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National Film and Television School

The National Film and Television School (NFTS) is a film, television and games school established in 1971 and based at Beaconsfield Studios in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England. It is featured in the 2021 ranking by The Hollywood Reporter of the top 15 international film schools.

Its community of students makes around a hundred and fifty films a year on courses that are over 90% practical and unlike courses offered at other UK film schools. As of 2021 it had over 500 students and about a fifteen hundred a year on its short courses delivered in Beaconsfield and at its hubs in Glasgow, Leeds and Cardiff. Beaconsfield Studios consists of film and television stages; animation and production design studios; edit suites; sound post-production facilities; a music recording studio and four dubbing theatres. The school completed an expansion and modernisation programme in early 2017 with new teaching facilities, a third cinema and a new 4K Television Studio.

The BBC stated that the NFTS was the "leading centre of excellence for education in film and television programme making", and noted that it was "relevant to the industry's present and future needs." British Film Magazine once described the NFTS as being one of the few schools to come "very, very close" to guaranteeing a job in the film industry, and named its leader (Powell) a "maverick"; Filmmaking.net named it one of two films schools outside the US which had such a high international reputation.

NFTS student films have been nominated for an Oscar three times in the last six years. Additionally, in 2017 NFTS graduation film, A Love Story, directed and co-written by Anushka Naanayakkara, won the British Short Animation BAFTA at the EE British Academy Film Awards, making it the fourth year in a row that NFTS students have picked up this accolade. This is the second consecutive year that two of NFTS students' graduation films competed for the same prize, with A Love Story up against The Alan Dimension directed and co-written by Jac Clinch. NFTS student films are regularly selected for the top film festivals around the world. In 2016–17 highlights included selections at Cannes and Annecy Animation Festival and top prizes in nearly all the Royal Television Society categories for which they are eligible.

In 2018, the school was the recipient of the BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award at the 71st British Academy Film Awards.

History

The National Film School opened in 1971, the work of four years of planning to create an institution to train personnel for the British film industry. The Department of Education and Science had in 1967 recommended the creation of a national film school for the UK, and in 1969 an inquiry led by Lord Lloyd of Hampstead began to develop plans. Colin Young CBE became the founding director in 1971, a post he held for more than 2 decades, at a time when the school produced alumni including Bill Forsyth, Terence Davies, Julien Temple, Beeban Kidron, and Nick Park.

In 2016, the NFTS announced it had received funding to increase the capacity of its site in Beaconsfield including a '4K Digital Content Production Training Studio' (a refit of the 1960s TV studio) and the addition of a number of new MA and diploma courses including Directing & Producing Natural History & Science; Production Technology; Marketing for Film, TV & Games; Graphics & Titles for Television & Film and Creative Business for Entrepreneurs & Executives. In April 2017, it was announced that Nik Powell was to step down as Director of the school, with Jon Wardle succeeding him in the role.

The NFTS holds yearly graduation shows at the Picturehouse Central in Soho, and they were previously held at the BFI Southbank (formerly known as the National Film Theatre). These are highly selective and invite-only events which showcase the students' projects to scouts and industry professionals, ensuring that the students receive maximum exposure.

Awards and nominations

Alumni of the National Film and Television School have gone on to win Oscars, BAFTAs and Emmys as well as film festival prizes from around the world. In the last 6 years student films The Confession (2011), Head Over Heels (2013), The Bigger Picture (2015) have gone on to be nominated for three Oscars, and the graduation film A Love Story won the 2017 BAFTA for Best Short Animation, the fourth year in a row an NFTS animation has won the category.

In 2013 the NFTS graduation film "Miss Todd" won the Student Academy Award for Best Foreign Film presented by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This marked the sixth time the NFTS had won in this category, more than any other Film School outside of the United States. In 2016, The National Film and Television School once again affirmed its place as the number one international film school by winning accolades in all three categories in the CILECT Prize, the global film school awards. The NFTS won "Best Documentary" for The Archipelago, "Best Animation" for Edmond and was awarded second prize in the "Fiction" category for Patriot.

Facilities
The school's facilities were expanded in 2008 with the addition of new teaching spaces, public spaces and a new cinema, designed by Glenn Howells Architects. Upon its completion in 2008, the strikingly modern three-story building (see photo above) won a coveted RIBA prize. In June 2009 it was formally named The Oswald Morris Building in honour of veteran cinematographer Ossie Morris.

Two new buildings and one refurbished building opened in January 2017. This included the refurbishment of the 4K Digital Content Production Training Studio, located in the original 1960s TV studio which was completely refurbished with state-of-the-art equipment. In July 2017 this building was named the "Sky Studios at the NFTS" building, with the Production Galleries named "The Sony Gallery". This studio is primarily used by the Camera, Sound & Vision Mixing for Television Production diploma course and the Directing and Producing Television Entertainment MA course.

Inside the "Channel 4 Rose Building", there are new facilities for the Games Design and Development and Digital Effects MA courses, as well as an extra cinema, café and incubation space to enable graduates to start new businesses and accommodate new ground-breaking courses, enhancing the NFTS' already diverse programme.

A new teaching block on the north of the site houses a new studio, edit suites, dedicated suites for the Sound Design MA and Graphics and Titles for Film and Television diploma courses, as well as multi-purpose teaching spaces.

There are four dedicated stages on site:
 * Stage 1 (Main Stage) – 7000 sqft (approx.) – traditional wooden floor film stage with permanent scenic cloth
 * Studio 2 (TV Studio) – 3600 sqft (approx.) – concrete resin floor television studio
 * Stage 3 (Rehearsal Stage) – 1050 sqft (approx.) – traditional wooden floor film stage
 * Stage 4 (Teaching Block Stage) – 900 sqft (approx.) – resin floor multi-purpose stage

There are also a number of dedicated spaces for animation and music recording.

Funding
Until its repeal in 1986, the school was funded partly through a tax on cinema ticket sales known as the Eady Levy, named after then UK Treasury official Sir Wilfred Eady. The NFTS has since been funded by the UK Government, via (today) the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and the television and film industries.

Key Partner Sponsors include the Film Distributors' Association and the UK Cinema Association in addition to the main UK terrestrial and satellite broadcasting companies BBC, Channel 4, Sky, and ITV. In addition, a large number of public and private donors fund scholarships to assist British students.

Postgraduate students from the UK can now apply for a loan to help with their studies at any UK university including the NFTS via the Student Loans Company.

Full-time MA courses
validated by the Royal College of Art:
 * Cinematography
 * Composing for Film and television
 * Creative Business for Entrepreneurs and Executives
 * Digital Effects
 * Directing Animation
 * Directing Documentary
 * Directing Fiction
 * Directing and Producing Science and Natural History
 * Directing and Producing Television Entertainment
 * Editing
 * Film Studies, Programming and Curation
 * Games Design and Development
 * Marketing, Distribution, Sales and Exhibition
 * Producing
 * Production Design
 * Production Technology
 * Screenwriting
 * Sound Design for Film and television

Diploma courses

 * Assistant Directing and Floor Managing
 * Assistant Camera (Focus Pulling and Loading)
 * Camera, Sound & Vision Mixing for Television Production
 * Creative Digital Producing
 * Directing Commercials and Promos
 * Factual Development and Production
 * Graphics and Titles for Film and television
 * Model Making for Animation
 * Production Accounting
 * Production Management for Film and television
 * Location Sound Recording for Film and Television
 * Script Development
 * Sports Production
 * Writing and Producing Comedy

Certificate courses

 * Filmmaking
 * Character Animation
 * Virtual Production
 * Casting
 * Producing Your First Feature
 * Script Supervision and Continuity
 * Screenwriting: Finding Your Voice
 * Location Management for Film & TV

Short courses
Shortcourses@NFTS regularly run short courses for professionals working in the film and television industries – covering the following areas:
 * Factual
 * Drama
 * Business Skills
 * Camera & Sound
 * Editing
 * Craft & Technical
 * Multiplatform

Members
The school has around 110 full-time staff as well as many top tutors from within the industry.

Board

 * President: Lord Puttnam CBE
 * Chairman: Patrick McKenna
 * Director: Jon Wardle
 * Governors:
 * Professor Geoffrey Crossick, University of London
 * Patrick Fueller
 * Sara Geater, All3Media
 * Caroline Hollick, Channel 4
 * Oli Hyatt, Blue-Zoo Productions
 * Ian Lewis, Sky Cinema
 * Andrew McDonald, DNA Films
 * Steve Mertz, Warner Bros.
 * Pukar Mehta, ITV Studios
 * Adil Ray OBE
 * Laurent Samara, Google, UK
 * Bal Samra
 * Rose Garnatt, BBC
 * Sue Vertue, Hartswood Films
 * Joe Bradbury-Walters, NFTS Staff governor

Partners

 * Platinum Partner Sponsor
 * Channel 4
 * Key Partner Sponsors
 * British Broadcasting Corporation
 * Film Distributors' Association
 * ITV
 * Sky
 * Key Partner Funders
 * Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
 * HEFCE

Key tutors

 * Alex Garland – Associate Director
 * Brian Gilbert – Co-Head of Fiction
 * Lesley Manning – Co-Head of Fiction
 * Ian Sellar – Co-Head of Fiction
 * Peter Dale – Head of Documentary
 * Robert Bradbrook – Head of Animation
 * Brian Ward – Head of Screenwriting
 * Stuart Harris BSC – Co-Head of Cinematography
 * Oliver Stapleton BSC – Co-Head of Cinematography
 * Sandra Hebron – Head of Screen Arts
 * Bex Hopkins – Head of Production Management
 * John Keane – Head of Composing
 * John Lee – Head of Model Making
 * John Rowe – Head of Digital Effects
 * Andy Worboys – Head of Editing
 * Alan Thorn – Head of Games Design and Development
 * Chris Auty – Head of Producing
 * Caroline Amies – Head of Production Design
 * David G. Croft – Head of Television Entertainment
 * Simon Clark – Head of Location Sound Recording
 * Chris Pow – Head of Sound Design
 * John Rowe – Head of Digital Effects
 * Clare Crean – Head of Marketing, Distribution, Sales and Exhibition
 * Alan Thorn – Head of Games

Chairs

 * Stephen Frears – David Lean Chair in Fiction Direction
 * Simon Beaufoy – Visiting Chair in Screenwriting
 * Brian Tufano – Visiting Chair in Cinematography

Honorary Fellows
The National Film and Television School has named more than 30 honorary fellows. The programme was founded in 1981, and ceremonies take place at the NTFS graduation ceremony each year. Honorary Fellows are recognised for their "outstanding contribution to the British film and television industry."

