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Bondi Beach

Bondi Beach is a popular beach and the name of the surrounding suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Bondi Beach is located 7 km east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council, in the Eastern Suburbs. It has a population of 11,656 residents. Its postcode is 2026. Bondi, North Bondi and Bondi Junction are neighbouring suburbs. Bondi Beach is one of the most visited tourist sites in Australia sparking two hit TV series Bondi Rescue and Bondi Vet.

History

"Bondi," originally "Boondi" is an Aboriginal word which means 'water tumbling over rocks' in English. The first record of "bondi" by European-ancestry Australians was made between 1899 and 1903. It describes the meaning as "noise made by sea waves breaking on the beach," which is essentially the definition of "surf" in contemporary American English.

In 1809 the road builder William Roberts received a grant of land in the area. In 1851 Edward Smith Hall and Francis O'Brien purchased 200 acre of the Bondi area that included most of the beach frontage, which was named "The Bondi Estate." Hall was O'Brien's father-in-law. Between 1855 and 1877 O'Brien purchased his father-in-law's share of the land, renamed the land the "O'Brien Estate," and made the beach and the surrounding land available to the public as a picnic ground and amusement resort. As the beach became increasingly popular, O'Brien threatened to stop public beach access. However, the Municipal Council believed that the Government needed to intervene to make the beach a public reserve. In mid-1882, Bondi Beach became a public beach. The first tramway to the beach was established in 1884. The Waverley Council was responsible for building the first surf bathing sheds on the beach in 1903. By 1929 an estimated 60,000 people were visiting the beach on a summer weekend day. The opening of the pavilion in the same year attracted a huge crowd of 200,000. On 6 February 1938 five people drowned and over 250 people were rescued or resuscitated after a series of large waves struck the beach and pulled people wading on a sandbank into the sea, a day that became known as "Black Sunday".

Bondi Beach was a working class suburb throughout most of the twentieth century with migrant people from New Zealand comprising the majority of the local population. Following World War II, Bondi Beach and the Eastern Suburbs became home for Jewish migrants from Poland, Russia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Germany. A stream of Jewish immigration continued into the 21st century and the area has a number of synagogues and a kosher butcher. The multicultural migration funded and drove the growth of the suburb throughout the 1990s into the turn of the century, moving it steadily from its working-class roots towards an upper/middle-class enclave similar to its neighbours of Rose Bay and Bellevue Hill which was listed as the most expensive postcode in the country from 2003 to 2005.

Bondi Beach was long a centre for efforts to fight indecency in beach attire. The beach was a focal point of the 1907 Sydney bathing costume protests, organised to oppose proposed dress standards for beachgoers. The Local Government Act, Ordinance No. 52 (1935) governed the decency of swimming costumes and was in force between 1935 and 1961, and resulted in public controversy as the two-piece "bikini" became popular after World War II. Waverley Council's beach inspectors, including the Aub Laidlaw, were responsible for enforcing the law and were required to measure the dimensions of swimwear and order offenders against public decency off the beach. While vacationing in Australia during 1951, American movie actress Jean Parker made international headlines when she was escorted off the beach after Laidlaw determined her bikini was too skimpy. The rule became increasingly anachronistic during the 1950s and was replaced in 1961 with one requiring bathers be "clad in a proper and adequate bathing costume", allowing for more subjective judgement of decency. By the 1980s topless bathing had become common at Bondi Beach, especially at the southern end.

Sydney's Water Board maintained an untreated sewage outlet not far from the north end of the beach until the 1960s when a sewage treatment plant was built. In the mid-1990s the plant was upgraded & a deepwater ocean outfall was completed to meet water quality standards.

In March 2007, Waverley Council started proceedings to evict a hermit who was living in squalor on a cliff overlooking the beach. Peter James Paul Millhouse, calling himself Jhyimy "Two Hats" Mhiyles, came to the beach during the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and became a local celebrity for his lifestyle and poetry recitals to visitors. Residents and tourists put together a "save the caveman" petition to allow him to continue residing but under certain rules. In 2009, he was arrested and charged for the rape of a tourist. While he was in custody, Waverley Council under then-mayor Liberal Sally Betts removed his belongings from the cliff. In September 2011, charges against Jhyimy were dropped by the Director of Public Prosecutions over concerns of the reliability of the witness. Waverley Council has not offered recompense for his eviction from his home or loss of belongings.

In March 2020, the Government of New South Wales closed Bondi Beach after a number of people there exceeded Australia's outdoor-gathering limit imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus in New South Wales.

Heritage listings
Bondi Beach has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
 * 20 Hall Street: Bondi Beach Post Office
 * Queen Elizabeth Drive: Bondi Beach Cultural Landscape

Bondi Beach was added to the Australian National Heritage List in 2008.

Overview
Bondi Beach is about 1 km long and receives many visitors throughout the year. Surf Life Saving Australia gave different hazard ratings to areas of Bondi Beach in 2004. While the northern end has been rated a gentle 4 (with 10 as the most hazardous), the southern side is rated as a 7 due to a famous rip current known as the "Backpackers' Rip" because of its proximity to the bus stop. Many backpackers and tourists do not realise that the flat, smooth water is a dangerous rip current, and tourists can be unwilling to walk the length of the beach to safer swimming. The south end of the beach is generally reserved for surfboard riding. Yellow and red flags define safe swimming areas, and visitors are advised to swim between them.

There is an underwater shark net; however, it does not stretch the entire beach, it is made up of overlapping sections. Many other beaches along the same stretch of the coast have similar shark nets. Pods of whales and dolphins have been sighted in the bay during the months of migration (March–May, September–November). Fairy penguins, while uncommon, are sometimes also seen swimming close to shore or amongst surfers in southern line-up.

In 2007, the Guinness World Record for the largest swimsuit photo shoot was set at Bondi Beach, with 1,010 women wearing bikinis taking part.

In 2011, Waverley Council implemented Wi-Fi to Bondi Beach users. Service is free with limits on access periods and downloads per use. The cost of setup was estimated to be between $34,000 and $50,000 with annual costs of $25,000. Local business as well as The Bondi Chamber of Commerce supported the notion as locals and visitors are able to connect with local business, events and other community and council events. In 2012 the Mayor of Waverley Sally Betts said that for the 2 million visitors annually, Wi-Fi offers access to local events and business information.

Sport and recreation
Bondi Beach is represented in one of the most popular sporting competitions across Australia, the National Rugby League competition, by the local team the Sydney Roosters, officially the Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club (ESDRLFC).

Bondi Beach is the end point of the City to Surf Fun Run which is held each year in August. The race attracts over 63,000 entrants who complete the 14 km run from the Sydney central business district to Bondi Beach. Other annual activities at Bondi Beach include Flickerfest, Australia's premier international short film festival in January, World Environment Day in June, Sculpture by the Sea in November, and the Winter Magic Festival that attracted 60,000 visitors in 2016. In addition to many activities, the Bondi Beach Markets is open every Sunday, and a food market every Saturday, at Bondi Beach Public School. Many Irish and British tourists spend Christmas Day at the beach.

An Oceanway connects Bondi to South Head to the north and other beaches to the south up to Coogee.

Bondi Beach hosted the beach volleyball competition at the 2000 Summer Olympics. A temporary 10,000-seat stadium, a much smaller stadium, 2 warm-up courts, and 3 training courts were set up to host the tournament.

Lifesaving clubs
Bondi Surf Bathers' Life Saving Club claims to be the world's first surf lifesaving club, and North Bondi Surf Life Saving Club is a federation club. Both clubs were founded in 1907. Bondi members invented the surf reel and many other icons of lifesaving. Surf lifesavers from both clubs were involved in the largest rescue ever on a single day, known as 'Black Sunday'. Bondi holds the most Australian Surf Lifesaving Championship gold medals in R&R (rescue & resuscitation) and North Bondi holds the most gold medals in March Past.

Bondi Icebergs

The Bondi Icebergs Swimming Club origin dates back to 1929 and owes its origins to the desire of a band of dedicated local lifesavers who wished to maintain their fitness during the winter months. They formed the Bondi Icebergs Winter Swimming Club and drew up a constitution and elected office bearers. Included in the constitution was a rule that to maintain membership it was mandatory that swimmers compete on three Sundays out of four for a period of five years.

Bondi Skate Park
The Bondi Skate Park opened to the public in 1991 with only two skate ramps. In 2004, the council sought consultation with the skating community for input on how best to upgrade the site. The end result was the construction of a bowl with a 12 ft deep end and a 5 ft shallow end, rated 4 out of 5 stars by Skateboard Australia. The bowl was designed by Chad Ford and built by the company Zalem. The park has been hosting BOWL-A-RAMA, an international skating competition, since 2004;.

Commercial area
Bondi Beach has a commercial area along Campbell Parade and adjacent side streets, featuring many popular cafes, restaurants, and hotels, with views of the beach. Pacific Bondi Beach is a shopping centre that features Woolworths Metro, QT Hotel and 22 stores. It was built on the old Swiss Grand Hotel.

The Hotel Bondi is a landmark on Campbell Parade. It was built from 1915 to the 1920s and was designed by E. Lindsay Thompson. It combines Italianate, Federation and Free Classical elements and has been described as an "important landmark building in the Bondi Beach townscape." It has a state heritage listing. The Beach Road Hotel, originally opened in 1956 and was formerly The Regis and prior to that The Rex, is on the corner of Glenayr Avenue and Beach Road.

Bondi Pavilion is a community cultural centre, located right on Bondi Beach, which features a theatre, gallery, rehearsal, meeting and function rooms, art workshop, and studios. Bondi Pavilion is the centre for major festivals performances throughout the year. It has a state heritage listing.

