History.

Sir Randolph Crewe, Civil War and the Restoration.

Crewe was the seat of the de Crewe (or de Criwa) family in the 12th and 13th centuries; they built a timber-framed manor house there in around 1170. The manor passed to the de Praers family of Barthomley in 1319 by the marriage of Johanna de Crewe to Richard de Praers. Later in the 14th century it passed to the Fouleshurst (or Foulehurst) family, who held the manor jointly with that of Barthomley until around 1575, when the estate was dispersed. Legal problems resulted in the lands being acquired by Sir Christopher Hatton, from whose heirs Sir Randolph Crewe (1559–1646) purchased an extensive estate including the manors of Crewe, Barthomley and Haslington in 1608 for over £6,000 (£ today).  Born in nearby Nantwich, reputedly the son of a tanner, Sir Randolph (or Ranulph) had risen through the legal profession to become a judge, member of parliament and the parliamentary Speaker. His fortune derived from his successful practice in chancery and other London courts. He briefly served as Lord Chief Justice in 1625–26, but was dismissed by Charles I for his refusal to endorse a forced loan without the consent of parliament. He divided his enforced retirement between his London house and the Crewe estate. In 1615, he commenced building a substantial hall at Crewe, either adjacent to the old house, which was by then in disrepair, or after demolishing it. He later wrote that "it hath pleased God of his abundant goodness to reduce the house and Mannor of the name to the name againe." A few years after the hall's completion in 1636, Civil War broke out. Like most of the legal families of Cheshire, the Crewe family was parliamentarian, and the hall was used as a garrison. In December 1643, royalist forces under the command of Lord Byron occupied the area as they surrounded Nantwich, a major parliamentarian stronghold early in the First Civil War which lay some to the south west. A contemporary diarist, Edward Burghall, vicar of nearby Acton, described the subsequent action: "The royalists laid siege to Crewe Hall, where they within the house slew sixty, and wounded many, on St. John's Day; but wanting victuals and ammunition, they were forced to yield it up the next day, and themselves, a hundred and thirty-six, became prisoners, stout and valiant soldiers, having quarter for life granted them." On 4 February 1644, shortly after the decisive parliamentarian victory at the Battle of Nantwich, the hall was retaken by Sir Thomas Fairfax's forces.  Sir Randolph Crewe died a couple of years later, before the end of the First Civil War. His male line died out in 1684, and the hall passed to the Offley family by the marriage of Sir Randolph's great-granddaughter, Anne Crewe, to John Offley of Madeley Old Manor, Staffordshire. Their eldest son, also John (1681–1749), took the name Crewe in 1708. The Offley–Crewe family was very wealthy at this time: John Offley Crewe's income at his death was estimated at £15,000 per year (£ today). Both John Offley Crewe and his son John Crewe (1709–1752) served as members of parliament for Cheshire.

Barons Crewe and Marquess of Crewe.

Anne Crewe's great-grandson, John Crewe (1742–1829), was created the first Baron Crewe in 1806. A prominent Whig politician, he was a lifelong friend and supporter of Charles James Fox; his wife Frances Crewe (née Greville; 1748–1818) was a famous beauty and political hostess who gave lavish entertainments at the hall. The Crewes' social circle included many of the major figures of the day, and visitors to the hall during this period included politicians Fox and George Canning, philosopher Edmund Burke, playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan, poet William Spencer, musicologist Charles Burney, and artists Sir Joshua Reynolds and Sir Thomas Lawrence. John Crewe had the park landscaped and the hall extended, and also had the interior remodelled in the neo-Classical style then fashionable. Some forty years later, his grandson Hungerford Crewe (1812–94) went to considerable expense to have the interiors redecorated in a more sympathetic Jacobethan style.  The house was insured in 1857 for £10,000 (£ today); the contents at that time included books and wines (insured for £2,250), mathematical and musical instruments (£250), and pictures (£1,000). The art collection included several family portraits and other works by Sir Joshua Reynolds, which were saved from the fire that gutted the building early in January 1866. Extensive restoration work for Hungerford Crewe was completed in 1870. Hungerford Crewe never married and on his death in 1894, the barony became extinct. The hall was inherited by his nephew, Robert Milnes, Baron Houghton (1858–1945), the son of Annabella Hungerford Crewe; he adopted the name Crewe, to become Crewe-Milnes. The Crewe title was revived as an earldom for him in 1895, and he later became the Marquess of Crewe. A Liberal politician and poet, Crewe-Milnes held several key Cabinet positions between 1905 and 1916, and was a trusted aide to Asquith. He was also a friend of George V, and the King and Queen Mary stayed at the hall for three days in 1913, while touring the Staffordshire Potteries.  The Crewe-Milnes family left Crewe Hall in 1922, and the house stood empty until the Second World War. Crewe-Milnes offered the hall to Cheshire County Council as a gift in 1931, ostensibly because his heirs did not wish to live in the house. After the council's refusal, the majority of the estate was sold to the Duchy of Lancaster in 1936. His grandson, writer Quentin Crewe, described Crewe-Milnes as "both extravagant and poorly advised".

Calmic, Wellcome and hotel.

Early in the Second World War, Crewe Hall was used as a military training camp, repatriation camp for Dunkirk troops and a US army camp, becoming the gun operations headquarters for the north-west region in 1942. It housed a prisoner-of-war camp for German officers from 1943. The hall was leased as offices in 1946, becoming the headquarters of Calmic Limited, who eventually employed nearly 800 people at Crewe Hall. Calmic produced hygiene and medical products on the site including tablets, creams, analgesics and antibiotic aerosols; they constructed industrial facilities adjacent to the hall including a drying and filtration plant and pharmaceutical packaging unit. After Wellcome's acquisition of Calmic in 1965, the hall served as the UK and Ireland headquarters of the Wellcome Foundation until the merger with Glaxo in 1995. Wellcome produced liquids, tablets, creams and antibiotic aerosols at the site; the hall itself was used for administration, but the stables block was rebuilt internally for use as laboratories and the industrial facilities were expanded.  In 1994, the Duchy of Lancaster sold the Crewe Hall buildings and the adjacent industrial site, which became Crewe Hall Enterprise Park. The Crewe Hall buildings remained empty after Wellcome moved out and were sold to a hotel developer in 1998; the hall became a 26-bedroom hotel the following year. Several additional buildings in a modern style were constructed in the 21st century to extend the accommodation.

Architectural history.

The Jacobean hall was built for Sir Randolph Crewe between 1615 and 1636. The architect of the original building is unknown, although some historians have concluded that its design was based on drawings by Inigo Jones. Although of a relatively conservative design, similar to that of Longleat from half a century earlier, the hall seems to have been considered progressive in provincial Cheshire. The historian Thomas Fuller wrote in 1662:  Hearth-tax assessments of 1674 show the original hall to have been one of the largest houses in Cheshire, its 42 hearths being surpassed only by Cholmondeley House and Rocksavage, neither of which have survived. As depicted in a painting of around 1710, the original building was square with sides of around, and featured gabled projecting bays and groups of octagonal chimney stacks. Built around a central open courtyard, the interior had a great hall and long gallery; the main entrance led to a screens passage and the main staircase was in a small east hall. Externally, there was a walled forecourt and formal walled gardens; a range of separate service buildings was located to the west.

Georgian and Jacobethan alterations.

The house remained unaltered for much of the 18th century, in contrast to most of the other principal seats in the county. It was described in 1769 as "a square of very old date... more to be admired now for its antiquity than elegance or conveniency." Work was carried out during the 1780s and '90s for John Crewe (later the first Baron Crewe). A service wing to the west in a Jacobean revival style was added to the hall in 1780. The principal interiors of the old building were redecorated in neo-Classical style at this time, although the original layout with great hall, long gallery and drawing room was retained. Improvements were made to the wine cellars and bedrooms in 1783, and J. Cheney was employed to build a new attic staircase and seven bedrooms in 1796. Edmund Burke wrote in 1788, "I am vastly pleased with this place. We build no such houses in our time." The second Lord Palmerston, visiting in the same year, wrote: The house was altered again in 1837–42 by Edward Blore for Hungerford Crewe. Blore replaced a local architect, George Latham, who had been commissioned in 1836. Many of Blore's working drawings survive in the Royal Institute of British Architects archive. He carried out decorative work to the interior in the Jacobethan style and made major changes to the plan of the ground floor, which included replacing the screens passage with an entrance hall and covering the central courtyard to create a single-storey central hall. He also fitted plate glass windows throughout and installed a warm-air heating system. The total cost, including his work on estate buildings, was £30,000 (£ today).

E. M. Barry restoration.

Most of Blore's work to the main hall was destroyed in the fire of 1866. Hungerford Crewe is said to have asked Blore, then retired, to restore the building, but he declined. The restoration work was instead carried out by E. M. Barry, son of Sir Charles Barry, the architect of the Palace of Westminster, and the contractors Cubitt & Co.; it was completed in 1870, at a cost of £150,000 (£ today). In a lecture to the Royal Academy, Barry later outlined his strategy for the restoration:  Nikolaus Pevsner describes Barry's reconstruction as "an extremely sumptuous job." Peter de Figueiredo and Julian Treuherz consider it his finest work, attributing his success to being "directed by the powerful character of the existing building." Barry's work is considered to be, in general, more elaborate and more regular than the original. For the restoration of the interior, he employed several of the leading artists and craftsmen of the time, who had previously worked on the Palace of Westminster. Barry's principal innovation was the addition of a tower to the west wing, which was required for water storage. Intended to unite the east and west wings of the hall, the effect is limited by the tower's Victorian design. He also reorganised the plan of the building, opening up Blore's central hall to create a two-storey atrium, as well as providing more ground-floor service rooms and generating twenty extra servants' bedrooms in an attic by modifying the roof.  Local architect Thomas Bower performed some alterations to the house for Robert Crewe-Milnes in 1896, including extending the service wing. Few changes to the hall itself occurred during Calmic's tenancy. The company installed central heating in around 1948, and later constructed an office extension on the north side of the house, which was demolished a few years after the building's conversion into an hotel. Calmic had undertaken only cosmetic maintenance work, and by the 1970s the fabric of the building was in poor repair. A major stonework fall from the north gable during high winds in 1974 led Wellcome to carry out an extensive restoration programme to both the interior and the exterior, which was completed in 1979 at a cost of £500,000 (£ today).