Honorary Fellows
The following are the Fellows, as of March 2020, where alumni of the NTFS are indicated by an asterisk (*):

 * Lord Attenborough, CBE
 * Amma Asante
 * Mark Baker
 * Sir Peter Bazalgette
 * Tim Bevan
 * Malorie Blackman, OBE*
 * Barbara Broccoli
 * Sir Michael Caine, CBE
 * Terence Davies*
 * Sir Roger Deakins, CBE*
 * Molly Dineen*
 * Greg Dyke
 * Eric Fellner
 * Paul Greengrass
 * Asif Kapadia
 * Duncan H. Kenworthy, OBE
 * Baroness Kidron, OBE*
 * Michael Kuhn
 * Sir David Lean, CBE
 * Ken Loach
 * Kim Longinotto*
 * Ossie Morris, CBE
 * Steve Morrison*
 * Nick Park, CBE*
 * Sir Alan Parker, CBE
 * Ashley Pharoah*
 * Lord Puttnam of Queensgate, CBE
 * Michael Radford*
 * Lynne Ramsay*
 * Jonathan Ross
 * Tessa Ross, CBE
 * Jack Valenti
 * Sally Wainwright
 * David Yates*
 * Colin Young

Other past fellow have included Lord Birkett, who died in April 2015.

Animation

 * Nick Park (Chicken Run, Wallace and Gromit)
 * Mark Baker (Peppa Pig, Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom)
 * Alison Snowden and David Fine (Bob and Margaret, Bob's Birthday)
 * Tony Collingwood, Collingwood O'Hare Ltd, (Dennis the Menace, Yoko! Jakamoko! Toto!)
 * Joan Ashworth (The Web, How Mermaids Breed, Seedfold Films, 3 Peach Animation, Professor of Animation Royal College of Art 1994 to 2015)

Cinematography

 * Roger Deakins (Jarhead, A Beautiful Mind, Fargo)
 * David Tattersall (Die Another Day,  Star Wars – Episodes I, II and III)
 * Andrzej Sekuła (Pulp Fiction, American Psycho, Reservoir Dogs)
 * Alwin H. Küchler (Code 46, The Mother, Ratcatcher, Morvern Callar)
 * Eduard Grau (A Single Man, Buried, Suffragette, Boy Erased)

Directing (film)

 * Mark Herman (Little Voice, Brassed Off)
 * Michael Caton-Jones (Memphis Belle, This Boy's Life)
 * Terence Davies (Distant Voices, Still Lives, The Neon Bible)
 * Michael Radford (Il Postino, The Merchant of Venice)
 * Lynne Ramsay (Ratcatcher, Morvern Callar)
 * Julien Temple
 * Joanna Hogg
 * David Yates (Harry Potter)
 * Beeban Kidron (Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, Hippie Hippie Shake)
 * Anthony Waller (An American Werewolf in Paris, Mute Witness)
 * Michael Lennox (A Patch of Fog, Boogaloo and Graham, Hives)
 * Georgis Grigorakis (Digger)

Directing (television)

 * Charles McDougall (Desperate Housewives, Queer As Folk, Hillsborough)
 * David Yates (State of Play, Sex Traffic, The Girl in the Café)
 * Toby Haynes (Doctor Who, Sherlock, Wallander)

Composing for film and television

 * Adiescar Chase (Heartstopper)
 * Natalie Ann Holt (Great Expectations, The Honourable Woman, Paddington)
 * Trevor Jones (Richard III, Brassed Off)
 * Julian Nott (Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, The Wrong Trousers, A Grand Day Out)
 * Dario Marianelli (The Brothers Grimm, V for Vendetta, Pride and Prejudice, Atonement, Anna Karenina)

Documentary

 * Nick Broomfield (Kurt and Courtney, Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer)
 * John Burgan (Memory of Berlin)
 * Molly Dineen (Home from the Hill, Heart of the Angel, Geri, The Ark)
 * Kim Longinotto (Divorce Iranian Style, The Day I Will Never Forget, Sisters in Law, Hold Me Tight Let Me Go) (Rough Aunties)
 * Sean McAllister (The Minders, Settlers, The Liberace of Baghdad)
 * Sandhya Suri (I is for India)

Film editing

 * Valerio Bonelli (Hannibal Rising, Cemetery Junction)
 * Nicolas Chaudeurge (Red Road, Fish Tank, Wuthering Heights)
 * Hoping Chen (Ilo Ilo)
 * Bill Diver (Twenty Four Seven, Distant Voices, Still Lives)
 * Nick Fenton (Nathan Barley, The Arbor, Submarine)
 * David Freeman (The Full Monty, Clash of the Titans, Ill Manors)
 * Daniel Greenway (Southcliffe, Call the Midwife)
 * Peter Lambert (The Twilight Saga: New Moon)
 * Helle le Fevre (Archipelago, Exhibition)
 * Ewa J Lind (Far North, The Warrior)
 * Alex Mackie (Downton Abbey, Judge Dredd, Wallander)
 * Jamie McCoan (Doctor Who, Lewis, Kavanagh QC, Agatha Christie's Poirot, Goodnight Mister Tom)
 * Úna Ní Dhonghaíle (Ripper Street, Vera, Doctor Who, Wallander, Quirke, Upstairs, Downstairs)
 * Lucia Zucchetti (The Queen, Ratcatcher, The Merchant of Venice)

Producing

 * Michele Camarda (Wonderland, This Year's Love, Photographing Fairies)
 * Sebastian Cody (After Dark, The Secret Cabaret and other Open Media productions)
 * Ben Lock (Purple and Brown, Tiny Planets)
 * Rebekah Gilbertson (The Edge of Love, Patagonia)
 * Steve Morrison (My Left Foot, The Field, Jack and Sarah, co-founder All3Media

Screenwriting

 * András Gerevich (Synchronoff)
 * Ashley Pharoah (Life on Mars)
 * Krysty Wilson-Cairns (1917, Last Night in Soho)

title: National Film and Television School


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Communist Vietnam

Communist Vietnam may refer to:
 * Democratic Republic of Vietnam, also known as "North Vietnam"
 * Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, South Vietnamese government after the Fall of Saigon
 * Socialist Republic of Vietnam, also known commonly as "Vietnam"
 * Communist Party of Vietnam
 * Viet Cong

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

title: Communist Vietnam


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List of Thai monarchs

The succession of Thai monarchs began with Si Inthrathit at the establishment of the first Thai kingdom in 1238. With brief interruptions, 55 monarchs have ruled over four successive kingdoms, the current monarch being Vajiralongkorn (Rama X) of the Chakri dynasty.

Titles and naming conventions
In the Sukhothai Kingdom, the monarch used the title Pho Khun (พ่อขุน), and monarchs who reigned over the period of decline after Ram Khamhaeng the Great used the title Phraya (พญา).

In the Ayutthaya Kingdom and afterward, thanandon, the system of Thai royal titles, determines the style of the monarch's full regnal name (which includes the title), consisting of two interconnected parts:
 * The first part is the title Phra Bat Somdet Phra Chao Yu Hua (พระบาทสมเด็จพระเจ้าอยู่หัว, 'His Majesty the King'). The title is split by the regnal name, written between Phra and Chao. If the monarch was not formally crowned, Phra Bat is omitted. If the monarch ruled as a tributary or was usurped, Somdet may be omitted.
 * Sometimes, Chao Yu Hua is fully omitted. Other times, only Yu Hua is omitted, in which case Chao follows the remaining components of the title and precedes the regnal name.
 * The second part is the regnal name, of which only a portion may be used to commonly refer to the monarch. It may differ from their birth name, their name as uparaja (viceroy), or their posthumous name and/or historical style. This list refers to monarchs by the names most often used by traditional historians.

Western nations referred to the monarch as the "King of Siam" (Rex Siamensium), regardless of Thai titles, since the initiation of relations in the 16th century. Mongkut (Rama IV) was the first monarch to adopt the title when the name Siam was first used in an international treaty. When the kingdom's name was changed to Thailand, the monarch's Western title changed accordingly.

Sukhothai Kingdom (1238–1438)
Tai peoples migrated into mainland Southeast Asia in the 8th–10th centuries. In the years after, Northern Thai groups established mueang that evolved into larger states, such as Ngoenyang. However, it was not until the decline of the Khmer Empire in the 13th century that a Central Thai kingdom politically and culturally related to modern Thailand was first founded.

Phra Ruang dynasty (1238–1438)
The Phra Ruang dynasty was the only royal lineage that ruled over the Sukhothai Kingdom, the first Central Thai state. Established by Si Inthrathit in 1238, who declared independence from the Khmer Empire, the dynasty laid the foundations for Thai society. Under Ram Khamhaeng the Great, the initial Thai script was invented and Therāvada Buddhism was established as the state religion.

The dynasty is named after the Traiphum Phra Ruang, a Buddhist cosmology book written by Maha Thammaracha I. During his reign, the kingdom was invaded by Ayutthaya, a neighboring Thai state, becoming a tributary during the reign of Maha Thammaracha II.

In the Sukhothai Kingdom, the monarch ruled from the city of Sukhothai, while the heir presumptive would occasionally be named uparaja, or viceroy, and ruled in Si Satchanalai. In 1438, Ayutthaya annexed Sukhothai at the death of Maha Thammaracha IV when Borommarachathirat II of Ayutthaya named his son Prince Ramesuan uparaja. In Ayutthaya, the tradition would evolve into the Front Palace system.

Ayutthaya Kingdom (1351–1767)
The Aytthaya Kingdom was a result of a unification between two states: The Kingdom of Suphannaphum (Suphanburi) and The Kingdom of Lavo. Though the Kingdom of Lavo was originally a Mon kingdom, the migration of the Tai peoples into the Chao Phraya basin replaced the original Mons, consequently becoming the governors of these regions. This resulted in the capital moving from Lavapura (Lopburi) and Suphannaphum (Suphanburi) to Ayodhya (Old Ayutthaya), a new capital. Later on, the Kingdom of Nakhon si Thammarat came under the influence of Ayutthaya after seceding from Sukhothai, and Sukhothai losing influence and coming under Ayutthaya.