Culture and events
Numerous festivals and events such as the annual Miss Bondi beauty pageant have made Bondi Beach a popular destination among travellers. The beach has long captured the attention of poets including Les Murray, Joanne Burns and Brook Emery. The Vans Bowl-A-Rama skateboarding competition is held at the skate bowl in February every year.

In popular culture

Bondi Beach has been used as a location for numerous films, television series, music videos, and a video game:

 * The Block was an Australian home renovation television series; its first season was filmed at Bondi Beach in 2003.
 * Being Lara Bingle was a reality television series that followed model Lara Bingle and was set in Bondi.
 * Deep Water was a 2016 mini-series set on Bondi Beach which was loosely based on a series of bashings and murders of 30-80 gay men in the late 1980s and early 1990s. A documentary, Deep Water:The Real Story was broadcast along with the fictionalized mini-series.
 * Bondi Rescue is a factual television series about the team of lifeguards who patrol the beach.
 * Bondi Vet is a factual television series based on veterinarian Chris Brown.
 * Breakers was a television drama series filmed around Bondi Beach.
 * The video game Tony Hawk's Underground 2's Level Australia is based on Bondi Beach.
 * Les Norton, a popular Australian fictional character who stars in the Robert G. Barrett series of books, "lives" at Bondi in the stories.
 * People Under the Stairs, an American hip hop duo, filmed part of the video for their song "The Wiz" on Bondi Beach.
 * Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire, an American animated movie, included scenes set at Bondi Beach.
 * Two Hands (1999 film), starring Heath Ledger.
 * The 1959 film version of Summer of the Seventeenth Doll featured the characters drinking beer at the Bondi Iceberg's Club.
 * The 1966 film They're a Weird Mob features a scene in which the star is rescued on Bondi Beach.
 * The Endless Summer Music Festival
 * Bondi Beach was featured in the Modern Family episode "Australia", which aired on U.S. television on 23 April 2014.
 * In Top of the Lake Series 2, Robin investigates a case opened when a suitcase containing a woman's body washes up on Bondi Beach.
 * In Season 3, Episode 12 of Lost a Bondi Beach t-shirt is used as swaddling for a baby, implying that one of the passengers on ill-fated Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 (which originated in Sydney, Australia) had been to Bondi Beach.
 * In the 1930s and 40s, members of Graham Men's Gymnastics Club entertained beachgoers with acrobatics on the sand. The word "beachobatics" was coined.

Demographics
Bondi Beach is often considered to be one of Sydney's most densely populated suburbs, with a population density of 10,386/km2 in 2023. According to the 2021 census, there were 11,513 residents in Bondi Beach. In Bondi Beach, 48.7% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 10.6%, New Zealand 2.9%, the United States of America 2.7%, South Africa 2.4% and France 2.2%. 72.1% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Spanish 4.4%, French 2.9%, Italian 1.9%, Portuguese 1.8% and Russian 1.3%. The most common responses for religion in Bondi Beach were No Religion 51.2%, Catholic 18.4%, Judaism 7.6% and Anglican 6.0%.

Notable residents (past or present)

 * Taylor Auerbach, journalist
 * Rose Byrne, actress
 * James Packer, businessman
 * Michael Clarke, Australian cricketer
 * Larry Emdur, TV presenter
 * Steven Kilbey, bass guitarist of rock band The Church
 * Ed Oxenbould, teen actor
 * Darren Palmer, interior designer

Namesakes

 * "Bondi Beach" was the name of a wave pool at Carowinds Theme Park in Fort Mill, South Carolina, United States.
 * Bondi blue is a blue-green colour, first named when used as the exterior colour of the original iMac personal computer introduced in 1998 and named after the colour of the water at Bondi Beach.
 * Bondi Burgers, served at Oporto restaurants, are named as such due to Oporto's originating in North Bondi. There is a chain of pizzerias in Sydney called Bondi Pizza, as well as a tanning lotion called Bondi Sands.

title: Bondi Beach


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Morecambe Bay

Morecambe Bay is an estuary in north-west England, just to the south of the Lake District National Park. It is the largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sand in the United Kingdom, covering a total area of 310 km2. In 1974, the second largest gas field in the UK was discovered 25 mi west of Blackpool, with original reserves of over 7 trillion cubic feet (tcf) (200 billion cubic metres). At its peak, 15% of Britain's gas supply came from the bay but production is now in decline. Morecambe Bay is also an important wildlife site, with abundant birdlife and varied marine habitats.

Natural features
The rivers Leven, Kent, Keer, Lune and Wyre drain into the Bay, with their various estuaries making a number of peninsulas within the bay. Much of the land around the bay is reclaimed, forming salt marshes used in agriculture. The bay is known for its wildlife populations, being a Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area and a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and there is a bird observatory at Walney Island. Some of the surrounding land is also a protected area, forming the Morecambe Bay Pavements, home to rare butterflies such as the high brown fritillary. The bay has rich cockle beds, which have been fished by locals for generations.

There are seven main islands in the bay, all to the west; Walney, Barrow, Sheep, Piel, Chapel, Foulney and Roa. Walney is substantially larger than the others, with its southern tip marking the north-western corner of the Bay. Sheep, Piel, Chapel and Foulney Islands are tidal and can be walked to at low tide with appropriate care. Local guidance should be sought if walking to Chapel or Piel islands as fast tides and quicksand can be extremely dangerous. Roa Island is linked to the mainland by a causeway, while Barrow Island has been connected to the mainland as part of the docks system at Barrow-in-Furness.

History
The extensive sandflats are the remains of a vast sandur or outwash plain established by meltwaters as the last ice age waned. Sea-level was still some 3m below present day levels at the start of the Holocene some 11,000 years ago.

The Greek geographer and astronomer Claudius Ptolemy (died c170 AD) referred in his writings to Morikambe eischusis as a location on Britain's west coast, lying between the Ribble and the Solway. The sixteenth-century scholar William Camden identified the locality as being near Silloth, hence the similar name of that bay but the eighteenth century antiquarian John Horsley who translated Ptolemy into English in 1732 favoured it being the bay on the then Lancashire/Cumberland border. In 1771 historian John Whitaker took up this latter suggestion and the name appeared on maps subsequently. The first recorded to do so being one associated with Father Thomas West's Antiquities of Furness of 1774. Camden believed the name originated with two words meaning crooked sea whilst West offered up white/beautiful haven though current thought is that it refers to a curve of the sea.

There have been royally appointed local guides (holding the post of King's Guide to the Sands) for crossing the bay for centuries. This difficulty of crossing the bay added to the isolation of the land to its north which, due to the presence of the mountains of the Lake District, could only be reached by crossing these sands or by ferry, until the Furness Railway was built in 1857. This skirts the edge of the bay, crossing the various estuaries. The London-Glasgow railway also briefly runs alongside the bay - the only place where the West Coast Main Line actually runs alongside the coast.

The bay has quicksand and fast moving tides. On 5 February 2004, at least 21 Chinese illegal immigrant workers drowned after being cut off by the tides while picking cockles.

Morecambe Bay is also home to several of the UK's offshore wind farms: West of Duddon Sands, Burbo Bank, Walney, Barrow, and Ormonde.

Population
Around 320,000 people live along the coastline of Morecambe Bay, with the largest town being Barrow-in-Furness to the west. Morecambe was once a popular seaside holiday destination, whilst Barrow still relies on the seas for a large percentage of its economy in ship and submarine construction.

Natural gas

The bay has Britain's second-largest natural gas field, in the Triassic Sherwood Sandstone with a seal of Mercia Mudstone and a Carboniferous source. The South Morecambe Field, covering an area of 32 mi2, was discovered in 1974 and the first gas came ashore in 1985. The North Morecambe Field, found in 1976, 8 mi to the north, is 11 mi2 and started production in 1994. Both are operated by Centrica Energy. They are 25 mi west of Blackpool in 30 metres of water; the top of the gas reservoir is at a depth of just 900 m, necessitating slant drilling for the first time in European waters. The combined gas reserves on discovery were estimated at 179 billion cubic metres (6.45 trillion cubic feet (tcf)). A further 0.65tcf is recognised in the satellite fields of Bains, Calder (Rivers), Dalton, Millom East and Millom West, and a number of smaller fields have been identified.

The gas is landed at three terminals at Westfield Point in Barrow-in-Furness, collectively referred to as the Rampside Gas Terminal. The South Morecambe Central Processing Complex is connected via a 36-inch pipeline to the South Morecambe terminal. North Morecambe gas has a different composition so the unmanned Drilling and Production Platform is linked by a separate 36" wet sealine to the North Morecambe Terminal, where it is stripped of water, CO2 and nitrogen. The Rivers Terminal has a dedicated pipeline for sour gas from the Calder field, which must be stripped of hydrogen sulphide before processing by the North Morecambe Terminal. The hydrogen sulphide is converted to sulphuric acid which is sold for industrial use. In 1991 a 229 MW CCGT power plant was opened near the terminals, on the site of the former coal-fired Roosecote Power Station. There is a support base at Heysham Port and personnel are typically moved by helicopter from Blackpool International Airport. Five rig workers and the two pilots of a Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin were lost when it crashed in sight of the platform on 27 December 2006.

At peak production 15% of UK supply came from the two main fields. As of 2006 Centrica reckoned there was about 1.2tcf of economic gas remaining in them, and they planned to operate the fields for another 10–15 years. In June 2011 they announced the South Morecambe field would be suspended as a result of tax increases in the 2011 Budget which meant South Morecambe would be paying a rate of 81% tax; North Morecambe and Rivers would continue in production as they are taxed at 62%. Production resumed from the South Morecambe field in July 2011.

Bridge and tidal barrage proposal
In 2004, a proposal was made to build a bridge across the bay flanked by wind turbines and using tidal power. Proposals from Northern Tidal Power Gateways in 2019 outlined a tidal barrage with a road running along on top.

