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Porth

Porth (Y Porth) is a town and a community in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales. Lying in the Rhondda Valley, it is regarded as the gateway connecting the Rhondda Fawr and Rhondda Fach valleys due to both valleys meeting at Porth. The Welsh word "porth" means "gate". Porth is a predominantly English-speaking community.

Neighbouring villages include Trealaw, Trebanog, Trehafod and Ynyshir.

Early history
During prehistoric times the area now known as Porth was an uninhabited wooded area. Although there is evidence of settlements in the upper reaches of the valley, only cairns used as way-markers have been discovered on the higher points in the Porth area. During the medieval period the area came under the commote of Glynrhondda within the cantref of Penychen, though the area remained uninhabited. Although there were no permanent buildings of note at this time, it is known that the area would have experienced travelers with two bridges built over the River Rhondda at Porth, the Pont Rheola and Pont y Cymmer. Both bridges date to at least the 1530s when they were mentioned by antiquary John Leland. These bridges were wooden in construct and were later rebuilt in stone. The first buildings of note in the region were built to the south of Porth in the community known today as Cymmer, mainly a chapel, Capel y Cymmer (1743) and a mill on the south bank of the River Rhondda. By the 18th century there were a handful of farm houses, mainly in the northern slopes of Llwyncelyn. During this pre-industrial era, the locale was known as Cymmer, an old Welsh word that describes the point where two rivers converge. It was only during the industrial period that the mining operations of the Porth Estate and the subsequently named railway station that saw the name Porth adopted.

Industrial growth
In 1809, Walter Coffin sunk the first coal pit in the Rhondda, further up the valley in Dinas, but a lack of a transportation network greatly affected the profitability of coal mining as an industry in the region. Coffin tackled this problem by constructing a one-mile tramline which connected his mines in Dinas to a tramline built by Dr. Richard Griffiths at Denia (modern spelling Dynea) (Pontypridd), which linked to a private canal that joined onto the Glamorganshire Canal at Treforest. Coffin's tramline followed the southern bank of the River Rhondda and ran through Porth. The existence of the tramline made the development of the Porth and Cymmer region far more attractive, and by the middle of the 19th century there was an impetus to expand coal mining in the area. In 1841 Richard Lewis joined Coffin in trying to exploit the region with his level built at Cymmer. This resulted in the construction of around fifty miners' cottages, several of which were located in Porth. In 1844 Lewis Edwards of Newport and George Gethin of Penygraig opened a small level at Nyth-bran on the eastern borders of Porth, the villages' first coal mine. This was followed in 1845 by the sinking of the Porth Colliery by David James of Merthyr, the success of which saw him build the Llwyncelyn Colliery in 1851, also in Porth. By 1850 the Taff Vale Railway had been extended to Cymmer replacing the tramline, allowing direct access between the lower Rhondda and the ports of Cardiff.

In 1850 the Troedyrhiw Colliery (later to become the Aber-Rhondda Colliery), which was sunk on the northern borders of Porth and the neighbouring village of Ynyshir by Leonard Hadley of Caerleon five years earlier, came into the ownership of a new consortium known as the Troedyrhiw Coal Company. This company was formed by James Thomas, a former miner, Matthew Cop, a Cardiff docksman and John Lewis, a grocer from Aberdare. In 1852 the same company opened the Tynewydd Colliery at the junction of the Rhondda Fawr and Fach rivers, Porth's fourth mine. The mine quickly struck the Rhondda No. 3 seam, and coking ovens were built at the surface, providing further employment.

With the increase in population, transport links began to improve in the Rhondda. This was hampered by subsidence caused the mining underground, which resulted in the roads of Porth Square sinking by eight foot. In 1860 a two horsed omnibus service was introduced between Porth and Pontypridd, but was replaced by a system of horsedrawn tramcars in 1888. Although the tramline and subsequently the railway had passed through Porth for two decades, servicing the collieries, it was not until 1861 that the village had its first railway station; and a passenger service did not commence until January 1863.

As the population continued to increase, businesses and infrastructure grew around the coal industry. The Rhondda Urban Council chose Porth as one of two sites to build gas works and the area around Porth Square and Hannah Street became the commercial centre of the village. One of the more notable businesses to open in Porth was the Thomas & Evans grocers one of the first of a chain of shops owned by William Thomas and William Evans two entrepreneurs from Pembrokeshire. Evans became an important figure in the growth of Porth, and in the late 1890s he opened a jam factory and the Welsh Hills Mineral Water factory, later to become Corona carbonated drinks which would remain a major manufacturer within the village up until the 1980s.

Coal mining in the Rhondda continued to expand throughout the early 20th century, although no further mines were sunk in Porth. The population continued to grow but conditions became hard after the Great Depression, and by the mid 1920s unemployment among mine workers rocketed. Matters worsened after the disastrous general strike of 1926 which saw many miners out of work for months. As mechanisation allowed other mining areas to become more profitable, the antiquated Rhondda mines sunk nearly 75 years earlier were unable to modernise and one-by-one began to close. Porth, like the rest of the Rhondda, was built solely around the coal industry, and with its collapse came mass unemployment, resulting in economic migration. There was a brief respite during the Second World War, when employment rose sharply. This was partially due for a need for Rhondda steam coal, but also due to large munition factories built in Bridgend, Hirwaun and Treforest to which the workers commuted. With the end of the war it was apparent that unemployment would return, but to ensure that the newly found factory skills gained during the previous six years were not lost the British Government passed the Distribution of Industry Act in 1945. This saw 25 new industry come to the Rhondda, six of them based in Porth. They ranged from Messrs. Jacob Beatus' box making company, a metal toy factory and a branch of Remploy aimed at disabled workers.

Tynewydd Colliery disaster
On 11 April 1877 the Tynewydd Colliery 51.61472°N, -3.41167°W - was the scene of a mine disaster that led to a notable mine rescue operation following which four first-class and twenty-one second-class Albert Medals for Lifesaving were awarded. A build-up of water in old workings of the neighbouring Cymmer Colliery resulted in flooding of the Tynewydd mine. Only fourteen of approximately 100 miners employed at the mine were working underground at the time of the accident.

Four of the trapped miners were rescued after eighteen hours but a fifth, William Morgan, was crushed to death by an escape of compressed air. Four other miners were drowned. The remaining five, Dafydd Jenkins, Moses Powell, George Jenkins, John Thomas and the boy David Hughes, were located behind a thirty-eight yards thick barrier of coal with a large quantity of water and compressed air and probably gas behind it. It took four days to cut through the barrier until on 19 April only a few yards remained. At this stage operations were halted because there was a danger of pent-up water behind the barrier bursting through. In spite of this danger four, or alternatively five, of the rescuers volunteered to continue, according to some reports Daniel Thomas, Isaac Pride, John William Howell and William Beith. There is some confusion over the number and names of the rescuers - Daniel Thomas, listed as one of those awarded the first-class medal, is referred to as owner of Brithweunydd Level, the Tynewydd colliery owner is reported to have been considered for but not awarded a first-class medal because of his impending trial on manslaughter charges of which he was acquitted, and Gwilym Thomas is seen in a photograph of "three of the rescuers" with Isaac Pride and Abraham "Abby" Dodd,. An escape of inflammable gas under pressure extinguished the rescue team's Davy lamps but they continued working in darkness. At 3.00 p.m. on 20 April the breakthrough occurred.

Because of the problems posed by the potential escape of air under pressure, the mine engineers erected stout air doors to contain any escaping air and gas and confine possible explosions. One was built within a yard of the face. Isaac Pride who volunteered to break through the barrier had to work within a very confined space. A blast of air was released as his pick broke through and threw him back against the air door, but he quickly set about enlarging the hole, assisted by "Abby" Dodd. They found the five trapped miners too weak to stand. Between them Pride and Dodd pulled the five to safety as the water level rose. It is claimed that "Abby" Dodd was not awarded an Albert Medal because of an interview he gave to a journalist criticising the colliery owners, at a time when there had been considerable conflict in the Welsh coal mines between miners and owners.

The Albert Medals awarded at Tynewydd were the first awarded for gallantry on land. The medal had been introduced a decade earlier to honour heroic lifesaving efforts in rescues at sea. The Albert Medal First Class awarded to William Beith can be seen as part of the permanent exhibition in the Coins and Medals Gallery at the National Museum of Wales in Cathays Park, Cardiff. William Beith was a mechanical engineer at Harris's Navigation Colliery, Quaker's Yard, Merthyr Tydfil. In addition, the colliery doctor, Dr. Henry Naunton Davies, was awarded the first British Medical Association Gold Medal for his work during the disaster.

Present day
Today the main internal economy of Porth is retail and the centre of Porth is home to the shopping district based around Hannah Street. Most other businesses are located on nearby Pontypridd Road and Porth Street. Porth is home to around 6,000 people living in different areas of the town, namely Birchgrove, Britannia, Glynfach, Llwyncelyn, Mount Pleasant and Porth town centre.

Porth crater on Mars is named after the town.

Education
Secondary school age children are most likely to attend Porth County Community School an English medium school, or Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhondda which is primarily a Welsh speaking school, situated in the Cymmer area of Porth.

Transport
Porth railway station has services to Treherbert and Cardiff on the Rhondda Line. Transport for Wales is responsible for the railway service available in Porth.

The construction of the Porth-Tylorstown bypass (Porth Relief Road) has caused traffic jams and detours. The bypass was opened on 28 December 2006 but landscaping work finished in April 2007. The construction of the bypass was first discussed over 50 years ago.

Sport and leisure
The town is also the home of The Pop Factory, opened in 2000 with an opening ceremony attended by Tom Jones, Cerys Matthews and Kelly Jones. It is both a television studio and recording studio. The owners of the building also contribute to the local area, and organised the Tom Jones homecoming concert at Ynysangharad Park, Pontypridd, in May 2005.

Porth is home to Welsh Rugby Union affiliated rugby club Porth Harlequins.

Football Association of Wales affiliated A.F.C. Porth play their home matches at Dinas Park and their base is the Wyndham Constitutional Club.

Porth is home to South Wales Automobile Club, (S.W.A.C.), SWAC are the organisers of the Welsh Rally. 'The Welsh Rally', as the event is often referred to, first ran in 1937 and has seen many top international rally drivers taking part over the years.