This conflict would last long into the history of Ayutthaya Kingdom where families from the four major regional kingdoms vie over the throne of the kingdom. These kingdoms are: Kingdom of Nakhon Si Thammarat, Kingdom of Sukhothai, Kingdom of Lavo, and Kingdom of Suphannaphum. The Kingdom of Sukhothai was integrated into the Kingdom of Ayutthaya along with its noble famlies.

title: List of Thai monarchs


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United

United may refer to:

Places

 * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
 * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community

Films

 * United (2003 film), a Norwegian film
 * United (2011 film), a BBC Two film

Literature

 * United! (novel), a 1973 children's novel by Michael Hardcastle

Music

 * United (band), Japanese thrash metal band formed in 1981

Albums

 * United (Commodores album), 1986
 * United (Dream Evil album), 2006
 * United (Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell album), 1967
 * United (Marian Gold album), 1996
 * United (Phoenix album), 2000
 * United (Woody Shaw album), 1981

Songs

 * "United" (Judas Priest song), 1980
 * "United" (Prince Ital Joe and Marky Mark song), 1994
 * "United" (Robbie Williams song), 2000
 * "United", a song by Danish duo Nik & Jay featuring Lisa Rowe
 * "United (Who We Are)", a song by XO-IQ, featured in the television series Make It Pop

Television

 * United (docuseries), a 2022 Western United football documentary series
 * United (TV series), a 1990 BBC Two documentary series
 * United!, a soap opera that aired on BBC One from 1965-1967
 * "United" (Star Trek: Enterprise), a fourth season television episode

Businesses

 * United Airlines, a major American airline
 * United Airways, a Bangladeshi airline
 * United Automobile Services, a bus operator in England, now merged with the Arriva Group
 * United Bank (Atlanta metropolitan area), Georgia, United States
 * United Bank (Pakistan)
 * United Bank (West Virginia), United States
 * United Bus, a bus manufacturing group
 * United Petroleum, an Australian petrol retailer and importer
 * United Technologies Corporation, an American multi-national
 * United Telecommunications (disambiguation)
 * London United Busways, a bus operating company in London
 * London United Tramways, the former operator in London responsible for trams and trolleybuses from 1894 till 1933

Association football

 * Adelaide United FC, an Australian soccer club
 * Carlisle United, an English football club
 * Chesterfield United, an English football club
 * Colchester United, an English football club
 * D.C. United, an American soccer club
 * Dongguan United, a Chinese football club
 * F.C. United of Manchester, an English football club
 * Hartlepool United, an English football club
 * Hereford United, an English football club
 * Hyde United, an English football club
 * Leeds United, an English football club
 * Manchester United, an English football club
 * Newcastle United, an English football club
 * Oxford United, an English football club
 * Peterborough United, an English football club
 * Rotherham United, an English football club
 * Scunthorpe United, an English football club
 * Sheffield United, an English football club
 * Southend United, an English football club
 * Torquay United, an English football club
 * Western United FC, an Australian football club
 * West Ham United, an English football club

Other sports

 * United Rugby Club, a Canadian rugby union club founded in 2005
 * United Athletic Conference an American college football conference that started play in 2023.

Other uses

 * United (Canarian electoral alliance), a Canary Island-based electoral alliance
 * Ujedinjeni (United), parliamentary group in Serbia

title: United


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User talk:Pollen

Pollen-- Welcome to Wikipedia, and thanks for doing the Fox Squirrel page, a gap that has wanted filling for some time. You've made a very good job of it. I have been gradually trying to tidy up the sciurid pages, but there is a lot of work needed on them and if you have expertise I hope you'll pitch in. seglea 17:43, 19 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Speedy deletion of Friends World Program
A tag has been placed on Friends World Program, requesting that it be speedily deleted from Wikipedia. This has been done under section G11 of the criteria for speedy deletion, because the article seems to be blatant advertising which only promotes a company, product, group, service or person and would need to be fundamentally rewritten in order to become an encyclopedia article. Please read our the guidelines on spam as well as the Business' FAQ for more information.

If you think that this notice was placed here in error, you may contest the deletion by adding  to the top of the article (just below the existing speedy deletion or "db" tag), coupled with adding a note on the article's talk page explaining your position, but be aware that once tagged for speedy deletion, if the article meets the criterion it may be deleted without delay. Please do not remove the speedy deletion tag yourself, but don't hesitate to add information to the article that would would render it more in conformance with Wikipedia's policies and guidelines. -- Swerdnaneb 00:30, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

 * As the reviewing admin, I of course declined the speedy. I changed the page to a redirect to the present name of the program ., Global College. DGG (talk) 00:45, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

title: User talk:Pollen


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Talk:Basic law

Comments
On "Basic Law" of Hong Kong and Macau, the description

 * ... denote that the Law derives its power from ordinary legislation rather than directly from popular sovereignty

is removed, as the power of the Basic Law is directly from their adoption by NPC, organ of highest power in PRC. It cannot be called constitution as PRC already has and can only has one.

--Hlaw 17:57, 19 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Fundamental Laws of England
I'm dithering over whether to add Fundamental Laws of England to the See also section. I'm not absolutely sure whether or not it fits there with this page as currently written. -- Boracay Bill 01:17, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

Temporary but necessary?
How does calling something a basic law imply that it is temporary but necessary? That quote is unreferenced, and seems to be very german-centric. Hentheden (talk) 23:38, 1 October 2017 (UTC)

title: Talk:Basic law


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Maastricht Rebels

The Maastricht Rebels were British Members of Parliament (MPs) belonging to the then governing Conservative Party who refused to support the government of Prime Minister John Major in a series of votes in the House of Commons on the issue of the implementation of the Maastricht Treaty (Treaty on European Union) in British law.

The Maastricht Rebellion was a major event of John Major's troubled second term as Prime Minister (1992–1997). Major's party had a small majority, thus giving the relatively small number of rebels disproportionate influence: for example, there were 22 rebels on the second reading of the European Communities (Amendment) Bill in May 1992, and the government's majority at the time was only 18.

The rebellion had the support of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and former Party Chairman Norman Tebbit.

Significant events in the rebellion
At the height of the rebellion, the 1993 Christchurch by-election was held, where a Conservative majority of 23,000 was turned into a Liberal Democrat majority of 16,000. Conservative showings in opinion polls were as low as 23%. John Major threatened the rebels with a general election (despite one only being held a year earlier).

The Labour Party brought in MPs who had just had surgery and others who had suffered heart attacks - the stretcher vote - to vote in the House of Commons, in an effort to bring the government down. The loyalists and rebels in the Conservative Party also brought in their own stretcher vote; for example, Bill Cash organised for one MP (Bill Walker), who was seriously ill, to fly from Scotland secretly, then hid him at the rebels' headquarters in Great College Street, before, with Labour connivance, hiding him in the family room of the Commons so that the Conservative whips would not know; the government consequently lost a vote.

At Third Reading, on 20 May 1993, the Labour whip was to abstain. Despite this, 66 Labour MPs chose to vote against the Bill, while five (Andrew Faulds, John Home Robertson, Calum MacDonald, Giles Radice and Brian Sedgemore) supported the Government. The Bill passed Third Reading 292–112.

On 22 July 1993, on a Labour amendment to postpone incorporation of the Treaty until the Government adopted the 27th Amendment thereto (the Protocol on Social Policy or "Social Chapter"), the government tied 317–317 against the combined forces of some of the rebels, the Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats and others. It was thus only by Speaker Betty Boothroyd's casting vote that the Government won (the Speaker casting her vote in accordance with Speaker Denison's rule not to create a majority where none exists). The remaining rebels (who had abstained on the amendment) then joined their colleagues to defeat the main take-note motion 324–316.

On the following day, it emerged, on inspection of the Division List, that the Government Whip and teller of the Opposition votes Irvine Patnick had failed to notice an overcount of one vote for the Labour amendment. Had he done so, it would have meant a clear win without a reliance being placed on the Speaker. On the next day (Friday) the government tabled a reworded motion to its predecessor, seeking the confidence of the House in their policy on the Social Chapter instead of merely "taking note" thereof. As a result, the Government easily won the substantive question by 339–299. Had the government lost this motion of confidence, a dissolution would have been requested and probably granted.

Bill Cash set-up the European Foundation to fund legal challenges to the government. Opposition to Maastricht led to the foundation of the Anti-Federalist League which ultimately led to the creation of the UK Independence Party (UKIP). Certain rebels later went on to join that political party, such as Christopher Gill and Richard Body, with Roger Knapman serving as their leader from 2002 to 2006.

The Maastricht rebels continued to harass the government on European issues, coming close to bringing the Government down three times. They repeatedly called Major's bluff on an early dissolution of Parliament. On 23 November 1994, Nicholas Budgen asked him whether he had spoken to the Queen about dissolving Parliament. On 25 November 1994, Christopher Gill stated he would sooner resign as a Conservative than vote for the Bill. All those Conservatives who rebelled over the EC Finance Bill on 28 November 1994 had the Conservative whip withdrawn.

Deselection was threatened, so those Conservative MPs would not be able to stand at the next election, although at that time it was mostly a decision for the party members in their Constituency Association. Budgen summed the attitude of the rebels up with this quote: "It would be my general feeling that the transference of power to Europe was so important a matter as to require a vote against any organisation and any party that wished to transfer that power." In 1995, Major called an early leadership election to attempt to reimpose his authority on the party, and won. However, the infighting continued, and the Conservatives were heavily defeated in the general election of May 1997.

Rebels who had whip withdrawn
Those who had the whip withdrawn following the EC Finance Bill:
 * Michael Carttiss (Great Yarmouth)
 * Nicholas Budgen (Wolverhampton South West)
 * Tony Marlow (Northampton North)
 * John Wilkinson (Ruislip Northwood)
 * Richard Shepherd (Aldridge-Brownhills)
 * Teresa Gorman (Billericay)
 * Christopher Gill (Ludlow)
 * Sir Teddy Taylor (Southend East)
 * Sir Richard Body (Holland with Boston) (resigned whip voluntarily following the withdrawal of the whip from the above eight)

Other MPs who had whip withdrawn for failure to support the government on a confidence issue related to Maastricht:
 * Rupert Allason (Torbay)

Rebels who also voted against the Government

 * Bill Cash (Stafford)
 * Nicholas Winterton (Macclesfield)
 * Ann Winterton (Congleton)
 * James Cran (Beverley)
 * Michael Lord (Central Suffolk)
 * John Biffen (North Shropshire)
 * Bill Walker (North Tayside)
 * Michael Spicer (South Worcestershire)
 * George Gardiner (Reigate)
 * Roger Knapman (Stroud)
 * Peter Tapsell (East Lindsey)
 * Walter Sweeney (Vale of Glamorgan)
 * Sir Trevor Skeet (Bedfordshire North)
 * Sir Ivan Lawrence (Burton)
 * Toby Jessel (Twickenham)
 * Andrew Hunter (Basingstoke)
 * Warren Hawksley (Halesowen and Stourbridge)
 * John Carlisle (Luton North)

Rebels who abstained

 * Iain Duncan Smith (Chingford)
 * Nicholas Fairbairn (Perth & Kinross)
 * Rhodes Boyson (Brent North)
 * Bernard Jenkin (Colchester North)
 * Kenneth Baker (Mole Valley)
 * Vivian Bendall (Ilford North)
 * Sir Nicholas Bonsor (Upminster)
 * John Butcher (Coventry South West)
 * Sir Peter Fry (Wellingborough)
 * Sir Michael Grylls (North West Surrey)
 * Sir Roger Moate (Faversham)
 * Barry Legg (Milton Keynes South West)
 * David Porter (Waveney)
 * John Townend (Bridlington)
 * George Walden (Buckingham)
 * John Whittingdale (Colchester South and Maldon)

Other rebels

 * Liam Fox (Woodspring) only signed 1st Early Day Motion against Maastricht
 * Alan Duncan (Rutland and Melton) only signed 1st Early Day Motion against Maastricht
 * David Willetts (Havant) only signed 1st Early Day Motion against Maastricht

Changes to party rules since 1997
After the Conservatives' catastrophic defeat at the 1997 election, blamed in part on the embarrassment caused by the open rebelliousness and infighting of elements in the party, changes were made to the party's procedures to reduce the freedom of backbench MPs to rebel. Local constituency associations are now permitted to select as candidates only members of the approved party list or MPs with the whip.

