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Swallows And Amazons
''Swallows and Amazons'' is a children's adventure novel by English author Arthur Ransome first published on 21 July 1930 by Jonathan Cape. Set in the summer of 1929 in the Lake District, the book introduces the main characters of John, Susan, Titty and Roger Walker (Swallows); as well as their mother, Mary; and their baby sister, Bridget (nicknamed Vicky). We also meet Nancy and Peggy Blackett (Amazons); their uncle Jim (James Turner), commonly referred to as Captain Flint; and their widowed mother, Molly Blackett. It is the first book in the ''Swallows and Amazons'' series, followed by '' Swallowdale''. At the time, Ransome had been working as a journalist with the ''Manchester Guardian'', but decided to become a full-time author rather than go abroad as a foreign correspondent. He did continue to write part-time for the press, however. The book was inspired by a summer spent by Ransome teaching the children of his friends, the Altounyans, to sail. Three of the Altounya ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Ransome
Arthur Michell Ransome (18 January 1884 – 3 June 1967) was an English author and journalist. He is best known for writing and illustrating the ''Swallows and Amazons'' series of children's books about the school-holiday adventures of children, mostly in the Lake District and the Norfolk Broads. The entire series remains in print, and ''Swallows and Amazons'' is the basis for a tourist industry around Windermere and Coniston Water, the two lakes Ransome adapted as his fictional North Country lake. He also wrote about the literary life of London, and about Russia before, during, and after the revolutions of 1917. His connection with the leaders of the Revolution led to him providing information to the Secret Intelligence Service, while he was also suspected by MI5 of being a Soviet spy. Early life Ransome was the son of Cyril Ransome (1851–1897) and his wife Edith Ransome (née Baker Boulton) (1862–1944). Arthur was the eldest of four children: he had two sisters, Ceci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corned Beef
Corned beef, called salted beef in some Commonwealth countries, is a salt-cured brisket of beef. The term comes from the treatment of the meat with large-grained rock salt, also called "corns" of salt. Sometimes, sugar and spices are added to corned beef recipes. Corned beef is featured as an ingredient in many cuisines. Most recipes include nitrates, which convert the natural myoglobin in beef to , giving it a pink color. Nitrates and nitrites reduce the risk of dangerous botulism during curing by inhibiting the growth of ''Clostridium botulinum'' bacteria spores, but have been linked to increased cancer risk in mice. Beef cured without nitrates or nitrites has a gray color, and is sometimes called "New England corned beef". Tinned corned beef, alongside salt pork and hardtack, was a standard ration for many militaries and navies from the 17th through the early 20th centuries, including World War I and World War II, during which fresh meat was rationed. Corned beef remains ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peel Island, Cumbria
Peel Island (formerly known as Montague Island or the Gridiron) is one of the three islands of Coniston Water in the English Lake District, Cumbria. The two others are Fir Island (which is connected to the shore unless the water is particularly high) and Oak Island. It is most famous for being one of the inspirations for Arthur Ransome's Wild Cat Island. Today, it is a popular tourist destination, and belongs to the National Trust. History The name ''Peel'' means a fortified site. In 1896 the antiquarian W. G. Collingwood conducted excavations on the island and discovered: the remains of fortifications and other stone buildings, chambers cut into rock, metal-working slag, a fragment of a domestic mortar, and pottery. These he dated to the mediaeval period. Peel Island has belonged to the National Trust since it was given to them by John Montagu-Douglas-Scott, 7th Duke of Buccleuch, along with of woodland, in 1932. Wild Cat Island Peel Island is considered to be one of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coniston Water
Coniston Water is a lake in the Lake District in North West England. It is the third largest by volume, after Windermere and Ullswater, and the fifth-largest by area. The lake has a length of , a maximum width of , and a maximum depth of . Its outflow is the River Crake, which drains into Morecambe Bay via the estuary of the River Leven. The lake is in the unitary authority of Westmorland and Furness, and the ceremonial county of Cumbria. Geography and administration Coniston Water is situated within Furness, part of the North Lonsdale exclave of the historic county of Lancashire. It has been within the ceremonial county of Cumbria since 1974, and the Westmorland and Furness district since it replaced South Lakeland in 2023. The lake is an example of a ribbon lake formed by glaciation. The lake sits in a deep U-shaped glaciated valley scoured by a glacier in the surrounding volcanic and limestone rocks during the last ice age. To the north-west of the lake rises the Old Man ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Windermere
Windermere (historically Winder Mere) is a ribbon lake in Cumbria, England, and part of the Lake District. It is the largest lake in England by length, area, and volume, but considerably smaller than the List of lakes and lochs of the United Kingdom, largest Scottish lochs and Northern Irish loughs. The lake is about in length and at its widest, has a maximum depth of , and has an elevation of above sea level. Its outflow is the River Leven, Cumbria, River Leven, which drains into Morecambe Bay. The lake is in the administrative council area of Westmorland and Furness and the historic county of Westmorland, with the lake forming part of the boundary between the historic counties of Westmorland and Lancashire. It has been one of the country's most popular places for holidays and summer homes since the arrival of the Kendal and Windermere Railway's branch line in 1847. The Freshwater Biological Association was established on the shore of Windermere in 1929 and much of the early ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nancy Blackett