Notable people

 * See Category:People from Porth

 * Margaret Bevan, girl evangelist, was born in Porth
 * Llew Edwards, British featherweight boxing champion
 * J. Gwyn Griffiths, Egyptologist, poet and Welsh nationalist
 * Cliff Jones Wales international rugby captain
 * Percy Jones, World Boxing Flyweight champion
 * David Lyn, stage and television actor
 * Gwyn Thomas, novelist in the English language
 * Dennis Claude Young, (RAF) Squadron Leader, Coastal Command, 2nd World War

title: Porth


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Bromsgrove District

Bromsgrove is a local government district in north-east Worcestershire, England. It is named after its only town, Bromsgrove, where its council is based, but also includes several villages and surrounding rural areas. It borders the built-up area of Birmingham to the north. Other places in the district include Alvechurch, Aston Fields, Belbroughton, Catshill, Clent, Hagley, Rubery, Stoke Prior and Wythall. The population at the 2021 census was 99,475.

The neighbouring districts are Redditch, Wychavon, Wyre Forest, South Staffordshire, Dudley, Birmingham, Solihull and Stratford-on-Avon.

History
The town of Bromsgrove had been governed by improvement commissioners from 1846, who were replaced by an elected local board in 1859, which in turn was converted into an urban district council in 1894.

The modern district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. The new district covered the area of two former districts, which were both abolished at the same time: The new district was named Bromsgrove after its largest settlement.
 * Bromsgrove Urban District
 * Bromsgrove Rural District

Governance
Bromsgrove District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Worcestershire County Council. Much of the district is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government for their areas.

Bromsgrove forms part of the Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership. Since 2008 the council has developed shared working arrangements with neighbouring Redditch Borough Council, with the two organisations sharing a chief executive, management team and other staff.

Political control
The council has been under no overall control since the 2023 election, being run by an administration comprising the Conservatives and independents, led by Conservative councillor Karen May.

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing councils before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Since 1974 political control of the council has been as follows:

Leadership
The leaders of the council since 1995 have been:

Composition
Following the 2023 election the composition of the council was:

Five of the independent councillors sit together as the "2023 Independents" group, which forms the council's administration with the Conservatives. The next election is due in 2027.

Elections
Since the last boundary changes in 2015 the council has comprised 31 councillors representing 30 wards, with each ward electing one councillor except Belbroughton and Romsley ward which elects two. Elections are held every four years.

Premises
The council is based at Parkside, at the corner of Market Street and Stourbridge Road. The building was formerly the Parkside School, built in 1912. The school moved to a new building in 2008. The old building was subsequently converted and extended to become the council's headquarters, as well as an area office for Worcestershire County Council and new library for the town, opening in 2015.

When first created in 1974 the council had inherited offices at St John's Court (then known as the Council House) from Bromsgrove Urban District Council and at 94 Birmingham Road from Bromsgrove Rural District Council. The council subsequently moved to a modern office building on Burcot Lane, also called the Council House, which was formally opened in 1986. It remained there until the move to Parkside in 2015. The Burcot Lane building has since been demolished.

Transport
Bromsgrove railway station is the local station for the district's centre, but there are several others within the district. Road travel, especially to Birmingham, is also important in the district.

Barnt Green railway station and Alvechurch railway station are on the line to Redditch.

Hagley railway station and Wythall railway station are also on lines leading into Birmingham, which pass through the edges of the district. Bromsgrove is situated on Route 5 and 46 of the National Cycle Network. This gives cyclists easy access to Droitwich, Redditch, Birmingham and beyond.

Parishes
Most of the district's area is covered by civil parishes, the exceptions being two separate parts of the pre-1974 Bromsgrove Urban District which have not since been added to parishes: one covering the main part of the Bromsgrove built-up area, and another around Rubery on the northern edge of the district adjoining Birmingham. At the 2021 census, nearly half the district's population lived in the unparished areas. The most populous parishes are Wythall (which also contains the large village of Hollywood) and Hagley. Each parish has a parish council.

Population
The following table illustrates the change in the population of the area that makes up the modern district between 1801 and 2011.

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

title: Bromsgrove District


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Marco Fu

Marco Fu Ka-chun, MH, JP ( born 8 January 1978) is a Hong Kong professional snooker player. He is a three-time ranking event winner, having won the 2007 Grand Prix, the 2013 Australian Goldfields Open and the 2016 Scottish Open. He has been a runner-up at two Triple Crown events, at the 2008 UK Championship and the 2011 Masters. In addition, Fu has reached the semi-finals of the World Championship twice—in 2006 and in 2016.

Fu reached a career-high ranking of fifth in the world in 2017. He turned professional in 1998 and has remained on the World Snooker Tour to-date. Despite not competing in events during the COVID-19 pandemic, Fu was given an invitational place to remain on the tour during the 2021–22 snooker season. As a prolific break-builder, Fu has compiled over 500 century breaks in professional competition, including five maximum breaks. A cultural icon in Hong Kong, Fu presented a 10-episode chat show called Marco Fu and Friends on ViuTV.

Early career
Marco Fu was born on 8 January 1978 in British Hong Kong. He began playing snooker at age nine, but did not do so regularly until he was 15. Fu migrated to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada with his parents at age 12. After his high school graduation at age 18, Hong Kong Billiard Sports Control Council Co. Ltd. President Joseph Lo invited him to return to Hong Kong to begin his career as a professional snooker player. Before turning professional, Fu won the IBSF World Snooker Championship and the IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship, both in 1997.

After winning these tournaments, Fu turned professional for the 1998–99 snooker season. In his first season as a professional, he was ranked 377th in the world. He reached the final of the Grand Prix, beating Ronnie O'Sullivan 5–2 and then Peter Ebdon 5–3. Stephen Lee defeated him 2–9 in the final. During the rest of the 1998–99 season, Fu qualified for four more ranking tournaments, including the 1999 World Snooker Championship, winning four qualifying matches before losing to James Wattana 8–10 in the first round of the main draw. He was voted World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) Newcomer of the Year and WSA Young Player of the Year in 1999.

World Championship quarter-finalist (1999–2003)
In the 1999–00 season, with Fu now ranked 35th in the world, he received automatic entry into the main draw of most of the ranking tournaments. Although he failed to repeat the success of reaching the final of the Grand Prix, he made a run to the quarter-finals before losing to Ali Carter. Other achievements of note include reaching the semi-finals of the 2000 Malta Grand Prix and the Scottish Open. Following a dramatic rise, in the 2000–01 season Fu was ranked 15th in the world, his first appearance in the top 16. However, a succession of defeats and a first-round loss at the 2001 World Snooker Championship to Chris Small, saw him fall out of the top 16 for the next season. In the 2001–02 season Fu's best result was a last 16 appearance at the LG Cup. He failed to qualify for three ranking events, including the 2002 World Snooker Championship, and, as a result, his ranking fell to 27 for the following season.

Prior to the 2003 Welsh Open, his best result of the 2002–03 season was reaching the third round of the 2002 UK Championship in December 2002. However, at the Welsh Open in February, Fu defeated Stephen Lee 5–0 in the second round and beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 5–3 in the quarter-finals before losing his semi-final 4–6 to Stephen Hendry, who went on to win the title. Going into the 2003 World Snooker Championship three months later, after first round losses at the European and Scottish Opens, he drew world number one Ronnie O'Sullivan in the first round.

Snooker Scene later described the match between O'Sullivan and Fu as "one of the greatest upsets in the history of the game". Fu held a 6–3 overnight lead and, despite O'Sullivan making a maximum break, Fu won 10–6. Fu subsequently eliminated Alan McManus 13–7 in the second round, before losing 7–13 to Stephen Lee in his quarter-final match. Later that year, Fu won his first professional title at the invitational Premier League, beating Mark Williams 9–5 in the final.

First ranking tournament title (2004–2008)
As a result of his run to the quarter-finals of the World Championship the previous season, Fu climbed to number 19 in the world rankings for the 2003–04 season. He qualified for all the ranking tournaments except the World Championship. His best result included a third round loss to Michael Holt in the LG Cup and reaching the semi-finals of the Welsh Open, beating Liu Song, Matthew Stevens, Ken Doherty and Stephen Hendry before succumbing to Steve Davis. Fu finished the season ranked 16th in the world.

His best result the following season was a quarter-final loss to Ding Junhui at the China Open. He finished the season ranked 25, falling nine places. A series of first round defeats during the 2005–06 season saw him provisionally drop out of the top 32. However, he had a good run at the 2006 World Championship, beating three seeded players—Alan McManus 10–3, Stephen Maguire 13–4, and Ken Doherty 13–10. He reached the semi-finals where he lost to the 2002 world champion Peter Ebdon 16–17. In that match, Fu was 9–15 down with only one session left to play, but won seven out of the next eight frames to send the match into the deciding frame, which Ebdon eventually won. This run enabled him to stay in the world top 32 for next season, ranked 22.

In the 2006–07 season he did not compete in the 2006 UK Championship so he could attend the 2006 Asian Games, where he won two silver medals. At the 2007 World Snooker Championship, Fu lost 3–10 to Anthony Hamilton in the first round. His best result during the season was a quarter-final run in the China Open, where he lost to Ronnie O'Sullivan. Following a first round loss at the Shanghai Masters, and nine years after his first appearance in a ranking final at the 1998 Grand Prix, Fu won the 2007 Grand Prix —his first victory in a ranking event. After defeating the reigning world champion John Higgins in the first knock-out round 5–4, Liu Song 5–0 in the quarter-finals. and Gerard Greene 6–5 in the semi-finals, he faced Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final. After falling 3–4 behind after the first session, he won 9–6, with a break of 76 in the final frame. He later reached the quarter-finals of the 2007 UK Championship, losing to Mark Selby and the semi-finals of the 2008 Masters, losing to Stephen Lee.

He qualified for the 2008 World Snooker Championship, with a 10–3 win over Alan McManus. He played Ding in the first round where he lost 9–10. He capped a successful season by finishing in career high 14th in the rankings, a climb of thirteen places from the previous season.

UK Championship finalist (2008–2010)
The 2008–09 season started with a last 32 loss to Barry Hawkins in the Northern Ireland Trophy and losing in the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters to Mark Selby. At the Grand Prix, he lost in the second round to Ronnie O'Sullivan, a rematch of last season's final. At the 2008 UK Championship, he beat Barry Hawkins in the first round, followed by Matthew Stevens and Joe Perry. In the semi-finals, Fu defeated Ali Carter: after trailing 2–5, he levelled to 6–6 and won 8–6. In the final, Shaun Murphy defeated Fu 9–10. He suffered a first round defeat to John Higgins at the Masters. At the 2009 World Snooker Championship, he advanced to the second round by beating Joe Swail 10–4 before losing 3–13 to Murphy.

