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Scarp, Scotland
Scarp ( gd, An Sgarp) is an uninhabited island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, west of Hushinish on Harris. Once inhabited, the island was the scene of unsuccessful experiments with rocket mail, since commemorated in two films. Geography Scarp has an area of , divided into 16 crofts. The majority of the land is rocky and uncultivated, and is dominated by two hills, of which the higher reaches . There is a small area of low-lying fertile land in the south-east corner of the island, and here, closest to Harris, is where the inhabitants of the island once lived. The population of Scarp peaked at 213 in 1881, and as recently as the 1940s it was reported to be over 100. The island was settled by eight farming families in 1810, and the population rose, following clearances on Harris, to over two hundred. This population could not be supported as there is little cultivatable land and no all-weather harbour, resulting in many families drifting away. Even in the 1950s the economy wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harris, Outer Hebrides
Harris ( gd, Na Hearadh, ) is the southern and more mountainous part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Although not an island itself, Harris is often referred to in opposition to the ''Isle of Lewis'' as the Isle of Harris, which is the former postal county and the current post town for Royal Mail postcodes starting HS3 or HS5. The civil parish of Harris is considered to include St Kilda, an uninhabited archipelago west-northwest of North Uist, and the uninhabited islet Rockall, which is west of North Uist. Etymology Harris originates from the Old Norse name Harri, the diminutive of the name Harald. Variants are the Dutch Harrie and the Flemish Hariche. Refer also to country and source abbreviations on page 15 These names derive from the Old Norse root word " hár", meaning "high", with the comparative being "hærri". In the English language name, the addition of the "s" once indicated the plural. The Vikings arrived in the British Isl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Rocket Post
''The Rocket Post'' is a 2004 British drama film directed by Stephen Whittaker and starring Ulrich Thomsen, Shauna Macdonald, Kevin McKidd and Patrick Malahide. It is set on a remote Scottish island during the late 1930s. The arrival of German rocket scientist Gerhard Zucker is not initially welcomed by the inhabitants of the island. The film was shot in 2001, but its release was delayed by several years. Additional footage was shot in 2005, and the film was given a limited release in Scotland the following year. The story is very loosely based on experiments in 1934 by the German inventor Gerhard Zucker to provide a postal service to the island of Scarp by rocket mail. Another fictionalised account of the experiment formed the basis of a 2001 film, also called ''The Rocket Post'', which was filmed on Taransay. Film He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Islands Of Scotland
This is a list of islands of Scotland, the mainland of which is part of the island of Great Britain. Also included are various other related tables and lists. The definition of an offshore island used in this list is "land that is surrounded by seawater on a daily basis, but not necessarily at all stages of the tide, excluding human devices such as bridges and causeways". Scotland has over 790 offshore islands, most of which are to be found in four main groups: Shetland, Orkney, and the Hebrides, sub-divided into the Inner Hebrides and Outer Hebrides. There are also clusters of islands in the Firth of Clyde, Firth of Forth, and Solway Firth, and numerous small islands within the many bodies of fresh water in Scotland including Loch Lomond and Loch Maree. The largest island is Lewis and Harris which extends to 2,179 square kilometres, and there are a further 200 islands which are greater than 40 hectares in area. Of the remainder, several such as Staffa and the Flannan Isles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was published on Saturday 26 March 2016, leaving only the online edition. The newspaper was controlled by Tony O'Reilly's Irish Independent News & Media from 1997 until it was sold to the Russian oligarch and former KGB Officer Alexander Lebedev in 2010. In 2017, Sultan Muhammad Abuljadayel bought a 30% stake in it. The daily edition was named National Newspaper of the Year at the 2004 British Press Awards. The website and mobile app had a combined monthly reach of 19,826,000 in 2021. History 1986 to 1990 Launched in 1986, the first issue of ''The Independent'' was published on 7 October in broadsheet format.Dennis Griffiths (ed.) ''The Encyclopedia of the British Press, 1422–1992'', London & Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1992, p. 330 It was produc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bank Of Credit And Commerce International
The Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) was an international bank founded in 1972 by Agha Hasan Abedi, a Pakistani financier. The bank was registered in Luxembourg with head offices in Karachi and London. A decade after opening, BCCI had over 400 branches in 78 countries and assets in excess of US$20 billion, making it the seventh largest private bank in the world. BCCI came under the scrutiny of financial regulators and intelligence agencies in the 1980s, due to concerns that it was poorly regulated. Subsequent investigations revealed that it was involved in massive money laundering and other financial crimes, and had illegally gained the controlling interest in a major American bank. BCCI became the focus of a massive regulatory battle in 1991, and, on 5 July of that year, customs and bank regulators in seven countries raided and locked down records of its branch offices during Operation C-Chase. Investigators in the United States and the UK determined that BCCI ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fighting occurring throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific, and parts of Asia. An estimated 9 million soldiers were killed in combat, plus another 23 million wounded, while 5 million civilians died as a result of military action, hunger, and disease. Millions more died in genocides within the Ottoman Empire and in the 1918 influenza pandemic, which was exacerbated by the movement of combatants during the war. Prior to 1914, the European great powers were divided between the Triple Entente (comprising France, Russia, and Britain) and the Triple Alliance (containing Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy). Tensions in the Balkans came to a head on 28 June 1914, following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dunkirk
Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Commune de Dunkerque (59183) INSEE It lies from the border. It has the third-largest French harbour. The population of the commune in 2019 was 86,279. Etymology and language use The name of Dunkirk derives from '' or ' |
Neil Oliver
Neil Oliver (born 21 February 1967) is a British television presenter, archaeologist, historian and author. He has presented several documentary series on archaeology and history, including '' A History of Scotland'', ''Vikings'', and ''Coast''. He is also an author of popular history books and historical fiction. He was the president of the National Trust for Scotland from 2017 to 2020. Early life and education Oliver was born in Renfrew and raised in Ayr and Dumfries where he attended Dumfries Academy and then the University of Glasgow. He obtained an MA (Hons) in archaeology and then worked as a freelance archaeologist, before training as a journalist. Television career Oliver first appeared on television in the 2002 BBC Two series ''Two Men in a Trench'', in which he and archaeologist Tony Pollard visited historic British battlefields. He was also a co-author of the two books accompanying the series. In 2006, he presented ''The Face of Britain'' for Channel 4 and ''Scotl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norman Adams (British Artist)
Norman Edward Albert Adams RA (9 February 1927 – 9 March 2005) was a British artist, and professor of painting at the Royal Academy Schools The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo .... He was married to the English poet and artist Anna Adams (1926–2011). References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Norman 1927 births 2005 deaths Keepers of the Royal Academy Royal Academicians ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Whittaker
Stephen Whittaker (28 June 19477 February 2003) was a British actor and director. He worked largely in British film and television, and attended Henley-in-Arden School in Warwickshire before further training as an actor at London's Corona Academy. He began his career aged 17, as a "bad boy" in the film '' To Sir With Love'' (1966), and in the classic BBC '' Doctor Who'' adventure ''The Web of Fear'', as a soldier battling Yeti in the London Underground. In 1985 Whittaker took a director's training course, and directed a short training film which he sent to John Schlesinger (who had directed him in ''Yanks''). Schlesinger suggested him to producer Mark Shivas as director for Channel 4's drama trilogy ''What If It's Raining?'', written by Anthony Minghella. This was the beginning of a directing career of prestigious TV and film work. Shortly before Whittaker's death, writer Julian Fellowes spoke of him as, "the most exciting director in the industry." In 2001 he filmed his final pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taransay
Taransay ( gd, Tarasaigh, ) is an island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. It was the host of the British television series '' Castaway 2000''. Uninhabited since 1974, except for holidaymakers, Taransay is the largest Scottish island without a permanent population. It is one hectare larger than Scarba, which is also uninhabited. Geography Taransay lies from Harris, separated by a stretch of sea called the Sound of Taransay. It is also part of the civil parish of Harris and the Na h-Eileanan Siar council area of Scotland. Crossings between the two islands are dependent on calm weather and there are no harbours for large boats on Taransay or the west coast of Harris. Taransay is long, and, at its widest point, across, with an area of . Taransay is made up of two heather-covered hills connected by a white sandy isthmus in the south of the island. It overlooks the bays of Luskyntyre and Seilibost bay to the east, with the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The bays are bordered with s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