Main hall.

Crewe Hall is a grade-I-listed mansion located at in the civil parish of Crewe Green, 1⁄2 mile (1 km) from the edge of Crewe. The architecture historian Nikolaus Pevsner considered the main hall to be one of the two finest Jacobean houses in Cheshire, the other being Dorfold Hall at Acton. Constructed in red brick with stone dressings and a lead and slate roof, the hall has two storeys with attics and basements. The eastern half of the present building largely represents the original Jacobean hall. The exterior survived the fire of 1866 and the majority of the diapered brickwork is original, although some of the stonework of the porch and the tops of the gables was renewed by E. M. Barry.  The south (front) face of the eastern wing has seven bays, with a balustraded parapet at eaves level. The central bay is set forward to form a stone centrepiece around the arched main entrance, which is flanked by fluted Ionic columns. Immediately above the entrance are doubled tapering pilasters flanking a three-light window, all surmounted by a large cartouche decorated with strapwork. On the first floor of the central bay is a triple-mullion window, and above the parapet is a coat of arms. Flanking the centrepiece are two bays with diapered brickwork and single-mullion windows. The two ends of the south face are also set forward; they have canted, triple-mullion bay windows and are surmounted above the parapet by shaped gables with attic windows. All the main windows of this face are double transomed. The east face of the eastern wing has four bays with canted bay windows, shaped end gables and a central cartouche. In the centre of the northern (garden) face is a large bow window, originally Jacobean, which illuminates the chapel; it has stone panels decorated with cartouches below arched stained glass lights. This face otherwise reverses the main façade, with the addition of mezzanine windows.  The western half of the building is stepped forward (southwards) by two bays from the original building. Originally the service wing, it is plainer than the eastern building and dates from the Georgian era. Though using Georgian proportions, it was built in an early Jacobean revival style which has been heightened by subsequent alterations, particularly the addition of a central gable. The main part of the south (front) face has seven bays, with a balustraded parapet running along the entire façade at eaves level. In the centre of the five east bays is a canted bay window beneath a shaped gable; the flanking bays have single-mullion, double-transomed windows. The two west bays are set backwards and have a central oriel window on the first floor with two single-mullion, double-transomed windows on the ground floor.  The western wing is dominated by a square tower of stone-dressed brick which rises two storeys above the roof and is capped by an ogee spirelet surrounded by four corner chimneys. Designed by Barry in the High Victorian style, it was added after the fire. A slender bell tower also rises from the west wing. At the rear is a loggia with a vaulted ceiling supported by Tuscan columns. The western end of this wing is a single-storey extension by Thomas Bower dating from 1896.

Interior.

The interior of Crewe Hall contains a mixture of original Jacobean work, faithful reproductions of the original Jacobean designs (which in some cases had been recorded), and work in the High Victorian style designed by Barry. The entrance hall in the east wing was remodelled by both Edward Blore and Barry. It is panelled in oak and contains a marble chimneypiece with Tuscan columns featuring the Crewe arms. It opens via a columned screen into the central hall, which was an open courtyard in the Jacobean house. Roofed by Blore at the first-floor level, Barry converted the space into an atrium featuring cloisters around the walls, with a wooden gallery over them at the mezzanine level and a tunnel-vaulted first-floor gallery above. The floor is paved with a pattern of coloured marbles and the first-floor gallery corridors have stained glass panels. The atrium has a hammerbeam roof supported by columns at the gallery level. To the east of the central hall is an accurate reconstruction by Barry of the original staircase, which Nikolaus Pevsner described as "one of the most ingeniously planned and ornately executed in the whole of Jacobean England." Heavily carved, the newels feature heraldic animals, which were originally gilded and painted.  To the east of the entrance lies the dining room, which was formerly the Jacobean great hall. The room least damaged by the fire, it was restored by Barry to its 17th-century appearance, with facsimiles of the original ceiling and carved wooden screen. It contains an overmantel featuring a relief of Plenty, considered to be original, and a large stone chimneypiece, which is believed to be the only surviving work by Blore on the interior. The oak parlour, in the south west, contains a large wooden Jacobean overmantel, featuring Green Men carving. The Jacobean carving here and in the dining room is noticeably cruder than the Victorian work. The carved parlour is another reproduction by Barry of the original. Panelled in oak, it has a plaster frieze of the Elements, Graces and Virtues. The alabaster chimneypiece depicts the winged figure of Time rewarding Industry and punishing Sloth, symbolised by two boys, which is surmounted by a carved portrait of Sir Randolph Crewe.  A small chapel lies to the north of the central hall. Originally rather austere, it was lavishly decorated by Barry in the High Victorian style. There is much elaborate wood carving, with the altar rail featuring angels and the benches poppyheads. The marble apse has alabaster carved heads of the prophets and evangelists by J. Birnie Philip, and the wall panelling features bronze medallions depicting biblical characters by the same artist. The ornate choir gallery, reached from the central hall's mezzanine gallery, contains the family pew. The stained glass and wall murals are by Clayton and Bell, and the painting and stencilling are by J. G. Crace. The suite of state rooms on the first floor of the east wing contains the long gallery, library, drawing room (great chamber), small drawing room and two bedrooms. All date originally from the Jacobean mansion, but are likely to have been significantly altered by John Crewe and then extensively reworked by Blore in neo-Jacobean style. They were restored to Barry's designs, usually with little attempt to reproduce the Jacobean appearance, probably because records of most of the original designs were lacking. Crace performed much of the decoration work in these rooms. All the state rooms contain elaborate plasterwork and stone chimneypieces, often flanked with Corinthian columns or pilasters. The long gallery, along the north side, has a chimneypiece in coloured marbles with busts by Henry Weekes depicting Sir Randolph Crewe and Nathaniel Crew, 3rd Baron Crew, Bishop of Durham. The library, above the carved parlour, contains statuettes of book lovers by Philip and a frieze of scenes from literature by J. Mabey. The drawing room has a facsimile of the Jacobean ceiling, which had been recorded by architect William Burn. Identical in pattern to one at the Reindeer Inn in Banbury, of which the Victoria and Albert Museum has a plaster cast, it was presumably originally the work of the same craftsman. One of the state bedrooms has another survivor of the fire, a Jacobean stone fireplace with a plaster overmantel relief depicting Cain and Abel.

Stables, outbuildings and gate lodges.

The former stables, in red brick with a tiled roof, were completed around 1636 and are contemporary with the Jacobean mansion; they are listed at grade II*. They form a quadrangle immediately to the west of the hall, enclosing a rectangular courtyard. The main east face of the quadrangle stands at right angles to the front of the house; it has nine bays of two storeys and an attic. Its centrepiece, added by Edward Blore in around 1837, consists of an arched stone entrance flanked by pilasters, above which a clock tower rises from the first-floor level. The tower features twinned arrow-slit windows and clock faces with stone surrounds, and is topped by a bell chamber and ogee cupola with finials. In addition to the centrepiece, the east face has four bays which are set forward and have shaped gables topped with finials. The north and south ends of this east building also have shaped gables. The north and south sides of the quadrangle have large arched carriage openings beneath shaped gables; the keystones are carved with horse's heads. The walls within the carriageway opening are decorated with bands of blue brick. The east, north and south faces are all finished with an openwork brick parapet with a stone coping. The west building has twelve arched openings accessed from the courtyard. The main storeys of the quadrangle mainly have three-light, stone-dressed mullion windows, with two-light windows at the attic level. All the roofs have tall octagonal chimneys and feature decorative ridge tiles. The interior of the stables block was rebuilt during the building's conversion to its present use of laboratories and offices.  The Apple House, a small red-brick building to the west of the stables quadrangle, also dates from around 1636, and can be seen in a painting of Crewe Hall from around 1710. Originally a dovecote, it is used as a storehouse. Built on an octagonal plan with two storeys, it has two oval windows with stone surrounds. The lower entrance has a stone semicircular arch; a second doorway is located at first-floor height. The pyramidal tiled roof is topped by a glazed lantern with a lead cap. The building is listed at grade II. The park has two gate lodges; both are listed at grade II. The northern lodge at Slaughter Hill is by Blore and dates from 1847. In red brick with darker-brick diapering, stone dressings and a slate roof, it has a T-shaped plan with a single storey, and is Jacobean in style. It features two shaped gables, each decorated with a panel carved with Crewe Estate emblems, and a hexagonal central bay with a pyramidal roof which forms a porch. The Elizabethan-style Weston or Golden Gates Lodge to the south of the house dates from before 1865 and is attributed to William Eden Nesfield, although it is not typical of his style. In red brick with blue-brick zig–zag diapering, ashlar dressings and a slate roof, the lodge has two storeys, with a projecting canted bay to the road face. The driveway face has an ashlar panel with a shield bearing the Crewe family coat of arms.

Gardens and park.

