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Talk:Stutthof concentration camp

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Gerdenau: I have no idea what is the real name of this camp and where it is located. It wasn't mentioned here: List of Martyrology Sites in Poland Cautious 12:34, 2 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Maybe they confused this: 21) Przebrno (Pröbernau) Cautious 12:37, 2 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Rachel Gordon made known to me that she was victimized during a visit from the Angel of Death, Dr Mengele, having both breasts removed as experiments. She said she sought revenge and upon learning Commandant Hope was assigned to the Eastern Front, used her position as a seamstress to insert needles in the vertical stripes of his uniform pants and the arms and sleeves of his uniform coat. There is in existence a medallion made by 26 ladies who survived these atrocities, including the death march. I posses 1.

Death Toll
Does anyone have a better source for the death toll than jewishgen.com?

Images
I have written a request to the Stutthof Museum, requesting permission for imagesPedant 05:14, 2004 Oct 31 (UTC)

Jews or Polish activists
According to the Museum, the September 1939 arrestations were oriented against Polish activists in Danzig. What is your source about the Jews? Xx236 11:18, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Soap?
Once again the infomation concerning German production of soap from human fat is introduced into this encyclopedia article with a reference from a magazine article. Virtually all reliable academic sources, and in particular most Jewish Holocaust researchers have debunked this "myth" as being not true. It is necessary to understand the importance of this. It is by no means to "whitewash" the atrocities commitited by the nazis at these camps, but rather to distinguish fact from fiction, so as not to give credence and "ammunition" to deniers of actual atrocities. The external link to the Virtual Jewish Library, following the article about this concentration camp, Stutthof, better explains this position. The claim and its source should be taken out of the article, with the "new Breaking News", staying in tabloids rather than in an encyclopedia. Dr. Dan 16:27, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

 * Dan, the samples of the soap found have been recently chemically tested, and the tests confirmed that the soap made by Spanner was from human fat. These are scientifically proven facts, not a "tabloid fiction". The investigation concluded in 2006 --Lysytalk 16:43, 17 February 2007 (UTC)
 * I stand by my assertions, and add that DNA tests excluded human DNA in all presented samples. Believe what you want, but as I stated in my above remarks (as does the Virtual Jewish Library "link"), that presenting this "re-discovered" evidence has more inherent risks than benefits. In this case it doen't help the credibility of the IPN either. Dr. Dan 17:37, 17 February 2007 (UTC)
 * And would you have any refs to support your claims? Or is it just an attempt at Holocaust denial?--Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus 19:57, 18 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Funny that the author of Zydokomuna would try to link me with holocaust denial, after a very detailed explanation by me as to what my objection to including this (referenced from a tabloid magazine) information in this article was. The references from the Virtual Jewish Library are available and more respectable than the tygodnik article. Dr. Dan 20:51, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

Dan, please bear with me but I'm not getting your point. The recent 4 year investigation by IPN confirmed that the soap was made of human fat. It has not been officially confirmed until 2006. Why are you doubting it please ? --Lysytalk 21:06, 18 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Bear with me back. It has been investigated and debunked. Jewish organizations dealing with Holocaust research have backed-off of these claims for the reasons I have stated very succinctly. This Breaking News presented to us from some tabloid doesn't change the reality of the myth and its origins. One should hope that such a revelation should make world-wide news coverage, but it hasn't and isn't about too. Unfortunately the chain of custody would make any claim out of Poland suspect at this point regardless of the evidence compiled by the IPN. Please note that I did not remove the claim, but cautioned those interested in the subject to be careful. People will always believe what they want to anyway. Dr. Dan 21:29, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

You lost me again. Are you calling IPN a "tabloid" ? And what "tygodnik" ? And who and when debunked this ? BTW: I found this press release of October 2006 by Polish Press Agency at the official Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum site. Hope this clarifies it. --Lysytalk 22:10, 18 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Sorry you got lost. Seriously, if you re-read my above comments, I stand by them and for now have no intention of changing my opinion based on the information provided. As I have stated, people will believe what they want to regardless of what we say here. I think that pretty much does it for me on the subject. Thanks for the Polish article, it was an interesting read. But it doesn't help anyone who doesn't understand it. And keep in mind these discussions are for the benefit of everyone, not just you and me. Dr. Dan 20:28, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

Actually I had provided two links and  (both in Polish, obviously). Hopefully IPN will publish the results of its investigation in English one day. But frankly, that something is not in English does not mean it is less credible. Unlike many other disciplines, history sadly does not use English as its primary language. Most of the historiography of Eastern Europe is not available in English, I'm sure you will agree. --Lysytalk 20:50, 20 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Yes, but in English Wikipedia, English is the Lingua franca, sadly or not sadly. Dr. Dan 22:41, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

Hmm, would you object sources in the Lithuanian language, then ? --Lysytalk 22:52, 20 February 2007 (UTC)
 * By no means, all I want is such references to be translated into English. Does that seem unreasonable? Hmm? Dr. Dan 23:18, 20 February 2007 (UTC)
 * FWIW, the Auschwitz site has an English version of the 'Human Fat Was Used to Produce Soap' page here. Squiddy | (squirt ink?)  23:32, 20 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Squiddy, thanks for the translation. It may be of some use to those who are reading this discussion for the first time. I have already read it in Polish, and this Breaking News from October, simply didn't cut it, and make the headlines it should have. The information, the opinions, the new witnesses, et al. are there for the record. Just doesn't cut it though. Thanks anyway. Dr. Dan 01:38, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

Everyone involved here might be interested to know that Wikipedia already has an article devoted to this subject, under Jewish soap legend. That would be a more appropriate place to continue this discussion. An extensive discussion of the IPN report (in English), specifically debating the credibility of IPN, is available here. As for news coverage, the story was reported by AFP and DPA. Balcer 15:03, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

 * This article makes a bold and very controversial assertion, one that goes against mountains of testimony and evidence, using only a couple random sources as evidence - which themselves depend upon one Polish-language source. Perhaps this is a reputable source, perhaps it is not.  For readers of the English Wikipedia, this is difficult to ascertain.  What is easy to tell, however, is that this one source a lone voice, completely outnumbered by sources that explicitly state the complete opposite.  A statement of this sort requires far, far more than one citation to justify its inclusion in an encyclopedia article.   It's stunning how eager some "contributors" are to embrace this idea.  The fact that we still have to argue about 65+ year old propaganda, that has long been debunked, is pathetic. Udibi (talk) 07:35, 26 October 2010 (UTC)

 * The soap section of this article is self contradictory (as to the location of the fat lab/"factory") and presents an unproven premise (that soap was made from the fat of concentration camp prisoners). The sole Polish article on the subject places the location of the lab somewhere away from the camp. The human fat, said to be present in the sample(s) tested, is not attributable (through DNA or other methods) to camp prisoners. Other stated sources of human remains (in the polish museum article) are said to be an institute for the insane, and a local prison (not the camp). The polish museum article also asserts that total production was somewhere between 50-100kg (which might be a quantity from a laboratory experiment, but not a factory), that it smelled terrible, and use was limited to cleaning up an autopsy room. The African tabloid (circulation 30,000) article is not authoritative on this issue. Given the total lack of numerous credible sources supporting this sensational claim, and numerous credible sources which debunk the claim (including "most Jewish Holocaust researchers" as stated by Dr. Dan), this section is highly suspect... and should not be included in this article until better (credible) and more numerous sources can be obtained. It is little more than a dubious "claim", and should not presented as fact. I suggest deleting this section until (or if) it can be better supported. Gulbenk (talk) 17:58, 22 October 2015 (UTC)

 * the following was previously posted under the heading SOAP (2)

 * User:Dr. Dan (mentioned by you, Gulbenk) posted his comment on 21 February 2007 (UTC), that's eight years (!) and nine months ago. Please learn WP:TALK policy guidelines before posting anything next time. Thanks. Section blanking and removal of reliable third party sources is generally considered disruptive. The archived page is available at Wayback, and it clearly states that the corpses used in the experiments were obtained from Kocborów, Królewiec, and — despite Spanner's categorical denials — the Stutthof death camp.  Poeticbent  talk 19:00, 5 November 2015 (UTC)

 * Thank you Poeticbent for your interest and contribution to this article. Contrary to your comments, there appears to be no reason to start a new heading under SOAP (2) since WP:TALK states: Before starting a new discussion ensure there is not already an existing section on the same topic. Duplicating the same discussion in multiple sections on a talk page causes confusion, erodes general awareness of points being made, and disrupts the flow of conversation on the topic. I do not see a statement that the passage of time invalidates comments. Would you be so kind to point that out to me? I should also point out that my edit was not a form of vandalism (section blanking) as you have stated, but the removal of highly questionable material. The source, a Polish museum, uses questionable methodology to supported unproved assertions, and is almost universally disputed by credible sources. Gulbenk (talk) 00:19, 6 November 2015 (UTC)

werner hoppe
The link for Werner Hoppe leads to a different Werner Hoppe than the one from Stutthoff camp. Perhaps someone can look into this.
 * Thanks, I've changed the link to Werner Hoppe (Stutthof guard), as the Werner Hoppe page is a redirect to members of the Baader-Meinhof gang. The link on this page is now red. Squiddy | (squirt ink?)  18:17, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

Deportation of non-nazi Germans
Günter Grass seems to say in his latest book that Germans from Danzig that got arrested for anti-nazi behaviours (such as listening to British radio, showing "degenerate art" to students, being a socialist, doubting the successes of the German armies...) were sent to Stutthof. Is this correct? If so, the article should note it. David.Monniaux (talk) 20:07, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

ANSWER: Firstly, Gdansk inhabitants were not Germans. Gdansk was an independent city and its inhabitans were in general German-speaking (since middleages), but not Germans! Whatsmore Gdansk from 1466 to 1793 belonged to Poland(in 1793 Poland stopped existing). So Gdansk's inhabitants were generally against nasizm and Hitler, as he took the independence od Free City of Danzig. Therefore, it is obvious that they were also arrested and kept in Stutthof. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.78.176.25 (talk) 18:51, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

 * This "Answer" spells out perfectly what is terribly wrong with most Wikipedia articles having anything to do with anything vaguely about Poland. A bunch of brazen, adolescent nationalists have defiled Wikipedia and undermined its credibility with their blatant nationalism and revisionist history.  They do us all a disservice. Udibi (talk) 07:21, 26 October 2010 (UTC)