In December 2009, Fu participated in the East Asian Games, held in Hong Kong. In the singles competition Yu Delu beat him by 4–1 in the quarter-finals, but he later won a gold medal in the team competition. Fu lost his next three first-round matches. He lost against Peter Lines 3–9 at the 2009 UK Championship, Peter Ebdon 2–6 at the Masters and Andrew Higginson 2–5 at the Welsh Open.

However, Fu won the 2010 Championship League by beating Mark Allen 3–2 in the final. Fu also reached the quarter-finals of the 2010 China Open, where he lost 1–5 against Mark Williams. At the last ranking event of the season, the World Championship, Fu faced Martin Gould in the first round and led 5–4 after the first session. Ultimately Fu lost the match 9–10.

Masters finalist (2010–15)
In November 2010, Fu participated in the Asian Games, held in Guangzhou. He won the singles competition by defeating Ding Junhui 4–2 in the final. Fu also reached the semi-finals of the Premier League where he lost 2–5 against Shaun Murphy. He lost in the second round of the 2010 UK Championship 2–9 against Stuart Bingham. Fu participated at the Players Tour Championship, where his best results came at the first and second events in Sheffield, where he reached the semi-finals, losing 1–4 against Stephen Maguire and 2–4 against Mark Selby, respectively. He later finished 16th on the Players Tour Championship Order of Merit.

He reached the final of the 2011 Masters, where he lost 4–10 against Ding Junhui. Fu reached the semi-finals of the 2011 German Masters, where he lost 3–6 against Mark Williams. At the 2011 Welsh Open, he was whitewashed by Mark Williams in the last 32, after winning his qualifying match 4–1 against Joe Swail. Fu lost his first round matches at the China Open and World Championship, 3–5 against Judd Trump and 8–10 against Martin Gould, respectively. He finished the season ranked world number 23, the first time he had been outside of the elite top 16 since 2007.

Fu qualified for four of the eight ranking tournaments of the 2011–12 season. At the Welsh Open he lost in the first round 1–4 to Ronnie O'Sullivan and lost in the first round of the World Open following a 3–5 defeat to John Higgins. Fu had earlier made the second maximum break of his career during the final qualifying round for the World Open in a match against Matthew Selt. Fu's best performance of the season came at the 2011 UK Championship. He qualified by beating Anthony Hamilton 6–5 and then saw off Stuart Bingham 6–4 in the first round to set up a last 16 clash with world number one, Mark Selby who he defeated 6–3 and then played Mark Allen in the quarter-finals. Fu led 5–4 in the match, but lost the last two frames to lose 5–6. Fu qualified for the 2012 World Snooker Championship with a 10–4 win over Shailesh Jogia, but lost in the first round of the event 3–10 to Matthew Stevens. As a result, he finished the season ranked world number 28, his lowest position since 2000.

In Australia, Fu saw a return to form as he beat Joe Perry, Jamie Burnett and Stephen Lee all by 5–1 scorelines to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Goldfields Open. There he lost 2–6 to Peter Ebdon and said after the match that his goal for the season was to reclaim a top 16 place. At the International Championship he secured wins over Martin Gould and Mark Davis to reach the quarter-finals. Fu let a 3–1 lead against Shaun Murphy slip to lose 4–6. Before he played Mark Allen in the first round of the 2012 UK Championship, Allen reiterated his views that Fu had cheated in a prior match. Fu himself denied the claims and went on to defeat Allen 6–3. Allen received a three-month suspended ban for his comments. In the second round Fu lost 4–6 to Matthew Stevens. He reached his first ranking event final since 2008 at the German Masters by beating Ricky Walden, Peter Lines and Matthew Stevens all 5–3. His semi-final against Barry Hawkins included a near hour-long battle of play, with Fu edging the match 6–4 just after midnight. Fu led Ali Carter 5–3 after the opening session of the final, but on the resumption of play did not pot a ball for 86 minutes and lost 6–9. Following this, Fu lost in the second round of the World Open to Ding Junhui and in the first rounds of the Welsh Open and the China Open to Allen and Graeme Dott respectively.

Fu played in seven minor-ranking Players Tour Championship events and reached the final of the Third Event by defeating veteran players Stephen Maguire, Mark Williams, Ali Carter and Shaun Murphy. He lost to world number 65 Rod Lawler 2–4 in the final. He also reached the quarter-finals of the European Tour Event 3, which helped him finish 21st on the Order of Merit to qualify for the Finals. In the Finals Fu beat Mark Joyce and Carter, before losing 1–4 to Tom Ford in the quarter-finals. Fu won Group 7 of the Championship League courtesy of a 3–0 victory over Maguire and in the Winners Group lost in the semi-finals 0–3 to Carter. In the first round of the World Championship, Fu beat Matthew Stevens 10–7 to face Judd Trump in the last 16. He fell 2–6 behind after the first session, but fought back to trail only 7–8 before losing five consecutive frames to end his season with a 7–13 defeat. Fu finished just short of his early season goal to get back into the top 16 as he finished world number 17, but this did mean he had climbed 11 spots during the year.

The Wuxi Classic was Fu's first ranking event of the 2013–14 season; he lost 4–5 to Mark King in the second round. He then played in the Australian Goldfields Open where he defeated Ken Doherty 5–2, Shaun Murphy 5–2 and Dominic Dale 5–1. In the semi-finals he built a 4–1 lead over Robert Milkins and later won 6–4. Fu faced world number one Neil Robertson in the final, defeating him 9–6 to take the second ranking event title of his career and regain his place in the top 16 of the world rankings. Another final followed at the minor-ranking Bluebell Wood Open, with Fu fighting back from 1–3 down against Ricky Walden to square the match at 3–3 before Walden a pot in the deciding frame to win. Fu then lost in the second round of both the Shanghai Masters 5–3 to Kyren Wilson and the Indian Open 4–3 to Gary Wilson. He advanced to the quarter-finals of the International Championship where he played Mark Selby. Fu came back from 5–3 down to take the match 6–5 with consecutive breaks of 84 and 112 in the final frame before defeating Joe Perry 9–8 in the semi-final. In the final, Fu won an hour long frame to hold a 9–8 advantage over his opponent Ding Junhui, but lost the match 9–10.

Fu then suffered defeats in the first round of the 2013 UK Championship and German Masters to Mitchell Travis and Paul Davison respectively. However, he reached the quarter-finals of the Welsh Open where Barry Hawkins whitewashed him 5–0. Fu beat world number one Neil Robertson in the last 16 of the World Open 5–4 on a and eliminated Mark Joyce 5–3 in the next round. In the semi-finals he won three successive frames from 5–1 down against Mark Selby but lost the next frame to be beaten 6–4. Another semi-final followed at the PTC Finals with a 4–1 victory against John Higgins in the quarters, however, he suffered a 4–2 defeat against Gerard Greene. Fu lost 13–8 to Shaun Murphy in the second round of the World Championship.

In the 2014–15 season, Fu reached seven quarter-finals. His first came in the opening ranking event, the Wuxi Classic, where he lost 5–4 to Barry Hawkins. He was knocked out in the first round of the Shanghai Masters. He saw off Liam Highfield, David Gilbert and Rod Lawler at the International Championship, before a ranking event quarter-final went the distance for the second time this season as Fu lost 6–5 to Robert Milkins. Ronnie O'Sullivan whitewashed him 6–0 in the last eight of the non-ranking Champion of Champions. Another quarter-final followed at the 2014 UK Championship after Fu came back from 5–3 down to eliminate Shaun Murphy 6–5, with both players criticising the condition of the table after the match. Stephen Maguire knocked him out 6–4.

At the Masters, Fu made his third competitive maximum break in his first-round match against Stuart Bingham beating him 6–3 to advance to the sixth quarter-final of his season, where he lost to O'Sullivan him 6–1. His final quarter-final exit of the season came in the Welsh Open 5–1 at the hands of Mark Williams. For the ninth successive season, Fu could not progress past the second round of the World Championship as Judd Trump defeated him 13–8.

Later career (2015–2019)
After exiting the first two ranking events of the 2015–16 season at the first round stage, Fu met David Gilbert in the quarter-finals of the International Championship but lost 5–6 after leading 4–2. He won the non-ranking General Cup by beating Mark Williams 7–3. Fu eliminated Shaun Murphy in the fourth round of the 2015 UK Championship for the second year in a row. Liang Wenbo opened their quarter-final match with three successive centuries, but Fu fought back to send the tie to a deciding frame which he lost. En route to the final of the Gibraltar Open, Fu made a maximum break in the second round against Sam Baird. Fu won his first title carrying ranking points since the 2013 Australian Open by eliminating Michael White 4–1 in the final. In the 2016 World Championship, Fu saw off Peter Ebdon, Anthony McGill and Barry Hawkins to reach the semi-final for the second time but eventually lost to Selby 17–15.

After enduring a difficult start to the 2016–17 season where he failed to get beyond the second round of the first eight ranking events, Fu came back from 5–2 down to defeat Jamie Jones in the quarter-finals of the UK Championship. Leading 5–4 against Ronnie O'Sullivan in the semi-finals, he lost the final two frames to lose 5–6. Before the end of 2016, Fu reached the final of the Scottish Open, with his closest game being a 4–3 victory over Neil Robertson in the fourth round; Fu did not lose more than a frame in his other five matches. In the final against John Higgins, trailing 1–4, he won eight frames in a row to win the match 9–4. Throughout the tournament, Fu made 11 centuries and 21 more breaks over 50 in seven matches.

At the 2017 Masters, he played Judd Trump in the opening round and won 6–5. He beat Mark Allen in the quarter-finals 6–2 and then lost 6–4 to O'Sullivan in the semi-finals. Fu also played in the semi-finals of the World Grand Prix and was 4–3 up on Ryan Day, who needed four in the eighth frame. He got them to square the match and then overcame Fu 4–6. At the Players Championship, Fu defeated Anthony McGill 5–1 and Mark Selby 5–2, before coming back from 5–3 down against Ding Junhui to win 6–5 and reach the final. From 5–2 up on Trump, Fu lost six frames in a row and would be beaten 8–10. Fu had a poor start to his first round match at the World Championship as he was 7–1 down to Luca Brecel, though he made a century to be 7–2 behind overnight. He won the first two frames upon the resumption of play and eventually levelled at 8–8, later winning 10–9. The second round saw Fu play Neil Robertson, They tied at 4–4, 8–8, and 10–10. Fu lost frame 21 but won the next three to win 13–11. Fu was then defeated 13–3 by defending and eventual champion Selby, losing with a. However, he was ranked sixth after the event, the highest Fu has ever finished a season in his career.