The National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens lists of the gardens and surrounding parkland at grade II. An early engraving shows a walled forecourt to the south of the original hall, with a large stone gateway carved with Sir Randolph Crewe's arms and motto. The forecourt had terraces, balustrades and a path decorated with diamond patterns. As depicted in a painting of around 1710, the grounds were laid out in extensive formal walled pleasure gardens with parterres.  During the 18th century, the park was landscaped in a more naturalistic style for John Crewe (later the first Baron Crewe) by Lancelot Brown (before 1768), William Emes (1768–71), and Humphry Repton and John Webb (1791). Repton's design included an ornamental lake of immediately north of the house, created by damming Engelsea Brook, which still runs through the park. He also created new approaches to the house. The lake drained away in 1941 when a dam burst, and the area is now planted with poplars. A stone statue of Neptune with a reclining female, originally located on the banks of the lake, now stands in woodland; it dates from the early 19th century. A boathouse, originally at the head of the lake, was in need of restoration in 2007. A Temple of Peace formerly stood on the north shore of the lake, but was demolished some time after 1892. Much of the parkland is now covered with mixed woodland, including Rookery Wood and Temple of Peace Wood. Formal gardens were laid out around the house by W. A. Nesfield in around 1840–50 for Hungerford Crewe. Nesfield's design included statuary, gravelled walks and elaborate parterres realised using low box hedges and coloured minerals. Balustraded terraces were also constructed on the north and south sides of the hall, probably designed by E. M. Barry, and incorporating statues of lions, griffins and other heraldic beasts, echoing the interior staircase. Military usage during the Second World War, however, destroyed parts of the gardens; army buildings were erected near the house, and the area in front of the hall served as a parade ground and later was ploughed up to grow potatoes. The grounds were further neglected while the house was used as offices, and little has survived except the terraces, gates and statues. In 2009, English Heritage placed the hall on the "Heritage at Risk Register" as highly vulnerable, considering that the historic character of the gardens and park is compromised by recent developments to the hotel complex, in particular the conference centre, spa and associated parking area. The entrance gates and wall separating the gardens from the park and farmland date from 1878 and are listed at grade II. The wrought-iron gates are by Cubitt & Co., and were exhibited at the Paris Exhibition of 1878. Two outer single gates and a double inner gate are supported by four sandstone piers. The outer pair of gate piers are capped by a bud-shaped device supported on scrolls; the inner pair are surmounted by a griffin and a lion, mirroring the statuary of the hall's terraces. The lower gate sections of lyre-like panels with leaf and spearhead motifs are topped with Jacobean-style arched panels. The ornate gate overthrows include shields and emblems capped with crowns, sheaves and sickles. The inner gates bear the inscription "Quid retribuam domino" ("What can I render to the Lord?"), while the outer gates bear the date. The wall, of brick with stone dressings, features arcading and has piers surmounted with ogee caps carved to match the tiles of the main hall tower. A further feature of the gardens to survive is a grade-II-listed sundial dating from the early 19th century, which stands to the rear of the house.

Crewe estate.

History.

The original estate purchased by Sir Randolph Crewe in 1608 included the manors of Crewe, Barthomley and Haslington and cost over £6,000. Lands from the Offley estate in Staffordshire and the Done estate in Cheshire were acquired by marriage and inheritance in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and in common with the other great Cheshire estates, the estate flourished during the 18th century. The estate of 1804 included land or property in Barthomley, Burwardsley, Crewe, Crowton, Elton, Hale, Northrode, Rushton, Sandbach, Spurstow, Tattenhall, Warmingham and Weston in Cheshire, as well as Madeley in Staffordshire and Muxton in Shropshire. The predominant land use was dairy farming, but the estate also included some arable land; tenancies ranged from crofts of 1 or 2 acres (less than a hectare) to large farms of over. The gardens, park and home farm occupied. Hungerford Crewe was the fifth greatest landowner in the county in 1871, with a total of. The majority of the Crewe estate was sold by Robert Crewe-Milnes to the Duchy of Lancaster in 1936.

Estate buildings.

Crewe Hall Farmhouse, the estate's home farm, stands on the edge of the grounds, 1⁄4 mile to the south east of the hall; it dates from around 1702 and is listed at grade II. In brown brick with a slate roof, it has two storeys and five bays to the front. Two of the adjacent farm buildings, dating from 1883–84, are also listed. As of 2009, the Duchy of Lancaster is developing outbuildings at Crewe Hall Farm, including the two listed buildings, into leasehold offices totalling.  Several estate cottages near Weston Lodge were designed by W. E. Nesfield between 1860 and 1866, and are among his earliest works. They include Stowford and Magnolia Cottages (1864–65), which Nikolaus Pevsner describes as "cheerful and just a little Kate Greenaway", Smithy Cottage (around 1865) and Fir Tree Cottage (1865), all listed at grade II, as well as a half-timbered farmhouse on Weston Road. Rather than either the Jacobean mansion or its High Victorian interiors, their style derives from buildings of the Home Counties, with tile hanging, incised pargetting, half-hipped gables and high chimneys. Pevsner credits Nesfield with introducing these features to Cheshire.

Modern hotel and Crewe estate.

As of 2019, Crewe Hall is a hotel in the QHotels group, set in of parkland, with a restaurant, brasserie, conference facilities, tennis courts and health club, including a gym, spa and swimming pool. There are 117 bedrooms, of which 25 are located in the old building. The hotel has four AA stars; the restaurant and brasserie each have two AA Rosettes. The hall is licensed for civil wedding ceremonies. The hall and park are not otherwise open to the public. The Duchy of Lancaster retains ownership of a large area of the estate, which is mainly managed as dairy farms and woodland, with some commercial development near Crewe and at Crewe Hall Farm.

Crewe Hall is a Jacobean mansion located near Crewe Green, east of Crewe, in Cheshire, England. Described by Nikolaus Pevsner as one of the two finest Jacobean houses in Cheshire, it is listed at grade I. Built in 1615–36 for Sir Randolph Crewe, it was one of the county's largest houses in the 17th century, and was said to have "brought London into Cheshire".


Early life.

Charles Coffin Jewett graduated from Salem Latin School in 1831. He enrolled at Dartmouth College in Rhode Island, but then shortly thereafter he transferred to Brown University where he studied a classical course load of Greek, Latin, logic mathematics, and moral philosophy; however, Jewett showed the greatest interest in languages.  Jewett had a tremendous love for books but he was lacking personal fortune so this made him an avid library user. Unfortunately for him, Jewett found the library at Brown rather lacking with its collection of only 6000 volumes. A popular thing at the time was for special societies on campus to curate their own libraries that held books on that societies special interests. In fact, the first library experience Jewett gained was at the Hope College in the library that was curated by the Miskosmian Society. Along with classmate William Lawton Brown, Jewett cataloged the collection of this library beginning what would be a long career of library cataloging.

Career.

His first cataloging experience took place as a Brown student while helping to catalog the library of the Philermenian Literary Society. In 1837, he entered Andover Theological Seminary, where he helped catalog the Andover Theological Seminary Library. In 1841, he became the librarian of Brown University. He extensively rearranged that library, and created a catalog in two parts; an alphabetical descriptive catalog of the items in the library, and an alphabetical Index of Subjects. After its completion in 1843, he embarked on a two-year campaign of book purchasing and study in Europe.  He became Librarian and Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in 1848, and began the task of building the Smithsonian's library by soliciting catalogs from prominent libraries and publishing a survey of U.S. libraries. He also started mechanical duplication of individual catalog entries for the re-publication of book catalogs using the technique of stereotyping. He was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1851.  Jewett was unanimously elected president at the first Librarian's Convention in 1853. Jewett left the Smithsonian after being relieved of his position due to conflicts with his supervisor and the Board of Regents over how the Institution's funds were being allocated. He went on to become Superintendent of the Boston Public Library in 1858, where he remained until his death.

National library.

Jewett had a vision for a national library, which would hold a union catalog of all the public libraries in the United States. This catalog would give scholars access to important books, point out differences in intellectual fields, and generally act as an aid to the evolution of knowledge while making the Smithsonian Institution the pre-eminent center for research. He spent the greater part of his life developing guidelines toward this end.

Views on cataloging.

Jewett was a strong advocate for alphabetical catalogs, both because of their convenience to catalogers and their user-friendliness. He believed that catalogs should be more than lists of titles, and should contain bibliographical and biographical information. Individual printed cards kept the costs of printing the catalog down. His idea of the union catalog included the use of “stereotyped plates,” which was a set of mass-produced titles that were created according to a set of strict rules. Jewett was hugely concerned with uniformity, and believed stringent rules the only way to avoid confusion, no matter how difficult it made things for users.

Death.

Charles Jewett died after suffering an attack of apoplexy while working at his desk in the Boston Public Library.  Jewett's brother was Boston book publisher John P. Jewett.

Charles Coffin Jewett (August 12, 1816 – January 9, 1868) was an American librarian, in 1848 becoming the Librarian and Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution before being appointed Superintendent of the Boston Public Library in 1858. He was born in Lebanon, Maine.


History.