Fritz Peters
Fritz Peters (one of the Stutthof officials who is listed as having been executed in the second trial) currently links to a Frederick Thornton Peters who was a Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross. Perhaps someone could have a look at this? (Wandora (talk) 23:10, 8 March 2008 (UTC))

Intelligentsia
There is no credible document or policy of the German Government to round up and murder the Polish intelligentsia. This simply a fantasy of Polish nationalists with their "Poland the victim" culture. Anyone, of any description, found to be troublemakers, seditionists, etc were rounded up by the Germans and sent to re-education and work camps. The OTT descriptions in this article are frankly ridiculous. The SOVIETS certainly rounded up the so-called intelligentsia and aristocracy and there is a mountain of evidence on this.2A00:23C4:B63A:1800:857:B9F7:84B4:42E8 (talk) 21:11, 14 September 2018 (UTC)

The Polish version
Where is the Polish version of this article? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 49.192.56.98 (talk) 03:24, 21 August 2020 (UTC)
 * See the interwiki on the left in the article mode. --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 02:20, 15 December 2020 (UTC)

Soap production from the bodies of victims
User:Buidhe, can you explain re why you decided to remove the section instead of removing individual problematic sources or tagging them with unreliable source? I am confused why this book (Denying History) by Michael Shermer and Alex Grobman is deemed unreliable, or Alexander Werth's Russia at War, or the Auschwitz museum page ? The section can use improvement, but I don't think it merits a WP:TNT-like approach. The only questionable source I see is this news piece - but it merits only being tagged or replaced with a citation needed template. --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 02:20, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Shermer and Grobman are fine, but I don't think that sources from 50 years ago can be counted as generally reliable, given that not all of that historiography has stood the test of time, and the Auschwitz museum is just quoting PAP which does not meet POLANDRS. Please find some peer-reviewed, scholarly sources for these claims. (t · c)  buidhe  02:29, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * According to a paper in German Studies Review the soap claims are mostly "a popular Polish anti-German stereotype" and were at most a misdemeanor, not a crime. WP:DUE should also be considered. (t · c)  buidhe  02:35, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Having looked into some sources (I am not finished) I concur this section needs a rewrite, with better sources like the one I added and you cite above, and others. But the incident is notable and the section should remain, albeit again, it may need further rewriting. There's also an article about Soap made from human corpses we should look at too. Please feel free to rewrite the section and improve the sources. PS. I am concerned whether Stołyhwo's research was ever published in any peer-reviewed outlet? It is mentioned by Drobnicki at but I can't even see it was cited much. PPS. I am also looking for official statements by IPN. There's one from 2004 here:, but in 2006 there are only media statements, here's one reprinted on IPN pages: . In 2010 IPN scholars published a book on this: ///. Some further reading: /. Overall I think the conclusion is that there was no mass production (scholars clearly conclude it was a myth), and it's possibly but not possible to fully prove there was small-scale production (experimental/for lab purposes).--Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here  02:52, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * In terms of Stutthof itself the soap allegations are pretty minor footnote and should not be exaggerated. For example, it isn't mentioned at all in the Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos entry on Stutthof. (t · c)  buidhe  03:35, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Yet another example of how incomplete that Encyclopedia is. That said, I do agree this should not be exaggerated. Ping User:MyMoloboaccount - please join the discussion here. Also, Molobo, can you pretty please learn how to format references using cite templates? You have been here for a decade+, using this tool is pretty easy, just paste Google Book link there and copy the generated code. --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 04:27, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Err, actually, according to our policy, WP:TERTIARY sources should be used to determine due weight. But you might as well look at overviews of Stutthof to see how much weight it is given there. Or perhaps the right question to ask is that, in light of the fact that more than 60,000 people perished, how much weight to give to the possible fate of a handful of them is. Furthermore, since this aspect is greatly exaggerated by postwar accounts, then it should perhaps be covered in a section dealing with postwar memorialization. (t · c)  buidhe  08:48, 15 December 2020 (UTC)

The soap production has been confirmed by IPN investigation in October 2006. Neander(who describes himself as "freelance historian") published his paper in February 2006, so before conclusion of IPN investigation(for the record his paper is strongly political and seems to wander off into how Poles "demonize" Nazi Spanner, and defence of Erika Steinbach, a controversial political figure).The PAP statement is fine as it refers to events in 2006, well past WW2--MyMoloboaccount (talk) 04:33, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * The problem is that IPN's conclusion from 2006 does not seem to have been peer reviewed - can you find anything better than media reports on the press conference? See links above. I think the best source is the 2010 book by Monika Tomkiewicz and Piotr Semków and they don't seem to support anything about soap production beyond some experiments, and they also don't support claims that Spanner was much involved in this. I am still reading sources and it will take me days (there are also some newer academic works). But what I have read so far does suggest that some older claims about 'factory' and such are likely an unsubstantiated myth. Even IPN talked about this being a small scale process. PS. Thank you for finding and sharing the chapter by Shallcross, it seems relevant. It may take me few days to read all the sources listed here, and likely, more exists. Shame the 2010 book is unlikely to be available online :( --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 04:38, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I think the best source is the 2010 book by Monika Tomkiewicz and Piotr Semków

I can have the book within 1-2 weeks, provided it is an accepted to be acceptable source to use here.--MyMoloboaccount (talk) 04:56, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I think it is. User:Buidhe, would you care to comment on its reliability, for future use? --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 10:27, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I don't have an opinion on that question, but I do think that adding a bunch of information from this book is likely to be WP:UNDUE (see above). (t · c)  buidhe  10:30, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Only a summary should be here, this topic has a stand-alone article at Soap made from human corpses. --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 10:37, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * sing this tool is pretty easy, If you consider this easy, I can't fathom what you consider hard.The screen immediately caused me a headache.Unfortunately not all of us are IT developers and can code.--MyMoloboaccount (talk) 04:35, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Paste, click generate,copy paste code into wiki, it's literally few seconds. Sure, it may take a minute to use at first. You can also just use automatic citation generation in Visual Editor, but it doesn't seem to pick up pages from Google Books, so I prefer the reftag tool, it literally takes 5 seconds to generate a useful book cite with it that's well formatted and has the pageview url. Trust me, it is worth learning how to use it, and it won't take you more than few minutes at most to do so. --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 04:40, 15 December 2020 (UTC)

Poles
40% of all prisoners who were in Stutthof concentration camp where Poles. It should be clearly stated in this article. 49.190.240.166 (talk) 07:03, 24 April 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Stutthof concentration camp


text:
Ashridge

Ashridge is a country estate and stately home in Hertfordshire, England. It is situated in the Chiltern Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, about 2 mile north of Berkhamsted and 23 mile north west of London. The estate comprises 5000 acre of woodlands (known as Ashridge Forest), commons and chalk downland which supports a rich variety of wildlife.

Today, Ashridge is home to Hult Ashridge, Hult International Business School's executive education programme, as it has been since 1959. The estate is currently owned by the National Trust.

Ashridge Priory
In mediæval times Ashridge was the location of Ashridge Priory, a college of the monastic order of Bonhommes founded in 1283 by Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall, whose palace was at nearby Berkhamsted Castle. At the dissolution of the monasteries the priory was surrendered to the crown and King Henry VIII used it to house his children, namely Prince Edward and the Princesses Mary and Elizabeth. Eventually he bequeathed the property to his daughter Elizabeth. The priory church was demolished during the reign of Elizabeth I.

The Egerton family
In 1604 the estate became the property of Sir Thomas Egerton. Egerton's son, John Egerton, was created 1st Earl of Bridgewater on 27 May 1617. In 1800, redevelopment of the estate as the Bridgewater residence was begun by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater. The Duke demolished most of the Priory and after his death, the present house was constructed between 1808 and 1814 by John Egerton, 7th Earl of Bridgewater. The 3rd Duke of Bridgewater was buried in the Egerton family vault in Little Gaddesden Church, close to Ashridge.

In 1848 the estate passed to the Earls Brownlow, another strand of the Egerton family, and then in 1921 it was split, with the land passing to the National Trust, while the house and garden was acquired by speculators.

Conservative Staff College
In 1928 Urban Hanlon Broughton purchased the house as a gift for the Conservative Party intended to commemorate Bonar Law. In July 1929 Ashridge opened by Stanley Baldwin as a College under the governance of the Bonar Law Memorial Trust (BLMT). The BLMT was charged by its Founding Deed to pursue the following goals, namely

(a) honouring the memory of a great statesman, (b) the preservation of the house and grounds as an historic building, (c) to create an educational centre ... (d) to train lecturers, speakers and writers to further the study of the subjects outlined above (e) ... provide lectures and/or discussions on these subjects open to the public or for those who had paid fees to attend, (f) ... provide a supporting staff, (g) to allow boarding by those attending the lectures and discussions.

For the next fifteen years the college, the full title of which was the Bonar Law Memorial College, Ashridge was to act as a school for Conservative intellectuals creating, in their own words, 'Conservative Fabians', and as a 'College of Citizenship' for 'the general education of the electorate'. Associated with the College were regional or county circles or clubs, such the Ashridge Dining Club in London; their activities were reported by The Ashridge Journal. In 1954 its Deed of Foundation was changed by Act of Parliament, and Ashridge was 're-founded' as an educational charity. In 1959 it became a Management College, which it remains today.

Hult International Business School
In 1959 Ashridge College was re-launched to provide management training, and was named Ashridge Business School. In 2015, Ashridge Business School operationally merged with Hult International Business School, an American business school with campuses in seven cities around the world. As part of the merger, Ashridge Business School changed its name to Ashridge Executive Education, later Hult Ashridge.

Ashridge House
Prior to his death, the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater had begun to demolish the Medieval Priory buildings in order to build a new country house. His successor, the 7th Earl of Bridgewater commissioned the architect James Wyatt to build his new home, Ashridge House. The foundation stone for the new house was laid by the 7th Earl's wife, Charlotte Catherine Anne, Countess of Bridgewater, on 25 October 1808, the 48th anniversary of the accession of George III of Great Britain. The ceremony is commemorated by a brass plaque by the main entrance.

In 1813, part-way through the construction works, Wyatt died unexpectedly, and the building project was completed the following year by his nephew Jeffry Wyatt (later known as Sir Jeffry Wyatville). The present house is regarded as one of the finest examples of early Gothic Revival architecture and is now a Grade I listed building.