The party leadership could therefore require a rebellious MP (or an MP involved in a scandal) to be deselected as a candidate by removing his or her name from the Candidates' List or by removing the whip as was done to Howard Flight at the 2005 general election. Local members who refuse to obey the instructions of Conservative Central Office can have their Association suspended (put on "Special Measures"), as was done to the Slough Association at that election when they refused to deselect their candidate.

title: Maastricht Rebels


text:
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols, and guidelines that are used in highway design and construction throughout the United States. Despite its name, the association represents not only highways but air, rail, water, and public transportation as well.

Although AASHTO sets transportation standards and policy for the United States as a whole, AASHTO is not an agency of the federal government; rather it is an organization of the states themselves. Policies of AASHTO are not federal laws or policies, but rather are ways to coordinate state laws and policies in the field of transportation.

Purpose
The American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) was founded on December 12, 1914. Its name was changed to American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials on November 13, 1973. The name change reflects a broadened scope to cover all modes of transportation, although most of its activities are still specific to highways.

While AASHTO is not a government body, it does possess quasi-governmental powers in the sense that the organizations that supply its members customarily obey most AASHTO decisions.

Membership
The voting membership of AASHTO consists of the Department of Transportation of each state in the United States, as well as those of Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.

The United States Department of Transportation, some U.S. cities, counties, and toll-road operators, most Canadian provinces as well as the Hong Kong Highways Department, the Turkish Ministry of Public Works and Settlement, and the Nigerian Association of Public Highway and Transportation Officials have non-voting associate memberships.

Publications
Some noteworthy AASHTO publications are:
 * A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets, often called "The Green Book" because of the color of its cover. This book covers the functional design of roads and highways including such things as the layout of intersections, horizontal curves, and vertical curves.
 * Standard Specifications for Transportation Materials and Methods of Sampling and Testing.
 * AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications. This manual is the base bridge design manual that all DOTs use across the US.
 * Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH), crash testing criteria for safety hardware devices for use on highways; it updates and replaces NCHRP Report 350.

In addition to its publications, AASHTO performs or cooperates in research projects. One such project is the AASHTO Road Test, which is a primary source of data used when considering transport policies and the structural design of roads. Much of AASHTO's current research is performed by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) which is administered by the Transportation Research Board (TRB), a division of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

AASHTO re:source, formerly the AASHTO Materials Reference Laboratory (AMRL), accredits laboratories. Accreditation is often required to submit test results to state DOTs. For example, a contract for the construction of a highway bridge may require a minimum compressive strength for the concrete used. The contract will specify AASHTO Test Designation T 22, "Compressive Strength of Cylindrical Concrete Specimens," as the means of determining compressive strength. The laboratory performing T 22 will be required to be accredited in that test.

AASHTO coordinates the numbering of Interstate Highways, U.S. Highways, and U.S. Bicycle Routes.

Standards
Current and withdrawn AASHTO standards include:

 * AASHTO TP10: Standard Test Method for Determining the tensile strength and temperature at fracture of field or laboratory compacted bituminous mixtures by measuring the tensile load in a specimen which is cooled at a constant rate while being restrained from contraction.
 * AASHTO T307: Standard Method of Test for Determining the Resilient Modulus of Soils and Aggregate Materials.
 * AASHTO T321/TP4: Test Standard for Determining the Fatigue Life of Compacted Hot-Mix Asphalt (HMA) Subjected to Repeated Flexural Bending.
 * AASHTO TP31: Standard Test Method for Determining the Resilient Modulus of Bituminous Mixtures by Indirect Tension
 * AASHTO TP62: Standard Method of Test for Determining Dynamic Modulus of Hot-Mix Asphalt Concrete Mixtures
 * AASHTO T321-03/TP8: Test Standard for Determining the Fatigue Life of Compacted Hot-Mix Asphalt (HMA) Subjected to Repeated Flexural Bending


text:
Is the glass half empty or half full?

"Is the glass half empty or half full?", and other similar expressions such as the adjectives glass-half-full or glass-half-empty, are idioms which contrast a pessimistic and optimistic outlook on a specific situation or on the world at large. "Half full" means optimistic and "half empty" means pessimistic. The origins of this idea are unclear, but it dates at least to the early 20th century. Josiah Stamp is often given credit for introducing it in a 1935 speech, but although he did help to popularize it, a variant regarding a car's gas tank occurs in print with the optimism/pessimism connotations as early as 1929, and the glass-with-water version is mentioned simply as an intellectual paradox about the quantity of water (without reference to optimism/pessimism) as early as 1908.

title: Is the glass half empty or half full?


text:
Heian

The Japanese word Heian (平安, lit. "peace") may refer to:

 * Heian period, an era of Japanese history
 * Heian-kyō, the Heian-period capital of Japan that has become the present-day city of Kyoto
 * Heian series, a group of karate kata (forms)
 * Heian Shrine, a large shrine in the city of Kyoto
 * "Heian", a song from the 2016 Momus album Scobberlotchers

title: Heian


text:
Kirshenbaum

Kirshenbaum, sometimes called ASCII-IPA or erkIPA, is a system used to represent the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) in ASCII. This way it allows typewriting IPA-symbols by regular keyboard. It was developed for Usenet, notably the newsgroups sci.lang and alt.usage.english. It is named after Evan Kirshenbaum, who led the collaboration that created it. The eSpeak open source software speech synthesizer uses the Kirshenbaum scheme.

Comparison of Kirshenbaum with X-SAMPA
The system uses almost all lower-case letters to represent the directly corresponding IPA character, but unlike X-SAMPA, has the notable exception of the letter 'r'. A non-comprehensive list of sounds where the two systems use different characters:

Kirshenbaum charts of consonants and vowels
''This chart is based on information provided in the Kirshenbaum specification. It may also be helpful to compare it to the SAMPA chart or X-SAMPA chart.''

Consonant chart
The IPA consonant chart, for comparison, uses many symbols that are less widely supported:

Vowel chart
The IPA vowel chart, by comparison, uses many symbols that are less widely supported:

Vowel modifiers and diacritics
Modifiers and diacritics follow the symbol they modify.

Stress is indicated by   for primary stress, and   for secondary stress, placed before the stressed syllable.

Background
The Kirshenbaum system started developing in August 1992 through a usenet group, after "being fed up with describing the sound of words by using other words". It should be usable for both phonemic and narrow phonetic transcription.
 * It should be possible to represent all symbols and diacritics in the IPA.
 * The previous guideline notwithstanding, it is expected that (as in the past) most use will be in transcribing English, so where tradeoffs are necessary, decisions should be made in favor of ease of representation of phonemes which are common in English.
 * The representation should be readable.
 * It should be possible to mechanically translate from the representation to a character set which includes IPA. The reverse would also be nice.

The developers decided to use the existing IPA alphabet, mapping each segment to a single keyboard character, and adding extra ASCII characters optionally for IPA diacritics.

An early (1993), different set in ASCII was derived from the pronunciation guide in Merriam-Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, which uses straight letters to describe the sound.

Kirshenbaum's document, Representing IPA phonetics in ASCII, is commonly used as an example of an "IPA ASCII" system.

The eSpeak software speech synthesizer uses the Kirshenbaum scheme to represent phonemes with ascii characters.

Encoding
IETF language tags have registered fonkirsh as a variant subtag identifying text as transcribed in this convention.

title: Kirshenbaum


text:
Knowle, West Midlands

Knowle is a large village situated 3 miles (5 km) east-southeast of the town of Solihull, West Midlands, England. Knowle lies within the Arden area of the historic county boundaries of Warwickshire, and since 1974 it has been part of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull within the West Midlands. It lies 2.5 miles from the Warwickshire border and had a recorded population of 10,678.

Knowle is in the parliamentary constituency of Meriden.

Present day
Knowle still retains a considerable village charm, despite being on the outer edge of the West Midlands conurbation. It is contiguous to the south with the similar-sized communities of Dorridge and Bentley Heath, both of which are mainly residential in nature. The affluent district of Copt Heath is a suburb of Knowle to the north, with Tilehouse Green to the south. The village is considered to be amongst the most prosperous areas in the entire English Midlands.

Shops and businesses
Knowle has many shops. Most of these are located on the High Street, though there are a number of side roads and a shopping precinct. Knowle Library is maintained by Solihull Council in a building called Chester House dating back to Tudor times. At the rear of the building a Knot garden has been restored. The small shopping area also has restaurants of all varieties, making Knowle a popular destination for dining out. In 2011 a Costa Coffee opened on the High Street. Tesco retains a medium-sized 'Metro' store in St. John's shopping precinct.

Recreation
Knowle is near to the Grand Union Canal which links Birmingham to London. Knowle Locks are a flight of five locks (originally six until around 1930) near the canal bridge on Kenilworth Road. Recreation areas include Knowle Park, which has a children's play area, tennis courts, football field and plenty of open space. There is also another children's playing field owned by the National Trust near Knowle Primary School, and in the smaller village of Bentley Heath, there is a newly refurbished park, near the highly rated school, of the same name. There is also Knowle F.C., Knowle Village Cricket Club who play in Division 2 of the Warwickshire Cricket League, after 3 promotions in three years, and the exclusive Copt Heath Golf Club. The Silhillians Sports Club is nearby, the home venue of Silhillians Rugby Union Football Club which is the home of Warwickshire Hockey as well as Old Silhillians Hockey Club.