In May 2009, Amazon launched AmazonEncore, the inaugural flagship general imprint. It publishes titles that have gone out-of-print or self-published books with sales potential. The first book published under this imprint was Cayla Kluver's "Legacy" in August 2009. Other early books published by AmazonEncore include "Mercury Falls" by Robert Kroese, "Shaken" by J.A. Konrath, "The Grove" by John Rector and "A Scattered Life" by Karen McQuestion.  AmazonCrossing was announced in May 2010, for translated works into English. The first translated books were the French-language novel "The King of Kahel" and the German-language novel "The Hangman's Daughter" which were released in November and December 2010, respectively.  In May 2011, Amazon launched two genre-focused imprints, Montlake Romance, and Thomas & Mercer. Montlake Romance is an imprint for the romance genre; "Romance is one of our biggest and fastest growing categories, particularly among Kindle customers," said Jeff Belle, vice president of Amazon Publishing. Thomas & Mercer is for mystery titles.  Powered by Amazon is a self-publishing platform that allows the publication of a series of books under any imprint name. For example, in May 2011, Seth Godin launched The Domino Project, an imprint created to publish a series of manifestos. It was the inaugural Powered by Amazon imprint project. Godin decided to end the imprint in November 2011, the 12 previously published titles would still be sold at Amazon, but no new books would be published. Also in May, it was announced Amazon had hired Larry Kirshbaum, former CEO of Time Warner Book Group, to head a new general-interest imprint. In October, Amazon launched a science-fiction/fantasy/horror imprint called 47 North. In December, Amazon Publishing acquired over 450 titles of Marshall Cavendish's US Children's trade books business, Marshall Cavendish Children's Books (MCCB).  In January 2012, it was revealed that Amazon Publishing's New York publishing arm, called "Amazon Publishing's East Coast Group" (run by Larry Kirshbaum), made a deal with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to sell books under a pseudonym imprint called "New Harvest". New Harvest only included books from Amazon Publishing, and the books had a New Harvest imprint on the spine. This allowed Amazon to sell books at retailers like Barnes & Noble, which otherwise had disallowed Amazon imprints in its stores. Barnes & Noble however later announced it would not stock any Amazon imprints, including New Harvest, a move mirrored by other book stores which have also banned Amazon imprints from their stores. One of the inaugural titles published by New Harvest was "Jeff, One Lonely Guy", by Jeff Ragsdale, released on March 20, 2012.  In June 2012, Amazon purchased Avalon Books, a small 62-year-old publisher that specializes in romance and mysteries with a back-list of around 3,000 titles. The books will be published under Amazon's imprints based in Seattle. In November, it was announced that Laurence Kirshbaum's position would expand to include "editorial leadership for the Seattle and New York adult imprints, as well as Amazon Children's Publishing." In addition it was announced that Amazon would be opening a new European publishing division, which will focus on "expanding the English-language audience through its English-language bookstores in the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, and Spain." Vicky Griffith, formerly publisher of the Seattle imprints, will be the new EU publisher. In December 2012, Brilliance Audio, a division of Amazon, announced the creation of a publishing imprint called "Grand Harbor Press" which will focus on original self-help and inspirational hardcover, paperback and e-books.  In January 2013, Amazon announced two children's and young adult imprints. The first imprint is called "Two Lions", featuring picture books, chapter books, and middle-grade fiction. The second imprint is called "Skyscape", publishing fiction for young adults. In March, Amazon announced a New York-based literary fiction imprint that will publish novels, short stories and memoir. Called "Little A", it was initially overseen by senior editor Ed Park. Amazing Publishing launched its comic book and graphic novel imprint, Jet City Comics, on July 9. Jet City Comics will be adapting existing books into comics for Kindle e-reader and print.  In October 2013, Amazon Publishing announced a new weekly digital literary magazine called "Day One". The magazine focused on short fiction and poetry, including works from new authors and foreign authors in English translation. Each issue looked at one fiction writer and one poet each week, including a short story and poem with each issue. The issues were accessed through Kindle devices. Issues contained an introductory essay about a writer, author interviews, illustrations and playlists. The phrase "Day One" has often been used by Bezos in annual reports to shareholders as a way to experiment and fight complacency: "This is still Day 1."  In March, 2014, Amazon Publishing opened a German-language department based in Munich under the direction of publisher Sarah Tomashek. According to Amazon, the "European Amazon Publishing team will acquire German-language fiction for publication in Kindle and print editions available on Amazon websites."  In November, 2017, Amazon Publishing announced a new imprint Amazon Original Stories for works of fiction and non-fiction that can be read in a single sitting ranging from 5,000 to 20,000 words.  In February 2018, Amazon Publishing announced a new imprint TOPPLE Books focused on revolutionary feminist voices with Jill Soloway as the Editor-at-Large.

Weathervane.

During the 1999 Christmas season, Amazon leased the rights to a defunct imprint called Weathervane. This was Amazon's first attempt at publishing. The titles included Christmas recipe books and others without much market appeal, they were the "creatures from the black lagoon of the remainder table" according to a former employee James Marcus. The imprint soon disappeared, and according to "representatives at [Amazon] today claim never to have heard of [Weathervane]."

Publishers.

Larry Kirshbaum was the first publisher when Amazon Publishing was founded in 2009. He was based in New York City. In January 2014, Laurence Kirshbaum left the company. According to "Publishers Weekly", "Under his direction, Amazon Publishing has had a difficult time gaining traction in the marketplace and failed to deliver any major bestsellers. In addition to the lackluster performance of the group, Kirshbaum drew unwanted attention in the summer of 2013 when a lawsuit was filed against him for sexual assault."  Kirshbaum was replaced by Daphne Durham who has spent her entire career at Amazon and is based in Seattle. Durham left the company a year later to "seek time off". Mikyla Bruder became the publisher on January 16, 2015 and was responsible for most of the imprints; she is based in Seattle. In addition David Blum was named publisher and editor in chief of the Little A and Two Lions imprints; he is based in New York City.

Criticism.

In a 2014 article in "The New Yorker", George Packer writes that nearly all of Amazon Publishing's books have under-performed. For example, it purchased two high-profile books at auction including Timothy Ferriss' "The 4-Hour Chef" for 1 million dollars, which did worse than his previous titles; and "My Mother Was Nuts", a memoir by Penny Marshall, for eight-hundred thousand dollars, which only sold seventeen thousand copies. "Actors Anonymous", a novel by James Franco, has sold fewer than five thousand copies. Packer says "In the past year [2012-2013], Amazon Publishing has barely been a presence at auctions, and several editors have departed; last month [January 2014], Kirshbaum left the company, having failed at the task Amazon gave him." Reasons given for the poor performance include: bookstores which refuse to carry Amazon titles since Amazon is a direct competitor; incompetence as a publisher (as one New York publisher said about Amazon, "There are certain things it takes to be a publisher. You have to have luck, but you also have to have judgment, discernment."); and Amazon's culture of machines, algorithms and mass products which don't fit well with the publishing world's emphasis on human networking and reputation.

Amazon Publishing (simply APub) is Amazon's book publishing unit launched in 2009. It is composed of 15 imprints including AmazonEncore, AmazonCrossing, Montlake Romance, Thomas & Mercer, 47North, and TOPPLE Books.


History.

Development and domestic contracts.

BAT (formerly known as HBAT) was developed from equine (horse) plasma at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). The main funding stream was the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (within the US Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response). It was then available for many years on an IND (investigational) basis from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  On June 1, 2006, the DHHS awarded a $363 million contract to Emergent BioSolutions, (then Cangene Corporation) for 200,000 doses of BAT over five years for delivery into the US Strategic National Stockpile (SNS). The CDC began supplying doses to the SNS in 2007 under a now $427 million contract with the DHHS, according to a Cangene press release. In 2010, the CDC replaced the licensed bivalent botulinum antitoxin AB ("BAT-AB") and the investigational monovalent botulinum antitoxin E ("BAT-E") with "BAT" when the former two products indications expired. This action left BAT as the only botulinum antitoxin available in the US for naturally occurring non-infant botulism.  On March 22, 2013, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved BAT as the first product to treat all serotypes of botulism. This was considered a significant step in the US armamentarium for emergency use against a bioterrorist attack. The CDC continues to distribute the stockpiled antitoxin.  The FDA approved BAT for marketing based on its efficacy as established in animal studies (efficacy trials in humans not being considered feasible or ethical). The safety of the antitoxin, however, was established in a study of 40 healthy volunteers as well as in the experimental treatment of 228 patients in a CDC program.  After the February 2014 acquisition of Cangene Corporation by Emergent BioSolutions, Emergent took control of Cangene's products and contracts, including BAT. In March 2017, Emergent extended its contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), adding $53 million in value throughout 2022 for the production and bulk storage of BAT. Under the conditions of the extension, future transport of BAT to the SNS was approved. BAT remains the only recognized, licensed, and distributed botulism antitoxin within the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Other Licensed Jurisdictions and Contracts.

In 2012, Emergent signed a 10-year contract to provide BAT to the Canadian Department of National Defense and the Public Health Agency of Canada, as well as individual provincial health officials. In December 2016, Health Canada approved Emergent's New Drug Submission for BAT under the Extraordinary Use New Drug Regulations, which provide guidelines for consideration of drugs that do not have clinical information about impacts on humans due to the nature of the conditions that the drugs are used to treat. Pleased with Canada’s decision to prepare for botulinum toxin events, one of the "more likely biological threat agents", Adam Havey, executive vice president and president of the biodefense division at Emergent BioSolutions, said, "Emergent is committed to helping allied governments fulfill their preparedness needs. We expect to expand upon our longstanding relationship with the Canadian government and develop similar relations outside of North America..."  BAT was approved by the Health Sciences Authority in Singapore in July 2019.

Description.

Neutralizing efficacy.

BAT is derived from "despeciated" equine IgG antibodies, which have had the Fc portion cleaved off, leaving the F(ab') portions. This process renders it less efficacious at neutralizing toxin than the other product trivalent botulinum antitoxin (TBAT) available from local health departments (via the CDC) for treatment of wound and foodborne botulism. TBAT (effective against types A, B, and E) is derived from equine sources utilizing whole antibodies (Fab & Fc portions). But only BAT is considered effective against all known strains of botulism (A, B, C, D, E, F, and G). These antitoxins neutralize only circulating toxin in patients with symptoms of botulism that are continuing to progress; they have no effect on toxin already bound to the nerve terminals. (This is not, however, considered a reason to withhold the product from any patient, even if treatment has been delayed.)

Side effects.

In CDC studies of BAT, headache, fever, chills, rash, itching, and nausea were the most observed adverse events. It can trigger allergic reactions and delayed hypersensitivity reactions in people sensitive to horse proteins.

"HE-BAT".