Ashridge house was built on the site of the 13th-Century priory building which had been demolished in 1800. Some parts of the old priory were incorporated into the house by James Wyatt, including the undercroft of the monastic refectory, featuring two aisles, seven bays and a rib-vaulted ceiling, which he repurposed as a beer cellar below the dining room and drawing room.

The mansion is built of ashlar faced with Totternhoe stone with a castellated parapet and low-pitched slate roofs. It features a variety of casement windows including pointed arch and ogee lights typical of the early Gothic Revival style. Before his untimely death, James Wyatt completed the north-facing front entrance and the central block, containing the state apartments and western courtyards. Jeffry Wyatt added private apartment blocks at an angle to the main building and an orangery with a turret in 1815–17. The main entrance features a projecting porte-cochère and octagonal turrets, added by Jeffry Wyatt c.1814.

Inside the mansion are a number of richly decorated state rooms; of the interior features, only the hall, the staircase tower and the chapel are Gothic in design. The high staircase hall features a stone stair with iron railing, surrounded by niches containing statues by Sir Richard Westmacott. At the centre of the fan-vaulted ceiling is a large dial connected to the weather vane on the roof which displays the current wind direction. The Brownlow Hall contains a giant frieze of the goddess Venus surrounded by putti with an armorial centrepiece and three early-Twentieth Century murals. Redecoration of the interiors was commissioned by Lady Marian Alford and executed in the neoclassical style in 1855–63 by Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt, including a replica of Guido Reni's Aurora ceiling and aedicular door surrounds. Among the alterations carried out after the conversion of the mansion into a college, the conservatory was altered by Clough Williams-Ellis in 1919 to form a dining-room. The boundary between Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire originally passed through the dining room, though the house is now entirely in Hertfordshire.

The house incorporates a Gothic Revival Chapel designed by James Wyatt, completed by Jeffry Wyatt in 1817. The most notable exterior feature of the chapel is its spire which was demolished in 1922 by Lord Brownlow as it had become structurally unsound. The spire which can be seen today is in fact a fibreglass replica which was erected in 1969. The chapel interior features a pair of Fourteenth-Century carved doors, fan-vaulted coving supporting a canted panelled ceiling; a set of carved oak choir stalls designed by Jeffry; and an array of Rayonnant lancet windows. The windows were originally fitted with stained glass panels depicting scenes from the Bible; the glass was imported by the 7th Earl from Germany, having been originally designed in the Sixteenth Century for Steinfeld Abbey and Mariawald Abbey. The glass was auctioned off at Sotheby's in 1928 and acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum. One glass panel featuring the Blessed Virgin was placed in the nearby Church of Ss Peter and Paul at Little Gaddesden; another, depicting St Peter was in Christ Church, Croydon in London. Beneath the chapel is a vaulted medieval wellhouse with a 224 ft well.

Gardens
Outside the house stands the timber-frame and brick Fourteenth-Century Monks' Barn in the Monks' Garden. It was remodelled in 1816 by Jeffry Wyatt who added a covered walkway. In 1884 Mathew Digby Wyatt added the red brick Fern House.

The gardens were laid out from 1813 onwards under the direction of Charlotte Catherine Anne, Countess of Bridgewater, wife of the 7th Earl. She commissioned the noted landscape gardener Humphrey Repton, and they formed a friendship on his many visits to the estate. Repton presented many ideas in his Red Book for the estate in 1813, including a rosarie (or rosarium) and a "Monks' Garden" commemorating Ashridge's monastic heritage with a layout of grave-shaped flower beds. The Countess approved many of his designs, but also had her own ideas for the estate and made alterations to his proposals. Writing in 1824, the chaplain to the Earl of Bridgewater, Rev Henry Todd, noted that "the profusion of flowers which abound here, as the walks and conservatories together with the elegance of their arrangement, sufficiently indicates the care and attention bestowed by the Countess of Bridgewater upon her delightful pursuits of the garden." The rosarie and the Monks' Garden are still visible at Ashridge today.

Bridgewater Monument
The Grade II* listed Bridgewater Monument is a tower on the Ashridge estate, built in 1832 in memory of Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater (1736–1803), "the father of inland navigation".

Ashridge Commons and Woods
Ashridge Commons & Woods is a 640.1 hectare (1581.7 acre) Biological Site of Special Scientific Interest. The site was notified in 1987 under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and lies on the Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire border and is home to much semi-natural vegetation. As well as this, the site has extensive areas of woodland, grass and plantations. Ashridge Woods are also well known for their Bluebell woods.

Later developments
Part of the estate became Ashridge Golf Club in 1932, and had Henry Cotton as its club professional in the late 1930s, including his most successful year 1937.

During the Second World War, the building and the lawn in front of it was used as a secondary site for Charing Cross Hospital.

The house has housed the Ashridge Executive Education program, of Hult International Business School, since 1959.

In popular culture
Ashridge Common has been featured many times in film and television series due to its distinction as an area of natural beauty. Scenes for Maleficent, Plotlands, Sleepy Hollow, Jonathan Creek and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire were filmed in Ashridge's Frithsden Beeches wood. Ashridge House, which is now Ashridge Business School, has been featured in films such as The Dirty Dozen. More recently, it has been used as a location for The Crown and Pennyworth TV series.

In early 2023, English singer-songwriter Sam Smith released a music video for his song I'm Not Here to Make Friends, almost entirely shot in and outside the property.

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

title: Ashridge


text:
Vale of Pewsey

The Vale of Pewsey or Pewsey Vale is an area of Wiltshire, England to the east of Devizes and south of Marlborough, centred on the village of Pewsey.

Geography
The vale is an extent of lower lying ground separating the chalk downs of Salisbury Plain to the south from the Marlborough Downs to the north. It is around 30 km long and around 5 km wide. At the western end is the town of Devizes. Larger settlements in the vale include Pewsey and Burbage with many smaller villages, the larger ones including Bishops Cannings, Etchilhampton, Urchfont, Chirton, Alton Priors, Woodborough, Milton Lilbourne, Easton Royal and Wootton Rivers.

Although not itself part of the downs, the vale is included as part of the North Wessex Downs AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty).

The vale is a major east–west feature opening to the west towards the Bristol Channel, but is drained by the headwaters of the Salisbury Avon, rather than the westward-flowing Bristol Avon. The river cuts through the chalk scarp to the south at Upavon and crosses Salisbury Plain towards the south coast. The higher part of the eastern vale south of Burbage is drained by the River Bourne, which cuts the scarp at Collingbourne Kingston, joining the Avon at Salisbury. Since the area is not believed to have been glaciated, this probably indicates that the course of the rivers pre-dates the modern topography.

The highest point is Milk Hill (near Alton Barnes) at 295 m / 968 ft above sea level, with the adjacent Tan Hill summiting at 294 m / 965 ft.

The vale is not used by any major roads, but is followed by a railway and canal as a route between the London Basin and the west. To the north of Burbage the head of the Avon valley, draining west into the vale, meets the head of the River Dun, draining east to the Kennet and the Thames. The valley floor at around 150 m above sea level provides a route through the downs which locally reach 200 to 300 metres. The Kennet and Avon Canal and the main line railway from London to the south-west make use of this route, the canal using the Bruce Tunnel. Formerly another rail route between Andover and Marlborough also followed this gap. Another line formerly branched off towards Bath via Devizes at the western end of the vale.

Geology
The vale lies along the eroded core of an anticline, a westward extension of the Mendip Axis, with a relatively thin covering of Mesozoic sediments folded upwards over an up-faulted horst of Palaeozoic rocks. The floor of the vale is composed of Albian (Lower Cretaceous) beds of the Upper Greensand, exposed by removal of the overlying chalk. It is surrounded to the north and south by chalk scarps which close to the east near Burbage. There is also a small inlier of Greensand to the east at Shalbourne; this area drains northwards to the Kennet.

Archaeology
Neolithic sites in the vale include Knap Hill, a causewayed enclosure near Alton Priors, first investigated by Benjamin and Maud Cunnington in 1908–9.

In 2000, near the village of Wilcot, a schoolboy found a hoard of Roman coins which became known as the Stanchester Hoard. The find is now at the Wiltshire Museum in Devizes. Since that time there have been several other Roman hoards discovered in the area.

In 2005, significant Neolithic finds and two henge sites – the Marden and Wilsford Henges – were discovered in the vale.

Extent
According to the Pewsey Vale Local Plan prepared by Kennet District Council in 1992, the vale includes land in the following parishes: Alton, Buttermere, Burbage, Charlton, Chute, Chute Forest, Collingbourne Ducis, Collingbourne Kingston, Easton, Enford, Everleigh, Fittleton, Froxfield, Grafton, Great Bedwyn, Ham, Huish, Little Bedwyn, Manningford, Milton Lilbourne, Netheravon, North Newnton, Pewsey, Rushall, Shalbourne, Tidcombe and Fosbury, Upavon, Wilcot, Wilsford, Woodborough, and Wootton Rivers.

Notable residents, past and present

 * Michael Ancram MP, 13th Marquess of Lothian
 * Sir Henry Howarth Bashford, physician and writer
 * David Brudenell-Bruce, Earl of Cardigan, 31st hereditary warden of Savernake Forest
 * Lord Devlin, judge
 * Pete Doherty, musician
 * Major-General Christopher Leslie Elliot
 * Elinor Goodman, former Channel 4 Political Editor
 * Brigadier Robert Hall, first Chairman of Wiltshire Council
 * Nick Harper, musician
 * Sir Henry Keswick, chairman of Jardine Matheson Holdings
 * Peter Lewis, HTV West newsreader
 * Peter Mandelson, Labour politician
 * David Newbigging, High Sheriff of Wiltshire, 2003
 * Claire Perry, former MP for Devizes
 * Shelley Rudman, winner of the silver medal in the skeleton bob, Britain's only medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin
 * Peter Sarstedt, musician
 * Andy Scott, musician of the band The Sweet
 * Jane Seymour, Queen consort of England
 * Nigel Stock, actor
 * Zoë Wanamaker, actress

Culture and sport
Pewsey is the centre of activity for many of the smaller villages in and around the Vale of Pewsey and, as such, offers a wide range of activities for its small size.