There are also many clubs in the village for all ages. There are various Scout and Guide groups including a karate class and church groups. The Knowle Society exists to help maintain the village and its heritage. Knowle Local History Society also holds a wealth of historical information about the village and its people from very early times. Knowle also has drama groups and a Village Hall and Knowle and Dorridge Round Table meet locally.

Housing and schools
Knowle has two schools, a Church of England primary school with a nursery and a secondary school, Arden Academy, which also caters for Dorridge, Bentley Heath and Hockley Heath. In September 2006, a sixth form centre commenced with over 50 students. The project cost approximately £4 million and has attracted students from many of the surrounding schools. A new design and technology block called ‘The Smart Centre’ has also been recently completed with another similar building which has also recently been completed. They are considered to be well performing schools, even considering the advantaged catchment area. The main church is a Church of England Parish Church and there is a United Reformed Church on Station Road. The Parish Church offers many services using modern equipment, the old Guild house and much newer St. John's Hall.

The housing in Knowle is mainly detached or semi-detached with the occasional terraced street and some apartment blocks. More recently, developers have bought up housing for demolition and are building "windfall developments" of apartments on its outskirts. House prices are considerably higher than the national average due to the demand for housing in the highly affluent southeastern fringes of the West Midlands conurbation and high achieving schools.

Community Groups
The village has strong local community organisations, including the Knowle Society, a Neighbourhood Forum, Round Table, Lions, and several Scout groups.

Neighbourhood Forum
Knowle, Dorridge and Bentley Heath Neighbourhood Forum was formed in 2015 with the purpose of bringing together the people from the three adjoining villages to define how they would like to see the villages develop in the future. The Forum will collate the policies developed into a draft Neighbourhood Plan for the three villages during 2017, and subsequently arrange for a local referendum to create the Neighbourhood Plan as a statutory planning document for the area. The Forum is run entirely by volunteers, and by Spring 2017 had a membership of over 800.

Transport
The village lies on the A4141 road and is close to the M42 motorway. Knowle does not have its own railway station, but nearby Dorridge railway station, on the Chiltern Main Line, was previously known as Knowle and Dorridge and for a period just as' 'Knowle' '. Another station lies a few miles north at Hampton-in-Arden on the Coventry-Birmingham (West Coast) line and Birmingham International railway station is nearby for express services to London Euston. Knowle is also close to Birmingham Airport and is linked to Solihull by bus services A3 and A3W operated by Landflight. Junction 5 of the M42 motorway runs a little over a mile from the western edge of the village.

The Grand Union Canal Birmingham Main Line lies to the east of Knowle, between Birmingham to the north and Leamington Spa to the south and east.

Nearby places of interest
Surrounding villages include Bentley Heath, Dorridge, Hampton-in-Arden, Balsall Common, Hockley Heath and Henley-in-Arden. To the northwest is Solihull and Birmingham, to the east Coventry, and to the south Warwick, Leamington Spa and, further afield, Stratford-upon-Avon.

Notable residents

 * Jasper Carrott, comedian
 * Karren Brady, businesswoman
 * John Wyndham, science fiction writer
 * Steve Bruce, football manager
 * Peter Withe, footballer
 * Trevor Francis, footballer

title: Knowle, West Midlands


text:
Eastern gray squirrel

The eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), also known, particularly outside of North America, as simply the grey squirrel, is a tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus. It is native to eastern North America, where it is the most prodigious and ecologically essential natural forest regenerator. Widely introduced to certain places around the world, the eastern gray squirrel in Europe, in particular, is regarded as an invasive species.

In Europe, Sciurus carolinensis is included since 2016 in the list of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern (the Union list). This implies that this species cannot be imported, bred, transported, commercialized, or intentionally released into the environment in the whole of the European Union.

Distribution
Sciurus carolinensis is native to the eastern and midwestern United States, and to the southerly portions of the central provinces of Canada. In the mid-1800s the population in the midwestern United States was described as being "truly astonishing," but human predation and habitat destruction through deforestation resulted in drastic population reductions, to the point that the animal was almost absent from Illinois by 1900.

The native range of the eastern gray squirrel overlaps with that of the fox squirrel (Sciurus niger), with which it is sometimes confused, although the core of the fox squirrel's range is slightly more to the west. The eastern gray squirrel is found from New Brunswick, through southwestern Quebec and throughout southern Ontario plus in southern Manitoba, south to East Texas and Florida. Breeding eastern gray squirrels are found in Nova Scotia, but whether this population was introduced or came from natural range expansion is not known.

A prolific and adaptable species, the eastern gray squirrel has also been introduced to, and thrives in, several regions of the western United States and in 1966, this squirrel was introduced onto Vancouver Island in Western Canada in the area of Metchosin, and has spread widely from there. They are considered highly invasive and a threat to both the local ecosystem and the native squirrel, the American red squirrel.

Overseas, eastern gray squirrels in Europe are a concern because they have displaced some of the native squirrels there. They have been introduced into Ireland, Britain, Italy, South Africa, and Australia (where it was extirpated by 1973).

In Ireland, the native squirrel – also colored red – the Eurasian red squirrel S. vulgaris – has been displaced in several eastern counties, though it still remains common in the south and west of the country. The gray squirrel is also an invasive species in Britain; it has spread across the country and has largely displaced the red squirrel. That such a displacement might happen in Italy is of concern, as gray squirrels might spread to other parts of mainland Europe.

Etymology
The generic name, Sciurus, is derived from two Greek words, skia 'shadow' and oura 'tail'. This name alludes to the squirrel sitting in the shadow of its tail. The specific epithet, carolinensis, refers to the Carolinas, where the species was first recorded and where the animal is still extremely common. In the United Kingdom and Canada, it is simply referred to as the "grey squirrel". In the US, "eastern" is used to differentiate the species from the western gray squirrel (Sciurus griseus).

Characteristics
The eastern gray squirrel has predominantly gray fur, but it can have a brownish color. It has a usual white underside as compared to the typical brownish-orange underside of the fox squirrel. It has a large bushy tail. Particularly in urban situations where the risk of predation is reduced, both white – and black-colored individuals are quite often found. The melanistic form, which is almost entirely black, is predominant in certain populations and in certain geographic areas, such as in large parts of southeastern Canada. Melanistic squirrels appear to exhibit a higher cold tolerance than the common gray morph; when exposed to −10 °C, black squirrels showed an 18% reduction in heat loss, a 20% reduction in basal metabolic rate, and an 11% increase to non-shivering thermogenesis capacity when compared to the common gray morph. The black coloration is caused by an incomplete dominant mutation of MC1R, where E+/E+ is a wild type squirrel, E+/EB is brown-black, and EB/EB is black.

The head and body length is from 23 to 30 cm, the tail from 19 to 25 cm, and the adult weight varies between 400 and 600 g. They do not display sexual dimorphism, meaning there is no gender difference in size or coloration.

The tracks of an eastern gray squirrel are difficult to distinguish from the related fox squirrel and Abert's squirrel, though the latter's range is almost entirely different from the gray's. Like all squirrels, the eastern gray shows four toes on the front feet and five on the hind feet. The hind foot-pad is often not visible in the track. When bounding or moving at speed, the front foot tracks will be behind the hind foot tracks. The bounding stride can be two to three feet long.

The dental formula of the eastern gray squirrel is 1023/1013 (upper teeth/lower teeth).

× 2 = 22 total teeth.

Incisors exhibit indeterminate growth, meaning they grow consistently throughout life, and their cheek teeth exhibit brachydont (low-crowned teeth) and bunodont (having tubercles on crowns) structures.

Growth and ontogeny
Newborn squirrels are called kits, kittens, or pups. They weigh 13–18 grams at birth. They are born blind, entirely hairless, and pink with vibrissae present at birth. 7–10 days postpartum, the skin begins to darken, just before the juvenile pelage grows in. Lower incisors erupt 19–21 days postpartum, while upper incisors erupt after 4 weeks. Cheek teeth erupt during week 6. Eyes open after 21–42 days, and ears open 3–4 weeks postpartum. Weaning is initiated around 7 weeks postpartum, and is usually finished by week 10, followed by the loss of the juvenile pelage. Full adult body mass is achieved by 8–9 months after birth.

Diseases
Diseases such as typhus, plague, and tularemia are spread by eastern gray squirrels. If not properly treated, these diseases have the potential to kill squirrels. When bitten or exposed to bodily fluids, humans can contract these diseases. Also carried by eastern gray squirrels are parasites such as ringworm, fleas, lice, mites, and ticks which can kill their squirrel host. Their skin may become rough, blotchy, and prone to hair loss due to the mite parasite during the chilly winter months. The parasites are not transferred to people when these squirrels reside in attics or homes. A frequent illness spread by ticks is Lyme disease. Ticks can also spread Rocky Mountain spotted fever. It can result in damage to internal organs including the heart and kidney if not properly treated. An eastern gray squirrel is susceptible to diseases including fibromatosis and squirrelpox. A squirrel with fibromatosis, a virus-induced illness, may grow massive skin tumors all over the body. Blindness could result from a tumor that is located close to a squirrel's eye.

Behavior and ecology

Like many members of the family Sciuridae, the eastern gray squirrel is a scatter-hoarder; it hoards food in numerous small caches for later recovery. Some caches are quite temporary, especially those made near the site of a sudden abundance of food which can be retrieved within hours or days for reburial in a more secure site. Others are more permanent and are not retrieved until months later. Each squirrel is estimated to make several thousand caches each season. The squirrels have very accurate spatial memory for the locations of these caches, using distant and nearby landmarks to retrieve them. Smell is used partly to uncover food caches, and also to find food in other squirrels' caches. Scent can be unreliable when the ground is too dry or covered in snow.

Squirrels sometimes use deceptive behavior to prevent other animals from retrieving cached food. For example, they will pretend to bury the object if they feel that they are being watched. They do this by preparing the spot as usual, for instance, digging a hole or widening a crack, miming the placement of the food, while actually concealing it in their mouths, and then covering up the "cache" as if they had deposited the object. They also hide behind vegetation while burying food or hide it high up in trees (if their rival is not arboreal). Such a complex repertoire suggests that the behaviours are not innate, and imply theory of mind thinking.

The eastern gray squirrel is one of very few mammalian species that can descend a tree head-first. It does this by turning its feet so the claws of its hind paws are backward-pointing and can grip the tree bark.

Eastern gray squirrels build a type of nest, known as a drey, in the forks of trees, consisting mainly of dry leaves and twigs. The dreys are roughly spherical, about 30 to 60 cm in diameter and are usually insulated with moss, thistledown, dried grass, and feathers to reduce heat loss. Males and females may share the same nest for short times during the breeding season, and during cold winter spells. Squirrels may share a drey to stay warm. They may also nest in the attic or exterior walls of a house, where they may be regarded as pests, as well as fire hazards due to their habit of gnawing on electrical cables. In addition, squirrels may inhabit a permanent tree den hollowed out in the trunk or a large branch of a tree.