A related product "Botulism AntiToxin, Heptavalent, Equine, Types A, B, C, D, E, F and G" ("HE-BAT") is also available to the U.S. military under IND (experimental) protocols. This "equine" antitoxin requires skin testing with escalating dose challenges before full dose administration to obviate serious sensitivity to horse serum.

FDA clinical trials.

BAT has undergone extensive testing for effectiveness and safety. Emergent BioSolutions, in a 2017 document published to describe prescription information for BAT, said that the effectiveness of the antitoxin is based on efficacy studies that demonstrably prove increased chances of survival. In two clinical studies cited by the company, the safety profile of BAT was proven acceptable when one or two vials of the antitoxin were intravenously delivered to healthy subjects.  Another clinical trial, the BT-011 study, known also as Pharmacokinetics of Botulism Antitoxin Heptavalent in Pediatric Patients, was initiated to test the success of BAT in children who had contracted botulism (or had been suspected of contracting botulism). In the study, a serum sample was collected from pediatric patients to analyze the pharmacokinetics of BAT to better adjust pediatric dosing recommendations. The details of the study from ClinicalTrials.gov, are as follows:

Use.

Indications.

BAT is the only product available for treating botulism in adults, and for botulism in infants caused by botulinum toxins other than types A and B. BAT has been used to treat a case of type F infant botulism and, on a case-by-case basis, may be used for future cases of non-type A and non-type B infant botulism.

Administration.

Early administration of BAT is considered critical as the antitoxin can neutralize only circulating toxin, not toxin that has become bound to nerve terminals.  One vial (20 mL) of BAT is administered to a patient as an intravenous infusion. It must be diluted with 0.9% sodium chloride in a 1:10 ratio before use. A volumetric infusion pump is used for slow administration (0.5 mL/min for the initial 30 minutes) to minimize the possibility of allergic reactions. If no reactions are noted, the rate is increased to 1 mL/min for another 30 minutes, and then if still no reaction is evident, to 2 mL/min for the remainder of the procedure.

The Botulism Antitoxin Heptavalent (A, B, C, D, E, F, G) - (Equine) (BAT®) – BAT®, made by Emergent BioSolutions Canada Inc. (formerly Cangene Corporation), – is a licensed, commercially available botulism anti-toxin that effectively neutralizes all seven known botulinum nerve toxin serotypes (types A, B, C, D, E, F and G). It is indicated for sporadic cases of life-threatening botulism and is also stockpiled for the eventuality of botulinum nerve toxins being used in a future bioterrorist attack.


Biography.

John Harris began painting aged 14 and entered Luton College of Art at the age of 16. After completing a foundation course, he entered Exeter University in 1967 to study painting. Graduating in 1970 he travelled and studied transcendental meditation, an increasing influence on his works. On his return to England in 1976, John Harris began exploring the theme of monumental scale and space, producing a series of science fiction art. In the late 1970s he joined Young Artists, the premier agency for the emerging movement of science fiction art in the UK.  Harris continued to specialise in large-scale commissions for companies such as Philips Electronics and Shell. His illustrations during this period have now become collectors' items, including Jack McDevitt's Nebula Award-winning "Seeker". His painting "MASS: The Building of FTL1" was used by Psygnosis for the cover of their 1990 video game "Awesome".  During the early 1980s Harris was commissioned by Sinclair Research to produce cover-art for the user manuals of the ZX81, and ZX Spectrum home computers.  In 1984 Harris was commissioned to create a painting of the Endeavour space shuttle launch at NASA's Kennedy Space Centre. He was captivated by the intense tangerine glow created by the craft's vapor exhaust and made a painting of the shuttle's gantry tower, bathed in light. That work is now part of the Smithsonian Museum Collection.  In 1998 The Royal Caribbean commissioned him to paint a number of large canvases to be displayed as permanent fixtures in their new range of ocean cruise ships, resulting in over 70 marine paintings. The majority of this collection being of the J-class trinity - Endeavour, Shamrock and Velsheda.  In 2000 Paper Tiger Books published a collection of Harris's work, "Mass".  Rainmaker Entertainment based in Vancouver, hired Harris in 2007, to work on The Weinstein Company's movie, "Escape from Planet Earth".  In 2010 Harris became associated with the Symposium of Imaginative Realism (Illuxcon), a relationship which remains a key feature of his career. He is now a regular contributor to their exhibitions.  In 2014, Titan Books published a new collection of his works, entitled "Beyond the Horizon; The Art of John Harris".  Harris currently lives in Devon, England. He is married to Sarah Harris and has two children, Sophie and Ben.  In 2015 Harris received the Chesley Award for Life Time Achievement.

Awards.

In 2014, John Harris was nominated for the Hugo Award, Professional Artist.  In 2015 he won the Chesley Award for Life Time Achievement.

John Harris (born 29 July 1948 in London, England) is a British artist and illustrator, known for working in the science fiction genre. His paintings have been used on book covers for many authors, including Orson Scott Card, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Frederik Pohl, Ben Bova, Wilbur Smith, Jack Vance, Ann Leckie, and John Scalzi. His work has covered many genres and although he made his name in the science-fiction genres, he is now exploring a new realm, the imaginative realism of aerial landscapes.


Distribution.

There are two subspecies of narrow-ridged finless porpoise, the Yangtze and the East Asian finless porpoises, the former inhabiting the Yangtze River, and the latter the coastal areas off mainland China (e.g. Chongming Island), the Penghu Islands, and coastal Vietnam, including Halong Bay. The Matsu Islands are thought to be their northern limit, and the local population in this area is physically smaller than the Indo-pacific finless porpoise. These two species overlap in the Matsu region.

Description.

As the name suggests, the finless porpoise is the only porpoise to lack a true dorsal fin. Instead there is a low, narrow ridge covered in thick skin bearing several lines of tiny tubercles. In addition, the forehead is unusually steep compared with those of other porpoises. They have fifteen to twenty-one teeth in each jaw, and, on average, fewer teeth than other porpoises, although there is some overlap, and this is a not a reliable means of distinguishing them.  Finless porpoises can grow to as much as in length, and can weigh up to, although most are smaller. Adults grow more than 1.55 m (5 ft) in length and up to 30–45 kg (65–100 lb) in weight. The flippers are moderately large, reaching up to 20% of the total body length. Adults are typically a uniform, light grey colour, although some may have lighter patches of skin around the mouth, or darker patches in front of the flippers. Newborn calves of the central and eastern subspecies are mostly black with grey around the dorsal ridge area, becoming fully grey after four to six months. However, newborn calves of the western subspecies are a light creamy grey, and become darker as they age.

Anatomy.

The anatomy of finless porpoises has been relatively well studied, compared with that of some other cetacean species. The tubercles along the dorsal ridge are known to contain numerous nerve endings is used as a sensory function. The auditory system also appears well-developed, with numerous nerve fibres specialised for rapid communication between the ears and the brain. Sight is relatively poor, however, due to the overall cloudiness of the Yangtze River; they have a reduced lens and a limited number of fibres in the optic nerve and to the muscles moving the eyes compared to the Indo-pacific finless porpoise. It is speculated that their vision is somewhat better than that of the Yangtze river dolphin.  The skeleton is light, accounting for only 5% of the total weight of the animal. There are between 58 and 65 vertebrae, about half of them in the tail, and with the first three cervical vertebrae fused into a single structure. This reduces flexibility of the neck while increasing stability in the water. There are ten to fourteen pairs of ribs in the chest, and an additional set of vestigial ribs has sometimes been reported in the neck, in association with the seventh cervical vertebra. There are 44 sets of spinal nerves. Like all porpoises, they have spade-shaped teethed designed for catching small fish and shrimp. Their skeletal design allows them to leap from the water and perform "tail stands".  The nasal passage contains nine or ten air sacs, which are capable of sealing off all air within the passage. Behind these are an additional set of vomeronasal sacs. The trachea, however, is short, with only four cartilaginous rings. The stomach has three chambers, with no caecum, and no distinct difference between the small and large intestines.  Sexual maturity is thought to occur around six years, with only one calf born at a time. Gestation is approximately one year, and lactation lasts for over six months.

Interactions with humans.

Threats.

Fishing.

Bycatch by unwary fishermen may be a factor for the ongoing decline of the Yangtze finless porpoise. Illegal fishing and hazardous gear, like gillnets, is widely used in the Yangtze river. The preferred habitat of the Yangtze Finless Porpoise overlaps extensively with the usage of gillnets, which makes the species particularly vulnerable to entanglement and subsequent drowning. However, a recent large-scale interview survey conducted in fishing communities along the banks of the Yangtze, by the IUCN, suggests that mortality due to bycatch may have decreased over the past two decades as the porpoise population has declined, and have concluded that gillnetting is unlikely to be the primary cause of their decline.

Development.

Increased traffic, pollution, and habitat degradation of the river have contributed to population declines. The increased vessel traffic may cause death from propeller strikes, and the boat noise may mask the porpoise's ability to communicate with other porpoises, as well as hindering their biosonar which compromises foraging and locomotion. Porpoise mortality associated with vessel collisions has increased substantially in recent years, in contrast to mortality from by-catch.  Widespread sand mining of the river and lake beds and banks has destroyed important habitat for porpoises and food items, as well as other environmental issues. This problem is especially serious in the Dongting and Poyang Lakes. There are currently four hundred million living along the river basin as well as thousands of factories, which together discharge tremendous quantities of domestic sewage and agricultural and industrial waste. It has not been proven that this impacts the Yangtze finless porpoise's health, fertility, or population. In April 2004, five porpoises died in Dongting Lake within a single week due to short-term exposure to pesticides, possibly in combination with long-term exposure to mercury and chromium.  Dams have major effects on river and lake ecology, and inhibit access between the river and adjoining lakes or tributaries in the Yangtze, as well as affecting migrating prey items. The Three Gorges Dam in particular has altered, and will continue to alter, downstream conditions in the Yangtze river and its connected/adjoining lakes. Construction of the Poyang Lake Dam likely to damage remaining population severely.

