NASA Ames research
I toned down the press-release-like enthusiasm of the former descriptions of the Oxford and NASA-Ames research. In both cases the research, as commonly the case, was part of a long incremental history. What constitutes distinctively quantum information processing is itself somewhat slippery question. On the one hand any classical computer is "quantum" because without quantum mechanics, the atoms comprising it would collapse. On the other hand, an NMR quantum computer is not "really quantum" because it deviates so slightly from equilibrium that it cannot be scaled up to achieve any quantum advantage; hence subsequent demonstrations of quantum computing have mostly used other hardware, e.g. ion traps. Before even toy demonstrations of quantum computing there was quantum cryptography and violations of Bell's inequality, which have been as described as violations to the classical Church-Turing thesis. Similarly the NASA work is a late advance in the long chain begun with the Miller-Urey experiment. Accordingly, I toned down the description to the basic new result, the formation of nucleobases from the non-biological molecule pyrimidine under space-like conditions, leaving out the paper's speculations about PAH's and red giants.CharlesHBennett (talk) 00:02, 18 December 2016 (UTC)
 * Very sensible! Seems to be some Korean IP who added the rather gushing QIP text (which I have only just spotted). Jonathan A Jones (talk) 13:57, 25 September 2017 (UTC)

Meteorites
The sudden mention of meteorites in the article presently (2017) is weird. It may be better to create a separate article within wikipedia, to talk about the evolution of RNA/DNA, and to mention the situation with meteorites in that article. 2A02:8388:1602:A780:BE5F:F4FF:FECD:7CB2 (talk) 16:46, 4 July 2017 (UTC)

title: Talk:Cytosine


text:
Cinderford

Cinderford is a town and civil parish on the eastern fringe of the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, England. The population was 8,777 at the 2021 Census.

The town came into existence in the 19th century, following the rapid expansion of Cinderford Ironworks and the Forest of Dean Coalfield. Cinderford's origins can be seen in the style and layout of the town, with long rows of identical terraced housing similar to those found in the mining villages of the South Wales Valleys. The decline of the coal industry in the 1950s and 1960s affected Cinderford as most of the male population was employed in mining.

History
The name Cinderford, used for a crossing-point, is recorded as early as 1258. The name reflects the site of early ironmaking which created deposits of cinders (clinker), sometimes in large mounds.

Following the construction of Cinderford Ironworks in the late 1700s, and the opening of large mines nearby, the town was laid out on a fairly conventional urban plan. In 1841 there were two inns and at least ten beerhouses in and around Cinderford. A new church was consecrated at Cinderford in 1844 and dedicated to St. John the Evangelist. By 1843 Cinderford also had a Baptist church which became by far the largest Baptist meeting in the Forest of Dean. Methodists and Primitive Methodists also had chapels in the area, and there was even an iron building which became known as the Ark, which was registered in 1886 by a group called the Blue Ribbon Gospel Army.

A coke-fired furnace was established in around 1797. It was situated 800 metres north of Cinderford bridge and used coke brought from Broadmoor, to the north, by a short canal. The furnace struggled to compete with iron furnaces elsewhere, and fell idle ten years later. It was revived in 1829 when new works on the old site were established by the Forest of Dean Iron Company, and in 1841 there were three furnaces producing 12,000 tons of iron a year and employing 100 men and boys. Only one furnace at the works was in blast in 1890 and the works closed in 1894.

By the 1840s Cinderford had a number of foundries and small engineering firms supplying the mining industry with machine parts, and it remained a centre for metal industries in the early 20th century.

For many years coal mining was the principal industry in the area. Lightmoor coal mine was being deepened in the late 1830s. Trafalgar colliery which was in production in 1860, was the only large mine in the coalfield run by free miners in the later 19th century. Trafalgar closed in 1925. A deep mine, called Northern United, was begun north-west of Cinderford in 1933, but Lightmoor, with a workforce of 600 in 1934, was the main colliery in the Cinderford area until it closed in 1940. There were still many smaller collieries in the Forest of Dean, employing 84.5 per cent of the adult male population in the Cinderford area, until the industry declined in the 1960s.

Iron ore mines were also worked near the town in the 19th century until the closure of the Cinderford ironworks led to the abandonment of Buckshaft and other ore mines near the town in 1899.

On 26 April 1889, four Frenchmen and their two tame bears were making their way to Ruardean, having performed in Cinderford. They were attacked by a mob, enraged by claims that the bears had killed a child and injured a woman. The bears were killed and the Frenchmen badly beaten. It soon became clear that the bears had not attacked anyone. Police proceedings followed, and 13 colliers and labourers appeared before magistrates at Littledean a week later, charged with ill-treating and killing the bears, and assaulting the Frenchmen. All but two were found guilty on one or more charges, with another convicted a week later. A total of £85 was paid in fines. A subscription was also launched which generously compensated the Frenchmen. The question "Who killed the bears?" was used for many years as an insult, directed particularly towards the people of Ruardean, despite the fact that all those convicted were from Cinderford. Cinderford Town Trail has been created and researched by school pupils to celebrate the history of the town.