Eastern gray squirrels are crepuscular, or more active during the early and late hours of the day, and tend to avoid the heat in the middle of a summer day. They do not hibernate.

Eastern gray squirrels can breed twice a year, but younger and less experienced mothers normally have a single litter per year in the spring. Depending on forage availability, older and more experienced females may breed again in summer. In a year of abundant food, 36% of females bear two litters, but none will do so in a year of poor food. Their breeding seasons are December to February and May to June, though this is slightly delayed in more northern latitudes. The first litter is born in February or March, the second in June or July, though, again, bearing may be advanced or delayed by a few weeks depending on climate, temperature, and forage availability. In any given breeding season, an average of 61 – 66% of females bear young. If a female fails to conceive or loses her young to unusually cold weather or predation, she re-enters estrus and has a later litter. Five days before a female enters estrus, she may attract up to 34 males from up to 500 meters away. Eastern gray squirrels exhibit a form of polyandry, in which the competing males will form a hierarchy of dominance, and the female will mate with multiple males depending on the hierarchy established.

Normally, one to four young are born in each litter, but the largest possible litter size is eight. The gestation period is about 44 days. The young are weaned around 10 weeks, though some may wean up to six weeks later in the wild. They begin to leave the nest after 12 weeks, with autumn born young often wintering with their mother. Only one in four squirrel kits survives to one year of age, with mortality around 55% for the following year. Mortality rates then decrease to around 30% for following years until they increase sharply at eight years of age.

Rarely, eastern gray females can enter estrus as early as five and a half months old, but females are not normally fertile until at least one year of age. Their mean age of first estrus is 1.25 years. The presence of a fertile male will induce ovulation in a female going through estrus. Male eastern grays are sexually mature between one and two years of age. Reproductive longevity for females appears to be over 8 years, with 12.5 years documented in North Carolina. These squirrels can live to be 20 years old in captivity, but in the wild live much shorter lives due to predation and the challenges of their habitat. At birth, their life expectancy is 1–2 years, an adult typically can live to be six, with exceptional individuals making it to 12 years.

Communication
As in most other mammals, communication among eastern gray squirrel individuals involves both vocalizations and posturing. The species has a quite varied repertoire of vocalizations, including a squeak similar to that of a mouse, a low-pitched noise, a chatter, and a raspy "mehr mehr mehr". Other methods of communication include tail-flicking and other gestures, including facial expressions. Tail flicking and the "kuk" or "quaa" call are used to ward off and warn other squirrels about predators, as well as to announce when a predator is leaving the area. Squirrels also make an affectionate coo-purring sound that biologists call the "muk-muk" sound. This is used as a contact sound between a mother and her kits and in adulthood, by the male when he courts the female during mating season. The use of vocal and visual communication has been shown to vary by location, based on elements such as noise pollution and the amount of open space. For instance, populations living in large cities generally rely more on the visual signals, due to the generally louder environment with more areas without much visual restriction. However, in heavily wooded areas, vocal signals are used more often due to the relatively lower noise levels and a dense canopy restricting visual range.

Habitat
In the wild, eastern gray squirrels can be found inhabiting large areas of mature, dense woodland ecosystems, generally covering 100 acres (40 hectares) of land. These forests usually contain large mast-producing trees such as oaks and hickories, providing ample food sources. Oak-hickory hardwood forests are generally preferred over coniferous forests due to the greater abundance of mast forage. This is why they are found only in parts of eastern Canada which do not contain boreal forest (i.e. they are found in some parts of New Brunswick, in southwestern Quebec, throughout southern Ontario and in southern Manitoba).

Eastern gray squirrels generally prefer constructing their dens upon large tree branches and within the hollow trunks of trees. They also have been known to take shelter within abandoned bird nests. The dens are usually lined with moss plants, thistledown, dried grass, and feathers. These perhaps provide and assist in the insulation of the den, used to reduce heat loss. A cover to the den is usually built afterwards. Eastern gray squirrels also use dens for protection from prey and helps them look after their young. Young survive 40 percent less if they lived in a leaf nest compared to a den. Squirrels tend to claim 2-3 dens at the same time. Canopy and midstory trees are used by squirrels to hide from predators such as hawks and owls. The typical squirrel ranges over 1.5 to 8 acre and tend to be smaller where more of them are found.

Close to human settlements, eastern gray squirrels are found in parks and back yards of houses within urban environments and in the farmlands of rural environments.

Ecosystem
Eastern gray squirrels predate tree seeds and disperse them through seed-caching. They may also contribute to the distribution of truffle fungal spores when they eat truffles. They are an important prey source and parasitic host for other animals.

Predation
Eastern gray squirrels predators include hawks, weasels, raccoons, bobcats, foxes, domestic and feral cats, snakes, owls, and dogs. Their primary predators are hawks, owls, and snakes. Raccoons and weasels may consume a squirrel depending on where it lives in the United States. Rattlesnakes eat squirrels in California as they are searching for food in a heavy forest. The squirrel is susceptible to be eaten by a fox in the eastern region of the United States.

In its introduced range in South Africa, it has been preyed on by African harrier-hawks. When a predator is approaching the eastern gray squirrel, other squirrels will inform the squirrel of the predator by sending an acoustic signal to let the squirrel know. The speed of a squirrel makes it hard for it to be captured by the predators.

Fossil record of the eastern gray squirrel
S. carolinensis is known to have occurred at least 18 times throughout the North American Pleistocene fossil record, across eight different US states, with some fossils allegedly dating back as early as the late Irvingtonian period. Body size seems to have increased during the early to middle Holocene and then decreased to the present size seen today.

A single fossil specimen (held and cataloged by South Carolina State Museum's natural history collection as SC93.105.172–.174) is known from the Ardis local fauna site in Harleyville, South Carolina. This specimen consists of a partial humerus (.172) and two partial tibiae (.173, .174), which are anatomically indistinguishable from that of contemporary S. carolinensis. Surrounding fossil material from the site has been dated back to 18,940–18,530 years ago, during the Late Pleistocene (late Rancholabrean) epoch, and indicates that the site was likely a hardwood-conifer swamp during this time.

Diet

Eastern gray squirrels eat a range of foods, such as tree bark, tree buds, flowers, berries, many types of seeds and acorns, walnuts, and other nuts, like hazelnuts (see picture) and some types of fungi found in the forests, including fly agaric mushrooms and truffles. They can cause damage to trees by tearing the bark and eating the soft cambial tissue underneath. In Europe, sycamore and beech suffer the greatest damage. Mast-bearing gymnosperms such as cedar, hemlock, pine, and spruce are another food source, as well as angiosperms such as hickory, oak, and walnut. These trees produce important foods for them during the spring and fall months. The squirrels will vary the species they forage from depending on the season. The squirrels also raid gardens for wheat, tomatoes, corn, strawberries, and other garden crops. Sometimes they eat the tomato seeds and discard the rest. On occasion, eastern gray squirrels also prey upon insects, frogs, small rodents including other squirrels, and small birds, their eggs, and young. They also gnaw on bones, antlers, and turtle shells – likely as a source of minerals scarce in their normal diet. In urban and suburban areas, these squirrels scavenge for food in trash bins. However, these foods are not safe for them to digest because they include sugar, fat, as well as additives that can make them sick. Eastern gray squirrels are sometimes mistakenly thought to be herbivores, but they are omnivores.

Eastern gray squirrels have a high enough tolerance for humans to inhabit residential neighborhoods and raid bird feeders for millet, corn, and sunflower seeds. Some people who feed and watch birds for entertainment also intentionally feed seeds and nuts to the squirrels for the same reason. However, in the UK eastern gray squirrels can take a significant proportion of supplementary food from feeders, preventing access and reducing use by wild birds. Attraction to supplementary feeders can increase local bird nest predation, as eastern gray squirrels are more likely to forage near feeders, resulting in increased likelihood of finding nests, eggs and nestlings of small passerines.

Introductions and impact
The eastern gray squirrel is an introduced species in a variety of locations in western North America: in western Canada, to the southwest corner of British Columbia and to the city of Calgary, Alberta; in the United States, to the states of Washington and Oregon and, in California, to the city of San Francisco and the San Francisco Peninsula area in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties, south of the city. It has become the most common squirrel in many urban and suburban habitats in western North America, from north of central California to southwest British Columbia.

By the turn of the 20th century, breeding populations of the eastern gray squirrel had been introduced into South Africa, Ireland, Italy, Australia (extirpated by 1973), and the United Kingdom.

In South Africa, though exotic, it is not usually considered an invasive species owing to its small range (only found in the extreme southwestern part of the Western Cape, going north as far as the small farming town of Franschhoek), as well because it inhabits urban areas and places greatly affected by humans, such as agricultural areas and exotic pine plantations. Here, it mostly eats acorns and pine seeds, although it will take indigenous and commercial fruit, as well. Even so, it is unable to use the natural vegetation (fynbos) found in the area, a factor which has helped to limit its spread. It does not come into contact with native squirrels due to geographic isolation (a native tree squirrel, Paraxerus cepapi, is found only in the savanna regions in the northeast of the country) and different habitats.

Gray squirrels were first introduced to Britain in the 1870s, as fashionable additions to estates. In 1921 it was reported in The Times that the Zoological Society of London had released eastern greys to breed at liberty in Regents Park:

"A dozen years ago the Zoological Society of London obtained a number from a private collection in Bedfordshire for the purpose of inducing them to breed at liberty in the Gardens in Regent's Park. They were first kept in a large enclosure from which, when they had become used to visitors, they were allowed to pass in and out by a rope bridge to a tree. It was hoped that they would spread from the Gardens to the Park. After two or three years in which they seemed to be disappearing, they suddenly became ubiquitous...The grey squirrels are plainly happy and plainly give happiness to Londoners...On the other hand, grey squirrels, whether by taking advantage of tubes and buses, or by deliberate human connivance, have spread from London and are invading the country over very wide areas. They are said to drive out the red squirrel, to raid gardens, and to add to the anxieties of the pheasant breeder. We hope that fuller inquiry will not sustain these charges." They spread rapidly across England, and then became established in both Wales and parts of southern Scotland. On mainland Britain, they have almost entirely displaced native red squirrels. Larger than red squirrels and capable of storing up to four times more fat, gray squirrels are better able to survive winter conditions. They produce more young and can live at higher densities. Gray squirrels also carry the squirrelpox virus, to which red squirrels have no immunity. When an infected gray squirrel introduces squirrelpox to a red squirrel population, its decline is 17–25 times greater than through competition alone.

