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Samson, Isles Of Scilly
Samson () is the largest uninhabited island of the Isles of Scilly, off the southwestern tip of the Cornish peninsula of Great Britain. It is in size. The island consists of two hills, North Hill and South Hill, which are connected by an isthmus. Samson was named after Samson of Dol. History The twin hills of Samson were formerly associated with breasts, in a similar way to the Paps of Jura in Scotland and the Paps of Anu in Ireland. There are large ancient burial grounds both on the North Hill and South Hill. The first written evidence for the habitation of Samson comes from the Interregnum Survey of 1651–1652, where it was recorded that: The two most prominent families on Samson, the Woodcocks and the Webbers, allegedly first settled Samson after they came into conflict with two other local families, the Banfields and the Mumfords, who had ordered them to leave their homes and move to Hugh Town. The Woodcocks and Webbers instead opted to move to Samson. During the 18th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tresco, Isles Of Scilly
Tresco () is the second-biggest island of the Isles of Scilly. It is in area, measuring about by . History In early times one group of islands was in the possession of a confederacy of hermits. Henry I of England, King Henry I gave it to Tavistock Abbey which established a Tresco Abbey Gardens, priory on Tresco; it was abolished during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The priory was given the care of souls in the secular islands by the lord of the fief. In 1233, a prior here, known as Alan of Cornwall, was made Abbot of Tavistock. The original name for the island (including Bryher) was the , meaning "promontory of sand-dunes". In 1193, when the island was granted to the Abbot of Tavistock by Pope Celestine III, the island was known as ''St. Nicholas's island'', and by 1305 it is called ''Trescau'' (farm of elder-trees). By 1540 this has changed to ''Iniscaw'' (island of elder-trees). The island was named as ''Trescaw'' in an 1814 publication. The island is administered for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Limpet
Limpets are a group of aquatic snails with a conical gastropod shell, shell shape (patelliform) and a strong, muscular foot. This general category of conical shell is known as "patelliform" (dish-shaped). Existing within the class Gastropoda, limpets are a polyphyletic group (its members descending from different immediate ancestors). All species of Patellogastropoda are limpets, with the Patellidae family in particular often referred to as "true limpets". Examples of other clades commonly referred to as limpets include the Vetigastropoda family Fissurellidae ("keyhole limpet"), which use a siphon to pump water over their gills, and the Siphonariidae ("false limpets"), which have a pneumostome for breathing air like the majority of terrestrial Gastropoda. Description The basic anatomy of a limpet consists of the usual molluscan organs and systems: * A nervous system centered around the paired Brain, cerebral, foot, pedal, and pleural sets of ganglion, ganglia. These ganglia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tristan And Iseult
Tristan and Iseult, also known as Tristan and Isolde and other names, is a medieval chivalric romance told in numerous variations since the 12th century. Of disputed source, usually assumed to be primarily Celtic nations, Celtic, the tale is a tragedy about the illicit love between the Cornish people, Cornish knight Tristan and the Irish princess Iseult in the days of King Arthur. During Tristan's mission to escort Iseult from Ireland in the Middle Ages, Ireland to marry his uncle, King Mark of Cornwall, Tristan and Iseult ingest a love potion, instigating a forbidden love affair between them. The legend has had a lasting impact on Western culture. Its different versions exist in many European texts in various languages from the Middle Ages. The earliest instances take two primary forms: the so-called courtly and common branches, respectively associated with the 12th-century poems of Thomas of Britain and Béroul, the latter believed to reflect a now-lost original tale. A subse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Besant
Sir Walter Besant (; 14 August 1836 – 9 June 1901) was an English novelist and historian. William Henry Besant was his brother, and another brother, Frank, was the husband of Annie Besant. Early life and education The son of wine merchant William Besant (1800–1879), he was born at Portsmouth, Hampshire and attended school at St Paul's, Southsea, Stockwell Grammar, London and King's College London. In 1855, he was admitted as a pensioner to Christ's College, Cambridge, where he graduated in 1859 as 18th wrangler. After a year as Mathematical Master at Rossall School, Fleetwood, Lancashire, and a year at Leamington College, he spent six years as professor of mathematics at the Royal College, British Mauritius. A decline in health compelled him to resign, and he returned to England and settled in London in 1867. From 1868 to 1885, he held the position of Secretary to the Palestine Exploration Fund. In 1871, he was admitted to Lincoln's Inn. In 1874, Besant married Mary Ga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Morpurgo
Sir Michael Andrew Bridge Morpurgo ('' né'' Bridge; 5 October 1943) is an English book author, poet, playwright, and librettist who is known best for children's novels such as '' War Horse'' (1982). His work is noted for its "magical storytelling", for recurring themes such as the triumph of an outsider or survival, for characters' relationships with nature, and for vivid settings such as the Cornish coast or the trenches of the First World War. Morpurgo was the third Children's Laureate, from 2003 to 2005, and is President of BookTrust, a children's reading charity. Early life Morpurgo was born in 1943 in St Albans, Hertfordshire, as Michael Andrew Bridge, the second child of actor Tony Van Bridge and actress Kippe Cammaerts (daughter of the writer and poet Émile Cammaerts). Both RADA graduates, his parents had met when they were acting in the same repertory company in 1938. His father came from a working-class family, while his mother's family included actors, an opera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Why The Whales Came