The 2017–18 season saw Marco Fu getting off to another difficult start, as he could not reach the quarter final of any ranking event before the turn of the year. Two weeks after suffering a 0–6 defeat against Ronnie O'Sullivan in the first round of the Masters, Fu revealed that he had undergone laser eye surgery in December to treat retinal degeneration and floaters in his dominant left eye. Fu indicated he regretted taking part in the Masters while still recovering from the surgery. He also announced that he would not enter any more tournaments before making a full recovery and regaining his old level in training. He made his return at the 2018 World Snooker Championship where he lost to Lyu Haotian 5–10.

Following the eye surgery, Fu only reached the quarter-finals of the 2018 World Open, where he lost to David Gilbert, and the 2020 European Masters, losing to Gary Wilson.

COVID-19 pandemic and career revival (2020-present)
In February 2020, Fu returned to Hong Kong because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with his last appearance being at the 2020 Welsh Open where he lost to Ding in the opening round. As a consequence of not entering any events during the rest of the season, his ranking steadily dropped out of the Top 64, but an offer of an invitational tour card meant he would not need to qualify to rejoin the tour as a result.

Fu returned to compete in professional snooker tournaments at the 2022 World Snooker Championship, marking the first event since the 2020 Welsh Open in which he played in an event on the main tour. He lost in the first round of qualifying, being defeated in a deciding frame by Ian Burns. As travel restrictions eased in Hong Kong, Fu proceeded to compete in the subsequent 2022-23 season where he did not top his group in the opening event, the 2022 Championship League. He had managed to qualify for the 2022 European Masters and reached the third round, consequently as a result of a bye due to his opponent in the second round not getting a visa, where he lost 5-3 to Farakh Ajaib. He did not qualify for the subsequent 2022 British Open or the 2022 Northern Ireland Open, but was invited to compete as a local wildcard in the 2022 Hong Kong Masters, where he reached the final. In his semi-final match against John Higgins, he compiled his fifth maximum break in the deciding frame.

Status and records
Fu is a prolific break-builder, having made his 500th century break at the 2019 Scottish Open. He achieved a maximum break on five occasions, at the 2000 Scottish Masters, the qualifying stages for the 2012 World Open, the 2015 Masters, the 2015 Gibraltar Open and the 2022 Hong Kong Masters. Fu has also made a break of 148 after receiving a in an exhibition match in 2020.

He once held the record for the longest frame in the history of televised snooker. The record of 77 minutes, held with Mark Selby, was played out in the decisive final frame during the quarter-final match at the 2007 UK Championship held in Telford, England. Fu eventually lost the match 7–9. However, the record was then broken by Shaun Murphy and Dave Harold in a match at the China Open later in the same season, with a frame of 93 minutes. As of 2022, the record, held by Fergal O'Brien and David Gilbert, stands at 123 minutes and 41 seconds.

Fu won the Medal of Honour in 2000.

Personal life
Fu was educated in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and has lived for a time in England, Wales and Scotland. Fu married in 2011 and has two daughters, born in 2012 and 2015. His wife and his two daughters returned to Hong Kong in 2016 to facilitate their education. On June 30, 2017, Fu was appointed by the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as a Justice of the Peace.

Fu is a Buddhist and a vegetarian. Fu hosted a ten-episode series on Hong Kong's ViuTV entitled Marco Fu and Friends, with the format of an informal chat show with Hong Kong celebrities and playing a frame of snooker with them.

Career finals
Below is a list of finals contested by Fu.

title: Marco Fu


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Rochford District

Rochford is a local government district in Essex, England. It is named after one of its main settlements, Rochford, where the council is based. The largest town in the district is Rayleigh. Other places in the district include Hockley, Ashingdon, Great Wakering, Canewdon and Hullbridge.

The district borders Maldon District to the north, the City of Chelmsford to the north-west, the Borough of Basildon to the west, the Borough of Castle Point to the south-west, and the City of Southend-on-Sea to the south. To the east, it has a stretch of coast at Foulness Island.

Most of the built-up areas are in the western part of the district, along the railway line from Shenfield to Southend Victoria. Southend Airport straddles the district's border with the City of Southend-on-Sea. The eastern part of the district is more sparsely populated.

History
The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the whole area of two former districts, which were abolished at the same time:
 * Rayleigh Urban District
 * Rochford Rural District

Governance
Rochford District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Essex County Council. The district is also entirely covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.

Political control
The council has been under no overall control since 2023. Following the 2024 election a coalition of the Liberal Democrats, Green Party and independents formed to run the council, led by Liberal Democrat councillor James Newport.

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:

Leadership
The leaders of the council since 2004 have been:

Composition
Following the 2024 election, the composition of the council was:

The Green councillor sits with the independents as the "non-aligned group", which forms the council's administration with the Liberal Democrats. The next election is due in May 2026.

Premises
The council has its main offices on South Street in Rochford. When the council was created it inherited the former Rochford Rural District Council's offices at Roche House, 7 South Street, Rochford and the former Rayleigh Urban District Council's offices at Barringtons, 2 Hockley Road, Rayleigh. Both buildings were converted houses. The council acquired other properties along South Street in Rochford and combined them with Roche House to form the council's headquarters. The council used a modern extension to Barringtons in Rayleigh as an area office and civic suite, containing the council chamber, until 2023 when the building was closed.

Elections
Since the last boundary changes in 2016 the council has comprised 39 councillors representing 13 wards, with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four for a third of the council at a time. Elections to Essex County Council are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no district council elections.

Parishes
The district is divided into 14 civil parishes. The parish council for Rayleigh takes the style "town council".

 * Ashingdon
 * Barling Magna
 * Canewdon
 * Foulness
 * Great Wakering
 * Hawkwell
 * Hockley
 * Hullbridge
 * Paglesham
 * Rawreth
 * Rayleigh (town)
 * Rochford
 * Stambridge
 * Sutton

title: Rochford District


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Nordic combined at the 1924 Winter Olympics

At the 1924 Winter Olympics one individual Nordic combined event was contested. It was held on Saturday, February 2, 1924 (cross-country skiing) and on Monday, February 4, 1924 (ski jumping). Unlike today the ski jump was the last event held. Both events were also individual medal events. The winner, Thorleif Haug was also the winner of both cross-country skiing races, and the podium was identical to that in the 50 km cross-country.

Participating nations
A total of 30 Nordic combined skiers from nine nations competed at the Chamonix Games:


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User:PricklyPear

Welcome!

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Welkom! Mijn naam is Jan 's Witten.

Ik leef momenteel dichtbij en bestudeer in Vrije Universiteit waar ik financiën en het Engels bestudeer.

Ik geniet zeer van voetbal en muziek. - Bjork is het beste.

Proost!

title: User:PricklyPear


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Chris Small

Christopher Small (born 26 September 1973) is a retired Scottish professional snooker player and now a qualified snooker coach. His playing career was ended by the spinal condition ankylosing spondylitis.

Career
At age 15, Small was the number 1 under-19 player in Scotland. He turned professional the following year. In 1992, he won the Benson & Hedges Championship, defeating Alan McManus in the final, and in 1995 he reached the Semi-finals of the Welsh Open, and was again a semi-finalist at the 1998 Grand Prix event. His greatest achievement was winning the 2002 LG Cup, beating Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins, before a 9–5 win over Alan McManus in the final. This followed a season in which he won only three matches, owing to the severity of his medical condition. He reached the quarter-finals of the LG Cup in the following season.

The 2003/2004 season ended with him having to pull out of a World Championship match against Alan McManus while trailing 1–7, as the regular steroid injections he required in his neck caused problems with his vision. The 2004–05 season was disastrous for him, as he lost all his ranking tournament matches, and in September 2005 he announced his retirement from the game. Small then started coaching other players, but by 2009 his condition had worsened, and he had to give up coaching.

Despite being the youngest player ever to win on his Crucible debut (10–7 against Doug Mountjoy aged 18 in 1992), he never progressed beyond the last-16 in the World Championship. He was a regular in the top 32 for several years, but his LG Cup win helped him reach #12 for the 2004–05 season, the only time he had entered the top 16. His career-high break was a 141.

He applied for a grant from a trust fund for players who have fallen on hard times from the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, but was rejected. This decision, stemming from Small's refusal to provide a £250 medical certificate, has been criticised by figures including Jimmy White, Graeme Dott ("Everybody in the game that I've spoken to is behind him") and Clive Everton.

In 2012, improved medication allowed Small to return to coaching, one of his players being former snooker professional Michael Leslie.

Personal life
Small is the son of a taxi driver. He worked as a bank clerk before his success in snooker. Small and his wife Clare have four children.

title: Chris Small


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List of World War II firearms of Germany

The following is a list of World War II German Firearms which includes German firearms, prototype firearms and captured foreign firearms used by the Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe, Waffen-SS, Deutsches Heer, the Volkssturm and other military armed forces in World War II.

Knives
• Seitengewehr 42

• Seitengewehr 98

• S84/98 III bayonet

Anti-Aircraft Weapons
Light Anti-Aircraft Guns

• Fliegerfaust hand-held anti-air rocket launcher produced in 1945

• Solothurn ST-5 caliber 20 mm (.79 in)

• 2 cm Flak 30/38/Flakvierling – the most produced German artillery piece of World War II, based on Russian 2-K AA gun design which was too complex to mass-produce in USSR

• 25 mm Hotchkiss anti-aircraft gun (captured from French)

• Gebirgsflak 38 – reduced-weight version of 2 cm Flak 30/38/Flakvierling

• 3.7 cm SK C/30 – naval AA gun

• 3.7 cm FlaK 43

• 3.7 cm Flak 18/36/37/43

• 37 mm automatic air defense gun M1939 (61-K) (captured from Russia by Wehrmacht and redesignated 3.7 cm M39(r))

• Schräge Musik – also independently developed by Imperial Japanese Naval Air Service (both in use by May 1943

• 5 cm FlaK 41

• SG 116

• Henschel Hs 297 – launch 35 73mm-caliber short-range rockets

• Jagdfaust – air-to-air vertical-fire automated cannon

Heavy Anti-Aircraft Guns

• Rheintochter (surface-to-air rocket)

• Cannone da 75/46 C.A. modello 34 (acquired from Italy)

• 76 mm air defense gun M1938 (captured from Russia by Wehrmacht and redesignated Flak 38(r))

• 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41 AT/AA gun

• 85 mm air defense gun M1939 (52-K) (captured from Russia by Wehrmacht and redesignated 8.5 cm Flak 39(r))

• 10.5 cm FlaK 38

• 12.8 cm FlaK 40

• 12.8 cm FlaK 40 twin mount

• Cannone da 90/53 AA/AT gun (acquired from Italy)

Explosives, hand-held anti-tank, incendiary weapons and mines
Grenades and Grenade Launchers

Mines and Anti-Tank Mines


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Fierce!