In Ireland, the displacement of red squirrels has not been as rapid because only a single introduction occurred, in County Longford. Schemes have been introduced to control the population of gray squirrels in Ireland to encourage the native red squirrels. Eastern gray squirrels have also been introduced to Italy, and the European Union has expressed concern that they will similarly displace the red squirrel from parts of the European continent.

As food
Gray squirrels were eaten in earlier times by Native Americans and their meat is still popular with hunters across most of their range in North America. Today, it is still available for human consumption and is occasionally sold in the United Kingdom. However, physicians in the United States have warned that squirrel brains should not be eaten, because of the risk that they may carry Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease.

Displacement of red squirrels
In Britain and Ireland, the eastern gray squirrel is not regulated by natural predators, other than the European pine marten, which is generally absent from England and Wales. This has aided its rapid population growth and has led to the species being classed as a pest and it is now illegal to release captured Eastern Grey Squirrels back into the wild in the UK. Measures are being devised to reduce its numbers, including a campaign starting in 2006 named "Save Our Squirrels" using the slogan "Save a red, eat a grey!" which attempted to re-introduce squirrel meat in to the local market, with celebrity chefs promoting the idea, cookbooks introducing recipes containing squirrel and the Forestry Commission providing a regular supply of squirrel meat to British restaurants, factories and butchers. In areas where relict populations of red squirrels survive, such as the islands of Anglesey, Brownsea and the Isle of Wight, programs exist to eradicate gray squirrels and prevent them from reaching these areas in order to allow red squirrel populations to recover and grow.

Although complex and controversial, the main factor in the eastern gray squirrel's displacement of the red squirrel is thought to be its greater fitness, hence a competitive advantage over the red squirrel on all measures. Within 15 years of the grey squirrel's introduction to a red squirrel habitat, red squirrel populations are extinct. The eastern gray squirrel tends to be larger and stronger than the red squirrel and has been shown to have a greater ability to store fat for winter. Due to the lack of trees in their native Ireland for them to reside in, red squirrels are the only species being harmed by the invasion of grey squirrels. The squirrel can, therefore, compete more effectively for a larger share of the available food, resulting in relatively lower survival and breeding rates among the red squirrel. Parapoxvirus may also be a strongly contributing factor; red squirrels have long been fatally affected by the disease, while the eastern gray squirrels are unaffected, but thought to be carriers – although how the virus is transmitted has yet to be determined. Red squirrel extinction rates can be 20–25 times greater in areas with confirmed cases of squirrel pox than they are in areas without the disease. This competitive action done between these two squirrels is reasoned to qualify the eastern gray squirrel as a keystone species because since the eastern gray squirrel is coming and wiping out the red squirrels, there would be a reduced chance of competition hence more eastern gray squirrels will come in to Ireland. However, several cases of red squirrels surviving have been reported, as they have developed an immunity – although their population is still being massively affected. The red squirrel is also less tolerant of habitat destruction and fragmentation, which has led to its population decline, while the more adaptable eastern gray squirrel has taken advantage and expanded. Methods done to control this competition between these squirrels are that red squirrels should remain in their original habitats, such as Ireland, while the grey squirrels should be kept out of these places entirely as a means of controlling this squirrel competition.

Similar factors appear to have been at play in the Pacific region of North America, where the native American red squirrel has been largely displaced by the eastern gray squirrel in parks and forests throughout much of the region.

Ironically, "fears" for the future of the eastern gray squirrel arose in 2008, as the melanistic form (black) began to spread through the southern British population. In the UK, if a "grey squirrel" (eastern gray squirrel) is trapped, under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, it is illegal to release it or to allow it to escape into the wild; instead, it is legally required be "humanely dispatched."

In the late 1990s, Italy's National Wildlife Institute and University of Turin launched an eradication attempt to halt the spread of gray squirrels in northwest Italy, but court action by animal rights groups blocked this. Hence gray squirrels are expected to cross the Alps into France and Switzerland in the next few decades.

title: Eastern gray squirrel


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Western gray squirrel

The western gray squirrel (Sciurus griseus) is a tree squirrel found along the western coast of the United States and Mexico. In some places, this species has also been known as the silver-gray squirrel, the California gray squirrel, the Oregon gray squirrel, the Columbian gray squirrel and the banner-tail. There are three geographical subspecies: Sciurus griseus griseus (central Washington to the western Sierra Nevada in central California); S. g. nigripes (from south of San Francisco Bay to San Luis Obispo County, California); and S. g. anthonyi (which ranges from San Luis Obispo to northern Baja California).

In some landscapes, the western gray squirrel has lost habitat or experienced local extinction due to competition with other squirrel species and other pressures on their population.

Description
The western gray squirrel was first described by George Ord in 1818 based on notes taken by Lewis and Clark at The Dalles in Wasco County, Oregon.

Sciurus griseus is the largest tree squirrel in the Sierra Nevada and Central California range. It has plantigrade, pentadactyl feet with two phalanges. Compared with the eastern gray squirrel S. carolinensis or the fox squirrel S. niger (which have been introduced into its native range), these squirrels are shy, and will generally run up a tree and give a hoarse chirping call when disturbed. Weights vary from about .35 to 1 kg, and length (including tail) from 43 to 61 cm. It is the largest native tree squirrel in the western coastal United States. Western gray squirrels exhibit a form of coloration known as counter shading. The dorsal fur is a silver gunmetal gray, with pure white on the underside; there may be black flecks in the tail. Ears are large but without tufts. The ears turn reddish-brown at the back in the winter. The tail is long and typically very bushy. It usually stays curved upwards in an "S" shape.

Tree squirrels undergo a complete head-to-tail molt in the spring and a rump-to-head molt in the fall. Tail hair is replaced only in the spring. Nesting mothers will use their tail hair to line birthing nests. Western gray squirrels eat berries, nuts, a variety of seeds, and the eggs of small birds. The dental formula for Sciurus griseus is.

Reproduction
Western gray squirrels reach sexual maturity at 10 to 11 months, and at approximately one year of age, will begin breeding. They mate over an extended period ranging from December through June. Young are born after approximate 44-day gestation period. Juveniles emerge from nests between March and mid-August. Litter sizes range from one to five kits which remain in the nest for a longer period than other squirrels. The kits are relatively slow in development, and will not leave the nest for six months or more, another species disadvantage when in competition with other, more-rapidly fledging squirrels. Young gray squirrels have furled tails which will not reach fullness until adulthood. This is a good indicator of age and maturity. Mother squirrels often seem to be overworked with a stressed appearance, complete with bruised and battered nipples. Mating squirrels can be very physical and will bite and injure each other. Females can be quite territorial, and will chase others away and have fairly violent altercations between themselves.

Behavior and diet
Western gray squirrels are forest dwellers. Time on the ground is spent foraging, but they prefer to travel distances from tree to tree. They are strictly diurnal, and feed mainly on seeds and nuts, particularly pine seeds and acorns, though they will also take berries, fungus and insects. Pine nuts and acorns are considered critical foods because they are very high in oil and moderately high in carbohydrates, which help increase the development of body fat. They feed mostly in trees and on the ground. They generally forage in the morning and late afternoon for acorns, pine nuts, new tree buds, and fruits. They feed on pinecones and many other nuts in preparation for the winter.

When on alert, they will spread their tails lavishly, creating an umbrella effect that shields them and possibly provides cover from overhead predators. They are scatter-hoarders making numerous caches of food when it is abundant, and thus contribute to the seed dispersion of their food trees. Although squirrels show relatively good scent relocation abilities, some food caches are never reclaimed, becoming seedlings in the spring. Though they do not hibernate, they do become less active during the winter. Like many prey animals, they depend on auditory alerts from other squirrels or birds to determine safety. Once an alarm call is transmitted, those present will join in, and the trees become a cacophony of chirping squirrels. Western gray squirrels are prey for hawks, eagles, bobcats, cougars, coyotes, raccoons, cats, dogs and humans.

Habitat and shelter
Squirrel nests are called dreys and can be seen in trees, built from sticks and leaves wrapped with long strands of grass. There are two stick nest types made by the western gray squirrel: the first is a large, round, covered shelter nest for winter use, birthing, and rearing young. The second is more properly termed a "sleeping platform," a base for seasonal or temporary use. Both types are built with sticks and twigs and are lined with leaves, moss, lichens and shredded bark. The birthing nest may be lined with tail hair. The nest may measure 43 to 91 cm by up to 46 cm and is usually found in the top third of the tree. Young or traveling squirrels will also "sleep rough" when weather permits, balanced spread-eagled on a tree limb high above the forest floor. This attitude is also adopted for cooling in hot weather, a behavior also observed in raccoons.

The western gray squirrel is an arboreal species, requiring enough tree cover for arboreal travel. It resides in woody areas to build their complex nests. It lives in high and low elevations in California. It can be found at elevations up to 2,000 m. It find habitats in both walnut trees and black oak trees.

The western gray squirrel has many predators, including red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis), great horned owls (Bubo virginianus), eagles (Accipitridae), bobcats (Lynx rufus), coyotes (Canis latrans), cougars (Puma concolor), domestic cats (Felis catus) and domestic dogs (Canis familiaris). However, the predation does not control the squirrel's population density.

Habitat loss and competition
In Washington State, the western gray squirrel was listed as a threatened species in 1993, and was reclassified as endangered in November 2023. Populations of the western gray squirrel have not recovered from past reductions. They are threatened with habitat loss, road-kill mortality and disease. Habitat has been lost due to urbanization, catastrophic wild fires, and areas of forest degraded by fire suppression and overgrazing, allowing the invasion of scotch broom. Notoedric mange, a disease caused by mites, becomes epidemic in western gray squirrel populations and is a major source of mortality. Other species, such as eastern gray squirrels, fox squirrels, California ground squirrels and wild turkeys are expanding and competing with the western gray squirrel.

Listed as extirpated in some California areas, the western gray squirrel in southern California is generally found only in the mountains and surrounding foothill communities. Local rehabilitation experts recount that fox squirrels were released in urban regions of Los Angeles throughout the 20th century. Fox squirrels (Sciurus niger) were introduced to the Los Angeles area in about 1904. Civil War and Spanish–American War veterans residing at the Sawtelle Veterans Home on Sepulveda and Wilshire Boulevards brought fox squirrels as pets to this site from their homes in the areas surrounding the Mississippi Valley (possibly Tennessee). Other introductions of fox squirrels to the Los Angeles area may have taken place during more recent times, but detailed records are not available. These aggressive cousins drove the more reclusive western gray squirrels back into the mountains, where competition was not so strong. This non-native species introduction appears to be the largest threat in the southern California area.

title: Western gray squirrel


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Burford

Burford is a town on the River Windrush, in the Cotswold hills, in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England. It is often referred to as the 'gateway' to the Cotswolds. Burford is located 18 mi west of Oxford and 22 mi southeast of Cheltenham, about 2 mi from the Gloucestershire boundary. The toponym derives from the Old English words burh meaning fortified town or hilltown and ford, the crossing of a river. The 2011 Census recorded the population of Burford parish as 1,422.