Places of interest
Avebury (stone circle), West Kennet Long Barrow, Savernake Forest, Crofton Pumping Station, Silbury Hill, Wilton Windmill, Alton Barnes (crop circles), Marlborough, Kennet and Avon Canal, Bruce Tunnel.

title: Vale of Pewsey


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Przebrno

Przebrno (Pröbbernau) is a neighborhood of the town of Krynica Morska on the Vistula Spit in northern Poland, located in the western part of the town.

The village has sandy beaches on the shores of the Bay of Gdańsk on the northern side of the spit, and the Vistula Lagoon on the southern side.

History
Previously a separate village, it was a possession of the city of Gdańsk, located in the Pomeranian Voivodeship in the Kingdom of Poland until the Second Partition of Poland in 1793, when it was annexed by Prussia. In 1871 it became part of Germany. During World War II, in 1939–1941, it was the location of a subcamp of the Stutthof concentration camp, in which the Germans imprisoned 200 people as forced labour at a time. Following Germany's defeat in World War II, in 1945, the village was reintegrated with Poland.

It was included within town limits of Krynica Morska in 1991. Until then it was a village administratively located in Gmina Sztutowo.

The Vistula Spit canal passes near Przebrno.

title: Przebrno


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Poor Knights Islands

The Poor Knights Islands (Māori: Tawhiti Rahi) are a group of islands off the east coast of the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. They lie 50 km to the northeast of Whangārei, and 22 km offshore halfway between Bream Head and Cape Brett. Uninhabited since the 1820s, they are a nature reserve and popular underwater diving spot, with boat tours typically departing from Tutukaka. The Poor Knights Islands Marine Reserve surrounds the island.

Beaglehole (1955) comments that the origin of the island name is not clear, and speculates that the name could be related to the Poor Knights of Windsor, or that the islands were named for their resemblance to Poor Knight's Pudding, a bread-based dish topped with egg and fried, popular at the time of discovery by Europeans.

Description
The chain consists of two large islands (Tawhiti Rahi, the larger at 151.5 ha, and Aorangi (101 ha) to the south), and several smaller islands. Aorangaia and Archway Island lie to the southwest of Aorangi Island, and there is also a group of smaller rocky islets between the two main islands, the largest of which is Motu Kapiti Island. Others include Bird and Kaka Rock. To the south, there is a smaller island named Ngoio Rock. The Poor Knights Islands are the eroded remnants of a 4-million-year-old rhyolitic volcano that is estimated to have been 1000 m tall and 25 km in diameter.

Oceanography
Spring tide range for the islands is around 2 m, decreasing to a neap tide of around 1 m. The deep water around the island results in only moderate tidal currents. These are around the same magnitude as the prevailing shelf currents. In the general vicinity of the islands mean flows are around 0.2 m/s and run toward the southeast.

A remarkable feature of the region is the large internal tides that occur. These are a form of internal wave driven by the local tidal flow forcing the stratification against sloping areas of the shelf face. The surface manifestation of these waves can be seen from space. These waves generate brief highly localised accelerations. Internal wave amplitudes of around 100 m have been observed, generating flow speeds as great as 0.5 m/s.

Geology
The Poor Knights Islands were created in some of the earliest eruptions of the Coromandel Volcanic Zone, between 10 and 9.5 million years ago. The Poor Knights Islands vulcanism represents an early period for the Coromandel Volcanic Zone, as changes in tectonic forces caused the east belt of the Northland Arc (23 to 16 million years ago) to begin moving southwards, and eventually forming the modern Taupō Volcanic Zone.

Environment
The islands are protected as a nature reserve and a permit is required to land or tie boats up. Permits are usually granted only for scientific research. A notable native plant of the islands is the spectacularly flowering Poor Knights lily, which has become a popular garden plant.

Feral pigs, which had roamed Aorangi since the departure of Māori in the 1820s, were exterminated in 1936. The islands have been identified as an Important Bird Area, by BirdLife International because they are home to a breeding population of about 200,000 pairs of Buller's shearwaters.

The islands contain rock arches and sea caves, including Rikoriko Cave, the largest cave in the world by volume, with a cavern measuring 221494 m3 and an opening large enough for small tour boats to enter. Rikoriko Cave measures 130 by, with a ceiling height of 35 m and extends 26 m deep below water.

Tawhiti Rahi contains the Northern Arch, Middle Arch, and Maomao Arch, the latter being a popular diving location. Aorangaia Island's east–west rock arch resembles a long tunnel, while the aptly named Archway Island is bisected by two rock arches, with the larger Cathedral Arch about 40 m tall.

History
The islands were earlier inhabited by Māori of the Ngāti Wai and Ngati-Toki tribes who grew crops and fished the surrounding sea. The tribe traded with other Maori.

A chief of the tribe named Tatua led his warriors on a fighting expedition to the Hauraki Gulf with Ngā Puhi chief Hongi Hika in the early 1820s. While they were away, a slave named Paha escaped the islands and travelled to Hokianga where he told Waikato, a chief of the Hikutu tribe, that the islands had been left undefended. As Waikato had been offended by Tatua some years previous when he was refused pigs he had come to trade for, so he and his warriors set out on three large canoes to attack the islands. They arrived at the islands one night in December 1823 and soon overpowered the islanders in the absence of their warriors. Many islanders jumped off the high cliffs to avoid being taken as slaves. Tatua's wife Oneho and daughter were captured and taken to the mainland where a distant relative recognised the wife and helped the two to escape.

Tatua returned to the islands to find a scene of destruction. Only nine or ten people were left on the islands, including his five-year-old son Wehiwehi who had been hidden in a cave during the attack. The islands were declared tapu and Tatua left with the survivors and went to Rawhiti in the Bay of Islands where he unexpectedly found his wife and daughter.

title: Poor Knights Islands


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Pewsey

Pewsey is a village and civil parish at the centre of the Vale of Pewsey in Wiltshire, about 6 mi south of Marlborough and 71 mi west of London. It is within reach of the M4 motorway and the A303 and is served by Pewsey railway station on the Reading to Taunton line.

The parish includes the settlements of Kepnal to the east, Pewsey Wharf (on the Kennet and Avon Canal) to the north, Sharcott to the west, and Southcott on the south-east.

History
Archaeological excavations on Pewsey Hill show evidence of a settlement in the 6th century. In the Tudor era, the Manor of Pewsey belonged to the Duchess of Somerset. Several of the village's houses were built in this era: the timber framed cruck house at Ball Corner, Bridge Cottage on the Avon and the Court House by the Church.

In 1764, the founder of the Methodist movement John Wesley (1703–1791) preached at Pewsey's Church of England parish church. The rector at that time, Joseph Townsend, was responsible for the building of Pewsey's first bridge over the River Avon.

The Kennet and Avon Canal reached Pewsey in 1810. Of more lasting effect for the village was the completion of the Hungerford to Devizes section of the GWR's Berks & Hants line in 1862, which allowed fast travel to London and to the West Country. Since 1906, the line at Pewsey has been part of the Reading to Taunton line, a more direct route via Westbury to the West Country.

In 1898 Pewsey Carnival was first held, a tradition that flourishes today with a fortnight of events, including The Feaste, culminating in an illuminated procession in mid to late September.

A prominent statue of King Alfred the Great, the former Anglo Saxon King of Wessex and a local landowner, stands in the middle of the village.

Pewsey White Horse
The Pewsey White Horse hill figure is located on a steep slope of Pewsey Hill about 1 mi south of the village, and can be viewed from several places in the surrounding area. It was cut in 1937 and is one of the smaller Wiltshire white horses. It replaces an earlier one which was possibly cut in 1785.

Governance
An electoral ward in the same name exists. The ward starts in the west at Pewsey and stretches east to Easton Royal. The total population of the ward at the 2011 census was 4,649.

Education
Pewsey Vale School is a state secondary school, without a sixth form.

Pewsey has a state Primary Academy, Pewsey Primary School which is linked to Pewsey vale secondary school. It appeared in the 100 Most Improved Schools table for its 2013 results and its 2014 results put it in the top 100 schools nationally. An Ofsted inspection in 2012 rated the school as 'good' and this was confirmed by a short inspection in 2017.

St. Francis School, an independent preparatory school, is just outside the village.

Parish church
The parish church of St John the Baptist stands next to the main road in the south of the village and is built in flint and sarsen with limestone dressings.

A church at Pewsey was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. The present building has work from the late 12th or early 13th centuries in the four-bay arcades, on foundations of large sarsens; Pevsner suggests the arches were cut through the walls of an earlier building. The plain font bowl is also from the 12th century. The chancel was rebuilt in the late 13th or early 14th century, the clerestory added in the late 14th or early 15th century, and the ashlar west tower added in the 16th century.

In 1861 G.E. Street largely rebuilt the chancel and added the south chapel, reusing early windows from the chancel, and restoration in 1889-90 by C.E. Ponting included the addition of the north porch.

The tower has six bells, the oldest cast in 1620 by Purdue of Salisbury; two others from the 18th century are by Rudhall of Gloucester. On the outside of the tower's east wall hangs a sanctus bell cast by James Burrough of Devizes in 1754.

The church was recorded as Grade I listed in 1964. Today the church is central to the Vale of Pewsey Team, which includes many rural parishes around Pewsey.

Others
A Methodist chapel was built in 1873 and became a church in 1932.

The Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Family was built in 1964.

Amenities
Pewsey has a post office, a petrol station, and a Co-op supermarket. The village has an Indian restaurant and five pubs (the Royal Oak, the Crown Inn, the Moonrakers, the Coopers Arms, and The Shed Alehouse micropub ). At Pewsey Wharf, north of the village, is the Waterfront bar and bistro.

Pewsey Sports Centre, run by Wiltshire Council, is next to Pewsey Vale School. Its facilities include a 25m heated indoor swimming pool, squash courts and a large multi-sport hall.

Pewsey Heritage Centre is a museum run by the local history society, housed in Avonside Works, a former foundry building used by the agricultural engineering firm of Whatley & Hiscock. The company's collection of historic farm machinery forms the core of the museum's collection.

Jones's Mill is a wetland nature reserve by the Avon. Pewsey is connected to London Paddington via its railway station, a short walk from the village centre.