Nancy Blackett is a fictional character in nine of the twelve juvenile novels in Arthur Ransome's ''Swallows and Amazons series'' of books. She acts as captain of the dinghy, ''Amazon'' and usually directing her friends in their various adventures. Nancy apparently has no real-world counterpart as an inspirational source for Ransome but appears to be completely the author's creation. Nancy is sometimes critically viewed as a subversive character for girl readers. The character appeared in a 1963 BBC television adaptation of ''Swallows and Amazons (TV series), Swallows and Amazons'' as well as in the Swallows and Amazons (1974 film), 1974 and Swallows and Amazons (2016 film), 2016 film adaptations of the book. Role in the series At the opening of the series in ''Swallows and Amazons, '' Nancy is 12 years old and lives with her younger sister Peggy and her widowed mother in a large Lake District, Lakeland house called Beckfoot. In common with his treatment of many of his other ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asthma
Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath. A sudden worsening of asthma symptoms sometimes called an 'asthma attack' or an 'asthma exacerbation' can occur when allergens, pollen, dust, or other particles, are inhaled into the lungs, causing the bronchioles to constrict and produce mucus, which then restricts oxygen flow to the alveoli. These may occur a few times a day or a few times per week. Depending on the person, asthma symptoms may become worse at night or with exercise. Asthma is thought to be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Environmental factors include exposure to air pollution and allergens. Other potential triggers include medications such as aspirin and beta blockers. Diag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roger Altounyan
Roger Edward Collingwood Altounyan (1922–1987) was a Syrian-born Anglo-Armenian physician and pharmacologist who pioneered the use of sodium cromoglycate as a remedy for asthma. His family relocated to the United Kingdom where he studied medicine and started his pioneering research. Career Pharmacological research Starting with khella, a traditional remedy for asthma, Altounyan discovered in 1965 that khella's active ingredient was khellin. He eventually produced a safer chemical based on khellin, sodium cromoglycate. This was later marketed as Intal by Fisons Pharmaceuticals, which was taken over by Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, who in turn were acquired into Aventis and Sanofi-aventis. Prior to the RPR takeover, the R&D element of Fisons was sold to Astra, making it now part of AstraZeneca. Sodium cromoglycate was the first clinically utilised mast cell stabiliser. The mast cell plays a key role in allergic and asthmatic inflammation. Mast cells contain powerful inflammatory med ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BBC Films
BBC Film (formerly BBC Films) is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It was founded on 18 June 1990, and has produced or co-produced some of the most successful British films of recent years, including ''Truly, Madly, Deeply (film), Truly, Madly, Deeply'', ''Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa'', ''Quartet (2012 film), Quartet'', ''Salmon Fishing in the Yemen'', ''Saving Mr. Banks'', ''My Week with Marilyn'', ''Eastern Promises'', ''Match Point'', ''Jane Eyre (2011 film), Jane Eyre'', ''In the Loop'', ''An Education'', ''StreetDance 3D'', ''Fish Tank (film), Fish Tank'', ''The History Boys (film), The History Boys'', ''Nativity! (film), Nativity!'', ''Iris (2001 film), Iris'', ''Notes on a Scandal (film), Notes on a Scandal'', '' Philomena (film), Philomena'', ''Stan & Ollie'', ''Man Up (film), Man Up'', ''Billy Elliot'' and ''Brooklyn (film), Brooklyn''. BBC Film co-produces around eight films a year, working in partnership with major international and UK distributors. Eva Yates is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Jacobs
Joseph Jacobs (29 August 1854 – 30 January 1916) was an Australian-born folklorist, literary critic and historian who became a notable collector and publisher of English folklore. Born in Sydney to a Jewish family, his work went on to popularise some of the world's best known versions of English fairy tales including " Jack and the Beanstalk", " Goldilocks and the Three Bears", " The Three Little Pigs", " Jack the Giant Killer" and " The History of Tom Thumb". He published his English fairy tale collections ''English Fairy Tales'' in 1890 and ''More English Fairy Tales'' in 1893. He published European, Jewish, Celtic, and Indian fairy tales, which made him one of the most popular English-language fairy tale writers. Jacobs was also an editor for journals and books on the subject of folklore which included editing the Fables of Bidpai and the Fables of Aesop, as well as articles on the migration of Jewish folklore. He also edited editions of '' The Thousand and One Nights''. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robinson Crusoe
''Robinson Crusoe'' ( ) is an English adventure novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. Written with a combination of Epistolary novel, epistolary, Confessional writing, confessional, and Didacticism, didactic forms, the book follows the title character (born Robinson Kreutznaer) after he is castaway, cast away and spends 28 years on a remote tropical desert island near the coasts of Venezuela and Trinidad, encountering Human cannibalism, cannibals, captives, and mutineers before being rescued. The story has been thought to be based on the life of Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish castaway who lived for four years on a Pacific island called "Más a Tierra" (now part of Chile) which was renamed Robinson Crusoe Island in 1966. Pedro Serrano (sailor), Pedro Serrano is another real-life castaway whose story might have inspired the novel. The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grog
Grog is a term used for a variety of alcoholic beverages. Origin and history Popularization of rum and invention of grog Following Invasion of Jamaica, England's conquest of Jamaica in 1655, rum gradually replaced beer and brandy as the drink of choice for the Royal Navy. The prior ration of eight pints of beer was replaced with a ration of one half-pint of spirits. In 1740, to minimise the subsequent illness, drunkenness, and disciplinary problems, Vice-admiral (Royal Navy), British Vice-Admiral Edward Vernon ordered that the daily rum issue of of rum be mixed with of water, a water-to-rum ratio of 4:1, with half issued before noon and the remainder after the end of the working day. This both diluted Drunkenness, its effects and accelerated its spoilage, preventing hoarding of the allowance. The mixture of rum and water became known as a "grog". This procedure became part of the official regulations of the Royal Navy in 1756 until the reduction of the ration to the "tot" in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