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

title: Morecambe Bay


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Hume Dam

Hume Dam, formerly the Hume Weir, is a major dam across the Murray River downstream of its junction with the Mitta River in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The dam's purpose includes flood mitigation, hydro-power, irrigation, water supply and conservation. The impounded reservoir is called Lake Hume, formerly the Hume Reservoir. It is a gated concrete gravity dam with four earth embankments and twenty-nine vertical undershot gated concrete overflow spillways.

Location
Constructed over a 17-year period between 1919 and 1936, the Hume Dam is located approximately 11 km east of the city of Albury. The dam was built, involving a workforce of thousands, by a consortium of NSW and Victorian government agencies that included the Water Resources Commission of New South Wales, the Public Works Department of New South Wales, and the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission of Victoria.

Supplies to the construction site were delivered via rail, through the construction of a branch siding from the Wodonga – Cudgewa railway. Hume Dam is jointly managed by Victorian and New South Wales authorities on behalf of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority. Goulburn-Murray Water manages water and land located in Victoria, and the New South Wales State Water Corporation is responsible for day-to-day operation and maintenance and the management of major remedial works at the dam.

Description
The dam is a mix of a concrete gravity dam with four earth embankments. The dam wall height is 51 m. The crest is 1615 m long, with the auxiliary embankments extending a further 1010 m. The maximum water elevation above sea level is 194 m. At 100% capacity the dam wall holds back 3005157 ML of water at 194 m AHD.

The surface area of Lake Hume is 20190 ha. The catchment area is 15300 km2. The dam wall is constructed of rock covered with clay and other earth and is designed to carry vehicular traffic. A controlled concrete spillway has a gated concrete overflow, with twenty-nine vertical undershot gates, is capable of discharging 7929 m3/s.

Water is retained nearly 40 km upstream of the reservoir in the valleys of both the Murray and Mitta Mitta rivers.

The dam wall was extended during the 1950s, and completed in 1961, necessitating the wholesale removal of Tallangatta township and its re-establishment at a new site 8 km west of the original, as well as the raising of the Bethanga Bridge. Monitoring of the dam in the early 1990s revealed that the water pressure and leakage had caused the dam to move on its foundations slightly, leading to concerns that the dam was heading for collapse, threatening Albury-Wodonga and the entire Murray basin. Authorities denied any short-term threat.

Traffic was banned from the spillway, and remedial work began involving, in part, the construction of a secondary earth wall behind the original to take the strain. Further upgrades to the dam at an estimated cost of A$60 million began in 2007 and were completed in 2013. These works include the installation of an improved filter and drainage system on the junction between the concrete spillway and southern embankment, construction of a concrete buttress on the southern training wall, and possible modifications to improve the ability of the dam to manage extreme floods.

Power station
The Hume Power Station is a 58 MW hydro-electric power station installed in the dam wall, and is primarily used for peak-load generation. The station has an average annual output of 220 GWh. The power station has two 29 MW turbines and is operated by Meridian Energy. In October 2012, a high voltage transformer at the power station caught fire, requiring more than fifty fire fighters who worked into the long hours of the night to put the blaze out.

The power station was completed in 1957, running two 25 MW turbines. In 2000, these turbines were each upgraded to 29 MW.

Etymology
Originally named the Mitta Mitta Dam site, following representations from the Municipal Council of Albury, on 17 February 1920 the River Murray Commission decided to honour Hamilton Hume, who, in company with William Hovell, was one of the first Europeans to see and cross the Murray River in 1824. In 1920, the reservoir was named the Hume Reservoir and the dam adopted the name of the Hume Weir, the name given by the Victorian Place Names Committee. Following a proposal from Hume Shire Council, in 1996 both the NSW and Victorian governments agreed that the dam should be named the Hume Dam, and the reservoir be named Lake Hume.

Lake Hume

Lake Hume is estimated to hold approximately six times the volume of water in Sydney Harbour. The small towns of Tallangatta, Bonegilla and Bellbridge are located on the shores of Lake Hume. The reservoir is often referred to as the Hume Weir, and was named Lake Hume in the mid-1980s.

Reservoir levels
Lake Hume was the furthest upstream of the major reservoirs on the Murray River system, before the Dartmouth Dam was built further up the Mitta Mitta River to provide improved buffering during prolonged dry spells. The Hume Dam has the capacity to release water at the fastest rate. Irrigation authorities use the reservoir as the storage of first resort. Typically, the reservoir had fallen to less than one-third of its capacity by March each year. In normal years, it refills to at least two-thirds of its capacity before November.

Australia's highly unpredictable climatic conditions cause those norms to vary quite significantly from year to year. In 2007, during the Millennium Drought, Lake Hume fell to 1% capacity, barely more than the water in the Murray and Mitta Mitta rivers flowing through on their original paths. Between 2010 and April 2013, the lowest storage level was in the range of 500000 ML.

Recreation
The lake is stocked with fish. Most of these are introduced species – carp, redfin and trout though native species such as Golden Perch and Murray Cod can also be found. The fishing varies from year to year. It is also popular for water skiing, and several holiday resorts catering for fishing and skiers are dotted around the upper reaches of the lake. An annual Canoe marathon race the 'Frank Harrison Classic' is run on the river beginning below the dam each February and attracts competitors from across Australia.

Impact on the ecology of the Murray River
The construction of Hume Dam has caused significant changes to the flow patterns and ecology of the Murray River. Before the construction of the Hume Weir, flows in normal, non-drought years were low in summer and autumn, though still significant overall, rising in winter due to seasonal rainfall and reaching a flood-peak in late spring due to snow-melt in the Murray and its tributaries' alpine headwaters. The flow is now effectively reversed, with low flows in winter and sustained, relatively high flows in late spring, summer and early autumn to meet irrigation demands. The spring flood peak has been virtually eliminated.

The water released from the base of the Hume Weir is unnaturally cold, at least 10 °C (18 °F) colder than it naturally should be. This flow reversal, temperature depression, and removal of the spring flood peak, has led to the drying out and loss of many billabongs and has harmed the populations of native fish of the Murray River such as the iconic Murray Cod and the freshwater catfish, which can no longer be found downstream of the dam as far as Yarrawonga, where it had previously been recorded up until the 1960s.

Engineering heritage
The dam is part of the Engineering Works of the River Murray that are listed as a National Engineering Landmark by Engineers Australia, as part of its Engineering Heritage Recognition Program.

Hume Weir Football Club
The Hume Weir FC was established in 1921, mainly from footballers working on the construction of the new weir. The club initially played in the Albury & Border Football Association from 1921 to 1923, wearing black and white striped jumpers. Andrew Mafferzoni was the club's initial coach in 1921 and they played at the "Weir Ground". Hume Weir won the Albury & Border FA premiership in 1922  and 1923.

In 1924, Hume Weir joined the Ovens and Murray Football League (O&MFL) and played there until 1929. Percy Jones kicked 104 goals for Hume Weir in 1928 before being lured to Geelong in 1929. As part of being admitted into the O&MFL in 1924, Hume Weir agreed to play their home games at the Wodonga Racecourse Oval. Hume Weir were runners up to Wangaratta in 1925 and were coached by Tim Archer. In 1927, Hume Weir played their home games at Wodonga Park.

In 1930, Hume Weir merged with Ebden Rovers Football Club to become the Weir United Football Club. Weir United won the 1930 and 1931 O&MFL premierships.

In 1933, East Albury Football Club and Weir United Football Club merged to become the Border United Football Club (Albury based). They wore green and white jumpers. They played in and lost the 1933 O&MFL grand final to Wangaratta. In 1935, they lost the O&MFL grand final to Rutherglen.

In 1936, Border United FC (Albury based) merged with the Albury Football Club and became known as Albury FC.

Albury FC played in the 1937, 1939 and 1940 O&MFL grand finals. Immediately after the World War II recess, Albury played in the 1946, 1947 and 1948 O&MFL grand finals.

Sailing on Hume Dam
In 1958, a group of enthusiastic sailors established a Sailing Club and started to run regular regattas.

The sailing club has since grown and is now known as the Albury Wodonga Yacht Club (AWYC). The club offers sail training for children and adults, and regular weekend racing. Once a year, on the first weekend in November, AWYC runs SailCountry, a large regatta which attracts entrants from all over Australia.

title: Hume Dam


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Larry Grantham

James Larry Grantham (September 16, 1938 – June 17, 2017) was an American professional football player who was a linebacker for the New York Titans/Jets of the American Football League (AFL) and later National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ole Miss Rebels. He also played pro ball for the Florida Blazers of the World Football League (WFL).

Early life
Grantham was born in Crystal Springs, Mississippi. He was not initially on the radar for recruiting in football due to his size, which never got to over 195 pounds. It was an American Legion baseball game in 1956 where he played for Crystal Springs against Brookhaven that changed that idea. On a play at the plate where Brookhaven had Lance Alworth (a future star at Arkansas) on second base trying to run all the way to home on a bunt, Grantham dipped his shoulder and successfully blocked the plate. At the game that day was Tom Swayze and Buster Poole - the former was the head coach of the baseball team at the University of Mississippi and the latter was the assistant football coach. Grantham was signed to a baseball scholarship at Ole Miss and offered a tryout as a linebacker on the football team. In his sophomore year, he won a starting spot and lettered that season while also playing end on offense. His senior season was the famed 1959 squad that allowed just 21 points on defense while only losing to LSU. In the 1960 Sugar Bowl, he caught a touchdown pass, blocked a punt and had a team-leading nine tackles in the 21-0 victory over LSU as revenge for the previous 7-3 loss to them. Grantham was later named to the Ole Miss Athletic Hall of Fame.

