|
Ivinghoe Beacon
Ivinghoe Beacon is a prominent hill and landmark in Buckinghamshire, England, 233 m (757 ft) above sea level in the Chiltern Hills, close to Ivinghoe and Aldbury. Dunstable, Berkhamsted and Tring are nearby. The Beacon lies within the Ashridge Estate and is managed and owned by the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, National Trust. It is the starting point of the Icknield Way to the east, and the Ridgeway long-distance trail, long-distance path to the west. Ivinghoe Beacon is a popular spot for walkers and sightseers. Model aircraft enthusiasts also use lift generated by the wind blowing up the hill to fly their unpowered aircraft – a technique known as slope soaring. History The hill is an ancient signal point, which was used in times of crisis to send messages across long distances. It is also the site of an early Iron Age hillfort protected as a scheduled monument. Archaeological evidence has revealed human activity dating back to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Ridgeway
The ancient tree-lined path winds over the downs countryside The Ridgeway is a ridgeway or ancient trackway described as Britain's oldest road. The section clearly identified as an ancient trackway extends from Wiltshire along the chalk ridge of the Berkshire Downs to the River Thames at the Goring Gap, part of the Icknield Way which ran, not always on the ridge, from Salisbury Plain to East Anglia. The route was adapted and extended as a National Trail, created in 1972. The Ridgeway National Trail follows the ancient Ridgeway from Overton Hill, near Avebury, to Streatley, then follows footpaths and parts of the ancient Icknield Way through the Chiltern Hills to Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire. The National Trail is long. History For at least 5,000 years travellers have used the Ridgeway. The Ridgeway provided a reliable trading route to the Dorset coast and to the Wash in Norfolk. The high dry ground made travel easy and provided a measure of protection by givin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scheduled Monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and destruction are grouped under the term "designation." The protection provided to scheduled monuments is given under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979, which is a different law from that used for listed buildings (which fall within the town and country planning system). A heritage asset is a part of the historic environment that is valued because of its historic, archaeological, architectural or artistic interest. Only some of these are judged to be important enough to have extra legal protection through designation. There are about 20,000 scheduled monuments in England representing about 37,000 heritage assets. Of the tens of thousands of scheduled monuments in the UK, most are inconspicuous archaeological sites, but ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elstree Studios
Elstree Studios is a generic term which can refer to several current and demolished British film studios and television studios based in or around the town of Borehamwood and village of Elstree in Hertfordshire, England. Production studios have been located in the area since 1914 when film production began there. Two sites remain in use in Borehamwood: Elstree Studios on Shenley Road and the BBC Elstree Centre on Eldon Avenue. Films shot at Elstree include: Britain's first sound film, Alfred Hitchcock's '' Blackmail'' (1929), '' The Dam Busters'' (1955), ''Moby Dick'' (1956), '' Summer Holiday'' (1963), '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968), '' Where Eagles Dare'' (1968), ''Goodbye, Mr. Chips'' (1969), ''Star Wars'' (1977), '' The Shining'' (1980) and the ''Indiana Jones'' films. Television shows shot at Elstree include '' The Avengers'', ''Danger Man'', ''The Prisoner'', ''UFO'', '' Robot Wars'', ''The Muppet Show'', ''EastEnders'', '' Holby City'', ''Who Wants to Be a Milliona ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duke Of Burgundy Butterfly
''Hamearis lucina'', the Duke of Burgundy, the only member of the genus ''Hamearis'', is a European butterfly in the family Riodinidae. For many years, it was known as the "Duke of Burgundy fritillary", because the adult's chequered pattern is strongly reminiscent of "true" fritillaries of the family Nymphalidae. Taxonomy and systematics Riodinidae is currently treated as a distinct family within the superfamily Papilionoidea, but in the past they were held to be the subfamily Riodininae of the Lycaenidae. Earlier, they were considered to be part of the now defunct family "Erycinidae", whose species are divided between this family and the subfamily Libytheinae. The genus ''Hamearis'', described by Jacob Hübner in 1819 is a monotypic genus of uncertain position (''incertae sedis''). Here it is considered part of subfamily Nemeobiinae, tribe Zemerini, within the metalmark butterfly family (Riodinidae). The origin of the common name is not known and the species was once called ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pasque-flower
The genus ''Pulsatilla'' contains about 40 species of herbaceous perennial plants native to meadows and prairies of North America, Europe, and Asia. Derived from the Hebrew word for Passover, "pasakh", the common name pasque flower refers to the Easter (Passover) flowering period, in the spring. Common names include pasque flower (or pasqueflower), wind flower, prairie crocus, Easter flower, and meadow anemone. Several species are valued ornamentals because of their finely-dissected leaves, solitary bell-shaped flowers, and plumed seed heads. The showy part of the flower consists of sepals, not petals. Taxonomy The genus ''Pulsatilla'' was first formally named in 1754 by the English botanist Philip Miller. The type species is ''Pulsatilla vulgaris'', the European pasque flower. It is sometimes considered a subgenus under the genus ''Anemone'' or as an informally named "group" within ''Anemone'' subg. ''Anemone'' sect. ''Pulsatilloides''. Species , Kew's Plants of the World On ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orchid
Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering plants. The Orchidaceae have about 28,000 currently accepted species, distributed in about 763 genera. (See ''External links'' below). The determination of which family is larger is still under debate, because verified data on the members of such enormous families are continually in flux. Regardless, the number of orchid species is nearly equal to the number of bony fishes, more than twice the number of bird species, and about four times the number of mammal species. The family encompasses about 6–11% of all species of seed plants. The largest genera are ''Bulbophyllum'' (2,000 species), ''Epidendrum'' (1,500 species), ''Dendrobium'' (1,400 species) and ''Pleurothallis'' (1,000 species). It also includes ''Vanilla'' (the genus of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chalk Grassland
Calcareous grassland (or alkaline grassland) is an ecosystem associated with thin basic soil, such as that on chalk and limestone downland. Plants on calcareous grassland are typically short and hardy, and include grasses and herbs such as clover. Calcareous grassland is an important habitat for insects, particularly butterflies and ants, and is kept at a plagioclimax by grazing animals, usually sheep and sometimes cattle. Rabbits used to play a part but due to the onset of myxomatosis their numbers decreased so dramatically that they no longer have much of a grazing effect. There are large areas of calcareous grassland in northwestern Europe, particularly areas of southern England, such as Salisbury Plain and the North and South Downs. The machair forms a different kind of calcareous grassland, where fertile low-lying plains are formed on ground that is calcium-rich due to shell sand (pulverised sea shells). See also * Alvar * Chalk heath * Edaphic * Gypcrust * Gypsum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chilterns Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty
The Chiltern Hills is a chalk escarpment in England. The area, northwest of London, covers stretching from Goring-on-Thames in the southwest to Hitchin in the northeast - across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Bedfordshire. The hills are at their widest. In 1965 almost half of the Chiltern Hills was designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The northwest boundary is clearly defined by the escarpment. The dip slope is by definition more gradual, and merges with the landscape to the southeast. The southwest endpoint is the River Thames. The hills decline slowly in prominence in northeast Bedfordshire.The Changing Landscape of the Chilterns Chilterns AoNB, Accessed 19 February 2012 |
Site Of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man. SSSI/ASSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in the United Kingdom are based upon them, including national nature reserves, Ramsar sites, Special Protection Areas, and Special Areas of Conservation. The acronym "SSSI" is often pronounced "triple-S I". Selection and conservation Sites notified for their biological interest are known as Biological SSSIs (or ASSIs), and those notified for geological or physiographic interest are Geological SSSIs (or ASSIs). Sites may be divided into management units, with some areas including units that are noted for both biological and geological interest. Biological Biological SSSI/ASSIs may ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ivinghoe Hills
Ivinghoe Hills is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in Ivinghoe in Buckinghamshire, and part of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is listed in ''A Nature Conservation Review''. The Ridgeway long-distance footpath ends and the Icknield Way Path starts in the site on Ivinghoe Beacon. An Iron Age fort on Ivinghoe Beacon and a tumulus on Gallows Hill are Scheduled Monuments. The site is part of the National Trust's Ashridge Estate, apart from a small area which belongs to Buckinghamshire County Council. The site is biologically rich, and it has varied habitats including unimproved chalk grassland, which has some nationally rare species, semi-natural woodland and scrub. Some of the grassland is grazed by sheep and cattle. There are two areas of ancient woodland. An area of ploughed land on Gallows Hill has been retained within the SSSI because some of the weeds are nationally scarce. There is access from the National Trust car park off the B488 road. Refer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grim's Ditch
Grim's Ditch, Grim's Dyke (also Grimsdyke or Grimes Dike in derivative names) or Grim's Bank is a name shared by a number of prehistoric bank and ditch linear earthworks across England. They are of different dates and may have had different functions. Purpose The purpose of these earthworks remains a mystery, but as they are too small for military use they may have served to demarcate territory. Some of the Grims Ditches may have had multiple functions. Etymology The name "Grim's Ditch" is Old English in origin. The Anglo-Saxon word ''dīc'' was pronounced "deek" in northern England and "deetch" in the south. The method of building this type of earthwork involved digging a trench and forming the upcast soil into a bank alongside it. This practice has resulted in the name ''dīc'' being given to either the trench or the bank, and this evolved into two words, ''ditch'' and '' dyke'' in modern British English. The origin of the name ''Grim'' is shrouded in mystery, but there are se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Earthworks (archaeology)
In archaeology, earthworks are artificial changes in land level, typically made from piles of artificially placed or sculpted rocks and soil. Earthworks can themselves be archaeological features, or they can show features beneath the surface. Types Earthworks of interest to archaeologists include hill forts, henges, mounds, platform mounds, effigy mounds, enclosures, long barrows, tumuli, ridge and furrow, mottes, round barrows, and other tombs. * Hill forts, a type of fort made out of mostly earth and other natural materials including sand, straw, and water, were built as early as the late Stone Age and were built more frequently during the Bronze Age and Iron Age as a means of protection. See also Oppidum. * Henge earthworks are those that consist of a flat area of earth in a circular shape that are encircled by a ditch, or several circular ditches, with a bank on the outside of the ditch built with the earth from inside the ditch. They are believed to have been used as mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Elstree Studios")