Economic and social history
The town began in the middle Saxon period with the founding of a village near the site of the modern priory building. This settlement continued in use until just after the Norman Conquest of England when the new town of Burford was built. On the site of the old village a hospital was founded which remained open until the Dissolution of the Monasteries by King Henry VIII. The modern priory building was constructed some 40 years later, in around 1580.

The town centre's most notable building is the Church of St John the Baptist, a Church of England parish church, which is a Grade I listed building. Described by David Verey as "a complicated building which has developed in a curious way from the Norman", it is known for its merchants' guild chapel, memorial to Henry VIII's barber-surgeon, Edmund Harman, featuring South American Indians and Kempe stained glass. In 1649 the church was used as a prison during the Civil War, when the New Model Army Banbury mutineers were held there. Some of the 340 prisoners left carvings and graffiti, which still survive in the church.

The town centre also has some 15th-century houses and the baroque-style townhouse that is now Burford Methodist Church. Between the 14th and 17th centuries Burford was important for its wool trade. The Tolsey, midway along Burford's High Street, which was once the focal point for trade, is now a museum. The authors of Burford: Buildings and People in a Cotswold Town (2008) argue that Burford should be seen as less a medieval town than an Arts and Crafts town. A 2020 article in Country Life magazine summarized the community's recent history: "'Burford, similarly, had bustled during the coaching era, but coaching inns such as Ramping Cat and the Bull were diminished or closed when the railways came. Agriculture remained old-fashioned, if not Biblical, and was badly affected by the long agricultural depression that started in the 1870s. The local dialect was so thick that, in the 1890s, Gibbs had to publish a glossary to explain George Ridler’s Oven, one of the folk songs he collected. In the late 19th century, the Cotswolds assumed a Sleeping Beauty charm, akin to that of Burne-Jones’s Legend of the Briar Rose at Buscot Park in the Thames Valley.'"

Priory
Burford Priory is a country house that stands on the site of a 13th-century Augustinian priory hospital. In the 1580s an Elizabethan house was built incorporating remnants of the building. It was remodelled in Jacobean style, probably after 1637, by which time the estate had been bought by William Lenthall, Speaker of the House of Commons in the Long Parliament. After 1912 the house and later the chapel were restored for the philanthropist Emslie John Horniman, MP, by the architect Walter Godfrey. From 1949 Burford Priory housed the Society of the Salutation of Mary the Virgin, a community of Church of England nuns. In 1987, n declining numbers, it became a mixed community including Church of England Benedictine monks. In 2008 the community relocated and sold the property which is now a private dwelling. A Time Team excavation of the Priory in 2010 found pottery sherds from the 12th or 13th century.

English Civil Wars – the Banbury mutiny
On 17 May 1649, three soldiers who were Levellers were executed on the orders of Oliver Cromwell in the churchyard at Burford following a mutiny started over pay and the prospect of being sent to fight in Ireland. Corporal Church, Private Perkins, and Cornet Thompson were the key leaders of the mutiny and, after a brief court-martial, were put up against the wall in the churchyard at Burford and shot. The remaining soldiers were pardoned. Each year on the nearest weekend to the Banbury mutiny is commemorated as 'Levellers Day'.

Bell foundry
Burford has twice had a bell foundry: one run by the Neale family in the 17th century and another run by the Bond family in the 19th and 20th centuries. Henry Neale was a bell founder between 1627 and 1641 and also had a foundry at Somerford Keynes in Gloucestershire. Edward Neale had joined him as a bell-founder at Burford by 1635 and continued the business until 1685. Numerous Neale bells remain in use, including at St Britius, Brize Norton, St Mary's, Buscot, and St James the Great, Fulbrook. A few Neale bells that are no longer rung are displayed in Burford parish church. Henry Bond had a bell foundry at Westcot from 1851 to 1861. He then moved it to Burford where he continued until 1905. He was then succeeded by Thomas Bond, who continued bell-founding at Burford until 1947. Bond bells still in use include four of the ring of six at St John the Evangelist, Taynton, one and a Sanctus bell at St Nicholas, Chadlington and one each at St Mary the Virgin, Chalgrove and St Peter's, Whatcote in Warwickshire.

Easter Synod
For many years before the 7th century there had been strife between the Celtic Church and the Early Church over the question of when Easter Day should be celebrated. The Britons adhered to the rule laid at the Council of Arles in 314, that Easter Day should be the 14th day of the Paschal moon, even if the moon were on a Sunday. The Roman Church had decided that when the 14th day of the Paschal moon was a Sunday, Easter Day should be the Sunday after. Various Synods were held in different parts of the kingdom with the object of settling this controversy, and one was held for this object at Burford in 685. Monk deduces from the fact of the Synod being held at Burford, that the Britons in some numbers had settled in the town and neighbourhood. This Synod was attended by Æthelred, King of Mercia, and his nephew Berthwald (who had been granted the southern part of his uncle's kingdom); Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury; Bosel, Bishop of Worcester; Seaxwulf, Bishop of Lichfield; Aldhelm, Abbot of Malmesbury; and many others. Aldhelm was ordered at this conference to write a book against the error of the Britons in the observance of Easter. At this Synod Berthwald gave 40 cassates of land (a cassate is enough land to support a family) to Aldhelm who afterwards became Bishop of Shereborne. According to Spelman, the notes of the Synod were published in 705.

Battle of Burford and the Golden Dragon
Malmesbury and other chroniclers record a battle between the West Saxons and Mercians at Burford in 752. In the end Æthelhum, the Mercian standard-bearer who carried the flag with a golden dragon on it, was killed by the lance of his Saxon rival. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records "A.D 752. This year Cuthred, king of the West Saxons, in the 12th year of his reign, fought at Burford, against Æthelbald king of the Mercians, and put him to flight." The historian William Camden (1551–1623) wrote "'... in Saxon Beorgford [i.e. Burford], where Cuthred, king of the West Saxons, then tributary to the Mercians, not being able to endure any longer the cruelty and base exactions of King Æthelbald, met him in the open field with an army and beat him, taking his standard, which was a portraiture of a golden dragon.'"

The origin of the golden dragon standard is attributed to that of Uther Pendragon, the father of King Arthur of whom Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote: "[Uther Pendragon] '... ordered two dragons to be fashioned in gold, in the likeness of the one which he had seen in the ray which shone from that star. As soon as the Dragons had been completed this with the most marvellous craftsmanship – he made a present of one of them to the congregation of the cathedral church of the see of Winchester. The second one he kept for himself, so that he could carry it around to his wars.'"

In the late 16th or early 17th century the people of Burford still celebrated the anniversary of the battle. Camden wrote: "There has been a custom in the town of making a great dragon yearly, and carrying it up and down the streets in great jollity on St John's Eve". The field traditionally claimed to be that of the battle is still called Battle Edge. According to Reverend Francis Knollis' description of the discovery, "On 21 November 1814 a large freestone sarcophagus was discovered near Battle Edge 3 ft below ground, weighing 16 long cwt with the feet pointing almost due south. The interior is 6 ft long and 2 ft wide. It was found to contain the remains of a human body, with portions of a leather cuirass studded with metal nails. The skeleton was found in near perfect state due to the exclusion of air from the sarcophagus." The coffin is now preserved in Burford churchyard, near the west gate.

"'Whose fame is in that dark green tomb? Four stones with their heads of moss stand there. They mark the narrow house of death. Some chief of fame is here! Raise the songs of old! Awake their memory in the tomb.' – Ossian"

Amenities
Burford County Primary School is the town's primary school. Burford School, a mixed comprehensive school, is the town's secondary school. The primary school fête, held every summer, includes a procession (including a dragon) down High Street to the school, where there are stalls and games. The Blue Cross National Animal Welfare Charity is based at Burford. In September 2001 Burford was twinned with Potenza Picena, a small town in the Marche, on the Adriatic coast of Italy. In April 2009 Burford was ranked sixth in Forbes magazine's list of "Europe's Most Idyllic Places To Live".

Media
Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC South and ITV Meridian. Television signals are received from the Oxford TV transmitter. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Oxford, Heart South, Greatest Hits Radio South (formerly Jack FM) and Witney Radio, a community-based station which broadcast from Witney. The town's local newspapers are the Oxfordshire Guardian and Witney Gazette. The Bridge Magazine is a local community magazine produced by and for the people of Burford and surrounding villages in West Oxfordshire.

Local legend and literature
Local legend tells of a fiery coach containing the judge and local landowner Sir Lawrence Tanfield of Burford Priory and his wife flying around the town that brings a curse upon all who see it. Ross Andrews speculates that the apparition may have been caused by a local tradition of burning effigies of the unpopular couple that began after their deaths. In real life Tanfield and his second wife  Elizabeth Evans are known to have been notoriously harsh to their tenants. The visitations were reportedly ended when local clergymen trapped Lady Tanfield's ghost in a corked glass bottle during an exorcism and cast it into the River Windrush. During droughts locals would fill the river from buckets to ensure that the bottle did not rise above the surface and free the spirit. Burford is the main setting for The Wool-Pack, a historical novel for children by Cynthia Harnett. The author J. Meade Falkner, best known for the novel Moonfleet, is buried in the churchyard of St John the Baptist.

Notable people

 * Elizabeth Cary, Viscountess Falkland (1585–1639), poet, dramatist and historian
 * William Lenthall (1591–1662 in Burford), politician, Speaker of the House of Commons in the Civil War period
 * Peter Heylyn (1599–1662), ecclesiastic and author of polemical, historical, political and theological tracts
 * Lucius Cary, 2nd Viscount Falkland (ca.1610–1643), author and politician
 * Marchamont Nedham (1620–1678), journalist, publisher and pamphleteer during the English Civil War
 * Christopher Kempster (1627–1715), master stonemason and architect
 * William Beechey (1753–1839), portrait painter
 * Charles Henry Newmarch (1824–1903), cleric and author
 * Katharine Mary Briggs (1898–1980), folklorist and writer, lived in Burford
 * Edward Mortimer (1943–2021), UN civil servant, journalist, author and academic

In popular culture
Burford was referred to as Beorgford in The Saxon Stories by Bernard Cornwell.

title: Burford