Pro career
Grantham was drafted by the American Football League's New York Titans in the 1960 college draft along with the Baltimore Colts in the 8th round. He chose to play with the Titans due to the fresh start presented by the newly formed league. He started as a wide receiver in training camp but quickly found an interest in linebacker due to his interest in hitting people. He helped form the backbone of a team (later rebranded as the New York Jets) with a defense that reached the playoffs in 1968 and 1969, and in 1968 captured the AFL Championship and the World Championship, over the NFL's Baltimore Colts. Therein Grantham's team, with him as a starter throughout, went from being the worst team in an upstart league (the AFL) to World Champions in just nine years.

From his right outside linebacker spot, Grantham wrought havoc on opposing offenses. He recorded 24 interceptions, with his most being five in 1960 and 1967. Unofficially, he also had 38.5 sacks in his career. In a ten year span from his rookie year in 1960 to 1969, he was named an All-Pro eight times, with five of them being first-team, and he was named to the All-Star team five times. He was selected to the Second-team of the American Football League All-Time Team. In Super Bowl III, he was cited as a key part of calling defensive formations on the field in the stunning upset that the Jets would complete where they held Baltimore to no points until late in the fourth quarter of a 16-7 victory.

He is one of only twenty players to have competed in the American Football League for its entire ten-year existence, and one of only seven AFL players to have played their entire careers in one city. Grantham was also named the 1971 New York Jets MVP. Teammate Gerry Philbin, citing him as a leader, once said, "pound for pound he was the best player on the Jets.”

He played one last season in 1974 for the Florida Blazers of the start-up World Football League. The Blazers made it to World Bowl 1, losing to the Birmingham Americans.

The Professional Football Researchers Association named Grantham to the PRFA Hall of Very Good Class of 2014.

Personal life and death
Grantham served as color analyst on radio broadcasts for the Jets after he retired, which lasted a year due to trouble with alcoholism, as he had been drinking on a significant basis since high school. He worked in public relations with First National Bank in Jackson, Mississippi after moving his family back to the state in 1975 and he later was a sideline commentator on Ole Miss radio broadcasts. His problems with alcohol led to a divorce in 1981 and two car accidents, with the latter seeing him charged with a DUI. He cited seeing his cellmates as an impetus to stop drinking for his grandchildren, and he soon checked into a recovery clinic. He was diagnosed with lymphoma in the late 2000s, with rising bills seeing him try to sell his Super Bowl ring to a memorabilia dealer in Las Vegas, but the dealer decided to send it back after hearing about Grantham's story. The lymphoma was treated and later went in remission. In 2011, Grantham was inducted into the Jets Ring of Honor, which he called an "unbelievable" honor.

Grantham died on June 17, 2017 at the age of 78 from complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He was 78.

title: Larry Grantham


text:
Northallerton

Northallerton is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the River Wiske in the Vale of Mowbray and had a population of 16,832 in 2011. Northallerton is an administrative centre for York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority and North Yorkshire Council.

There has been a settlement at Northallerton since Roman times. That grew in importance from the 11th century when King William II gifted land there to the Bishop of Durham, and it became an important religious centre. The Battle of the Standard fought nearby in 1138 involved the death of up to 12,000 Scots.

Northallerton was an important stopping point for coaches on the road between Edinburgh and London until the arrival of the railway.

Early
Due to its proximity to a Roman road, entrenchments and relics, the earliest settlement at Northallerton was a Roman military station. There is evidence that the Romans had a signal station on Castle Hills just to the west of the town as part of the imperial Roman postal system and a path connecting Hadrian's Wall with Eboracum (York) ran through what is now the neighbouring village of Brompton.

The first church was set up by St Paulinus of York on the site of the present All Saints Parish Church sometime in the early 7th century. It was made from wood and nothing survives of it. In 855 a stone church was built on the same site; fragments of stone have been found during restoration work which provide strong evidence of this Angle church.

It was believed that an Anglo-Saxon town known as Alvertune then developed. In Pierre de Langtoft's history of King Alfred he writes that in 865 it was the site of a number of battles between King Elfrid and his brother Alfred on one side and five Danish kings and a similar number of earls. Later, in the 10th century, Danes settled at Romanby and Brompton. A fine example of English stonecarving from the period, the Brompton Hogbacks, can be found in Brompton Parish Church.

In the Domesday Survey, Norman scribes named the settlement Alvertune, Aluertune and Alretone and there is a reference to the Alvertune wapentac, an area almost identical to the Allertonshire wapentake of the North Riding, which was named after the town.

The origin of the town's name is uncertain, though it is believed that the name derives from a derivation of the name Aelfere, Aelfereton translates as the farm belonging to Aelfere or even of King Alfred. Alternatively it may be referring to the Alder trees which grew nearby. The prefix of North was added in the 12th century to differentiate from the parish of Allerton Mauleverer, 25 mi to the south.

Its position on a major route brought death and destruction to the town on many occasions. In 1069, in an attempt to quell rebellion in the north, the area between the Ouse and the Tyne was laid waste by the armies of William the Conqueror. The town of Northallerton was almost totally destroyed or depopulated. Just a few years later it is described in the Domesday Book as modo est in manu regis et wastum est (put down as waste).

Battle of the Standard

On 22 August 1138, English forces repelled a Scottish army on Cowton Moor in Brompton parish, around 2 mi north of the town. This was the first major battle between the Scots and the English after the Norman conquest and one of the two major battles in the civil war between King Stephen and Empress Matilda. The English forces were summoned by Archbishop Thurstan of York, who had gathered local militia and baronial armies from Yorkshire and the North Midlands. They arrayed themselves round a chariot with a ship's mast carrying the consecrated banners of St Peter of York, St John of Beverley, St Wilfrid of Ripon and St Cuthbert of Durham, it was this standard-bearing chariot that gave the battle its name.

King David had entered England in support of his niece, Empress Matilda, who was viewed as the rightful heiress to the English throne usurped by King Stephen. With Stephen fighting rebel barons in the south, the Scottish armies had already taken Cumberland and Northumberland, the city of Carlisle and the royal castle at Bamburgh. Finding the English in a defensive position on a hill, David elected to force a battle counting on his superior numbers, 16,000 Scots against 10,000 Englishmen. Repeated attacks by native Scots failed against the onslaught from the English archers, with losses of up to 12,000 Scots. A subsequent attack by mounted knights met initial success but fell back due to lack of infantry support. The battle ended when David's reserve deserted, forcing him to retreat. The English elected not to pursue, and despite their great losses the Scots were able to regroup in sufficient number to besiege and capture Wark Castle. The victory by the English ensured the safety of Northern England.

Religion

Shortly after his accession William Rufus gave the town, with the lands adjacent, to the see of Durham, and, under the patronage of the bishops of that diocese, it grew in importance, and became an episcopal residence. In 1130 a castle was built on the west side of the town adjacent to North Beck by Bishop Rufus and was expanded in 1142 after William Cumin seized the Bishopric of Durham in 1141. The castle was further expanded in 1173 by Hugh Pudsey and garrisoned by a group of Flemish soldiers, an act which enraged King Henry II who ordered that it be razed to the ground in 1177. A more substantial fortified palace surrounded by a moat was built on the same site in 1199, replacing the traditional motte-and-bailey castle. The palace became an important administrative centre for the bishops' lands in Yorkshire and served as a major residence for the bishops and their staff. The palace lay on the main road from York to Durham and was a regular stopping place for royalty and other dignitaries. The palace fell into ruin by 1658 and the site is now a cemetery.

In 1318, the town was destroyed by the Scots, under Sir James Douglas following the Capture of Berwick upon Tweed. A Carmelite priory was founded in 1354, but was demolished soon after the dissolution of the monasteries in 1538. The site passed to various people and was used for arable farming before a workhouse was built on the site in 1857. Subsequently, the Friarage Hospital, which takes its name from the friary, was built.

Following development of the site in 2006, archaeologists uncovered the remains of eight monks along with other artefacts.

Law and order
A house of correction opened in 1783 on Priest Garth (land owned by the Bishop of Durham), beside what is now East Road. This became HM Prison Northallerton, which served (at different times) as an adult prison, a Young Offender Institution, and a military prison. The prison closed in 2013 and is now partially demolished. It once had the world's largest treadmill. As of February 2021, the site of the former prison has two retail outlets, Iceland and Lidl situated on it.

The Quarter Sessions for the area were held in the town from the 17th century in various buildings including the Tollbooth, the Guild Hall and Vine House. In 1875, architect John Carr was commissioned to build a dedicated courthouse on Zetland Road, adjacent to the prison. When in 1856 the North Riding Constabulary was founded, one of the last county forces to be formed, Northallerton was selected as its headquarters. Initially it operated from a converted house beside the prison, moving to a purpose-built structure in 1880. Police HQ moved to nearby Racecourse Lane (the site of the former Northallerton horse-racing course) in 1910, with the court moving opposite it in 1936. The previous courthouse and police buildings were demolished in the 1990s. The court building on Racecourse Lane later housed the magistrates' court and coroner's court.

When the Poor Law union system was introduced, a workhouse was established in the town to serve the three parishes in the area. This building is now part of the Friarage Hospital.

The Thirsk Road drill hall was opened in 1911, just before the First World War.

Governance
The ancient parish of Northallerton covered a wide area including the townships and chapelries of Romanby, Brompton and Deighton, and the detached part of High Worsall on the River Tees. They became separate civil parishes in the 19th century.

The parish council of Northallerton is a town council and has 12 councillors, elected in four wards. The town council is based at Northallerton Town Hall.

Northallerton has been twinned with Ormesson-sur-Marne, a suburb of Paris, since 1994.

In 1889 the County of York, North Riding administrative county was formed. In 1894 it was divided into municipal boroughs, urban districts and rural districts. Following a review of local government in 1974, the North Riding was abolished as an administrative county. The district council of Hambleton was formed from the merger of Northallerton Urban District with Bedale Rural District, Easingwold Rural District, Northallerton Rural District, Thirsk Rural District and Croft Rural District. This became part of the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire.