Conservation.

As of 2014, 505 porpoises remain in the main section of the Yangtze, with an alarming population density in Ezhou and Zhenjiang. While many threatened species decline rate slows after their classification, population decline rates of the porpoise are actually accelerating. While population decline tracked from 1994 to 2008 has been pegged at a rate of 6.06% annually, from 2006 to 2012, the porpoise population decreased by more than half. Finless porpoise population decrease of 69.8% in just a 22-year span from 1976 to 2000. 5.3%. A 2012 survey by the World Wildlife Fund indicated the rate of decline had accelerated to 13.7% per year. By 2017, the number in the Yangtze had increased to 1,012. Due to ongoing protection efforts, the porpoises have reappeared in places like Nantong, where sightings had been rare in recent years.  A majority of factors of this population decline are being driven by the massive growth in Chinese industry since 1990 which caused increased shipping and pollution and ultimately environmental degradation. Some of these can be seen in damming of the river as well as illegal fishing activity. To protect the species, China's Ministry of Agriculture classified the species as being National First Grade Key Protected Wild Animal, the strictest classification by law, meaning it is illegal to bring harm to a porpoise. Protective measures in the Tian-e-Zhou Oxbow Nature Reserve has increased its population of porpoises from five to forty in twenty five years. The Chinese Academy of Science's Wuhan Institute of Hydrobiology has been working with the World Wildlife Fund to ensure the future for this subspecies, and have placed five porpoises in another well-protected area, the He-wang-miao oxbow.  Five protected natural reserves have been established in areas of the highest population density and mortality rates with measures being taken to ban patrolling and harmful fishing gear in those areas. There have also been efforts to study porpoise biology to help specialize conservation through captivation breeding. The Baiji Dolphinarium, was established in 1992 at the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Wuhan which allowing the study of behavioral and biological factors affecting the finless porpoise, specifically breeding biology like seasonal changes in reproductive hormones and breeding behavior.

In captivity.

Finless porpoises have commonly been kept in Japan, as well as China and Indonesia. Ninety four in total have been in captivity in Japan, eleven in China, and at least two in Indonesia. Japan has had three establishments designated for breeding them, and there have been five recorded births. Three, however, died moments after birth, but two survived for several years.

The narrow-ridged finless porpoise ("Neophocaena asiaeorientalis") is a newly accepted species, by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), of porpoise endemic to the western Yangtze river in China and the East China Sea, Yellow Sea, and around Japan. There are two subspecies: the Yangtze finless porpoise ("N. a. asiaeorientalis") and the East Asian finless porpoise ("N. a. sunameri"). After the functional extinction of the Yangtze river dolphin and the rapid decreasing of population, the Chinese government has given this species the utmost conservation status of "National First Grade Key Protected Wild Animal" to ensure its survival. Global conservation agencies and charities, such as the World Wildlife Fund and IUCN, have been collaborating with the Chinese government to ensure the survival of the species.


The Dutch Radical School.

The Dutch school of radical criticism started in 1878 with a publication by Allard Pierson, who denied Pauline authorship of Galatians. He was fiercely attacked by his colleague A. D. Loman, but two years later also Loman abandoned the historicity of Paul. Similarly, W.C. van Manen, who had written a doctoral thesis defending the authenticity of 1 Thessalonians, wrote in 1889 that he had come to the same conclusions as Loman. Also the philosopher G. J. P. J. Bolland was a part of this movement. With the death of Van Manen's student G. A. van den Bergh van Eysinga in 1957, this line of scholarship at Dutch universities came to an end.  The name "Dutch Radicals" was coined by A. D. Loman, in an 1887 article reviewing Edwin Johnson (""Antiqua Mater: A Study of Christian Origins"", 1887), saying that "the author is a radical like we seldom meet among theologians and hardly ever among English theologians". The RadikalKritik article on "van Manen and the Dutch Radicals" adds that "Van Manen later spoke of the 'radical' or the 'Dutch' school (1902). The 'radical' scholars did not want to be impeded by church canons and wanted to be free in their research of the New Testament and of the history of early Christianity. This research led them to the conclusion that we do not have any authentic Pauline epistles."  The Dutch school also influenced Rudolf Steck in Switzerland, and Arthur Drews in Germany. However, the works of Adolf Harnack proved more influential, and radical criticism was almost forgotten until it was unearthed by the "Journal of Higher Criticism" in the United States.  It is now richly documented in the RadikalKritik site managed by Dr. Hermann Detering, who is reviving the complete scholarship of Radical Criticism of the Dutch Radical School, with reviews of all its members and analyses of their works, including many articles in English.  Hermann Detering's site also follows current controversies from the US, such as the criticisms raised about Bart Ehrman's recent publication of "Did Jesus Exist?" (2012), and about the series of articles published by R. Joseph Hoffmann on his blog "The New Oxonian", called "The Jesus Process: A Consultation on the Historical Jesus".

Reception.

Members of the Radical Dutch School argued against the existence of Jesus, this caused controversy. Robert Van Voorst has written that "their arguments were stoutly attacked in the Netherlands, especially by other scholars, but largely ignored out it."

Radical criticism is a movement around the late 19th century that, typically, denied authentic authorship of the Pauline epistles. This went beyond the higher criticism of the Tübingen school which (with the exception of Bruno Bauer) held that a core of at least four epistles had been written by Paul of Tarsus in the 1st century.


Projects.

In 1965 Athfield started work on his first major project, Athfield House, for his family and a studio. Located in Khandallah, Wellington, this distinctive group of structures stands out amongst neighbouring conventional suburban houses. His early projects were constructed with a broad palette of materials including corrugated iron, plaster, stainless steel and fibre glass. As a reaction to much of the bland "Modern" architecture of the period, Athfield built in a deliberately vernacular style using features harking back to colonial buildings. His designs incorporated finials, steeply pitched roofs, timber weatherboards, verandahs and double hung windows. He was also inspired by the architecture of the Greek Islands with their exterior envelopes of continuous plaster and small windows. Conversely, he also much admired the buildings of Mies van der Rohe with their precise and refined detailing of industrial materials.  Yet another area of influence for Athfield was the geometric massing of the Japanese Metabolists. Athfield combined all these disparate elements into a highly eclectic and personal style. During the 1970s Athfield built and renovated numerous domestic houses and buildings, developing a distinctive and highly personal design approach based on the repetition of small scale elements and complex massing. Critical opposition to these 'cartoon houses' did not bother him (Manson). Another criticism of Athfield's houses were that they were built for charm and not practicality. Athfield believed, however, that "in a house, you should get a surprise every time you turn a corner and look up" (Manson).  Athfield's practice expanded during the 1980s from mainly residential work to a wider variety of community and commercial buildings. As well as continuing to work on small-scale projects, his portfolio includes churches, pubs, council flats, stadiums and commercial high-rise buildings. Athfield's best known works include Telecom Towers, Civic Square and Wellington Central Library, Jade Stadium in Christchurch and work on the design of the Bangkok rapid transport system.  He was a President of the New Zealand Institute of Architects, judged many design competitions and was a keynote speaker at many overseas conferences. His firm's later projects included Chews Lane Precinct, the Wellington Overseas Passenger Terminal redevelopment and the Wellington Marine Education Centre.  A documentary on Athfield, "Architect of Dreams", was produced for the NZ Documentary Festival.  Following the Canterbury earthquakes of 2010 and 2011, Athfield was appointed as an Architectural Ambassador to Christchurch.

Awards and honours.

Athfield won over 60 national and international architecture and design awards. In 1976 he won first prize in the International Competition for the Urban Environment of Developing Countries. In 1978 he was placed first equal in a Low Cost Housing Design Competition in Fiji. He won 13 NZIA Supreme Awards for his outstanding architectural projects. In 2004 he won the New Zealand Institute of Architects' highest honour, the Gold Medal. Athfield was the first New Zealand architect to register as an APEC architect.  Athfield was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal. In the 1996 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to architecture, and in the 2015 New Year Honours he was promoted to Knight Companion of the same order.  He received a Distinguished Alumni Award in 1997 from the University of Auckland, and in 2000 he was awarded an honorary LitD by Victoria University of Wellington. Accepting his honorary doctorate on 18 April, Athfield stated:  I accept this on behalf of architects, designers, plumbers and gas fitters. We have suffered at the hands of accountants and engineers for too long.

Sir Ian Charles Athfield (15 July 1940 – 16 January 2015) was a New Zealand architect. He was born in Christchurch and graduated from the University of Auckland in 1963 with a Diploma of Architecture. That same year he joined Structon Group Architects, and he became a partner in 1965. In 1968 he was a principal partner in setting up Athfield Architects with Ian Dickson and Graeme John Boucher (Manson). Athfield died in 2015 due to complications from a routine procedure which resulted in pneumonia, at the Wellington Hospital, where he was being treated for prostate cancer.


History.

During the 19th century, various fertilizer operations occupied the site. The park traces its beginnings to 1931, when conservationists purchased the land and held it until the state legislature authorized state purchase. During the Great Depression, a 356-foot, timber-and-granite pavilion was constructed by federal relief workers.  The Ellie Mitchell Pavilion is a Rustic-style building completed in 1936 by the Works Progress Administration. The curved masonry building stands more than long and wide. It is the largest Depression-era structure in the state.

Features.