Governance
There are two electoral wards in Cinderford.

Primary
Cinderford has three primary schools; Steam Mills Primary School, on Steam Mills Road, St. White's Primary School, on St. Whites Road, and Forest View Primary School based on Latimer Road. Forest View Primary School is an amalgamation of the Latimer Junior School and the Bilson Infants' School (formerly on Station Street).

Secondary
Cinderford has a single, relatively small secondary school on Causeway Road, currently called The Forest High School but previously known as Heywood Community School. The school existed as Double View Secondary Modern School on a previous campus, on Woodville Road, but moved to the Causeway Road campus, in the early-mid-1970s. Until 1979 it was split between the two sites; in the mid-1980s it changed its name from Double View to Heywood Community School, and in 2012 it became an academy called Forest E-ACT Academy. The name changed again to Forest Academy in 2014 and to the current name in 2015.

Tertiary
Opened in 2018, Gloucestershire College is situated beside the Forest Vale Industrial Estate.

Transport
Cinderford's High Street and Belle Vue Road lie on the A4151, which links with the A48 (Gloucester-Chepstow road) to the east.

In former times, Cinderford had a railway station that was opened by the Severn and Wye Railway and later run by the Great Western Railway and Midland Railway as Cinderford Joint railway station, but this was axed in 1958.

Cinderford is served by a regular bus service to Gloucester and Coleford; the bus station was dismantled in the late 1980s and no longer exists.

The closest airports are in Staverton (between Gloucester and Cheltenham), as well as Bristol Airport and Cardiff Airport.

Religion
The Church of England Benefice of Cinderford with Littledean consists of three parish churches. The parish church of St Stephen's covers the central town and northern parts of Cinderford. The parish church of St John the Evangelist covers the south of Cinderford, Ruspidge and Soudley. The parish church of St Ethelbert's Littledean is further down the hill and serves the community there.

Media
Dean Radio is a community station that broadcasts from the town.

The town is served by the local newspaper, The Forester.

Sports clubs

 * Cinderford Town A.F.C. - Local Non-League football team
 * Cinderford R.F.C. - Local Rugby Team

Notable people

 * Dame Muriel Betty Powell DBE (1914–1978) was a British nurse, hospital matron, nurse educator, public servant, and Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) for the Scottish Home and Health Department (SHHD) 1970-1976, was born in Cinderford.
 * Jimmy Young (1921–2016), a BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2 DJ, was born in Cinderford.
 * John McAfee (1945 – 2021), computer programmer, businessman, and two-time U.S. presidential candidate, was born in Cinderford.

title: Cinderford


text:
Dinton, Buckinghamshire

Dinton is a village in Buckinghamshire, England, within the Buckinghamshire Council unitary authority area. It is in the south of the Aylesbury Vale on the ancient turnpike leading from Aylesbury to Thame (although this road has since been diverted away from the village). It is within the civil parish of Dinton with Ford and Upton. The village name is Anglo Saxon in origin, and means 'Dunna's estate'. In the Domesday Book of 1086 it was listed as Danitone.

History
There was an ancient mansion house in this parish that belonged to the Mayne family for many years (they were lords of the manor in 1086). This has long since disappeared, but the groundworks of the ancient manor house still remain and are a goldmine of archaeological finds. There is also a ruined mock-fortified building, Dinton Castle also known as Dinton Folly, though this was constructed much later (in 1769) by Sir John Vanhattem. This octagonal folly or "sham castle" is a Grade II listed building.

A BBC article stated that the building was beside a Saxon burial ground. Another source indicates that over the past centuries, and into the 20th century, various artifacts and skeletons had been found near the structure. That report also states that there are 14 other listed buildings nearby, including Dinton Hall. A full restoration of the "castle" was completed in 2018.

The 12th-century parish church of Saints Peter and Paul is a grade I listed building. John Harrison was the vicar here and his only child Henrietta Tindal (c.1817-1879) was a noted poet and writer. There is a memorial to the Royal Navy navigation expert Henry Raper in the church.

Next to the church is Dinton Hall; this fine many-gabled mansion altered at various periods during its long history, was until the last quarter of the 20th century the seat of the Currie family and is now owned by the Vanbergen family. Following the Curries' departure it was bought by a Mr. Smith. He carried out a programme of restoration, and placed his own coat of arms above the mansion's portals. Since 2004 the mansion is owned by the Vanbergen family, and they have restored the mansion and brought in new facilities.

A notable resident of Dinton in the seventeenth century was John Biggs, the Dinton Hermit, who lived in a cave in the village. He was involved in the execution of King Charles I on 30 January 1649 and was reputed to have been the actual executioner. As one of the regicides, Simon Mayne, lived at Dinton, and was after his death in imprisonment buried at Dinton in 1661, it is possible that the executioner would have been given sanctuary and anonymity on one of the regicide's estates.

Within the parish border lay the hamlets of Westlington, Ford, Upton, Waldridge, Gibraltar and Aston Mullins.