Since 2023, North Yorkshire Council has provided both district-level and county-level services. York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority assumed its powers on 1 February 2024. The first Mayor of York and North Yorkshire will be elected in May 2024.

Northallerton was a parliamentary borough. Its first representatives were John le Clerk and Stephen Maunsell, who were elected to the parliament of King Edward I in 1298, but no subsequent return was made until 1640, when the privilege was resumed by order of the House of Commons. From 1640 to 1885, the town formed the parliamentary borough of Northallerton, returning two Members of Parliament (MPs) until the Great Reform Act of 1832. Under the Act, boundaries were extended to include Brompton and Romanby and representation was reduced to a single member.

In 1885 the constituency was abolished and absorbed into the Richmond division of the North Riding. The serving member for the Richmond constituency is Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak of the Conservative Party, who has held the seat since 2015 when he succeeded former party leader and Foreign Secretary William Hague. In modern times it has been a safe seat for the Conservative Party, which has held it since 1929.

Topography
Northallerton lies north of the Vale of York in the Vale of Mowbray just south of County Durham. To the west are the Pennines, a range of hills that rise to around 2000 ft, and to the east are the North York Moors which rise to around 1500 ft. The proximity of these hills is significant in the climatology of the area. The River Wiske, a tributary of the River Swale passes to the west of the town. The Wiske is fed by Brompton Beck, Turker Beck, Willow Beck and North Beck all of which flow through the town. Although small in nature these have been the focus of flash flooding in Northallerton and in Brompton village in the 21st century.

Climate
According to the Köppen classification, the British Isles experience a maritime climate characterised by relatively cool summers and mild winters. Compared with other parts of the country, the Vale of York is slightly warmer and sunnier in the summer and colder and frostier in the winter. Owing to its inland position, and sheltered by the Pennines to the west, North Yorkshire is one of the driest counties in the UK, receiving, on average, around 600 mm of rain per year. The mean annual daily duration of bright sunshine is three hours and 42 minutes.

There are two distinct local weather phenomena. The first is marked downslope lee wind caused by the proximity of the Pennines to the west, leading to super geostrophic winds which can reach in excess of 60 KT (70 mph), most commonly in winter and spring. In the winter, the presence of a subsidence inversion between the Pennines and the North York Moors can allow dense, persistent fog to form, sometimes lasting for several days.

The nearest official Met Office weather station to Northallerton is Leeming, about 5 mi to the west. Temperature extremes have ranged from 38.8 C during July 2022, (making Leeming the northernmost place in the UK to exceed 38 C, down to -17.9 C during December 2010.

The new 1981–2010 (as opposed to 1971–2000) averages from the Met Office show how the climate of Leeming has changed dramatically compared with most places in the UK. The average April maximum temperature is only 12.3 °C, compared with 14.1 °C previously. The average yearly temperature has decreased to 9.45 °C compared to 9.55 °C previously and in contrast most places of the UK have become warmer. The days have become cooler and the nights warmer. Winters have become much milder, summers cooler. Leeming now gets an additional 44.7 mm of rain per year, although also 62.3 more hours of sunshine. The climate of Leeming has generally lost its characteristics of being drier and with more seasonal variation, compared with the rest of the UK. Leeming recorded its warmest December temperature on record in 2015.

Demography
According to the United Kingdom Census 2001, the town of Northallerton had a total resident population of 15,741 or 18.5% of the total of Hambleton District. This figure, combined with an area of 23.1 km2, provides Northallerton with a population density figure of 674 PD/km². This is higher than the average population density of England (at 380 PD/km²). There are 8,203 females and 7,538 males, which works out at 91.9 males for every 100 females. The place of birth of the town's residents was 98.5% United Kingdom, 0.35% Ireland, 0.37% from other European Union countries, and 0.75% from elsewhere in the world. Compared with the average demographics of England, Northallerton has low proportions of people born outside the United Kingdom and ethnic minorities, and above average numbers of people over 65 years of age.

This table summarises the population changes in the town since 1801: the population grew in the early 19th century and again in the 20th century. In particular, between 1961 and 1991 the population more than doubled. The fall in population between 1851 and 1871 has been attributed to the collapse in coaching as the railways became popular.

Economy
The economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 44.3% in full-time employment, 15% in part-time employment, 6.8% self-employed, 2.5% unemployed, 2.6% students with jobs, 4.7% students without jobs, 15.8% retired, 6.5% looking after home or family, 5.3% permanently sick or disabled, and 3.1% economically inactive for other reasons.

The average price of a house in Northallerton for the 12-month period ending July 2008 was £209,082 compared to £200,433 for North Yorkshire and the national average of £178,364.

The town is a market centre for the area and also draws traders from further afield to its two annual fairs (formerly four). Cattle drovers bringing cattle, horses and sheep from Northumbria and Scotland regularly came to the town. The original cattle market was by the church, but sheep were sold on High Street until the early part of the 20th century. With the arrival of the railway, a mart was built close to the station, but this closed in 1981 and all business was concentrated on the cattle market held in Applegarth Court.

Northallerton's wide High Street incorporates shops, restaurants, pubs and cafes, including local, independent retailers Bettys, Lewis & Cooper, Barkers and Boyes.

Transport
Northallerton was built on the Roman Dere Street. It was a major stopping point on coach routes between Scotland and London with four coaching inns along the High Street. Coaching operations declined in the mid-19th century after the railway arrived in 1841.

Two main A roads pass through the town: the A684 runs approximately east–west through the town and links the A1(M) motorway at Leeming Bar and the A19 at Osmotherley; the A167 runs approximately north–south between the A1(M) at Darlington and the A168 at Topcliffe. The A168 runs from Wetherby via Thirsk to Northallerton.

Northallerton railway station is operated by TransPennine Express and lies on the East Coast Main Line.

Nearby Leeming Bar is on the heritage Wensleydale Railway to Redmire and can be reached by a Dales & District bus service between the stations.

Northallerton's nearest airport is Teesside International Airport, approximately 15 mi north of the town, just to the east of Darlington.

Sport
Northallerton Town FC plays in the Northern League where it is the southernmost club. In 1994, the club was declared insolvent but was rescued by local businessmen in time for the next season. Brothers Michael Dawson, Andy Dawson and Kevin Dawson started their football careers at Northallerton Town.

Northallerton Rugby Union Football Club play in the second division of the Yorkshire League at Brompton Lodge on the outskirts of Brompton. The rugby league club Northallerton Stallions reached agreement with the rugby union club to play at their Brompton Lodge facilities.

Cricket in Northallerton dates from 1812, although the first recorded match played by Northallerton Cricket Club was in the early 1860s. The club was one of the six founder member teams of the North Yorkshire Cricket League which was formed in 1893. The club join the Thirsk & District Senior League in 1911, winning its first title in 1914. Subsequently, known as the York Senior League, Northallerton won the championship a further eight times.

In 1949, the club moved from its ground adjacent to County Hall to the end of Farndale Avenue in Romanby. In 1965 a two tier pavilion, built at a cost of £6,500, was opened with match against a Yorkshire XI which included Geoffrey Boycott. The club fields three teams. The first team plays in division 2 of the North Yorkshire & South Durham Cricket League whilst the second team plays in division 4. The third team currently plays in the Darlington and District Cricket League.

The pool at Northallerton Leisure Centre is owned by North Yorkshire Council. It is home to Northallerton Amateur Swimming Club. Formed in 1961, the club competes in the Moors League against others in the region.

Media
Bilsdale transmitting station is 8 mi east of Northallerton.

Local radio stations are BBC Radio York on 104.3 FM and Minster Northallerton launched on 11 June 2007 from 103.5 MHz and 102.3 MHz, before becoming part of Star Radio North East. The frequencies now carry Greatest Hits Radio York and North Yorkshire.

The town is served by two local newspapers: the North Yorkshire editions of the daily Northern Echo and the weekly Darlington & Stockton Times, both published by Newsquest. The Northallerton, Thirsk & Bedale Times published by Johnston Press was discontinued in 2009.

Entertainment

The Lyric cinema on the High Street opened in October 1939. It had a capacity of 1,000 seats and was also used as a theatre. It fell into disrepair and closed in June 1995. The building was bought by the New Life Baptist Church and converted to a place of worship.

The Forum arts and community centre stages theatre productions, films, concerts, and live broadcasts from other theatres. As Hambleton Forum, it was owned by Hambleton District Council. The council transferred ownership to a charitable trust in 2012, and it was renamed Northallerton Forum.

An Everyman Cinema opened in May 2023 in the Treadmills development on the former prison site.

Education
There are six primary schools in Northallerton, a secondary school and a Technology College. After completing primary education children move on to the Northallerton School, a secondary school and sixth form. In addition further adult learning courses are run at the college through the learndirect and Nextstep schemes.

Public services
The Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust is responsible for provision of statutory emergency medical services in the town.

The shared headquarters of North Yorkshire Police and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service is in a former Rural Payments Agency building on Alverton Court. The fire station is "day crewed", operating from 08:00 to 18:00 each day and on-call outside these hours.

Mains water and sewage services are provided by Yorkshire Water. Drinking water is supplied from Bullamoor Reservoir, a system of four covered concrete cisterns on the hillside east of the town, which are fed with water from the River Ure via Thornton Steward Reservoir. Until around 2006, Northallerton received its water from Cod Beck Reservoir near Osmotherley. The storage at Bullamoor was doubled in 2006 in anticipation of the closure of Cod Beck Water Treatment Works; Sewage is processed at Northallerton and Romanby Sewage Treatment Works, both in Romanby, which discharge into Willow Beck, a tributary of the River Wiske.

Popular culture
The Golden Lion Hotel on Northallerton's High Street depicts a public house in the 1945 film The Way to the Stars.