'''Fierce! ''' is an international performance festival (previously produced by Fierce Earth ) that has taken place annually in and around Birmingham, England since 1997.

The launch of the 2004 festival, in May in Birmingham, England, was a group of hot air balloons that drifted over Birmingham's streets in the early hours of the morning playing soft music to "encourage dreams related to the music".

In May 2007, the artwork Una White was created as part of the festival.

Fierce! 11 was held over the May Bank Holiday, 23 to 26 May 2008 and the artists taking part in the festival were chosen by way of a public vote. The voting commenced on 20 March 2008 and concluded on 11 April 2008.

The Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Warwick Arts Centre and Birmingham Hippodrome also collaborate heavily in the events.

In 2011 Fierce Festival reappeared after several years absence under the new joint artistic direction of Laura McDermott and Harun Morrison with the tagline 'Live Art. Collision. Super Local. Hyper Now.'

In 2013 Fierce launched Club Fierce XXX featuring New York rapper Cakes Da Killa grime MC Roxxxan, and electro punk satirist Quilla Constance.

In 2016, Aaron Wright became Artistic Director and the first festival under his leadership took place in 2017.

In 2019 The Guardian Newspaper gave the Festival five stars and described it as 'a daring whirl of theatrical thrills'

The festival has also presented performances by numerous artists including Ron Athey, Franko B, Gob Squad, Tim Miller, Forced Entertainment and more.

title: Fierce!


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Treorchy

Treorchy (Treorci; ) is a town and community (and electoral ward) in Wales. Once a mining town, it retains such characteristics. Situated in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf in the Rhondda Fawr valley. Treorchy is also one of the 16 communities of the Rhondda. It includes the villages of Cwmparc and Ynyswen.

History
Prior to industrialisation, most of the land was owned by one of the great families of Glamorgan with Treorchy coming under the domain of the Marquess of Bute Estate. The discovery of coal transformed the area. The period following 1851 saw Treorchy becoming an industrial town. The town grew around the coal mining industry during the late 19th and early 20th century, but by the end of the 20th century all the local pits had closed, creating an economic downturn in the community.

Treorchy had been established when the Abergorki Colliery, situated in Cwm Orci to the north, was opened as a level in 1859 by a Mr Huxham, a former manager of the Bute Merthyr Colliery. This was sold to J. H. Insole of Cymmer in 1862. The first deep mine in Treorchy was sunk in the 1860s by David Davies of Llandinam who would later own the Ocean Coal Company. The initial development of the town was linear, based on the main road through the valley, but by 1875 a grid pattern of streets was emerging.

Language
The pre-industrial Rhondda community was Welsh-speaking, and the Welsh language continued to be widely spoken in the valley and in the upper villages of the Rhondda until the mid-twentieth century. The original migrants to the Rhondda were from rural Wales but later a higher proportion came from England. In 1901 64.4% of the population of the Rhondda Urban District were recorded as Welsh-speaking but this proportion fell to 56.6% by 1911.

Ysgol Gymraeg Ynyswen, a Welsh-medium primary school, is situated in the nearby village of Ynyswen. Established in 1950, it was the first Welsh-medium school in the Rhondda. It serves Treorchy and the surrounding villages, including Treherbert, Cwmparc, Penyrenglyn and Blaencwm.

Governance
The Treorchy electoral ward is coterminous with the borders of the Treorchy community and elects three county councillors to Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council. Since 1995 representation has been by either the Labour Party or Plaid Cymru. Since 2008 the ward has had three Plaid Cymru representatives.

A 2018 review of electoral arrangements by the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales would see Treorchy's representation reduced from three to two councillors. The proposals would take effect from the 2022 council elections.

Economy
After being a town whose employment relied almost entirely on coal mining in the Abergorki, Tylecoch, Parc and Dare collieries, by the end of the 1970s all of these collieries had closed. Treorchy became a commuter village, with the working population seeking employment in the larger towns and cities nearby, such as Cardiff and Bridgend. Employment in Treorchy is now mostly in retail.

In 2020, Treorchy was named by the Great British High Street Awards as the UK High Street of the Year, succeeding 2019 winner and fellow Welsh town Crickhowell. It was praised for the number of independent shops in the town, and for organising a number of events, from Christmas parades to arts festivals, as well as a gay pride gathering which was a first for the area. The Guardian reported that the town has grown its chamber of trade from 30 members to 120, and nearly 30 businesses have opened in recent years, producing an occupancy rate of 96%. The town has a number of cafes, pubs, and shops on its high street.

Religion
In its early days as an industrial settlement, Treorchy was considered a nonconformist stronghold, with many chapels, the largest of which was Noddfa, a Welsh Baptist chapel which could seat upwards of a thousand people and which had a proud choral tradition.

Education
Treorchy has two main schools: Treorchy Primary School and Treorchy Comprehensive. The primary school is not on the original site of Treorchy Boys and Treorchy Girls schools, but is built 100m further along Glyncoli Road. It is built to the original plans used on many of the older schools in the upper Rhondda.

Treorchy Comprehensive school was built on the old site of the Tylecoch colliery. Its western athletics track was named the "Red Ash", being the remnants of the mine shaft. This was removed in 2006 to build an astroturf sportsfield. The school is officially 500m from the main gate to the rear gate, and runs from Chepstow Road, Cwmparc, to the Tylecoch Bridge, Treorchy.

Transport
The A4061 over the Bwlch y Clawdd Pass leads to Bridgend, via the Ogmore Vale, and to Maesteg and Port Talbot. Within the Rhondda Fawr Valley, the A4061 runs northwards to the top of the valley at Treherbert and ultimately, Hirwaun. The route on the A4058 southwards follows the valley's course to Llwynypia, Tonypandy, Porth and Pontypridd to join the A470 for Cardiff.

Treorchy railway station is located on the Rhondda Line, with regular services to Treherbert and Cardiff Central run by Transport for Wales.

Treorchy is served by buses operated by Stagecoach running to Blaenrhondda, Blaencwm, Treherbert, Tonypandy, Porth, Pontypridd and Caerphilly. On summer Sundays, Veolia provides a service to Bridgend (via the Ogmore Valley) and Brecon.

Culture
Attractions in the town include the Parc and Dare Hall, home of the Treorchy Male Choir and the Parc and Dare band. The hall also provides entertainment as a venue for cinema, theatre and pantomime, and for school eisteddfodau and other performances.

Treorchy hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1928, the only time the event has been held in the Rhondda.

Sport
Treorchy RFC is the rugby union club, nicknamed the Zebras.

Treorchy also has 6 tennis courts, situated in Ystradfechan Park, and is the home of the Rhondda Lawn Tennis Club.

Upper Rhondda Cricket Club play on Ystradfechan Fields in Treorchy. The club was founded in 2002 when Blaenrhondda CC and Treorchy CC merged, they also have a women's side which was the first women's cricket team in the Rhondda when they started in 2019.

Notable people

 * See Category:People from Treorchy

 * Euros Bowen (1904–1988) – Welsh poet and bard
 * Billy Cleaver (1921–2003) – Wales international rugby player
 * Donald Davies (1924–2000) – Computer scientist
 * John Davies (1938–2015) – Welsh historian
 * Bram Gay (1930-2019) - Musician and musical director
 * Peter George (1924–66) – Author and Oscar nominated screenwriter
 * Noel Kinsey (1925) – Welsh international footballer
 * Wayne Jones (1948) – Welsh international footballer
 * Clive Thomas (1936) – World Cup football referee
 * Frank Vickery (1951-2018) – Playwright
 * Geraint Williams (1962) – Welsh international footballer
 * Rachael Trezise (author) (1978) - Novelist and Playwright.

title: Treorchy


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Ski jumping at the 1924 Winter Olympics

At the 1924 Winter Olympics, one individual ski jumping event was contested. It was held on Monday 4 February 1924.

The event was unusual in that the bronze medalist was not determined for fifty years. Thorleif Haug of Norway was awarded third place at the event's conclusion, but a clerical error in calculating Haug's score was discovered in 1974 by Jacob Vaage, who further determined Anders Haugen of the United States, who had finished fourth, had actually scored 0.095 points more than Haug. The International Olympic Committee verified this, and in Oslo in September 1974, Haug's daughter presented the medal to the 85-year-old Haugen.

Results
This competition took place at Le Mont with a K-point of 71 meters. The winner of the competition Jacob Tullin Thams also won a silver medal in sailing at the 1936 Summer Olympics; he is among very few athletes to win both Winter and Summer Olympic medals.

Participating nations
A total of 27 ski jumpers from nine nations competed at the Chamonix Games:

title: Ski jumping at the 1924 Winter Olympics


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Ed Mirvish

Yehuda Edwin "Honest Ed" Mirvish, (July 24, 1914 – July 11, 2007) was an American-Canadian businessman, philanthropist and theatrical impresario who lived in Toronto, Ontario. He is known for his flagship business, Honest Ed's, a landmark discount store in downtown Toronto, and as a patron of the arts, instrumental in revitalizing the theatre scene in Toronto.

Biography
Born in Colonial Beach, Virginia, the son of Jewish immigrants from Lithuania (his father, David) and Austria (his mother, Anna). His parents gave him the Hebrew name, Yehuda, but at the urging of a cousin, they added a more American name, Edwin. Mirvish often told the tale of his bris; there was no mohel in Colonial Beach, so the family hired one in nearby Washington, D.C., to come down to perform the ceremony. The mohel chosen was Rabbi Moshe Reuben Yoelson, the father of Al Jolson. Mirvish credited this as his introduction to show business.

The family later moved to Washington, D.C., where Mirvish's father opened a grocery store. The grocery store went bankrupt in 1923, and David Mirvish moved his family to Toronto where he worked as a door-to-door salesman – peddling, among other things, Fuller Brushes and the Encyclopedia of Freemasonry – until he opened a grocery in the Toronto Jewish community, on Dundas Street. The family lived above the store, sharing their tiny apartment with a Hebrew school. Mirvish would often joke that it was his dream in those days to someday have a bathroom he did not have to share with 50 others.