Construction began in the early 1930s as part of an effort to ease crowding at Hammonasset State Park. Much of its timber and granite were drawn from local suppliers and quarries and from an abandoned fish fertilizer plant on the grounds. Supporting pillars were fashioned from trees cut from each of the state parks and forests. The pavilion was handed over to the state in October 1936 and opened as the Ellie Mitchell Pavilion. Visitors could purchase food, eat in the dining areas, and warm themselves by eight fireplaces during cooler months. In 1986, the pavilion and its surrounding were listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  The park is crossed by the Northeast Corridor, Amtrak's main line from New York to Boston, on a right-of-way first chartered in 1848 by the New Haven and New London Railroad. A 1934 footbridge carries pedestrians over the tracks between the pavilion and its parking lot. The arched steel bridge has been documented by the Historic American Engineering Record, which describes it as "an unusual surviving example of a railroad footbridge."  The park has its own exit (exit 72) on the Connecticut portion of Interstate 95. This exit is for the Rocky Neck connector, which is designated as the unsigned Connecticut Special Service Road 449.

Activities and amenities.

The park offers picnicking, saltwater fishing, saltwater swimming, a campground with 160 sites, and interpretive programs. Hiking trails lead to a salt marsh, Baker's Cave, Tony's Nose, Shipyard, and other points of interest.

Rocky Neck State Park is a public recreation area on Long Island Sound in the town of East Lyme, Connecticut, United States. The state park's include a tidal river, a broad salt marsh, white sand beaches, rocky shores, and a large stone pavilion dating from the 1930s. It is managed by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.


Plot.

Francesca Cunningham is a suicidal mental patient under the care of Dr. Larsen. Under hypnosis, Larsen leads her to describe her life events that brought her to attempt suicide. The film largely consists of a series of flashbacks in which Francesca talks about her life, removing successive "veils" to recover memories.  Only her second cousin and guardian, Nicholas, a crippled musician, is interested in her. Nicholas, though, is a bitter man, faintly jealous of her talent and misogynistic, with a difficult relationship with his mother. However, he is a brilliant music teacher who encourages Francesca to excel, but also to avoid all emotional entanglements. At the Royal College of Music, Peter, an American studying in London, becomes romantically interested in Francesca. Although she is initially unresponsive, Francesca and Peter later become engaged, but she has not yet reached her maturity (then 21) and Nicholas, as her guardian, withholds his consent and insists she leave for Paris with him the next morning. She completes her education and begins her music career on the continent.  Years pass. Nicholas and Francesca return to Britain when she is invited to perform at the Royal Albert Hall, but she discovers Peter has married someone else. An artist, Maxwell Leyden, is invited by Nicholas to paint her portrait; they soon fall in love and agree to live together. Still apparently her guardian, Nicholas becomes angry at the news and strikes her hands with his cane while she plays. She flees from him, but, while with Max, is involved in a serious car accident and suffers burns to her hands. Francesca becomes convinced she will never play again.  After therapy—and now cured, according to Dr Larsen—Francesca realizes that Nicholas is her real love rather than Peter (now divorced) or Max.

Production.

According to Mason, the original script concluded with Francesca choosing Peter. Mason and his then wife Pamela Kellino both believed that ending to be "wrong" and "rather dull."  The film score was written by Benjamin Frankel (credited as Ben Frankel) with original piano works by Chopin, Mozart, and Beethoven, as well as parts of the Grieg and Rachmaninoff 2nd piano concertos.  Eileen Joyce, whose name does not appear in the credits, was the pianist who substituted for Todd on the soundtrack. She also made a short film for Todd to practise to, and even coached Todd personally in her arm movements. It is Joyce's hands that are seen in all the close-ups.

Reception.

Filmed on a relatively low budget of under £100,000, the film was the biggest British box-office success of its year. According to "Kinematograph Weekly" the 'biggest winners' at the box office in 1945 Britain were "The Seventh Veil", with "runners up" being (in release order), "Madonna of the Seven Moons", "Old Acquaintance", "Frenchman's Creek", "Mrs Parkington", "Arsenic and Old Lace", "Meet Me in St Louis", "A Song to Remember", "Since You Went Away", "Here Come the Waves", "Tonight and Every Night", "Hollywood Canteen", "They Were Sisters", "The Princess and the Pirate", "The Adventures of Susan", "National Velvet", "Mrs Skefflington", "I Live in Grosvenor Square", "Nob Hill", "Perfect Strangers", "Valley of Decision", "Conflict" and "Duffy's Tavern". British "runners up" were "They Were Sisters", "I Live in Grosvenor Square", "Perfect Strangers", "Madonna of the Seven Moons", "Waterloo Road", "Blithe Spirit", "The Way to the Stars", "I'll Be Your Sweetheart", "Dead of Night", "Waltz Time" and "Henry V".  The film was entered into the 1946 Cannes Film Festival and won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay (for Sydney and Muriel Box) in 1946. The film has the 10th top audience of all films, 17.9 million, placing it above most modern box-office successes.  The movie also earned over $1 million in rentals in North America.  By July 1953, it had earned a reported £253,000 in the UK.  In 1951, Ann Todd, Herbert Lom and Leo Genn appeared in a stage adaptation in London.  In 2004, the British Film Institute compiled a list of the 100 biggest UK cinematic hits of all time based on audience figures, as opposed to gross takings. "The Seventh Veil" placed 10th in this list with an estimated attendance of 17.9 million people.

Radio adaptation.

On 5 October 1946, "This Is Hollywood" presented "The Seventh Veil". Ray Milland and Ann Todd starred in the adaptation.
The Seventh Veil was also presented on the Lux Radio Theatre on September 15, 1947, starring Joseph Cotten and Ida Lupino; and, on December 13, 1948, starring Ingrid Bergman and Robert Montgomery.
"The Seventh Veil" was presented on "Philip Morris Playhouse" 3 February 1952. The 30-minute adaptation starred David Niven and University of Oklahoma student Edrita Pokorny.

The Seventh Veil is a 1945 British melodrama film directed by Compton Bennett and starring James Mason and Ann Todd. It was made by Ortus Films (a company established by producer Sydney Box) and released through General Film Distributors in the UK and Universal Pictures in the United States. The screenplay concerns a woman who attempts suicide to escape her cruel guardian.


Military captives.

By June 2014, according to United Nations reports, ISIL had killed hundreds of prisoners of war and over 1,000 civilians. Specific incidents involving the killing of military prisoners including the mass killing of up to 250 Syrian Army soldiers near Tabqa Air base, and killings that took place in Camp Speicher (1,095–1,700 Iraqi soldiers shot and "thousands" more "missing") and the Shaer gas field (200 Syrian soldiers shot). ISIL was reported to have beheaded about 100 foreign fighters as deserters who tried to leave Raqqa.  Muath Al-Kasasbeh, a Royal Jordanian Air Force pilot whose F-16 fighter aircraft crashed near Raqqa, Syria, on 24 December 2014 during the international military intervention against ISIL, was captured by ISIL, and on 3 February 2015 released a video showing al-Kasasbeh being burned to death while trapped inside a cage.

Civilian captives.

Among the known killings of religious and minority group civilians carried out by ISIL are those in the villages and towns of Quiniyeh (70–90 Yazidis killed), Hardan (60 Yazidis killed), Sinjar (200–500 Yazidis killed), Ramadi Jabal (60–70 Yazidis killed), Dhola (50 Yazidis killed), Khana Sor (100 Yazidis killed), Hardan (250–300 Yazidis killed), al-Shimal (dozens of Yazidis killed), Khocho (400 Yazidis killed and 1,000 abducted), Jadala (14 Yadizis killed)<ref name="OHRCHR/UNAMI"></ref> and Beshir (700 Shia Turkmen killed), and others committed near Mosul (670 Shia inmates of the Badush prison killed), and in Tal Afar prison, Iraq (205 Yazidis killed for refusing conversion). The UN estimated that 5,000 Yazidis were killed by ISIL during their Northern Iraq offensive in August 2014.

Journalists.

ISIL has tortured and murdered local journalists, creating what Reporters Without Borders calls "news blackholes" in areas controlled by ISIL. ISIL fighters have reportedly been given written directions to kill or capture journalists.

Aid workers.

ISIL has also murdered aid workers.

Executions by ISIS refers here to killing by beheading, immolation, shooting or other means of military and civilian people (such as captives and "criminals") by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). ISIL has released a number of propaganda/publicity videos of beheadings or shootings of captives. Houtat Sulūk is reported to be a mass grave.


Description.

The I-class ships were improved versions of the preceding H-class. They displaced at standard load and at deep load. The ships had an overall length of, a beam of and a draught of. They were powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by three Admiralty three-drum boilers. The turbines developed a total of and were intended to give a maximum speed of. The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of at. Their crew numbered 145 officers and ratings.  The Turkish ships mounted four 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mark IX guns in single mounts, designated 'A', 'B', 'X' and 'Y' from bow to stern. While under construction, their anti-aircraft (AA) armament was augmented by a single 12-pounder () AA gun that replaced the planned aft set of torpedo tubes. In addition the intended pair of quadruple mounts for the 0.5 inch Vickers Mark III machine gun were replaced by a pair of Oerlikon light AA guns. They were fitted with a single above-water quadruple torpedo tube mount amidships for torpedoes. One depth charge rack and two throwers were fitted for 35 depth charges. The Turkish ships were fitted with the ASDIC sound detection system to locate submarines underwater and a Type 286 search radar.

Construction and career.

"Inconstant" was laid down as TCG "Muavenet" for the Turkish Navy by Vickers Armstrong at their Barrow-in-Furness shipyard on 24 May 1939, purchased in September 1939 by the Royal Navy, launched on 24 February 1941 and commissioned on 24 January 1942. The ship participated in the assault on Madagascar in May 1942, and attacked and sank the German submarines in the Mediterranean north-east of Algiers on 12 July 1943 and while in company with the destroyers and in the English Channel south-west of Guernsey on 18 June 1944. "Inconstant" was returned to Turkey on 9 March 1946 and renamed "Muavenet". She was discarded in 1960.