''Why the Whales Came'' is a British children's story written by Michael Morpurgo. It was first published in 1985 in the United Kingdom by William Heinemann, and by Scholastic in the United States. It is set on the island of Bryher, one of the Isles of Scilly, off the coast of Cornwall, in the year 1914. In 1989, It was adapted into the film '' When the Whales Came'', and in 2001 it was adapted into a stage play. Plot 'Why the Whales Came' is about ten-year-old Gracie Jenkins, who lives on Bryher, a small island off the western coast of Britain, in the year 1914. "You keep away from the Birdman," Gracie's Father had warned her. The Birdman lives alone in a cottage that stands all by itself on a hill in the south part of the island. Gracie's father knows stories about him that he thinks are too horrible to tell her. The Birdman used to live on Samson Island, which people say has a curse on it. Gracie and her friend Daniel have a fleet of toy boats they have made. When the lake ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Children's Literature
Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reader, ranging from picture books for the very young to young adult fiction for those nearing maturity. Children's literature can be traced to traditional stories like fairy tales, which have only been identified as children's literature since the eighteenth century, and songs, part of a wider oral tradition, which adults shared with children before publishing existed. The development of early children's literature, before printing was invented, is difficult to trace. Even after printing became widespread, many classic "children's" tales were originally created for adults and later adapted for a younger audience. Since the fifteenth century much literature has been aimed specifically at children, often with a moral or religious message. Childr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quay
A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (moorings), berths (Mooring (watercraft), mooring locations), and may also include piers, warehouses, or other facilities necessary for handling the ships. Wharves are often considered to be a series of docks at which boats are stationed. A marginal wharf is connected to the shore along its full length. Overview A wharf commonly comprises a fixed platform, often on deep foundation, pilings. Commercial ports may have warehouses that serve as interim storage: where it is sufficient a single wharf with a single berth constructed along the land adjacent to the water is normally used; where there is a need for more capacity multiple wharves, or perhaps a single large wharf with multiple berths, will instead be constructed, sometimes projecting ov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natural England
Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, freshwater and marine environments, geology and soils, are protected and enhanced. It also has a responsibility to help people enjoy, understand and access the natural environment. Natural England focuses its activities and resources on four strategic outcomes: * a healthy natural environment * enjoyment of the natural environment * sustainable use of the natural environment * a secure environmental future Roles and responsibilities As a non-departmental public body (NDPB), Natural England is independent of government. However, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs has the legal power to issue guidance to Natural England on various matters. Its powers include defining ancient woodlands, awarding grants, designatin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flora And Fauna Of Cornwall
Cornwall is the county that forms the tip of the southwestern peninsula of England; this area has a mild and warm climate regulated by the Gulf Stream. The mild climate allows rich plant cover, such as palm trees in the far south and west of the county and in the Isles of Scilly, due to Subtropics, sub-tropical conditions in the summer. On Cornwall's moors and high ground areas the high elevation makes tree cover impossible because of the wind, so these areas are populated by shrubs and bushes such as gorse and Calluna, heather. Ferns, mosses, liverworts, lichens and fungi can all be found in the county. In the wettest areas of Bodmin Moor, sphagnum or bog moss can be found. Cornwall is home to many rare flower species, especially at the southern end of the Lizard, due to its Geology of Lizard, Cornwall, unique soil and geology. On the Lizard Peninsula, Cornish heath – the floral emblem of Cornwall – mesembryanthemums, butcher's broom, early meadow grass and a wide range of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 reserve (United Kingdom), national nature reserves, Ramsar Convention, Ramsar sites, Special Protection Areas, and Special Area of Conservation, Special Areas of Conservation. The acronym "SSSI" is often pronounced "triple-S I". Selection and conservation Sites notified for their Biology, biological interest are known as Biological SSSIs (or ASSIs), and those notified for geological or Physical geography, physiographic interest are Geological SSSIs (or ASSIs). Sites may be divided into management units, with some a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gannets
Gannets are seabirds comprising the genus ''Morus'' in the family Sulidae, closely related to boobies. They are known as 'solan' or 'solan goose' in Scotland. A common misconception is that the Scottish name is 'guga' but this is the Gaelic name referring to the chicks only. Gannets are large white birds with yellowish heads, black-tipped wings and long bills. Northern gannets are the largest seabirds in the North Atlantic, having a wingspan of up to . The other two species occur in the temperate seas around southern Africa, southern Australia, and New Zealand. Etymology "Gannet" is derived from Old English ''ganot'' meaning "strong or masculine", ultimately from the same Old Germanic root as "gander". Taxonomy ''Morus'' is derived from Ancient Greek ''moros'' "stupid" or "foolish" due to lack of fear shown by breeding gannets and boobies, allowing them to be easily killed. Behaviour Hunting Gannets hunt fish by diving into the sea from a height of and pursuing thei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