Notable residents

 * Richard Hardinge (c.1593 – 1658), Groom of the Chamber to the then Prince of Wales, later King Charles II
 * Stephen Duck (c.1705 in Charlton, Pewsey Vale – 1756), poet
 * Joseph Gilbert (1800 in Puckshipton – 1881), pastoralist and winemaker from Pewsey Vale in South Australia from 1839
 * Francis Carter (1851–1935), Anglican priest who served in Cornwall, Kent, East Anglia and South Africa
 * Harold Sheppard (1889–1978), cricketer
 * Major General Peter George Francis Young (1912–1976), senior British Army officer, General Officer Commanding Cyprus District from 1962 to 1964
 * Elinor Goodman (born 1946), journalist, political editor of Channel 4 News from 1988 to 2005
 * Moose Harris (born 1967 in Devizes), bass guitarist
 * Mary Killen, newspaper advice columnist and TV personality known for appearances on Gogglebox
 * Tara Shears (born 1969), Professor of Physics at the University of Liverpool
 * Ian Walker (born 1971), former goalkeeper for the England national football team and Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
 * Shelley Rudman (born 1981), winner of the silver medal in the skeleton bob, Britain's only medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics

Sport and leisure
Pewsey has two rugby teams and a junior club. For the 2017–18 season, Pewsey Vale 1st XV plays in the SSE South West Division, Dorset & Wilts 1 North League. PVRFC have a joint second team called Alfred's Nomads, shared with Marlborough RFC; they play in Dorset and Wilts 3 North.

Pewsey has a Non-League football team Pewsey Vale F.C. who play at The Recreation Ground. In July 2014 Pewsey Vale Youth FC was awarded 'FA Chartered Standard' Club of the year by the Wiltshire Football Association.

Wiltshire Council run Pewsey Leisure Centre which is next to Pewsey Vale School. Its amenities include a 25m heated indoor swimming pool (used for swimming, float play, kayaking and snorkelling), squash courts and a multi-sport hall (used for badminton, indoor cricket/football/rugby, basketball, volleyball, circuit training, archery and martial arts (judo, taekwondo and kung fu)).

Pewsey has a running club. A Bowls Club is next to the Tennis club. A swimming pool and gym offer a range of courses including spinning and aqua-aerobics.

Pewsey Music Festival, established in 2007, is a celebration of live music held each August in Cooper's Field, behind the Cooper's Arms pub.

title: Pewsey


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Large blue

The large blue (Phengaris arion) is a species of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. The species was first defined in 1758 and first recorded in Britain in 1795. In 1979 the species became mostly extinct in Britain but has been successfully reintroduced with new conservation methods. The species is classified as "near threatened" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Today P. arion can be found in Europe, the Caucasus, Armenia, western Siberia, Altai, north-western Kazakhstan and Sichuan.

The large blue can be distinguished by its unique speckled black dots on its wings with a blue background.

The large blue butterfly is well known in behavioural ecology as it is a brood parasite of a single species of red ant, Myrmica sabuleti.

Subspecies

 * P. a. arion Mainland Europe, western Siberia, Altai, north-western Kazakhstan
 * P. a. delphinatus (Fruhstorfer, 1910)
 * P. a. zara Jachontov, 1935 Caucasus, Armenia
 * P. a. buholzeri Rezbanyai, 1978
 * P. a. eutyphron Fruhstorfer, 1915 formerly southern Britain

Description
Large blue caterpillars grow to about half an inch (13 millimetres) in length, and spend up to 9 months before they undergo metamorphosis to a chrysalis to become a butterfly. Large blue butterflies are one of the largest in the family Lycaenidae, known as the gossamer-winged butterfly, with a wingspan of up to 2 in, and live only for a few weeks. The wings of the large blue butterfly are speckled with black dots.

Description by Seitz
L. arion L. (83 c). Larger, above of a lighter and more shining blue [than arcas], with a row of black spots across both wings, the spots being sometimes obsolete only on the hindwing of the male. At once recognized by the large number of ocelli on the underside, especially on the hindwing, and by the bright blue dusting of the base beneath. Europe and Anterior Asia, from North Europe, the Baltic provinces, and England to the Mediterranean (Corsica), and from Spain to Armenia and South Siberia. In ab. unicolor Hormuz. the upperside is entirely blue, all the black spots with the exception of the discocellular one being absent. ab. arthurus Melvill is without ocelli beneath. In ab. jasilkowskii Hornuz the ocelli are absent beneath in the cell as in euphemus, from which this aberration is at once distinguished by its blue-green basal scaling on the underside. In ab. coalescens Gillm. the black spots of the upperside are confluent. — Quite a number of local forms have been separated Northern specimens, which are feebly spotted, are named alconides by Aurivillius. — obscura Christ. (83 c) is an alpine form in which the whole outer half of the wings above is black or dark brown; it occurs typically in the High Alps, being locally very plentiful, e. g. at Bergun, Zermatt, Stilvio and at many places in the Alpes Maritimes. This darkened form occurs also in the Ural (= ruehli Krulik.) — In the South two aberrant forms have been found, namely ligurica Wagn., at the Eiviera between San Remo and Bordighera, with a conspicuous row of white marginal ocelli on the upperside of the hindwing, and aldrovandus S. L., from the Vesuvius, the underside darkened with brown. — cyanecula Stgr. [ now species Phengaris cyanecula (Eversmann, 1848)] (83 d) is an Asiatic form, from the Caucasus to Mongolia, with the metallic blue green dusting of the hindwing beneath being abundant, bright, and extending almost to the distal edge. — Egg very flat semiglobular, pale bluish white, deposited on Thymus which just begins to flower. Larva adult pale ochreous, with a pale lilac tinge at the sides; head ochreous, marked with black anteriorly; prothoracic plate black; feeds until the autumn on Thyme, then disappears and is found full grown the next June in the nests of ants. It is therefore suggested that the ants feed it up (Frohawk) and perhaps also protect the pupae. The chrysalis the colour of amber except for the wing-cases, smooth, somewhat elongate, without web. The butterflies occur usually singly, being locally frequent on open ground, on broad roads through shrubby woods, flying about 1 m above the ground. They rest with closed wings, particularly on Thymes and Scabious. On the wing from the end of June into August.

Distribution
The large blue butterfly is found from coast to coast of the Palearctic realm, but is most concentrated in the areas from France to China.

Habitat
The habitat of the large blue butterfly is largely influenced by location of its food sources. The species requires a combination of abundant amounts of its larval food plant, Thymus drucei and the presence of Myrmica sabuleti ants in order to survive.

It has also been found that an underlying key factor for the survival of the large blue is site heterogeneity. The butterfly is most abundant in pastures and abandoned areas of diverse vegetation and shrubbery. This preference can be explained by examining the result of a uniform landscape. A constant landscape synchronizes many biological activities including flowering of host plants, adult emergence dates, or larval pressures on the ant colonies. If important biological functions take place at the same times, the population becomes much more susceptible to random unfortunate events such as environmental disasters. Thus traditional farming acts to desynchronize the biological system, and allows for re-colonization of patches that are temporarily untouched. The presence of differing sites and varied ecological structures provides differing microclimates that can make a huge impact on the survival of the large blue butterfly.

Extinction/conservation
In the late 1900s, Phengaris populations began decreasing drastically throughout Europe with the large blue butterfly being particularly affected. By the 1950s, only an estimated 100,000 adults remained in Britain, and by 1978, 48% of the UK's 91 known large blue populations had been lost. Initially experts were completely baffled by the disappearance of large blues as the sites did not appear to have changed. Leading hypotheses targeted collectors, insecticides, and air pollution as factors that led to the butterfly extinction. A large number of projects were conducted to combat these factors, but all were completely unsuccessful. The species became extinct in the Netherlands in 1964, in the UK in 1979. In Belgium, it had been considered extinct until 1996, when a recolonized population was discovered in the south of the country. Severe decreases in population have also occurred in Denmark, Germany, France, and Estonia. Because of this decline they are being protected. The succession of extinctions and decreases in population has been characterized as a result of unsuccessful conservation efforts that stemmed from a lack of understanding of the behaviour of the butterfly.

Currently the large blue butterfly is classified as critically endangered in Britain as well as being endangered in many areas of Europe. It is a priority species of under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. However, a long-term conservation project in the UK, led by the Royal Entomological Society, led to a significant increase in numbers in 2022, with the species described as "thriving".

Recent findings have also shown that there is a positive correlation between large blue butterfly conservation success and that of other endangered species. One specific example is the relationship between Myrmica ants, the large blue butterfly, violet seeds, and the violet-feeding butterfly (Boloria euphrosyne). The ants will bring the violet seeds into the nest. The seeds will often germinate in the nest, and their potential for germination increases as the nest becomes deserted. Since large blue butterfly predation of ant larvae can lead to desertion of the nest and B. euphrosyne tend to prefer violets growing on deserted ant nests, the fitness of B. euphrosyne appears to be indirectly affected by the presence of the large blue.

Brood-parasitic behaviour
Like many members of the genus Phengaris, large blues are brood parasites, relying on another insect to raise their young. In this case, the hosts are species of Myrmica ant. By being physically and chemically similar to Myrmica ants in their larval stage, and possibly by using other forms of mimicry, Phengaris caterpillars trick the ants into taking them back to the ant nest. Once there, the caterpillar will either become a predator of the ant larvae, or beg for food by acting like an ant larva in what is known as a "cuckoo" strategy. The "cuckoo" method is viewed as a more successful strategy, as studies have consistently found more larvae per nest for cuckoo butterfly species than predator butterflies. Through much research, it has been well documented that large blue butterflies act as predators in the host nests.

Early ideas of the Phengaris-Myrmica relationship resulted in the construction of a linear relationship between one predator and one host. It was proposed that each species of Phengaris had evolutionarily adapted to prey on one specific species of Myrmica with the large blue focusing on M. sabuleti. More recent reports indicate that while each Phengaris species can prey on more than one Myrmica species, that ability varies between species and each butterfly species still prefers a specific ant species. While results are not conclusive, it has been shown that the large blue strongly favours M. sabuleti but has been documented to also prey on M. scabrinodis. Studies have also shown that species of butterfly may exhibit different host preferences depending on the location. For example, in Finland, large blue butterflies exclusively fed off M. lonae nests. Due to differing reports and the difficulties involved in these types of studies, the nature of the host-parasite relationship is still inconclusive.

Female egg-laying behaviour
Since the parasitic-host relationship between the large blue and the Myrmica is essential for the caterpillar survival, female butterflies must lay eggs in areas where the larvae can be found by ant workers of the correct species. In the past it was unclear if Phengaris butterflies were capable of identifying areas of specific Myrmica species. It was believed that the certain species of Phengaris could detect specific odours to identify Myrmica species. It was also thought that certain species of Phengaris were capable of avoiding overcrowding on food plants by detecting high egg loads. New studies indicate that female egg laying is merely attuned to the Myrmica species, and that females do not take other factors into consideration.