Playwright Alan Bennett's diaries described the town as 'a place to be avoided'.

title: Northallerton


text:
Mass in C major

Mass in C major may refer to:

 * Mass in C major (Beethoven), by Ludwig Beethoven (1807)
 * Missa Cellensis in honorem Beatissimae Virginis Mariae, by Joseph Haydn (1766)
 * Missa in tempore belli, or Mass No. 10 in C major, by Joseph Haydn (1796)
 * Sparrow Mass, or Missa Brevis No. 10 in C major, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1775-76)
 * Coronation Mass (Mozart), or Mass No. 15 in C major, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1779)
 * Mass No. 4, by Franz Schubert (1828)

title: Mass in C major


text:
Redditch

Redditch is a town and borough in Worcestershire, England. It is located south of Birmingham, east of Bromsgrove, northwest of Alcester and northeast of Worcester. The borough had a population of 87,037 in 2021. In the 19th century, it became a centre for the needle and fishing tackle industry.

90% of the world's needles were manufactured in the town and its surrounding areas. In the 1960s, it became part of the new town planning movement which included it expanding into neighbouring villages and hamlets surrounding the town. It is the second largest settlement in Worcestershire, after Worcester.

History

The first recorded mention of Redditch (Red-Ditch, thought to be a reference to the red clay of the nearby River Arrow) is in 1348, the year of the outbreak of the Black Death. During the Middle Ages, it became a centre of needle-making and later prominent industries were fish-hooks, fishing tackle, motorcycles and springs, the last of which was notably undertaken by Herbert Terry and Sons. Redditch was designated a new town on 10 April 1964, and the population increased dramatically from 32,000 to around 77,000. Housing developments such as Church Hill, Matchborough, Winyates, Lodge Park, and Woodrow were created to accommodate a large overspill from the industrially expanding Birmingham. Redditch was built as a "flagship" town using new methods and new town planning: all the main roads (mostly new dual carriageways as well as a ring road for the town centre) were banked to reduce noise to the new housing estates, and the whole of Redditch was landscaped. Historically, much of present-day Redditch was located within Warwickshire, but it is now in its entirety administered as a part of Worcestershire.

By the 21st century, needle-making and other traditional industries had been replaced by modern light industry and services, with Redditch also functioning as a dormitory town for Birmingham. The automotive retailer Halfords and engineering company GKN both have their headquarters in Redditch. Manufacturer of precious metal contacts, Samuel Taylor Ltd, has manufacturing plants within the town. Following the redevelopment of the flagship Kingfisher Shopping Centre in 2002, Redditch is undergoing an economic and cultural renaissance.

The town is home to several historical sites. The National Needle Museum and the ruins of Bordesley Abbey are located in the Abbey Ward district, and the remains of a medieval moated settlement called Moons Moat are within the Church Hill estate.

Governance
There are two main tiers of local government covering Redditch, at district and county level: Redditch Borough Council and Worcestershire County Council. The borough council is based at Redditch Town Hall on Walter Stranz Square, which was purpose-built for the council and opened in 1982.

The borough contains just one civil parish at Feckenham, in the more rural south-western part of the borough. The rest of the borough is an unparished area.

The parliamentary constituency of Redditch is represented by Chris Bloore of the Labour Party, elected at the 2024 general election.

Geography
Redditch is south of the West Midlands urban area. It is north of Evesham on the A435, which skirts it to the east. The main access routes are the A441 via junction 2 of the M42 Motorway, the A435 from junction 3 of the M42 and the A448 via junctions 4 or 5 of the M5. The Roman Road known as Icknield Street is prominent, running north to south through the eastern side of the town.

Districts of Redditch
The Borough of Redditch is divided into several districts. To the east of the town are "New Town Districts" built in the 1970s and 1980s. To the west of the Borough are older "Former Village Districts" that dominate the south and west.

See: Districts of Redditch

Since 2011, Redditch has participated in the Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership along with neighbouring authorities Birmingham, Bromsgrove, Cannock Chase, East Staffordshire, Lichfield, Solihull, Tamworth and Wyre Forest.

Green belt
Redditch is within a green belt region that extends into the wider surrounding counties, and is in place to reduce urban sprawl, prevent further convergence between the towns surrounding the West Midlands conurbations of Birmingham and Coventry, protect the identity of outlying communities, encourage brownfield reuse and preserve nearby countryside. This is achieved by restricting inappropriate development within the designated areas, and imposing stricter conditions on permitted building.

The main urban area up to the Webheath, Walkwood, and Hunt End suburbs, Astwood Bank, and the southernmost extent of the borough are exempt from the green belt area, bar small adjacent green belt 'wedges', but surrounding smaller villages, hamlets and rural areas such as Feckenham, Littleworth, Old Yarr and Ham Green up to the B4090 Salt Way road are 'washed over' by the designation. The green belt was first drawn up under Worcestershire County Council, and the size in the borough in 2017 amounted to some 1800 ha.

Transport
The M42 motorway is a short drive away and it is linked by dual carriageways and A-class roads to surrounding towns such as Bromsgrove and Evesham. There are regular bus services to Studley, Bromsgrove, Catshill and Birmingham.

Railway
The railway station is the southern terminus of the Cross-City Line and provides a regular train service via Birmingham New Street to Four Oaks and Lichfield. Redditch railway station was first opened as the terminus of the Redditch Railway on 19 September 1859, alongside what is now Clive Road. This first station stayed until 4 May 1868 when the last section from Alcester to Redditch of the Redditch and Evesham Railway was closed, at which point a second station was built alongside the junction of Bromsgrove Road and Plymouth Road. This station was provided with a standard Midland Railway design and two platforms. The current station was built in 1993.

Buses
There is an extensive network of local bus services run by Diamond West Midlands and other operators (including Stagecoach and a community run bus). Many services run from the bus station in the town centre, a postcard of which was voted Britain's most boring postcard in a competition run by the photographer Martin Parr. The bus station was rebuilt as part of the 2002 shopping centre expansion.

Some areas of Redditch have dedicated bus routes; however, there have been issues with safety on these routes and three children have died over the past 15 years.

Road system
Redditch is occasionally noted for its confusing road system dominated by a system of dual carriageways built when it became a New Town, including the only cloverleaf interchange in England at the junction of the A441 and the Bromsgrove-bound A448. The system is designed to allow rapid flow of large volumes of traffic around the various districts and into the town centre, whilst keeping fast moving vehicles separated from residential streets. Redditch was briefly famous (via The Graham Norton Show) for a tongue-in-cheek calendar featuring its "picturesque" roundabouts created by a local printing company. The calendar was called, unsurprisingly, Roundabouts of Redditch, and it proved so successful that it sparked a national series. This self-similar pattern is found on a smaller scale in many of the modern estates in the town, which follow a Radburn style of planned community.

Education
Redditch is one of the few areas of the country where the three-tier system of first, middle and high schools still exists. Students attend first school from the age of four, middle school from the age of nine and high school at the age of 13. Other areas of Worcestershire adopted this system at the same time as Redditch (in the 1970s), but many have reverted to the traditional 5–7 infant, 7–11 junior and 11-16/18 secondary schools.

Redditch currently has four high schools (RSA Academy Arrow Vale, Saint Augustine's Catholic High School, Tudor Grange Academy, Trinity High School) and six middle schools.

Heart of Worcestershire College (often referred to locally as "HOW College") is a large general further education college: one of its four campuses is in central Redditch; the other three are in Bromsgrove, Worcester and Malvern. The closest university is the University of Birmingham, 12.5 miles (20 km) to the north.

Media
Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC West Midlands and ITV Central. Television signals are received from the Sutton Coldfield transmitter.

Local radio stations are BBC Hereford and Worcester, Heart West Midlands, Radio Wyvern, Capital Mid-Counties, Greatest Hits Radio Midlands, Free Radio and Smooth West Midlands.

Redditch's local newspapers are The Redditch Standard and The Redditch Advertiser.

Amenities
Since June 2013, the swimming pool at Abbey Stadium Leisure Centre has been warmed using waste heat from the nearby Redditch Crematorium, in a scheme designed to save around £15,000 a year.

In popular culture
The 2012 film Sightseers is partly set in Redditch.

Redditch is featured in a section heading in An Utterly Impartial History of Britain by John O'Farrell.

Birmingham and national TV comedian Jasper Carrott makes Redditch a repeated butt of his jokes, for example over the difficulty of escaping the Redditch ring road.

There is a listed theatre in Redditch called the Palace Theatre.

Places of interest

 * Bordesley Abbey: remains of a former Cistercian abbey, later used as a Royal Swannery.
 * Forge Mill Needle Museum: exhibition of traditional needle making.
 * Redditch Library: A local library.

Kingfisher Shopping Centre

Kingfisher Shopping Centre was opened in 1976 by the then Prime Minister James Callaghan and now forms the town's primary retail centre.

The centre has over 1100000 sqft of retail space, with stores including Primark, Next, Boots UK, H&M, The Perfume Shop and Warren James Jewellers. It is one of the largest covered shopping centres in the United Kingdom. In 2007, a cinema opened on the new upper floor and is now owned by Vue Cinemas.

Arrow Valley Country Park
Redditch has 900 acre of public open space in Arrow Valley Country Park. This incorporates the 30 acre Arrow Valley Lake, fed by the River Arrow. The park incorporates a Local Nature Reserve, Proctor's Barn Meadow. The Arrow Valley Countryside centre, opened in 2000 in the Country Park, has a lakeside café, gift shop and an interactive exhibition. The lake is also used for water sports. There are four waymarked trails for walking and cycling around the lake and through the Country Park. There is a skate park in the south of the park with walks along the river Arrow through the Country Park to the Forge Mill Museum in the north. There are interactive events and family activities at the Countryside Centre and a comprehensive children's play area.