HMS "Inconstant" was an I-class destroyer built for the Turkish Navy, but was purchased by the Royal Navy in 1939.


History.

In the area of the Kalte Birke and the "Lageswarte" (571 m above NHN) just north of it, was an important trading route, the Innerste Rennsteig, which ran between Buntenbock and Neuekrug and had been established since the early Middle Ages. The initial occupation of the site and the origin of its name are unclear.  The Kalte Birke was documented as early as 1350. A letter from the year 1391 shows that an enclosure was located at the Kalte Birke in the 14th century. The use of the site as a place where records were kept and negotiations were held, is seen in other written records. They also suggest that there had been a permanent building on this spot at least since the late Middle Ages.  In the years 1511 and 1518 the Kalte Birke is mentioned as a hunting ground.  Around 1350, iron ore mining in the area was discontinued for the first time. But the references to the Kalte Birke in a 1520 register and by Georgius Agricola in 1546 in the 5th volume of "De Natura Fossilium", a textbook on mineralogy indicate that there was a resumption of mining in this area in the first half of the 16th century. The veins in the north west Harz near the Kalte Birke continued to be mentioned several times and were mined until the 20th century. The original meaning of the name "Kalte Birke" (literally: "Cold Birch") has not yet been clarified. It could have served as a place ensuring the security of the route or may have had mining, forestry or hunting purposes.  In 1635 the territory, as part of the Communion of Harz ("Kommunionsharz") was acquired by the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. From that time, a hunting house stood on the Kalte Birke run by the Forestry Commission at Lutter am Barenberge, then from 1676 or 1678, by the forester in Hahausen. Little more is known about this hunting house. However, from the late 17th century there was another residential house on the Kalte Birke. It was built and inhabited by a Hahausen timber hewer. In 1702 the old hunting lodge was replaced by a new building. When the Communion of Harz was divided in 1788 the Kalte Birke came under the rule of the Electorate of Hanover. It was located close to the border. Brunswick's hunting rights in this area existed for many more years thereafter, as documents dating to the 19th century bear witness. In 1792 the hunting house had a barn, a wagon shed, a cowshed and a bakery. Even at the beginning of the 19th century, the Kalte Birke was mentioned several times. From 1807-1813 it belonged to the Canton of Zellerfeld in the District of Osterode.  In 1828 the settlement was eventually sold. The hunting house was demolished and rebuilt in Hahausen behind the church. Since then, the place has been deserted. The refuge hut was built in 1969 by the Harz Club. There are still wall remains and the site of the old fountain.

Walking.

The Kalte Birke lies on the Harzer Försterstieg, a trail that runs from Goslar via Wolfshagen im Harz, Lautenthal, Wildemann, Bad Grund (Harz), Buntenbock and Lerbach to Riefensbeek-Kamschlacken near Osterode am Harz. It is no. 103 in the system of check points in the Harzer Wandernadel hiking challenge.  Three kilometres to the south is the Tränkebach Hut and one kilometre north is the Vereinsplatz, which are checkpoint no. 104 and no. 102 in the Harzer Wandernadel.

Literature.

Zum Abschnitt "Geschichte": Kalthammer, Wilhelm: "Die Chronik von Hahausen"; Druckerei M. Wirth GmbH, Hahausen 1983 (S. 182 f.)<br> (veröffentlicht auf www.hahausen-harz.de: Die Chronik von Hahausen. Abschnitt: "Die "Kalte Birke"")

The Kalte Birke is a cross tracks in the Harz Mountains of Germany where there is a refuge hut and former settlement. It is located west of the Innerste Reservoir at about 540 metres above sea level. It lies in the unparished area of Harz in the county of Goslar. Historically it is closely linked to the municipality of Hahausen and village of Neuekrug, four kilometres northwest.


Construction.

The V2s were the only major class of 2-6-2 tender locomotives used in Britain. Whilst 2-6-2T tank locomotives were common in the UK, the only other 2-6-2 tender locomotives were the unsuccessful experimental Midland Railway Paget locomotive of 1908, and the two examples of Gresley's LNER Class V4 of 1941. The wheel arrangement allowed the fitting of a large firebox uninhibited by the rear driving wheel, and the front pony truck improved stability at high speeds.  The V2 was derived from the Class A1/A3 pacifics with smaller driving wheels (of compared to ) and a shortened boiler. It retained Gresley's favoured 3-cylinder arrangement. Unusually all 3 cylinders were part of a single'monobloc' casting.  184 locomotives were built in 14 batches between 1936 and 1944 at Doncaster and Darlington Works, construction continuing through the Second World War as they proved their usefulness. A further four locomotives, ordered as V2s, were redesigned by Gresley's successor Edward Thompson and completed as Pacifics (LNER Thompson Class A2/1).  The V2 was a versatile locomotive, capable of hauling fast fitted freights and express passenger trains. Their relatively heavy 22 ton axle load meant their use was restricted to around 40% of the LNER's route miles. For example, they were barred from all of the former Great Eastern Railway main lines. Gresley recognised that a lighter mixed-traffic locomotive was required, and the V4 class was designed to this end. However, it was to be the versatile LNER Thompson Class B1 4-6-0 which succeeded the V2 as the LNER's standard mixed traffic locomotive, although the B1 never matched the V2's power output.

Working life.

First of the initial batch for five Doncaster-built V2s was number 4771, which emerged in June 1936 and was promptly named "Green Arrow", after the express freight service for which the locomotives had been built. Successful trials with this quintet led to both Doncaster and Darlington works producing further batches. The final locomotive, number 3695, was delivered from Darlington in July 1944.  The V2 had the free steaming qualities that the LNER's operating department required. Not only were they capable of working vacuum braked freights at up to, they could deputise for Pacifics on express passenger schedules. In peak condition a V2 could almost match the Pacifics for sustained high speed running. One locomotive was reliably timed at on the Yorkshire Pullman while another attained on a test train.  The V2s were recognised as versatile and powerful locomotives by 1939, but their reputation was more firmly established by their remarkable feats of haulage during World War II. Trains of over 20 carriages loaded to proved within their abilities. On at least one occasion a single V2 hauled 26 coaches from Peterborough to London. Given this capacity for work it was not surprising that construction was allowed to continue through the war years. The V2s performed equally competently for British Railways, leaving their mark on the East Coast Main Line, the Waverley Route between Carlisle and Edinburgh and on the ex-Great Central main line between London Marylebone and Sheffield. Significant modifications were made to the V2 class during its service life. In 1946 a series of derailments was traced to the design of the leading pony truck, which was unduly sensitive to the often poor track conditions, a legacy of heavy wartime use and lack of maintenance. Modifications to the suspension cured the problem. During the 1950s cracked monoblocs became increasingly frequent, but replacement was expensive and in 1956 the decision was taken to replace the monobloc with separate cylinder castings. Seventy-one engines were thus modified: they can be identified by the presence of external steam pipes from smokebox to cylinders. Finally, around 1960 experiments were made with fitting double chimneys to two V2s. This yielded no significant performance gain, but eight engines were subsequently fitted with Kylchap exhausts. These so-called 'Super V2s' were reckoned to be fully equal in performance to the larger Pacifics. However, plans to fit Kylchap chimneys to the remainder of the class were abandoned once it became clear that replacement with diesel locomotives was imminent.  The V2s' swansong came on the Edinburgh—Aberdeen run, working alongside the last LNER A2s and A4s. The entire class was withdrawn from service between 1962 and 1966.

Names.

Only eight V2s were named; seven by the LNER and one by BR. The first of the class was named after the express freight train "Green Arrow". Five more were named after Regiments and two after public schools. It is probable that more would have been named had the outbreak of war not intervened.

Numbering.

When built, the V2s were numbered 3641–3695 and 4771–4899. Under the LNER 1946 renumbering scheme they were to be renumbered 700-883 but the range 800–983 was allocated before renumbering was completed (19 locomotives briefly carried numbers in the original range). After nationalisation in 1948, British Railways added 60000 to their numbers so they became 60800–60983. BR also gave them the power classification 6MT.

Withdrawal.

All 184 V2s were withdrawn from stock between Feb 1962 and Dec 1966. The surviving V2 no 4771/60800 Green Arrow was withdrawn in Aug 1962 from Kings Cross shed.

Preservation.

One Class V2 survives. The first of the class 4771 "Green Arrow" has been preserved as part of the National Collection, and was in use on preserved lines around Britain. On 1 April 2008, it suffered a boiler failure on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and has since been a static exhibit at the National Railway Museum. Its boiler repairs have been determined as achievable, however the NRM are not currently willing to meet the cost involved in replacing the'monobloc' cylinder casting. A crack in this means the casting now needs to be replaced before the locomotive can work again. It is unfortunate that 60800 was not one of the V2 class that were modified to incorporate separate cylinder blocks, when a lot of the class were modified in the 1940s and 1950s.

Modelling.

Bachmann are currently producing a new 'OO gauge' model including an updated DCC ready chassis:  35-200 Class V2 Gresley 2-6-2 4791 LNER Lined Green (Original).  35-201 Class V2 Gresley 2-6-2 60845 in BR lined black with early emblem.  35-202 Class V2 Gresley 2-6-2 60847 "St Peters School" in BR lined green with late crest.  Older (pre 2012) Bachmann models had a split chassis design which required a lot of modification to convert to DCC.

The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Class V2 2-6-2 steam locomotives were designed by Sir Nigel Gresley for express mixed traffic work, and built at the LNER shops at Doncaster and Darlington between 1936–1944. The best known is the first of the class, 4771 (later 800 and 60800) "Green Arrow", which is the sole survivor of the class.