Mirvish lost his father at the age of 15. He dropped out of school to manage the store, becoming the sole support of his mother, his younger brother, Robert (who became a successful novelist and short-story writer) and sister, Lorraine. The grocery business did not do well, and Mirvish closed shop to reopen as a dry-cleaner, in partnership with his childhood friend, Yale Simpson. The shop was known as Simpson's. When the well-known downtown Toronto department store Simpson's attempted to force him to change the name of his business, Mirvish pointed to Simpson and said, "Here's my Mr. Simpson. Where's yours?" The dry-cleaning business did no better than the grocery, however, and Mirvish soon abandoned it to take a regular job working as a produce manager and buyer for Toronto grocery store entrepreneur Leon Weinstein. Now financially stable, Mirvish bought a Ford Model T and began to court a radio singer from Hamilton, Ontario, Anne Macklin, whom he married in 1941. In 1945, their son, David, was born.

In 1943, during World War II, Ed and Anne Mirvish opened a dress shop known as The Sport Bar on Bloor Street near Bathurst. In 1946, the business expanded and was renamed Anne & Eddie's. In 1948, Mirvish cashed in his wife's insurance policy to open a new business, a bargain basement known as "Honest Ed's", stocked with all kinds of odd merchandise purchased at bankruptcy and fire sales, and displayed on orange crates. This unique no-credit, no-service, no-frills business model was an immediate success. Mirvish claimed to have invented the "loss-leader", below-cost discounts on selected items designed to lure buyers into the store. "Honest Ed's" gradually expanded to fill an entire city block. Billing itself as "the world's biggest discount department store", it was soon bringing in millions of dollars a year. The store expanded and, in the late 1950s, Mirvish started buying up houses on Markham Street running south from Bloor. When his application to tear down the Victorian structures to build a parking lot was rejected by the city Mirvish, at the urging of his wife, rented them out at low rates to local artists and the street soon became a community of artists studios, galleries, boutiques and niche shops known today as Mirvish Village.

In June 2006, Ed and Anne Mirvish marked their 65th wedding anniversary with a party at the Princess of Wales Theatre. The mayor of Toronto, the chief of police and other public figures delivered congratulatory speeches, followed by a program of vocal music by some of Toronto's opera and theater stars. In July 2006, Mirvish celebrated his 92nd birthday with a lavish party at Honest Ed's. In honor of this occasion, many items in the store were on sale for 92 cents.

On July 11, 2007, the Mirvish family released a statement to announce the death of Ed Mirvish after midnight at St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, at age 92. The funeral service was held at the Beth Tzedek Synagogue in Toronto. Mirvish was buried at Pardes Shalom Cemetery in Maple, Ontario. His store was closed and its lights were dimmed, as staff bid farewell to the former owner. A similar gesture was made by theatres on Broadway, which dimmed their lights for one minute at 8 pm on July 13. Toronto Police provided ceremonial and mounted units (including the horse Honest Ed) for his funeral. Flags at Toronto's civic centres were lowered to half mast.

On August 12, 2007, the City of Toronto had granted a closure of Bloor Street between Bathurst and Markham Streets to accommodate a celebration in honour of Ed Mirvish. Ceremonies began with Mayor David Miller, who proclaimed August 12 "Ed Mirvish Day" in the City of Toronto.

In response to his death, Jones Cane Sugar Soda issued bottles of their soda with a picture of Honest Ed on them, with "Honest Ed Mirvish 1914–2007" placed where normally a photo credit lies.

Publicity stunts
Mirvish was renowned for his publicity stunts, doing everything from riding elephants, to hiring protesters to picket his own restaurant over its dress code. Every Christmas, Mirvish gave away ten thousand pounds of free turkeys in his store to shoppers who stood in line for hours. The giveaway continued each Christmas until 2015. A tradition since his 75th birthday has been the annual birthday bash outside the store, with free food, entertainment and children's rides. In 2003, Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman proclaimed Mirvish's birthday "Ed Mirvish Day".

At one time, a sign in the store read: "When Ed dies, he would like a catered funeral with accordion players and a buffet table, with a replica of Honest Ed on it made of potato salad."

Theatres and restaurants
In addition to Honest Ed's, Mirvish was known in Toronto for his theatres and restaurants. His first purchase was the Royal Alexandra Theatre, an Edwardian Beaux-Arts landmark building potentially slated for demolition. Mirvish purchased the building in 1963 and refurbished it, revitalizing the Toronto theatre scene.

To liven up the neighborhood and provide patrons with a place to go before and after performances, Mirvish bought and renovated a nearby warehouse building, which he turned into a restaurant. To cut costs, "Ed's Warehouse" at King Street West and Duncan Street served a set meal: prime rib, mashed potatoes and peas. Along the same street, Mirvish later opened Ed's Seafood (276 King Street West), Ed's Folly (268 King Street West), Ed's Chinese, Ed's Italian Restaurant and Old Ed's or Ed's Warehouse (Edwardian style warehouse at 266 King Street West or also as Reid Building built 1904 by Alexander Frank Wickson for Featherbone Novelty Manufacturing Company), which attracted local residents to the previously neglected King Street area and served 6,000 meals a night. As the neighbourhood became revitalized, many other restaurants opened nearby, often serving a wider range of foods than Ed's restaurants and achieving greater popularity; consequently, one by one, Ed's restaurants closed down. The last was Ed's Warehouse, which shut its doors in 2000.

In 1993 the Mirvishes built the Princess of Wales Theatre, the largest new theatre – and first privately financed theatre – in North America in the span of thirty years. In 2001, Mirvish Enterprises signed a management contract to run the Pantages Theatre, renamed the Canon Theatre, for Clear Channel Entertainment (now Live Nation), which had bought up the assets of the bankrupt theatre company, Livent. The first show under the Mirvish banner was a touring production of Saturday Night Fever.

He and his son David operated Mirvish Productions, which staged major touring theatre productions from Broadway and London and which produced and/or co-produced the Canadian stagings of such recent hits as The Lion King, Mamma Mia!, The Producers and Hairspray. In 1982 Ed and David Mirvish bought London's Old Vic for £550,000 stg (Can$1.23 million) and spent four million dollars renovating it. Under their management, The Old Vic was celebrated for winning more awards for its productions than any other single theatre in Britain; It never made money, however, and they sold it to its present owners, a theatre trust, in 1998. Ed Mirvish was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for saving the Old Vic.

On December 6, 2011 the Canon Theatre was renamed Ed Mirvish Theatre in his honour.

Honours and awards

 * 1978, Made a Member of the Order of Canada
 * 1984, Awarded Retail Council of Canada's Distinguished Canadian Retailer of the Year Award
 * 1984, Named a Freeman of the City of London in recognition of his contributions to British theatre (he subsequently drove a herd of sheep across London Bridge, a right of a Freeman of the city)
 * 1987, Promoted to Officer of the Order of Canada
 * 1989, Appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire
 * 1999, Awarded Retail Council of Canada's Lifetime Achievement Award
 * 2008, One block of Duncan Street in Toronto, near the Royal Alexandra Theatre and the Princess of Wales Theatre in the Entertainment District, is renamed Ed Mirvish Way
 * 2008, The parkette at Bathurst Subway Station, near Honest Ed's, is renamed Ed & Anne Mirvish Parkette
 * 2011, The former Canon Theatre on Yonge Street in Toronto was renamed as the Ed Mirvish Theatre.

Published works

 * How to Build an Empire on an Orange Crate, or 121 Lessons I Never Learned at School, the autobiography of Edwin Mirvish, published by Key Porter Books, Toronto, 1993
 * There's no business like show business : but I wouldn't ditch my day job by Ed Mirvish, published by Key Porter Books, Toronto, 1997.
 * Retail Council of Canada's Awards of Distinction

title: Ed Mirvish


text:
Nigel Bond

Nigel Bond (born 15 November 1965) is an English retired professional snooker player.

Bond competed on the main tour from 1989 to 2022, and was ranked within the world's top 16 players between 1992 and 1999, peaking at 5th for the 1996–97 season. He reached the final of the World Championship in 1995, where he lost 9–18 to Stephen Hendry. He won the 1996 British Open, defeating John Higgins 9–8.

Having reached three other ranking tournament finals, Bond won the 2011 Snooker Shoot-Out and, in 2012, defeated Tony Chappel to win the World Seniors Championship. He fell off the tour following his loss to Lukas Kleckers in the second qualifying round for the 2022 World Championship, and subsequently announced his retirement.

Career
Bond was born in Darley Dale, Derbyshire.

After a strong amateur career, Bond turned professional for the 1989–90 season. He reached his first ranking semi-final in his first season, and his first final in his second season, but his career peaked in the mid-1990s. In the first round of the 1994 World Championship, he pulled off one of the biggest comebacks in the event's history, rallying from 2–9 to defeat Cliff Thorburn 10–9 in what turned out to be Thorburn's last appearance at the Crucible. A year later, Bond reached the final after beating Stephen Lee, Alan McManus, Gary Wilkinson and Andy Hicks, but lost to Stephen Hendry 9–18. As a consequence of reaching the final, he climbed to number five in the world rankings for the 1996–97 season, and in that same season he acquired his only ranking tournament victory, the British Open, beating John Higgins 9–8 after needing a snooker in the final frame. He won the World Snooker Association Performance of the Year award for this achievement, although he then failed to maintain this level of performance.

He reached at least the quarter-finals at the Crucible Theatre every year from 1993 to 1996, losing to Hendry every time, which added extra spice to their first-round match in 2006. After leading comfortably throughout the early stages of the match, Bond was pegged back to 7–7 and the match went to a final frame. With only the black remaining, and seven points up, Bond clipped it into the left corner pocket, only for the cue ball to go in the right middle pocket, resulting in a re-spotted black (the first one ever to decide the final frame of a World Championship match), which Bond potted to take frame and match. The final score was 10–9, Bond's first win at the Crucible since 1999, and his only last-16 run of that season.

By the end of the 1990s, he was out of the top 16, and dropped out of the top 32 for the 2004–05 season. However, he reclaimed his place a year later, and remained there until 2010. In the 2007 World Championship he lost in the first round, 7–10 to Peter Ebdon.

A run to the last 16 of the 2007 UK Championship, in which he came from 5–7 to win 9–7 against Ken Doherty in the last 32 before losing 6–9 to Ding Junhui in the last 16, was a precursor to Bond's first quarter-final run for five years, at the China Open. Victories over David Roe, Stephen Lee and Barry Pinches took him to a meeting with Stephen Maguire, who whitewashed him 5–0.

He opened the 2008–09 season with first-round defeats in the first five tournaments, but victory over Ebdon in the first round of the World Championship ensured that he held his top-32 status. This was, however, his last appearance at the main stages of the World Championship.