Royal Enfield motorcycles
Redditch was the home of the Royal Enfield motorcycle. This is where the main factory of the original company was located and the business continued manufacturing until the 1960s, the last model being the Interceptor. The Redditch factory was closed in 1967 and production was moved to the Bradford on Avon factory, which closed in 1970, ending English Enfield manufacturing. In the mid 1950s, the company established a partner, Madras Motors, in Madras, India, who manufactured the Bullet 350 model. The Indian factory is producing new models and has taken Royal Enfield into its third century of manufacturing. Some of the original factory buildings in Redditch still remain, most are in a derelict state and can be seen from Hewell Road. Some buildings have been taken over and now make the old part of Enfield Industrial Estate close to the town centre on Hewell Road.

Notable people

 * Josh Baker (2003-2024), cricketer, born in Redditch.
 * John Bonham (1948–1980), drummer with Led Zeppelin, was born in Redditch and attended Lodge Farm Secondary Modern School.
 * Lionel Britton (1887–1971), novelist and writer of science fiction plays was born at Astwood Bank now a suburb of Redditch.
 * Russell Brookes (born 1945), British rally champion
 * Nigel Clark from band Dodgy grew up in Redditch and went to The Leys High school, now Tudor Grange Academy Redditch
 * Charlie Clemmow, soap actress who is best known for her role as Imogen Hollins in the BBC soap, Doctors. She grew up in Astwood Bank.
 * Stacy Coldicott (born 1974), footballer, West Bromwich Albion and Grimsby Town was born in Redditch.
 * Charles Dance (born 1946), actor, born in Redditch
 * Jimmy Davis (1982–2003), footballer, Manchester United, Swindon Town and Watford was born in Bromsgrove, but his funeral took place at Redditch Crematorium.
 * Jonathan Dow, actor was born in Redditch.
 * Ruth England (born 1970), TV presenter, educated in Redditch
 * Luke Johnson, musician, Lostprophets was born in Redditch.
 * Antony Johnston, author, was raised in Redditch.
 * Zoë Lister, actor Hollyoaks trained at the Starlight School of Dance in Winyates, Redditch.
 * Joe Lolley, footballer, Nottingham Forest, Huddersfield Town and Kidderminster Harriers was born in Redditch.
 * Tony Martin (born 1957), singer, Black Sabbath frontman 1987–1991, 1994–1997
 * Tom Paddock (1822–1863) was born in Redditch, and known as the "Redditch Needlepointer", champion heavyweight bare-knuckle boxer of England in 1856
 * Nathanael Saleh, actor born in Redditch in 2006.
 * Jacqui Smith, former MP for Redditch and first female British Home Secretary
 * Freddie Starr (1943–2019), comedian, impressionist, singer and actor, lived in Mappleborough Green, just outside Redditch.
 * Alan Styler, (1925–1970) D'Oyly Carte Opera Company baritone, 1947–1968 was born and raised in Redditch.
 * Harry Styles (born 1994) born in Redditch. Raised in Holmes Chapel. Singer, songwriter and actor. Member of boy band One Direction, 3 time Grammy winner.
 * John Taylor (born 1960), musician, Duran Duran, went to Abbey High School in Redditch
 * Raymond Thompson, scriptwriter and TV producer, born in Redditch. Creator of hit New Zealand teen/sci-fi television series The Tribe
 * Archer Windsor-Clive (1890–1914), cricketer
 * Lorna Rose Treen (born 1994), comedian and winner of the 2023 Funniest Joke of the Fringe, grew up in Redditch
 * Felix Gill (born 2002), professional tennis player

Town twinning
In 1956, Redditch was twinned with Auxerre in Burgundy, France. This twinning proved sufficiently popular to form an organisation named The Friends of Auxerre (FoA). At the beginning of June each year the coupling of these two towns is officially celebrated.

In 1986, Redditch was twinned with Mtwara in Tanzania. Frequent events are organised with assistance from the community of Tanzanian students at Birmingham University and Selly Oak College.

 * Auxerre, France
 * Mtwara, Tanzania

Friendship links
Redditch also has formal "Friendship" links with:
 * St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, West Indies
 * Gruchet-le-Valasse, France
 * Gujar Khan, Pakistan

Sport
Redditch sport teams include:

 * Redditch United F.C. playing Football in the
 * Redditch Borough F.C. playing Football in the
 * NEW Ravens playing Rugby league in the Midlands Rugby League Premier Division
 * Redditch RFC playing Rugby Union in the Midlands 4 West (South)
 * Redditch CC playing Cricket in the Worcestershire County Cricket League
 * Redditch Arrows American football Team
 * Longmeadow Redditch Badminton Club playing Badminton with 8 teams in the Worcestershire and Solihull Leagues.
 * Redditch Roller Sports Club Roller Derby and Recretational Roller Skating Instruction
 * Bromsgrove and Redditch Athletic Club
 * Redditch Rockets Skater Hockey Club
 * Redditch Swimming Club
 * The Redditch Road and Path Cycling Club

Climate
Redditch has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb) similar to almost all of the United Kingdom.

title: Redditch


text:
Salome (disambiguation)

Salome (c. early 1st century CE) was the daughter of Herodias, and nemesis of John the Baptist (Mark 6:17–29 and Matthew 14:3–11).

Salome or Salomé may also refer to:

People with the mononym

 * Salome Alexandra (139–67 BCE), Queen regnant of Judea (76–67 BCE)
 * Salome I (69 BCE–10 CE), Herod the Great's sister
 * Salome (daughter of Herod the Great) (14 BCE–1st century CE), daughter of Herod the Great
 * Salome (disciple) (c. early 1st century CE), disciple of Jesus
 * Salome, the first wife of Joseph, father of Jesus in Eastern Orthodox Church tradition
 * Salome (Gospel of James), midwife's friend in an apocryphal Nativity gospel who doubted Mary's virginity
 * Salome of Ujarma (died about 361), daughter of Tiridates III of Armenia and wife of Rev II of Iberia; also known as Salome of Armenia
 * Salomé (singer) (born 1939), Spanish singer
 * Salomé (artist) (born 1954), German artist
 * Salome MC (born 1985), Iranian/Turkish MC

People with the given name

 * Salome (given name), a list of people with this given name

People with the surname

 * Théodore Salomé (1834–1896), French organist and composer
 * Lou Andreas-Salomé (1861–1937), Russian-born psychoanalyst and writer
 * Greta Salóme (born 1986), Icelandic singer and violinist

Places

 * Salome, Arizona, a census-designated place in La Paz County, Arizona, United States
 * Salomé, Nord, a commune in northern France

Fictional entities

 * Salome, the main character in Tom Robbins' novel, Skinny Legs and All
 * Salome, a fictional West Texas town in Tin Cup
 * Salome Agrippa, in the TV series True Blood

Film and television

 * Salomè (1910 film), Italian film by Ugo Falena
 * Salomé (1918 film), a film starring Theda Bara
 * Salomé (1923 film), American silent film
 * Salome, Where She Danced, a 1945 American film
 * Salome (1953 film), American film starring Rita Hayworth
 * Salome (1968 film), an Australian television play
 * Salome (1972 film), an Italian film, directed by Carmelo Bene
 * Salome (1973 film), a short horror film by Clive Barker
 * Salomè (1986 film), Italian film
 * Salomé (TV series) (2001–2002), a Mexican telenovela starring Edith González
 * Salomé (2002 film), Spanish film by Carlos Saura
 * Wilde Salomé (2011) American documentary-drama film directed by Al Pacino
 * Salomé (2013 film), American film by Al Pacino

Literature

 * "Salome", a poem by Carol Ann Duffy, featured in The World's Wife (1999)
 * Salome: The Wandering Jewess, a 1930 novel by George Sylvester Viereck and Paul Eldridge

Albums

 * Salomè (album), a 1981 album by Mina
 * Salome (Marriages album)
 * Salomé – The Seventh Veil, a 2007 album by Xandria, which also features the song "Salomé"

Songs

 * "Salomé" (song), a 1999 song written by Chayanne
 * "Salome", a song in the 1943 film Du Barry Was a Lady
 * "Salome", a song by The House of Love from The House of Love
 * "Salomé", a 1990 song by U2 included in the 1992 single "Even Better Than the Real Thing"
 * "Salome", a 2000 song by Alcazar from Casino
 * "Salome", a 1997 song by Lili Haydn from Lili
 * "Salome", a song by the Old 97s from Too Far to Care
 * "Salome", a 2012 song by Kaya
 * "Salome", a 2004 song by Stormwitch from Witchcraft
 * "Salomé", a 1979 song written by Jean-Patrick Capdevielle

Piano

 * "Salomé", 1909, one of Mel Bonis' Femme de Légende

Stage works

 * Salome (play), an 1893 play by Oscar Wilde
 * Salome (opera), a 1905 German opera by Richard Strauss based on Wilde's play
 * Vision of Salomé, a 1906 interpretation of Oscar Wilde's play, produced by Maud Allan
 * La tragédie de Salomé, a 1907 ballet by Florent Schmitt
 * Salomé (Mariotte), a 1908 French opera by Antoine Mariotte based on Wilde's play
 * Salome, a 1978 ballet in two acts by Peter Maxwell Davies with choreography by Flemming Flindt

Visual arts

 * Salome, a c. 1510–1530 painting by Giampietrino
 * Salome, a 1512–1516 painting by Alonso Berruguete
 * Salome (Titian, Rome), a c. 1515 oil painting by Titian
 * Salome (Titian, Madrid), a c. 1550 oil painting by Titian
 * Salome (Titian, private collection), a c. 1570 oil painting by Titian
 * Salome, a c. 1530 painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder
 * Salomé (Moretto), a 1540 oil painting by Moretto da Brescia
 * Salome, a 1615–1620 painting by Giovanni Battista Caracciolo
 * Salome, an 1870 painting by Henri Regnault
 * Salome (Stuck), a 1906 painting by Franz von Stuck
 * Salome, a 1909 painting by Robert Henri
 * Salome with the Head of John the Baptist (disambiguation)

Other uses

 * Salome (software), an open-source software for numerical simulation

title: Salome (disambiguation)


text:
Speaker (politics)

The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England.