Larva/caterpillar stage
Female Phengaris lay eggs on specific plants such as thyme. Wild thyme is the preferred food plant in the UK and in cooler or more mountainous areas in Europe, marjoram is preferred by populations in warmer areas. After about three weeks, larvae hatch to feed on the seeds and flowers of the plant. The caterpillar will stay in the vicinity of its food plant until its 4th instar, when it will drop to the ground. From there the caterpillar will adopt various strategies to be found by Myrmica ants. Several caterpillar species of Phengaris, such as P. rebeli and P. alcon, will secrete pheromones that are specific to their respective hosts. The purpose of such behaviour is to mimic the pheromones of ant larvae that will become workers in the future. By successfully mimicking ant larvae, the caterpillars are taken back to the host nest and fed by the ants. Originally it was thought that the large blue butterfly behaved differently in that some believed it either secreted a poor pheromone mimic, or did not secrete one at all. Today it has been determined that it still secretes semiochemicals as a form of chemical mimicry to gain acceptance into the host ant nest. Large blue caterpillars will sometimes follow ant trails or move away from the food plant during peak-foraging time to expose themselves specifically to Myrmica and not other ants. This results in workers generally ignoring the caterpillar once in the nest because it does not attract attention. The methods in which large blue caterpillars interact with the host ants are not yet known.

"Cuckoo" strategy
While most Phengaris caterpillars behave similarly before entering the host ant nest, once adopted into a nest the larvae adopt one of two strategies. The first is the "cuckoo" strategy. This has been studied extensively in P. rebeli, and consists of continued interaction between the caterpillar and the host ants. Once in the nest, the caterpillar uses acoustic mimicry to hide its identity. The large blue larvae using the cuckoo strategy stay in close quarters with the ants while producing a noise very similar to that of a larval queen ant. By mimicking a queen, Phengaris species which employ the cuckoo strategy are fed by the worker ants and are given preferential treatment over the real ant larvae. Cuckoo strategy users become such high-status members of the nest that the ants will kill their own larvae to feed the caterpillar and will rescue the caterpillar first in the face of danger.

Predator strategy
Unlike other members of the genus Phengaris, the large blue becomes a predator once in the ant nest. It feeds on the ant pupae while continuing to pose as a Myrmica ant. Even with mimicry, mortality for the large blue within the nest is high. One explanation is that each species of Phengaris is most suited for a single species of Myrmica. Caterpillars that are adopted by an unfamiliar species of ant are often killed and eaten. Even if matched with the correct host, many large blue butterflies are unable to survive. If the mimicry is not perfect and the ants become suspicious, death is highly likely. Further, ants in nests without a consistent supply of food are much more likely to identify the large blue as an intruder. Large blue caterpillars are most likely to be attacked during the first 10 days after being adopted by the host ants. This is because in this time the caterpillars become larger than typical Myrmica ant larvae.

Mimicry
Even once Phengaris butterflies have infiltrated the host nest, they continue to hide their identity as caterpillars and will go further in their act of deception. There have been many studies documenting the use of acoustic communication in ants, and it has been found that members of the genus Phengaris exploit this behaviour. For example, P. rebeli mimics the unique sound of the queen to elevate its status in the nest. This mimicry is effective enough to cause worker ants to prefer to rescue the P. rebeli over their own pupae in times of danger. Previously it had been thought that only "cuckoo" strategy species used acoustic mimicry. The sound was so similar, that the sounds of the two caterpillars differed more than each did compared to the sound of the queen. Different Myrmica species utilize distinct semiochemicals to distinguish themselves, but they use very similar acoustic commands once in the nest.

Lab studies and applications
Laboratory studies have shown that large blue butterfly larvae first consume the largest ant larvae. This evolved tactic maximizes efficiency not only because the largest larvae provide the most substance by volume, but also because it prevents the larvae pupating and becoming inaccessible prey. Further, it allows more newly hatched larvae time to grow bigger. While in the nest, large blue caterpillars acquire 99% of their final biomass, growing from an average of 1.3 mg to 173 mg. Results from laboratories estimate that 230 large larvae and a minimum of 354 Myrmica workers are needed to ensure the survival of one butterfly; however, such a large nest is very rarely found in the wild. This supports findings that large blue butterflies are extremely capable of withstanding starvation. This becomes extremely beneficial in situations when the ants desert the colony and leave the caterpillar behind. Large blue butterflies have been known to be capable of migrating to new nests once the original is deserted. In many cases, a nearby colony with a fresh brood will populate the nest allowing the surviving large blues to sequentially parasitize multiple Myrmica colonies.

Cuckoo vs. predatory strategies
Scientists remain unsure why there are multiple strategies within the host nest, but studies have been conducted to determine the effectiveness of each. The cuckoo strategy results in six times more butterflies per nest than the predatory strategy. While this seems to indicate a dominance of the cuckoo strategy, there are other factors to consider. Since the cuckoo caterpillars remain in close vicinity of the ants, they must secrete chemicals that are almost identical to the host species in order to survive. This explains why cuckoo strategy users are more likely to be predated by the host colony when adopted by a non-primary host than predatory strategy users. Current data seem to support the idea that cuckoo strategy users depend on a specific species of Myrmica ant while predatory Phengaris are more versatile overall but still perform better with a specific species.

The queen effect
It has been found that large blue butterflies are three times less likely to survive in nests that have queen ants present. This discovery has been explained with a theory called the "queen effect". In most Myrmica nests, the queen ant will lay two main batches of eggs, and the females that hatch from these eggs will either become workers or virgin queens. Whether these females become workers or virgin queens is dependent on the status of the queen in the nest. If the queen dies, worker ants have the largest of the female larvae transition into virgin queens. If the queen is present and healthy, she influences the nurse workers to neglect, starve and bite the female larvae which results in restricted growth and aids in the transition to workers. This indicates that Phengaris butterflies must maintain a strict balance between mimicking the queen in the presence of workers and appearing to be a worker to avoid the queen.

title: Large blue


text:
Grenzdorf

Grenzdorf may refer to:

 * Graniczna Wieś, a village in Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland
 * Hraničky, a settlement located in Sudetenland, Czech Republic
 * Grenzdorf (Ramin), a settlement in Ramin municipality in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany

title: Grenzdorf


text:
Talk:Minami-Alps, Yamanashi

Is this that first city with katakana in its name? -- Kaihsu 12:47, 2004 Mar 2 (UTC)

External links modified (January 2018)
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title: Talk:Minami-Alps, Yamanashi


text:
Graniczna Wieś

Graniczna Wieś is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Trąbki Wielkie, within Gdańsk County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It lies approximately 6 km west of Trąbki Wielkie, 17 km south-west of Pruszcz Gdański, and 26 km south-west of the regional capital Gdańsk.

The name of the village means "boundary village".

During the Second World War, in 1939–1941, Graniczna Wieś was the site of the Grenzdorf subcamp of the Stutthof concentration camp, in which the Germans subjected hundreds of people to forced labour. Many Poles from Gdańsk died in the subcamp.

title: Graniczna Wieś


text:
Colt Single Action Army

The Colt Single Action Army (also known as the SAA, Model P, Peacemaker, or M1873) is a single-action revolver handgun. It was designed for the U.S. government service revolver trials of 1872 by Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company (today known as Colt's Manufacturing Company) and was adopted as the standard-issued pistol of the U.S. Army from 1873 to 1892.

The Colt SAA has been offered in over 30 different calibers and various barrel lengths. Its overall appearance has remained consistent since 1873. Colt has cancelled its production twice, but renewed it due to popular demand. The revolver was dubbed the "Peacemaker", and is a famous piece of Americana and the American Wild West era, due to its popularity with ranchers, lawmen, and outlaws alike. Today, it is mainly bought as memorabilia by collectors and re-enactors. Its design has influenced the production of numerous other models from other companies.

The original length of the barrel, issued to the U.S. Cavalry, was 7+1/2 in, with an overall length of 13 in.

History
Bound by the Rollin White patent, and not wanting to pay a royalty fee to Smith & Wesson, Colt could not begin development of bored-through revolver cylinders for metallic cartridge use until April 4, 1869. For the design, Colt turned to two of its best engineers: William Mason and Charles Brinckerhoff Richards who had developed a number of revolvers and black powder conversions for the company. Their effort was designed for the United States government service revolver trials of 1872 by Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company and adopted as the standard military service revolver. Production began in 1873 with the Single Action Army model 1873, also referred to as the "New Model Army Metallic Cartridge Revolving Pistol".

The first production Single Action Army, serial number 1, thought lost for many years after its production, was found in a barn in Nashua, New Hampshire, in the early 1900s. This gun was chambered in .44 S&W, a centerfire design containing charges of up to 40 gr of fine-grained black powder and a 255 gr blunt roundnosed bullet. Relative to period cartridges and most later handgun rounds, it was quite powerful in its full loading.

The Colt Single Action Army revolver, along with the 1870 and 1875 Smith & Wesson American and Model 3 "Schofield" revolvers, replaced the Colt 1860 Army Percussion revolver. The Colt quickly gained favor over the S&W and remained the primary U.S. military sidearm until 1892 when it was replaced by the .38 Long Colt caliber Colt Model 1892, a double-action revolver with swing-out cylinder. By the end of 1874, serial no. 16,000 was reached; 12,500 Colt Single Action Army revolvers chambered for the .45 Colt cartridge had entered service and the remaining revolvers were sold in the civilian market.

First generation (1873–1941)
The Single Action Army became available in standard barrel lengths of $7 1/2$ inch, $7 1/2$ inch, as well as the Cavalry standard, original $4 3/4$ inch. The shorter barrelled revolvers are sometimes called the "Civilian" or "Gunfighter" model ($5 1/2$ inch) and the Artillery Model ($7 1/2$ inch). There was also a variant with a sub-4-inch barrel, without an ejector rod, unofficially called the "Sheriff's Model", "Banker's Special", or "Storekeeper".

From 1875 until 1880 Colt marketed a single-action revolver chambered in .44 Henry in a separate number range from no. 1 to 1,863.

A "Flattop Target Model" was listed in Colt's catalogs from 1890 to 1898. Colt manufactured 914 of these revolvers with a frame that was flat on top and fitted with an adjustable leaf rear sight. The front sight consisted of a base with an interchangeable blade.