On 30 January 2011, Bond won the Snooker Shoot-Out event. This involved the top 64 players in the world playing 10-minute matches decided on a single frame. He picked up the £32,000 prize money as well as the Snooker Shoot-Out trophy, beating Robert Milkins 58–24 in the final.

He made a good start to the 2011–12 season by qualifying for the first two ranking event tournaments, the Australian Goldfields Open and the Shanghai Masters. He lost to Neil Robertson and Mark Selby respectively in the first round. He also qualified for the World Open, but was defeated by amateur player Lu Ning in the wildcard round. Bond finished the season ranked world number 45.

He once again qualified for the Australian Goldfields Open in the 2012–13 season, but lost to Robertson 1–5 in the last 32. In December, he reached the World Open in Haikou, China, with wins over Jimmy White and Jamie Burnett. At the venue he saw off Zhu Yinghui 5–3 in the wildcard round and received a bye through to the last 16 due to the withdrawal of Ali Carter. There he lost 1–5 to Judd Trump. Bond was also crowned World Seniors champion during the season without dropping a frame in a total of seven matches, concluding with a 2–0 victory against Tony Chappel in the final. His season ended when he was beaten 8–10 by McManus in the third round of World Championship Qualifying. He dropped a solitary place during the year to end it ranked world number 46. He reached the final of the World Seniors Championship for the second year in a row in the 2013–14 season, losing 1–2 to Steve Davis. He only won two matches at the main venue of ranking events all season, his best run coming in the China Open, where he beat Pinches 5–2 before losing to Selby 1–5 in the last 32. He fell 11 spots from the start of the season to end it as the world number 57.

He produced a comeback in the second round of the 2014 UK Championship, as from 0–5 down against world number five Barry Hawkins he took six successive frames to advance. However, in the third round Anthony McGill recovered from 1–4 down to eliminate him 6–5. The furthest Bond could progress in a ranking event this season was at the Indian Open, where he beat Ryan Day 4–1 and Dechawat Poomjaeng 4–3, before losing 1–4 to Chris Wakelin in the last 16. He fell just outside the top 64 at the end of the year as he was ranked 65th, but he earned a two-year extension via the European Order of Merit.

At the 2016 Indian Open, Bond defeated Ricky Walden 4–1, Sam Baird 4–2, John Astley 4–2 and Ebdon 4–3 to reach his first ranking event semi-final since 2002, where he lost 1–4 to Kyren Wilson. He had started practising at the Snooker Academy in Sheffield with young Chinese players and stated that this has contributed to him regaining the hunger and passion to play snooker. He would have a losing run of 10 successive matches shortly afterwards, but at the Gibraltar Open he beat five players to reach his second semi-final of the season, where he failed to pick up a frame in a defeat to Shaun Murphy. Bond kept his place on the tour through the one-year ranking list.

Bond made a surprise run to the quarter-finals of the 2019 UK Championship at the age of 54 winning a number of close matches. He defeated future world champion Luca Brecel 6–5 in his opening round followed by another 6–5 win over Louis Heathcote. His greatest victory en route to the quarter-finals was a 6–3 win against reigning world champion and world number 1 Judd Trump in the last 32 having trailed 3–1. Bond lost 6–5 to Mark Allen in the quarter-finals having led Allen 3–1.

Personal life
Bond has a son called Matthew with his wife Karen.

title: Nigel Bond


text:
Talk:Osona

Opening heading
My Catalan encyclopaedia says that "Ausona" was the "Latin" name. Only this. May be the name was used in the old middle age when the only language used in the scripture was Latin, but today, speak about "Osona or Ausona" is like to say "Barcelona or Barcino" or "Spain or Hipania". I think that the sentence wasn't adequate. Llull 18:09, 5 May 2004 (UTC)

 * I could find you a lot of references using the name "Ausona" well into the middle ages. Actually, a web search turns up quite a few, including referring to it this way precisely during the period where it was, in the narrow sense, a county (with a count). Check it out. -- Jmabel 20:49, 5 May 2004 (UTC) (BTW, I presume you meant to type "Hispania")

 * Well, in the middle ages I can find lots of references using Cathalunya, Catalaunia, Cathalaunia or Catalonia (in Catalan and Latin~texts), but these versions only are archaisms. I've tryied to include the word "Ausona" telling the origin of the name. Sorry, if I'm grotesque, bnut I have a survival English level, And yes, I wanted to say "Hispania" :p Llull 21:05, 5 May 2004 (UTC)

Move

 * The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: Move. Jafeluv (talk) 21:41, 24 November 2011 (UTC)

Osona (comarca) → Osona – The primary topic for the term "Osona" is the modern comarca of Osona. Jɑυмe (xarrades) 01:37, 17 November 2011 (UTC)

 * Support. —Srnec (talk) 00:19, 18 November 2011 (UTC)
 * Support. —Jɑυмe (xarrades) 00:22, 21 November 2011 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

title: Talk:Osona


text:
Figure skating at the 1924 Winter Olympics

Figure skating at the 1924 Winter Olympics took place at the Stade Olympique in Chamonix, France, from 29 to 31 January 1924. Three figure skating events were contested: men's singles, ladies' singles, and pair skating.

This was not the first time that figure skating had been contested at the Olympic Games, as the sport had previously been included on the programme at the 1908 and 1920 Summer Olympics. Gillis Grafström successfully defended his 1920 title.

At the 1924 Winter Olympics, the figure skating events were held on a square rink rather than a rectangular one, as a last-minute change. Consequently, some competitors had difficulty adjusting their free skating programs to fit the ice surface.

Medal table
Only Austria was able to win more than one medal.

Participating nations
Eight figure skater competed in both the singles and the pairs event.

A total of 29 figure skaters (16 men and 13 ladies) from eleven nations (men from ten nations and ladies from eight nations) competed at the Chamonix Games:

 * (men 2, women 2)
 * (men 2, women 1)
 * (men 1, women 1)
 * (men 1, women 0)
 * (men 1, women 1)
 * (men 3, women 2)
 * (men 3, women 3)
 * (men 0, women 1)
 * (men 1, women 0)
 * (men 1, women 0)
 * (men 1, women 2)


text:
Tonypandy

Tonypandy is a town, community and electoral ward located in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying in the Rhondda Fawr Valley. A former industrial coal mining town, the town was the scene of the 1910 Tonypandy riots.

The community boundaries of Tonypandy are drawn relatively tightly around the central part of the urban area. According to the 2011 UK Census, the population of the community was 3,750. The Office for National Statistics defines a larger "Tonypandy built-up area" covering much of the Rhondda Fawr valley and the lower Rhondda Fach valley, which had a population of 62,545 in 2011. They also define a smaller "Tonypandy built-up area sub division" which had a population of 17,789.

The town is served by Tonypandy railway station on the Rhondda Line.

Toponymy
Tonypandy means fulling mill lea, from Welsh ton (archaic tonnau) for lea, layland, pasture, grassland or unploughed land; pannu for fulling and tŷ for house (cf. pandy). (See also Tonna.)

Pre-industrial
The Tonypandy area contains several prehistoric sites, the main one being Mynydd y Gelli. Located to the north-west of the town, the remains of an Iron Age settlement Hen Dre'r Gelli lies on the slopes of Mynydd Y Gelli hill between Tonypandy and Gelli. Near the same location are several Bronze Age cairns.

Tonypandy is also the site of one of two permanent Middle Ages fortifications found within the Rhondda Valley. Named Ynysygrug, it was a lesser motte and bailey earthwork defence consisting of a wooden tower surrounded by a small fortified courtyard. Built around the 12th or early 13th century, the remains of the fortification were mostly destroyed during railway construction works in the 19th century. The fortification was for many years wrongly thought to be the burial place of Rhys ap Tewdwr or a druidic worship site.

The regional library service recounts that the name 'Tonypandy' means the meadow of the fulling mill which was established there in 1838. "E. D. Lewis in his work The Rhondda Valleys provides us with an outline history of the mill that once stood in Tonypandy, and from which the town took its name".

Industrial era
In the mid-19th century, the Rhondda began its industrial transformation after the successful excavation of coal. With the extension of the Taff Vale Railway to Treherbert and Maerdy in 1856, the Rhondda grew as absentee landlords switched their interests from farming to mining. The Tonypandy riots of 1910 and 1911 were a series of violent confrontations between coal miners and police that took place at various locations in and around the Rhondda mines of the Cambrian Combine, a cartel of mining companies in South Wales. Tonypandy, unlike the surrounding villages, then grew as a financial and social hub, providing services and amenities for the neighbouring communities.

Sports and recreation
In the early part of the 20th century, Tonypandy was home to Mid-Rhondda RLFC, one of the first Welsh rugby league teams. Although surviving only one season, the club transformed into Mid-Rhondda AFC, one of the most notable association football teams the Rhondda has produced. Both Mid-Rhondda teams played at the Athletic Ground, now known as "the Mid". The pitch is notable as having hosted the first international match between the Wales and England rugby league teams on 20 April 1908. It was also used as the opening venue for the 1908–09 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain, when the visiting Australian rugby league team began its campaign with a match against Mid-Rhondda.

When the Mid-Rhondda RLFC collapsed in 1909, the committee refocused on creating an association football team. In 1912 Mid Rhondda F.C. was formed, winning the South League Second Division in 1919–20.

Governance
In 1988 Tonypandy became a county electoral ward to Mid Glamorgan County Council, electing one county councillor in 1989 and 1993.

Since 1995 Tonypandy has been a ward, coterminous with the community boundaries, which elects a county borough councillor to Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council. In 2012 the electorate was 2,739.

At every Rhondda Cynon Taf election the seat has been won by the Labour Party, apart from the 1999 election when then ward was won by Plaid Cymru. Between 2004 and 2017 the Labour councillor was Craig Middle and, since May 2017, the councillor has been Gareth Wyn Hughes.

Notable people

 * See Category:People from Tonypandy

 * Willie Llewellyn (1878 – 1973), Welsh national rugby captain and three times Triple Crown winner
 * Writer Rhys Davies (1901 – 1978)
 * George Thomas, 1st Viscount Tonypandy (1909 – 1997) was educated at Tonypandy Grammar School.
 * Boxer Tommy Farr (1913 – 1986), the "Tonypandy Terror", trained there, living in adjoining Clydach Vale
 * Brothers Donald Houston (1923 – 1991) and Glyn Houston (1926 - 2019) were both actors
 * Len Rawle (b. 1938), organist and organ builder/restorer
 * Footballer and club manager Nathan Jones (b. 1973)
 * Footballer Alex Lawless (b. 1985)
 * Singer and actress Sophie Evans (b. 1993)
 * Stuart Richardson (b. 1973) Former bassist of Lostprophets and current bassist for No Devotion

title: Tonypandy


text:
Borough of Stockton-on-Tees

The Borough of Stockton-on-Tees is a local government district with borough status which straddles the ceremonial counties of County Durham and North Yorkshire, England. Since 1996 its council has been a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council. The borough had a population of 196,600 in 2021.