Usage
The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerford in the Parliament of England.

The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the powers to discipline members who break the procedures of the chamber or house. The speaker often also represents the body in person, as the voice of the body in ceremonial and some other situations.

A speaker usually presides the lower house. Different styles are employed to refer to those who preside upper houses or Senates.

By convention, speakers are normally addressed in Parliament as 'Mister Speaker' if a man, or 'Madam Speaker' if a woman. In other cultures, other styles are used, mainly being equivalents of English "chairman" or "president". Many bodies also have a speaker pro tempore (or deputy speaker), designated to fill in when the speaker is not available.

The speaker is commonly supported by a 'speaker's office'.

Examples of speakers include:

Armenia
The president of the National Assembly of Armenia is the speaker of the house in the National Assembly of Armenia. The formation of this position was established on 1 August 1918.

Australia
The speaker of the House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the Australian House of Representatives, the lower house of the Parliament of Australia. The president of the Senate is the presiding officer of the Australian Senate, the upper house of the Parliament.

Federal
The Federal Constitution determines that both houses of the National Congress, in the first session after taking office, must elect their "Mesas Diretoras" (Presiding Boards), consisting each of a president, two vice presidents, four secretaries and alternates to serve two-year terms, with no reappointment to the same position in the immediately subsequent election. In addition to voting as senator or federal deputy at their respective houses, both presidents also hold the casting vote in case of a tie, but the large number of legislators (81 in the Federal Senate and 513 in the Chamber of Deputies, as of 2023) makes this attribution rarely used.

The president of the Federal Senate is the presiding officer of the Federal Senate, the upper house. The president of the Chamber of Deputies is the presiding officer of the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house. The Constitution also determines that the president of the Federal Senate presides over the Board of the National Congress in the joint sessions of both houses, the Common Regulations of the National Congress refer to the president of the Federal Senate on these occasions as "President of the National Congress".

States
Following the Brazilian political tradition, the legislative assemblies of the states (Legislative Chamber in the case of the Federal District), all unicameral, adopt rules identical to those of the National Congress, electing a Presiding Board among the state deputies for two-year terms on the first session after taking office.

Federal
In Canada, the speaker of the House of Commons (Président de la Chambre des communes) is the individual elected to preside over the House of Commons, the elected lower house. The speaker is a member of parliament (MP) and is elected at the beginning of each new parliament by fellow MPs. The speaker's role in presiding over the House of Commons is similar to that of speakers elsewhere in other countries that use the Westminster system. The speaker does not vote except in the case of a tie. By convention, if required to vote, the speaker will vote in favour of continuing debate on a matter, but will not ultimately vote for a measure to be approved.

The speaker of the Senate (président du Sénat) is the presiding officer of the Senate, the appointed upper house. The speaker represents the Senate at official functions, rules on questions of parliamentary procedure and parliamentary privilege, and presides over debates and voting in the "Red Chamber". The speaker of the Senate is appointed by the governor general from amongst sitting senators upon the advice of the prime minister. The speaker has a vote on all matters. In the event of a tie, the matter fails.

Provinces
At the provincial level, the presiding officer of the provincial legislatures is called the "speaker" (président) in all provinces except Quebec, where the term "president" is used. The presiding officer fulfills the same role as the speaker of the House of Commons.

Chile
The president of the Chamber of Deputies is the highest authority of the Chamber of Deputies. The president of the Senate is the highest authority of the Senate of Chile.

China (mainland)
In the People's Republic of China, the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress is the presiding officer of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, which is considered China's top legislative body. As stipulated in Article 84 of the Constitution of China, should both the president and vice-president become incapacitated, and the National People's Congress is unable to elect a timely replacement, the chairman of the NPC Standing Committee will act as president.

Hong Kong
The president of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong is the speaker of the Legislative Council and is elected by and from its members. The president presides over the Council meetings and is empowered to enforce the Rules of Procedures solely.

While members of the Legislative Council may be Hong Kong residents who are not Chinese citizens, the president can only be selected from people with Chinese nationality who do not have a right of abode in foreign countries.

Italy
Parliamentarism in Italy is centred on the presidents of the two Houses, vested in defence of the members and of the assembly as a whole; so "the Speaker invites the representative of the Government not to deviate from the rules of parliamentary behaviour". Now constitutional community highlights changes also in this role. The president of the Senate also acts as deputy president of the republic "in all cases in which the president cannot perform them".

New Zealand
In New Zealand, the speaker of the House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the New Zealand House of Representatives, the only chamber of the New Zealand Parliament. Precedent set by other Westminster-style parliaments means that members of Parliament must always address the speaker.

Singapore
In Singapore, the speaker of the Parliament of Singapore is the head officer of the country's legislature. By recent tradition, the prime minister nominates a person, who may or may not be an elected member of parliament (MP), for the role. The person's name is then proposed and seconded by the MPs, before being elected as speaker. The Constitution states that Parliament has the freedom to decide how to elect its speaker.

While the speaker does not have to be an elected MP, they must possess the qualifications to stand for election as an MP as provided for in the Constitution. The speaker also cannot be a cabinet minister or parliamentary secretary, and must resign from those positions prior to being elected as speaker.

The speaker is one of the few public sector roles which allow its office-holder to automatically qualify as a candidate in the Singapore presidential elections.

Spain
The president of the Congress of Deputies is the speaker of the Congress of Deputies, the lower house of the Cortes Generales (the Spanish parliament). The president is elected among the members of the Congress and is, after the king and the prime minister, the highest authority in the Kingdom of Spain.

The president of the Senate is the speaker of the Spanish upper house called Senate.

Taiwan
The Legislative Yuan is the highest legislative body of Taiwan. The president of the Legislative Yuan presides over its meetings and is elected by the legislators from among themselves. Until 1993, the president of the Control Yuan was elected by and from the members like the speaker of many other parliamentary bodies.

United Kingdom

In the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the Speaker is the individual elected to preside over the elected House of Commons. The speaker is a member of Parliament (MP) and is elected at the beginning of each new parliament by fellow MPs.

The Lord Speaker is the presiding officer of the House of Lords. The presiding officer of the House of Lords was until recently the Lord Chancellor, who was also a member of the government (a cabinet member) and the head of the judicial branch. The Lord Chancellor did not have the same authority to discipline members of the Lords that the speaker of the Commons has in that house. The Lord Speaker is elected by the members of the House of Lords and is expected to be politically impartial.

Devolved parliaments
The presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament is the president, presiding officer and speaker of the Scottish Parliament.

The llywydd of the Senedd is the speaker of the Senedd, the Welsh parliament.

The speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly presides over the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Federal
Both chambers of the United States Congress have a presiding officer defined by the United States Constitution. The speaker of the United States House of Representatives presides over the lower house of Congress, the House of Representatives. The speaker, elected by the entire House, is the top-ranking officer of the legislative branch of the federal government. Unlike in Commonwealth realms, the position is partisan, and the speaker often plays an important part in running the House and advancing a political platform; Joseph Gurney Cannon, speaker from 1903 to 1911, is an extreme example.

The vice president of the United States, as provided by the United States Constitution formally presides over the upper house, the Senate. In practice, however, the vice president does not regularly appear in Congress owing to responsibilities in the executive branch and the fact that the vice president may only vote to break a tie, something that rarely occurs due to the filibuster preventing tie votes from occurring in practice. In the vice president's absence, the presiding role is delegated to the most senior member of the majority party, who is the president pro tempore of the United States Senate. Since the Senate's rules give little power to its non-member presider (who may be of the minority party), the task of presiding over daily business is typically rotated among junior members of the majority party.

States
In the forty-nine states that have a bicameral legislature, the highest leadership position in the lower house is usually called the "Speaker" and the upper house is usually the "President of the (State) Senate". In Nebraska—the only state with a unicameral legislature—the senators elect one senator to serve as "Speaker of the Nebraska Legislature", who presides over legislative sessions in the absence of the Lieutenant Governor but retains the powers typical of other legislative speakers. In Tennessee, the senators elect a "Speaker of the Senate" who presides over the Tennessee Senate and serves as lieutenant governor.

Similar posts
The presiding officer for an upper house of a bicameral legislature usually has a different title such as Chairman or President of the senate When the upper house is called a senate, but they have the same duties. Australia, Chile, the United States and many other countries have upper houses with presiding officers titled "president". In several American republics, the vice president of the country serves as the president of the upper house. This pattern is not universal, however. Some upper houses, including those of Canada, have a speaker.

The presiding officer of the National Assembly for Wales, presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament, and presiding officer of the Northern Ireland Assembly fulfill the same role as the speaker.

Generic

 * Speaker of the senate (disambiguation)
 * Speaker of the House of Assembly (disambiguation)
 * Speaker of the House of Commons
 * Speaker of the House of Representatives (disambiguation)
 * Speaker of the Legislative Assembly
 * Speaker of the National Assembly (disambiguation)
 * List of current presidents of assembly

Specific

 * Speaker of the Senate of Canada
 * President of the Federal Senate (Brazil)
 * President of the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil)
 * List of speakers of the House of Commons of England
 * Speaker of the Indonesian People's Representative Council
 * Cathaoirleach (Speaker of the Irish Senate)
 * Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
 * Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council
 * Marshal of the Senate of the Republic of Poland
 * Lawspeaker
 * Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey
 * Lord Speaker (Speaker of the United Kingdom House of Lords)
 * Speaker of the United States House of Representatives

title: Speaker (politics)