In 1896, at serial number 164,100, a spring-loaded base pin latch replaced the cylinder pin retaining screw and by 1900, at serial number 192,000, the Colt Single Action was certified for use with smokeless powder. In 1920, larger, highly visible sights replaced the original thin blade and notch. The revolvers remained essentially unchanged from that point until cessation of manufacture at the beginning of World War II.

From 1873 through 1940 (with small numbers assembled during and after World War II, the so-called "Pre-War, Post-War" model), production of the Colt Single Action Army reached 357,859. This is identified as the "Pre War" or "First Generation" of the model. Calibers, at least thirty in all, ranged from .22 rimfire through .476 Eley, with approximately half, or 158,884 (including Bisley and Flat Top Target variations), chambered for .45 Colt. The next most prevalent were the .44-40 Winchester Center fire (WCF) at 71,392; 38-40 (38 WCF) at 50,520; .32-20 Winchester (32 WCF) at 43,284 and, the 41 Colt at 19,676.

Military use
All original, good condition, U.S. Cavalry and Artillery Single Action Armies (those produced between 1873 and 1891) are among the most valuable to collectors. Especially valuable, often going for well over $10,000, are the OWA (Orville Wood Ainsworth) and the rare Henry Nettleton inspected Single Action Army Colts.

The OWA Colt refers to the earliest issued Single Action Army guns, which were inspected by Orville W. Ainsworth. Ainsworth was the ordnance sub-inspector at the Colt factory for the first 13 months (October 1873 to November 1874) of the Single Action Army's production. It was Ainsworth who inspected the Colts used by Col. G. A. Custer's 7th Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The number range of possible Little Bighorn Colts is 4500–7527.

Henry Nettleton was the U.S. Principal Sub-inspector in 1878 at the Springfield Armory. Second only to the OWA Colts, Nettleton Colts are prized by serious collectors. Both the Nettleton and OWA Colts have the cartouche (OWA or HN) on the left side of the wood grip.

By the mid-1870s, the Army had purchased a significant number of Smith & Wesson Schofield revolvers chambering a shorter .45 round. Logistical problems arose because the ammunition was not interchangeable. The Colt revolvers would accept the shorter round, but not vice versa. For a time, the Government stopped orders for the longer Colt cartridge and used the Smith & Wesson round exclusively. The Schofield was soon retired and sold to the civilian market.

The largest group of U.S. Colt Cavalry revolvers was inspected by David F. Clark, his D.F.C. cartouche being encountered on revolvers inspected from 1880 to 1887. During 1893, the .45 U.S. Colt Single Action Army revolver was retired by the Cavalry and replaced by the .38 caliber Colt Model 1892 Double Action Army revolver. The .45 Single Action Army revolver was still standard issue to the Infantry, Artillery and other branches of the U.S. Army.

In 1895–1896, the U.S. federal government returned 2,000 SAA revolvers to Colt to be refurbished; 800 were issued to the New York Militia with the 7+1/2 in barrel and 1,200 were altered to a barrel length of 5+1/2 in. In 1898, 14,900 of the SAA revolvers were altered the same way by Springfield Armory. The original records of the War Department do refer to these revolvers with the shortened barrel as the "Altered Revolver". The name "Artillery" is actually a misnomer, which Sapp speculates may have originated because the Light Artillery happened to have the first units armed with the altered revolver.

The Artillery Single Actions were issued to the Infantry, the Light Artillery, the Volunteer Cavalry and other troops because the standard-issue .38 caliber Colt M 1892 double-action revolver was lacking in stopping power. For that reason, the .45 Artillery SAA Revolvers were used successfully by front troops in the Spanish–American War and the Philippine–American War. Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders charged up San Juan Hill wielding the .45 caliber Artillery Model.

The Artillery Model usually had mixed numbers. It can be identified by the U.S. on the frame, the inspector's stamps on different parts (such as a tiny A for Orville W. Ainsworth, DFC, HN, RAC for later inspectors and K for replacement parts) and the cartouche of Rinaldo A. Carr (RAC), the inspector who inspected the refurbished guns, on the grip.

The Colt Frontier Six-Shooter

The Colt Frontier or Frontier Six-Shooter was a Colt's 1873 "Model P" type revolver manufactured in .44-40 Winchester caliber instead of .45 Colt (in which configuration it was called the Single Action Army) so that it was compatible with Winchester Model 1873 ammunition. Production began in 1877. Colt Frontier Six-Shooter was the actual name of the Colt pistol model, and this was acid-etched on the left side of the barrel. After 1889, the legend was roll-stamped until 1919, when the caliber designation ".44-40" was added. Later Colt M1878 Double Action Army Models also wore this designation on the barrel when chambered in .44 WCF/.44-40 Winchester. The Bisley 1895 Model was the final Colt to wear the Frontier Six Shooter designation.

The 44-40 was also promoted as the standard chambering for the new, hugely successful, Winchester Model 1873 rifle. Users of the .44-40 Winchester cartridge in the Far West appreciated the convenience of being able to carry a single caliber of ammunition, which they could fire in both revolver and rifle. The Colt Frontier Six Shooter Revolver and the Winchester Model 1873 or the Winchester Model 1892 in .44-40 WCF caliber were one of the most common combinations seen in "the Old West". For example, the two mounted "Cowboys" at the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral were armed with this rifle and pistol combination. .38-40 and .32-20 (.32 WCF) also qualify as "Frontier Calibers" because 1873 and 1892 Winchesters were made in these calibers, offering the same convenience as the 44-40 (44WCF) caliber, namely using the same cartridge in both revolver and rifle.

The Bisley Model
The Colt Bisley (1894–1912) was introduced in 1894 as an accurate target pistol. The name Bisley came from the famous firing range in Bisley, England. The Colt Bisley can be distinguished by the longer grip, the wider hammer spur, and the wider trigger. The distinguishing feature of the Bisley Target Model is the topstrap, which is flat and fitted with a sliding rear sight, adjustable for windage only. The front sight is a removable blade, which fits into the slotted base attached to the barrel. The revolvers were supplied with different blades for elevation.

The Bisley mainspring is longer than the SAA mainspring, and the two are not interchangeable; it is attached to the hammer with a stirrup via a forked upper end. The serial numbers are stamped on the frame, the backstrap and the trigger-guard at the end of production, with tiny dies.

Bisleys were serial-numbered in the range of 156300–331916, in the same sequence as the Single Action Army. All Bisleys after No. 161,376 had "BISLEY MODEL" with the caliber stamped on the left side of the barrel, which is rare for older Colt revolvers. The most common were in the American calibers of .32-20, .38-40, .45 Colt, .44-40, .41 Long Colt, and also in the British calibers of .450 Eley and .455 Eley. A total number of 44,350 were manufactured. Production of the Bisley was terminated in 1912, but serial No. 331916 was shipped after the First World War. Most Bisley Standard Model Revolvers shipped to a United States address were not used for target shooting, but for self-defense, because the grip and hammer were ideal for fast shooting.

Surveys of existing Bisley show that a much larger number of 4+3/4 in Bisleys, perhaps as high as 62%, have survived as compared to the $4 3/4$" and $5 1/2$" barreled guns. Considering the majority of Bisleys were made in .32/20 and .38/40, some 60%, it appears that the market for SAAs was changing. In the late 1890s, with increasing urbanization in the Western United States, suggests the possibility that many of these pistols were used as companion pieces to lever-action rifles of the same period. The unique features of the Bisley with their low-slung hammer, less humped backstrap, and shorter barrel may have suited the city-dwelling suit-coat-wearing clientele who still found themselves outdoors, not only on horses but in buggies and automobiles. The need for man-stopping bullets was decreasing in urbanized environments, although in semi-urban areas, a pistol like the Bisley would be suitable for discouraging both four-legged and two-legged "varmints" while also suitable for collecting supper along the road. The Bisley may mark a movement to a more civilized West.

Buntline Special
Wyatt Earp biographer Stuart N. Lake popularized the myth of the Buntline Special. In his highly fictionalized biography, Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal, published in 1931, he wrote that Earp and four other lawmen—Bat Masterson, Bill Tilghman, Charlie Bassett and Neal Brown—were each presented with a customized revolver with a 12 in barrel. However, according to some other accounts, on October 26, 1881, the day of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Earp carried an 1869 .44 caliber Smith & Wesson American Model with an 8 in barrel.

Second generation (1956–1974)
At the beginning of World War II, Colt ceased production of the Single Action Army revolver to devote more time to filling orders for the war. When the war ended, no plans were made to revive the Single Action Army revolver as the design was seen as obsolete. However, the advent of television and Western-themed movies created customer demand for the revolver, so Colt resumed manufacture in 1956 with the Second-Generation line of Single Action Army revolvers.

These Second-Generation Colt Single Action Army revolvers were produced from 1956 to 1974 and carried serial numbers in the range of 0001SA to 73,205SA. Due to the popularity of the television show The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Colt introduced the aforementioned Buntline Special as a Second generation offering from 1957 to 1974.

From 1961 to 1975, Colt offered an adjustable-sight model known as "The New Frontier", capitalizing on President John F. Kennedy's campaign slogan. Colt manufactured 4200 of these revolvers, including 70 built on the Buntline frame.

Third generation (1976–1982)
The Third Generation began in 1976, characterized by a change in barrel thread pitch and a solid cylinder bushing replacing the removable/replaceable part from the first and second generations. This series ran until 1982 as a limited-issue product with the serial number range of SA80,000 to SA99,999.

Late Third/Fourth generation (1994–Present)
In 1994, production of the SAA resumed with the increase in popularity of "Cowboy Action Shooting" matches. These models are known either as "Late Third Generation" or sometimes Fourth Generation. They have the original style removable/replaceable cylinder bushing. The serial number for this series started at S02001A and continue to use the "S" prefix and "A" suffix as of 2022. Colt currently offers the Single Action Army in one of two finishes: either an all-nickel, or blued with color case-hardened frame; in the traditional three barrel lengths: 4+3/4 ,; and eight chamberings: .32-20, .38-40, .44-40, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, .44 Special, .45 Colt, or .45 ACP; a total of 42 variations.

Colt manufactured Third Generation Buntlines and New Frontiers through the Colt Custom Shop, as well as many engraved pistols. In 2010, Colt released a "revival" of the Frontier Six Shooter with a nickel finish.