The main settlement and namesake of the borough is Stockton-on-Tees, which lies on the north bank of the River Tees with the towns of Billingham and Norton-on-Tees. All three towns are in County Durham. The towns of Ingleby Barwick, Thornaby-on-Tees and Yarm are south of the river in North Yorkshire.

The borough governed by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council. The borough is part of Tees Valley with nearby boroughs of Darlington, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Hartlepool.

All River Tees bridges from Yarm Viaduct to Transporter Bridge are in the borough at least on one side, with the Borough of Middlesbrough to the south downstream on the other side to the east of the borough. Teesside International Airport is shared between the borough and the Borough of Darlington.

Municipal authority
Stockton previously held borough status as the Municipal Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in historic County Durham.

Loss of status
In 1968, the borough was merged into Teesside County Borough; this civil parish was a part of the ceremonial (not administrative) North Riding county until its abolition.

District authority
The town regained borough status on 1 April 1974 as a result of the Local Government Act 1972. It became a non-metropolitan district of the County of Cleveland, itself established at the same time. Multiple parishes and boroughs merged into Stockton's newly formed district borough:
 * Teesside County Borough's area covering the former Stockton, Billingham and Thornaby municipal boroughs,
 * Hilton, Ingleby Barwick, Kirklevington, Maltby, and Yarm parishes of the previous North Riding County-administered Stokesley Rural District, and
 * Part of the County Durham-administered Stockton Rural District parishes.

Unitary authority
The borough became a unitary authority on 1 April 1996. It is ceremonially split between County Durham and North Yorkshire, to the north and south of the Tees respectively. It is the only council in England to be split between two ceremonial counties. The former districts and boroughs of Durham now form the unitary authority of County Durham, so ceremonial County Durham now has four unitary authorities.

Economy
The Office for National Statistics has published a chart (pp. 240–253) of the trend of regional gross value of Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees (figures in Sterling [millions]).

includes hunting and forestry.

includes energy and construction.

includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured.

Components may not sum to totals due to rounding.

Demographics
In the 2021 census, the borough was recorded as having a population of 196,595 with 50.9% being female.

For sexuality, those who identified as Straight or Heterosexual were 91.6%, Gay or Lesbian were 1.4%, Bisexual was 0.9%, Pansexual was 0.2%, Asexual was 0.0%, Queer was 0.0, 'All other sexual orientations' were 0.0% and those who did not answer were 5.9%.

[Note, for percentages with 0.0%, this may due to a number too low to represent using the number of digits supplied rather than a lack of those who identified as that specific idea]

Local Nature Reserves
The council maintains a number of local nature reserves including Barwick Pond, Charlton's Pond, Greenvale, Hardwick Dene and Elm Tree Woods, Norton Grange Marsh, Quarry Wood (Eaglescliffe), and Stillington Forest Park.

Town councils

 * County Durham: Billingham
 * North Yorkshire: Ingleby Barwick • Thornaby-on-Tees • Yarm-on-Tees

Parish councils
County Durham: • Aislaby and Newsham
 * North Yorkshire: Hilton • Kirklevington and Castle Levington • Maltby

• Carlton

• Elton

• Egglescliffe and Eaglescliffe

• Grindon

• Long Newton

• Norton-on-Tees

• Preston-on-Tees

• Redmarshall

• Stillington and Whitton

• Wolviston

• Wynyard

title: Borough of Stockton-on-Tees


text:
Mark Ryden

Mark Ryden (born January 20, 1963) is an American painter who is considered to be part of the Lowbrow (or pop surrealist) art movement. He was dubbed "the god-father of pop surrealism" by Interview magazine. In 2015, Artnet named Ryden and his wife, painter Marion Peck, the king and queen of Pop Surrealism.

Ryden has been described as a "relentless kitsch meister working in the tradition of Bosch, Dalí, and Little Golden Books" and a master of Lowbrow style. His work has been described as having a pop-surrealist style that contains a nightmarish quality. His inspirations include "old children’s books, interesting product packages, toys, photographs, medical models, skeletons, shells, minerals, and religious statues." His album and single artwork for musicians includes Aerosmith's "Love in an Elevator" (1989), Michael Jackson's Dangerous (1991), and Red Hot Chili Peppers' One Hot Minute (1995).

Early life
Ryden was born in Medford, Oregon on January 20, 1963, to Barbara and Keith Ryden, and was raised in Southern California. His father was a painter who also restored and customized cars. He has two sisters and two brothers: his brother Keyth is also an artist and works under the name KRK. Ryden graduated from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena in 1987.

Early career (1988–1998)
From 1988 to 1998, Ryden worked as a commercial artist. During this period, he created album covers for prominent musicians, including Danger Danger’s debut eponymous album; Warrant's debut album Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich; Michael Jackson's Dangerous; the 4 Non Blondes' Bigger, Better, Faster, More!; the Red Hot Chili Peppers' One Hot Minute; Scarling.’s Sweet Heart Dealer and their alternative vinyl cover of So Long, Scarecrow; Jack Off Jill's Clear Hearts Grey Flowers; the Screaming Trees' Uncle Anesthesia; Marcy Playground's Shapeshifter; and Aerosmith's "Love in an Elevator". He also created book covers, including the Stephen King novels Desperation and The Regulators. In 1994, Robert Williams featured Ryden's work on the cover of Juxtapoz, a magazine devoted to "lowbrow art", which helped launch Ryden to greater success.

The Meat Show
Ryden's solo debut show entitled "The Meat Show" was in Pasadena, California in 1998. Meat is a recurring theme in his work. In a 2010 interview, Ryden stated, "There seems to be a complete disconnect between meat as food and the living, breathing creature it comes from. I suppose it is this contradiction that brings me to return to meat in my art."

Wondertoonel
A mid-career retrospective, "Wondertoonel", which refers to a cabinet of curiosities or Wunderkammer ("wonder-room"), was co-organized in 2004 by the Frye Art Museum in Seattle and the Pasadena Museum of California Art. It was the best-attended exhibition since the Frye Art Museum opened in 1952, and broke attendance records in Pasadena. Debra Byrne, then-curator of the Frye, placed Ryden's work in the camp of the carnivalesque—a strain of visual culture rooted in such works as Hieronymous Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights.

The Tree Show
In 2007, "The Tree Show" opened at the Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles. In this show, Ryden explored the contemporary human experience of nature. He explained, "Some people look at these massive trees and feel a sort of spiritual awe looking at them, and then other people just want to cut them up and sell them, they only see a commodity". Ryden has created limited editions of his art to raise money for the Sierra Club and Nature Conservancy.

The Snow Yak Show
In 2009, Ryden's exhibition "The Snow Yak Show" was shown at the Tomio Koyama Gallery in Tokyo.

The Gay 90s: Olde Tyme Art Show
In 2010, "The Gay lord 90s: Olde Tyme Art Show" debuted at Paul Kasmin Gallery in New York. The central theme of the show referenced the idealism and sentimentalism of the 1890s while addressing the role of kitsch and nostalgia in current culture. Ryden explored the line between attraction and repulsion to kitsch. According to The New York Times, "Ryden’s pictures hint at the psychic stuff that pullulates beneath the sentimental, nostalgic and naïve surface of modern kitsch."

The Tree of Life
Ryden's The Tree of Life painting was included in the exhibition "The Artist's Museum, Los Angeles Artists 1980-2010" at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA). The exhibition showcased artists who helped shape the artistic dialogue in Los Angeles since MOCA's 1980 founding.

The Gay Nineties Olde Tyme Music
On May 13, 2014, Ryden released an album titled The Gay Nineties Olde Tyme Music: Daisy Bell, featuring Tyler, the Creator, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Katy Perry, Stan Ridgway of Wall Of Voodoo, Danny Elfman, Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo, Nick Cave, Scarling., Kirk Hammett of Metallica, and Everlast. All performed a different rendition of the same song, "Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)." The proceeds from the signed and limited edition record benefited Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit that supports musical education in disadvantaged elementary schools.

Whipped Cream
Ryden developed costumes and sets for a two-act ballet titled Whipped Cream, which premiered in March 2017 at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California. The ballet was created by choreographer Alexei Ratmansky for the American Ballet Theatre. It is a story about a young boy who overindulges at a Vienna pastry shop and falls into a surreal delirium. With libretto and music by Richard Strauss, the ballet, originally titled Schlagobers, was first performed by the Vienna State Opera in 1924.

The Mark Ryden x Barbie Collection
In 2022, it was announced that Ryden had designed a series of limited-edition Barbies and accessories for Mattel. Mattel Creations and Kasmin Gallery held an exhibition of Ryden's work and the dolls from November 11 to December 12, 2022. Also on display was Ryden's first depiction of Barbie, a 1994 oil painting of a girl praying to Barbie, titled Saint Barbie.

Personal life
Ryden has two children, Rosie and Jasper. In 2009 he married artist Marion Peck in the Pacific Northwest rainforest. He resides in Portland, Oregon.

Selected solo exhibitions

 * 2016/2017: "Cámara de las Maravillas." CAC, Málaga, España
 * 2014: "The Gay 90's West." Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles
 * 2010: "The Gay 90's: Old Tyme Art Show", Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York
 * 2010: "The Artist's Museum," The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
 * 2009: "The Snow Yak Show", Tomio Koyama Gallery, Japan
 * 2007: "Tree Show", Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles
 * 2004-05: "Wondertoonel", Frye Museum, Seattle & Pasadena Museum of California Art, Pasadena
 * 2003: "Insalata Mista", Mondo Bizzarro Gallery, Bologna, Italy
 * 2003: "Blood" Earl McGrath Gallery, Los Angeles, California
 * 2002: "Bunnies and Bees", Grand Central Art Center, Santa Ana, California
 * 2001: "Bunnies and Bees", Earl McGrath Gallery, New York, New York
 * 1998: "The Meat Show", Mendenhall Gallery, Pasadena, California

Albums

 * 2014: Mark Ryden's The Gay Nineties Old Tyme Music: Daisy Bell

title: Mark Ryden