There was also anciently a hamlet called Moreton in this parish, though today only the groundworks and ponds remain. This hamlet was wiped out sometime in the sixteenth century. The name mort / ton (death (fr) / town) could suggest that this settlement might have been wiped out and then subsequently abandoned after the inhabitants succumbed to the Black Death, but the usual derivation of the common name 'Moreton' is "town or settlement by a fen".

Education
Cuddington and Dinton Church of England School is a mixed Church of England primary school. It is a voluntary aided school that has been formed from the merger of Cuddington and Dinton schools. It takes children from the age of four through to the age of eleven. The school now has just over one hundred pupils.

Sport
Dinton is home to Dinton Cricket club, who have three senior teams playing in the Home Counties Premier Cricket League and Cherwell League, as well as junior age group teams from under 9s to under 17s. Dinton CC also compete in the National Village Cup, reaching the semi-final stage in 2013 and 2014.

title: Dinton, Buckinghamshire


text:
Ditton, Slough

Ditton is a suburb of Slough, in the unitary authority area of Slough, in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, England.

It is also covered by the M4 and the Queen Mary Reservoir.

It was a hamlet in the parish of Stoke Poges. It was a separated part of the parish lying about 2 miles to the south west with the parishes of Upton and Langley Marish intervening.

It is most famous for being the location of the Manor of Ditton and Ditton Park. It was at Ditton Park in 1935 that the idea for the development of the British Radar Defence System was conceived.

It was transferred to Berkshire from Buckinghamshire in 1974.

title: Ditton, Slough


text:
Upton-upon-Severn

Upton-upon-Severn (or Upton on Severn, etc. and locally simply Upton) is a town and civil parish in the Malvern Hills District of Worcestershire, England. Lying on the A4104 (formerly A440), the 2021 census recorded a population of 2,903 for the town.

Upton is situated on the west bank of the River Severn and is located 5 mi southeast of Malvern. The town has a distinctive tower and copper-clad cupola – known locally as the "Pepperpot" – the only surviving remnant of the former church. Its replacement, also dedicated to St Peter and St Paul, was designed by Sir Arthur Blomfield.

History
Until the later half of the 20th century, the bridge at Upton was the only one across the River Severn between Worcester and Tewkesbury; the present bridge was built in 1940. Oliver Cromwell's soldiers crossed the Severn here to win the battle of Upton before the main Battle of Worcester in the English Civil War. The Upton-upon-Severn Memorial Hall was completed in 1832.

Today
The population of the civil parish in 2021 was recorded at 2,903 - an increase from 2,881 in 2011. The parish extends westward from the town, including the settlement at Tunnel Hill, but does not include the village of Ryall located close to the town, on the other side of the river. Upton is in the West Worcestershire parliamentary constituency.

Upton lies on the banks of the River Severn and is known for its regular flooding. Low-lying areas of Upton suffered serious flooding in 2000. In the 2007 floods, levels exceeded those in 2000, and the town was inaccessible by road. The town's main built up area lies on slightly higher ground than the surrounding countryside, and in the past became an island during severe floods. A connecting causeway now carries the A4104 above the floods to the west, and a viaduct on the other side of the bridge to the east.

The town has three major music festivals, with the spring folk festival, and the summer jazz and blues festivals.

Upton is the home of The White Lion Hotel, a 16th-century coaching inn, where parts of the building date back to 1510. The building has undergone many transformations over the centuries and is easily found on the high street due to its distinctive portico, adorned with its very own lion. Reputed to have played a part in the English Civil War, where soldiers from both sides are alleged to have enjoyed the hospitality of this popular local hostelry prior to the Battle of Worcester. Guests of the hotel can stay in rooms referred to in books VII and VIII of Henry Fielding's classic 1749 novel Tom Jones in which he refers to the hotel as "A house of exceeding good repute"; these rooms retain many of their original features.

Education
Primary education is provided by Upton-upon-Severn CofE Primary School with approximately 194 (2019) pupils on role. Hanley Castle High School, located in a nearby village, provides secondary education for the region.

People

 * John Dee, mathematician, astronomer and astrologer, was presented the lay rectorship of Upton upon Severn in 1553.
 * Nigel Mansell, Formula One world champion, born at Baughton near Upton.
 * Admiral Sir William Tennant (1890–1963), born in Upton.
 * General Sir George Alexander Weir (1876–1951), born in Upton

Transport
Upton used to be served by Upton-on-Severn railway station, on a branch line Tewkesbury and Malvern Railway from Ashchurch to Malvern, with the intermediate stations Tewkesbury, Ripple, Worcestershire, Upton upon Severn and Malvern Wells (Hanley Road). The Upton to Malvern section closed in December 1952 and the rest in August 1961, before the Beeching Axe.

Bus services 332 and 363 link Upton to Worcester a total of six times per day (Mon-Fri), with four per day on Saturdays.

Although the M5 motorway is close by, the nearest motorway junction is Junction 1 of the M50 (which is 2 mi from J8 of the M5).

Upton Marina is home to Mercia Inshore Search and Rescue.

title: Upton-upon-Severn