The Colt Cowboy
Starting in 1999, Colt began manufacturing a version of the Single Action Army revolver with a modern transfer bar safety, allowing it to be carried with the hammer resting on a loaded chamber. The Colt Cowboy, as it was named, was designed to be more affordable than the Single Action Army. It was offered with barrel lengths of 4.75", 5.5", and 7.5". The 7.5" variant was discontinued in 1999, as was the 4.75" variant, which was reintroduced in 2002. Manufacturing of the Colt Cowboy was discontinued in 2003.

Engraving
Colt engraved about one percent of its first-generation production of the Single Action Army revolver, which makes these engraved models extremely rare and valuable with collectors. Engraved pieces were often ordered by or for famous people of the day, including lawmen, heads of state, and captains of industry. This tradition began with the founder, Samuel Colt, who regularly gave such examples away as a means of publicity for Colt.

Colt employed a number of engravers, many of whom were trained artisans who emigrated from Europe. These artisans, such as Gustave Young, Cuno A. Helfricht, Rudolph J. Kornbrath and Louis Daniel Nimschke, were known for inlaying gold, silver, and precious stones in their work. Many of these engraved pieces were adorned with stocks made of ivory or pearl, with engraving and inlays as well.

About 400 of the Second Generation Colt Single Actions were factory-engraved by Colt. The factory engravers of the period were Alvin Herbert, Earl Bieu, Dennis Kies, Robert Burt, Steve Kamyk and Leonard Francolini. One of the most sought-after engravers who have worked on Colt revolvers was Alvin White and the shop of A. A. White Engravers.

Original U.S. Army Instructions for Loading
The original instructions for operation of the Single Action Army, both by Colt and the United States Army Ordnance Corps, specifies the loading of all six chambers and carrying the revolver habitually with the hammer cocked in the safety notch.

Specifically, the 1874 U.S. Army Ordnance Manual, Description and Rules for the Management of the Springfield Rifle, Carbine, and Army Revolvers, Caliber .45, state "bring the hammer to the safety notch; keep it there until the Pistol is to be fired." as part of the loading instructions.

Colt's commercial instructions for loading and carrying
Colt continued to provide instructions specifying the revolver was to be carried with all six chambers loaded and with the hammer on the safety notch from 1874 to at least 1945. In 1898, the advertisements for the Single Action Army, 1877, and M1878 all instructed: "These Revolvers should be carried with the hammer resting in the Safety Notch." Colt's advertisements in the 1920s through 1945 (after which the first generation Single Action Armys were discontinued) instructed that the revolver "May be carried cocked with the hammer in the safety notch."

Mechanics
The Single Action Army action is a refinement of the earlier Colt percussion revolvers and the Colt 1871 cartridge revolver. The cylinder is mounted on a central axis and operated by a hand with a double finger with which more extended action allows the cylinder-ratchet to be cut in a larger circle, giving more torsional force to the cylinder. Four notches on the face of the hammer engage the sear portion of the trigger, affording four basic hammer positions. The hammer rests within the frame when it is fully lowered. Drawn slightly to the rear, the hammer engages the safety notch of the sear and holds the firing pin out of direct contact with a chambered cartridge. Like the earlier percussion revolvers, the Single Action Army was designed to allow loading of all the chambers.

The safety notch replaced pins on the rear of the percussion revolver cylinders, which served the same purpose as the safety position; that is, preventing hammer contact with the primer/percussion cap. According to the original instructions from Colt, as well as the U.S. Army Ordnance Department, the revolver was to be carried with all six chambers loaded and carried with the hammer half-cocked in the safety notch. However, beginning sometime after the Second World War and after the introduction of the Second Generation single action in the 1950s, some gun-writers began strongly advocating the practice of leaving one empty chamber under the hammer. It is likely this was recommended after the Second World War because with the changed tolerances of the re-designed Second Generation Single Action Army, a sharp blow could damage the re-designed half-cock mechanism and allow a fully loaded revolver to fire. Drawn back about halfway, the hammer engages the second notch. This cams the cylinder bolt out of engagement and allows the cylinder to rotate for loading. Fully cocked, the revolver is ready to fire. Cartridge ejection is via the spring-loaded rod housed in a tube on the right side of the barrel.

It is possible to fire the SAA rapidly by holding down the trigger and "fanning" the hammer with the other hand. Ed McGivern dispelled the myth of the inaccuracy of this procedure by shooting tight groups while fanning the revolver.

Calibers
By 1878, the Single Action Army was being offered from the factory in additional calibers for civilian and foreign military sales. Many were sold in .44-40 Winchester Winchester Center Fire (WCF), introduced in 1878 to allow cross-compatibility with the Winchester '73 lever-action rifle; this model was called the "Colt Frontier Six-Shooter", which was etched and later roll-stamped on the left side of the barrel. Additional period calibers for the SAA included .38-40 Winchester introduced in 1884, the .32-20 Winchester introduced in 1884, the .41 Long Colt introduced in 1885, the .38 Long Colt in 1887, the .38 Special and the .357 Magnum in the 20th century. Some of the separately-serialized .44 Henry rimfire revolvers were rechambered to .22 rimfire after 1885. The SAA at one time or another was offered in dozens of calibers from .22 rimfire to .476 Eley, though the .45 Colt has always been the most common. A scaled-down .22 rimfire version called the Scout or Frontier Scout was available in the late 20th century.

45 Colt cartridge variations

The first Colt Single Action Army prototypes were manufactured in .44 American caliber for the 1872 government trials, as the .44 American was the cartridge used in the 1,000 Smith & Wesson Model 3 revolvers issued to the troops. After the tests, the Colt was declared the superior revolver and the government specified that a .45 caliber cartridge would be required. With the adoption of the Colt Single Action Army revolver in 1873, the service cartridges were Copper-cased .45 centerfire Benét inside primed "Colt's Revolver Cartridges" loaded with 30 grains of black powder and an inside lubricated bullet of 250 grain. They were manufactured at Frankford Arsenal, Philadelphia, PA, through 1874. In 1875, the cartridge was shortened so that it would also function in the newly adopted S & W Schofield revolver. It was designated "Revolver Cartridge" and loaded with 28 grains of black powder and a bullet of 230 grain. The Bénet-primed cartridges were manufactured until 1882 and then replaced by reloadable cartridges with brass cases and external primers.

The original .45 Colt black-powder load of 40 gr propelled a bullet weight of 255 gr at a nominal 970 ft/s. Authors John Taffin and Mike Venturino have demonstrated that modern black-powder loadings of the .45 Colt cartridge frequently achieve velocities in the vicinity of 1000 ft/s with the $7 1/2$" "cavalry" barrel length, even though modern solid-head cases make it impossible to load a full 40 grains. Specifications for 20th-century smokeless loads set velocity with a 255 gr round-nosed flat-point bullet at 870 ft/s providing 429 ft.lbf energy.

The version of the .45 Colt as of 2014 differs from the original cartridge case in that the rim is significantly larger (with a groove immediately above it) and the internal aspect of the primer pocket is surrounded by solid brass instead of protruding into the powder chamber. This "solid head" case is stronger and resists deformation of the primer pocket. Some commercial and custom revolvers and single-shot pistols (such as the Ruger Blackhawk, T/C Contender and others) employ high-pressure loads that are dangerous in the Single Action Army and other vintage arms chambered for the .45 Colt cartridge, especially 19th-century "pre-smokeless" revolvers, which should be fired (if at all) with black powder, only.

Prior to World War II, the .45 Colt used a groove diameter of .454"; post-WWII production adopted the .452" groove diameter of the .45 ACP. From 1924 through 1940, a small number of Single Actions in the pistol caliber .45 ACP were produced. Colt's records list several Single Actions chambered for the .45 Colt cartridge and being accompanied by an extra cylinder for the .45 ACP.

Legacy

The power, accuracy and handling qualities of the Single Action Army (SAA) made it a popular sidearm from its inception, well into the 20th century. The association with the history of the American West remains to the present century, and these revolvers remain popular with shooters and collectors. George S. Patton, who began his career in the horse-cavalry, carried a custom-made SAA with ivory grips engraved with his initials and an eagle, which became his trademark. He used it during the Mexican Punitive Expedition of 1916 in a gunfight with two of Pancho Villa's lieutenants and carried it until his death in 1945 shortly after the end of World War II. It remains on display, along with the SAA carried by actor George C. Scott portraying Patton in the 1970 film by the same name at the General George Patton Museum of Leadership at Fort Knox, KY

In the early and mid-20th century, original Peacemakers lacking historical provenance and not in pristine condition were not particularly valuable. They served as raw material for early enthusiasts such as Elmer Keith, Harold Croft and R. F. Sedgley who modified the revolvers to enhance performance and experimented with more effective ammunition. At the beginning of the 21st century, first- and second-generation SAAs are highly regarded as collectors' items and often considered too valuable to shoot.

After World War II, new interest in the SAA started and firearms enthusiast William R. Wilson recognized the need and the opportunity. In 1953 Wilson founded the Great Western Arms Company to produce an almost-exact clone of the old Colt SAA for television and movie westerns. The Great Western revolvers were manufactured in Los Angeles.

Later Colt editions are more common, and various copies and near-copies of the revolver are made by Uberti of Italy. Uberti is now owned by Beretta, producer of the Beretta Stampede. American manufacturers include Colt Manufacturing Company, which still retains the model in its catalog. Until its dissolution in 2017, U.S. Fire Arms Mfg. Co. built several variations true to the original first- and second-generation specifications. STI International has introduced a very precisely made Single Action Army with a modified hand/spring assembly designed to last longer than the originals.

The Single Action Army is the precursor and inspiration for modern sporting revolvers from John Linebaugh, Freedom Arms, Ruger, Cimarron, and others.

In 2010, Arizona State Rifle and Pistol Association President Noble C. Hathaway and Cast Bullet Director Dan Walliser surveyed state residents to determine what "Old West" firearm should be named the official state firearm. The Colt Patent Firearms Single Action Army won by a 38% margin. Afterwards, Hathaway submitted a bill to the Arizona legislature, and on the last day of the 2010–2011 regular legislative session, Arizona Senate Bill 1610 was passed. Governor Jan Brewer signed the bill into law. Arizona is the second state to have an official firearm, following Utah's adoption of the Colt M1911 pistol.

title: Colt Single Action Army