Saga of the Lost Covid-19 DIY PPE Face Mask, Dover, Kent, UK

Not overly confident with needle and thread, I had been inordinately pleased with a DIY PPE Coronavirus face mask that I made using a handkerchief, stapler, and an odd length of elastic.

Then, some four days later, on Friday the 15th of May, 2020, I arrived home from a shopping trip and shortly afterwards realized that my face mask was 'gone'.

This "rough and ready" video details the steps I took until the face mask and myself were (happily) reunited:

A (very) minor example of how perseverance can triumph over adversity!

As a 69 year-old pensioner, the video also illustrates the general principle of exploring all possible internal and external avenues whenever something unexpected, or unwelcome occurs in life, and then, irrespective of whatever the experience or outcome may have been, "moving on".

An approach that doesn't accumulate any psychological baggage! (Note 1)

Before I digress too far, here are some photos of the face mask and  notes on its construction.

A  Covid-19 D.I.Y. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) face mask, Mark 1 (altered to Mark 1A in the final photograph):


Basic Materials:

The box of three James Pringle mens handkerchiefs, stapler (staple gun), and bag of mixed lengths of elastic had been purchased at different times from various charity shops (thrift shops) in Dover, England.

Front view:

In the Mark II version, I'm going to attach the bottom ends of the elastic ear flaps further down the sides of the mask.

Note the "designer" folds at the bottom corners 😀 (actually intended to add a little weight so that the mask hangs closer to the face - a consideration for someone who has a nose as big as mine!)

Rear view:

Construction details of the homemade mask:

1) Fold the handkerchief twice length-ways so that you now have four layers of material.

2) Fold the short ends of the rectangle inwards until they meet in the middle as shown.

3) Staple across the folded ends so that the staples go through all eight layers of cotton.

4) "Double staple" the  ends of the elastic loops to the mask for durability.


A still from the Friday, 15th of May video:

Wearing the homemade face mask at the end of the New Marina Pier in the Dover Western Docks Revival (DWDR) area of the Port of Dover. The famous white cliffs and castle are in the background.


The Mark 1A revision (made on Sunday, 17th of May):

I decided to alter the bottom of the mask (using staples, of course) to better follow the contours of my amazingly manly lower jaw.

Once I had done so, I donned the mask and looked in a mirror and was very impressed with the results (more so than the above selfie might appear to warrant!)

However, I have since been plagued by vague but persistent impulses to either operate on people (à la Mathew Gee, a brilliant surgeon) or eat them (à la Hannibal Lector, a less than brilliant psychiatrist).

Watch this space... (or the news 😀)

Cycling route map and biometrics are on this Polar Flow web page.

Abridged versions of this post are also on Facebook and Twitter

Note 1:

In terms of "grumpiness", negativity, viciousness, and malicious gossip, all of which are of unnatural (i.e. of psychological) origin, and symptomatic of a deeper malaise, I've met "pensioners" who are barely out of their teens - and some who have not yet reached them.

And when something unexpected or unwelcome happens in the lives of such people, someone has to pay...

John Latter

Dover Blog - The Psychology of a Small Town

2/2 First Covid-19 Lockdown Cycle Ride, Dover Seafront, UK

A permitted Coronavirus cycle ride along the promenade from the Eastern Docks to the New Marina Pier, Port of Dover, Kent, England, UK.

After the video there are close-ups of numbers 11 to 20 of the mainly historical local landmarks that are mentioned in the commentary.

The previous post, 1/2 First Covid-19 Lockdown Cycle Ride, contains close-ups of landmarks 1 to 10 (nb "First" in both titles indicates that I'll be making another video of the same route):

The video was filmed on Sunday, 10th of May 2020, using a head-mounted GoPro Hero 8 Black action camera and its built-in microphones.

Time Lapse Video Start

Two days later I made a three-minute GoPro "Time Warp" (time lapse) video with commentary.

It contains a sequence that also shows the promenade from the Eastern Docks to the New Marina Pier.

Local landmarks, numbers 11 to 20:

Click on a thumbnail for a larger view, or any text link to go to the related blog post.

White Cliffs Hotel at Sunrise

Former White Cliffs Hotel, Waterloo Crescent

Where Prime Minister Churchill and President Eisenhower had dinner during the Second World War.

Now the Best Western Dover Marina Hotel and Spa.

Fairbairn Crane pre-restoration (2011)

Fairbairn Crane

Swan-neck tubular crane of 1868 on Esplanade Quay, ex-Ordnance Quay of Wellington Dock.

There's a working steam-powered version in Briatol

A Grade II Listed Building.

Grand Shaft, Pentax K100D  (2011)

The Grand Shaft

Triple spiral staircase built during the Napoleonic Wars.

Linked the Grand Shaft Barracks on top of the Western Heights cliffs to Snargate Street below.

View of the Keep from King's Gate

The Keep, or Great Tower of Dover Castle

Built in AD 1180's by Maurice the Engineer for King Henry II

Contains reconstructed medieval royal palace.

English Heritage Listed Building and Ancient Monument.

St Mary-sub-Castro and Pharos

Saxon St Mary-in-Castro Church and Roman Pharos

Church is 10th century AD, restored by the Victorians.

Lighthouse built AD 46, reign of Emperor Claudius.

Both lie in grounds of Norman 12th century Dover Castle.

HM Coastguard Station, Dover

HM Coast Guard Station Dover

Located at Langdon Battery, Swingate, on the White Cliffs of Dover overlooking the English Channel.

A2 Jubilee Way, Eastern Docks

A2 Jubilee Way Flyover

From Broadlees Bottom, low point in the White Cliffs of Dover, to the Eastern Docks.

Also World War Two Swingate radar masts and former Coast Guard Cottages.

In front of Eastern Arm pier (2012)

Cross-Channel Ferries

P&O Ferries' MV Spirit of France is on the left and MV Pride of Canterbury is on the right.

DFDS Ferries also operates from the Eastern Docks.

MV Maasdam, Holland America Line

Western Entrance of Dover Harbour

Southern Breakwater on the left, Admiralty Pier on the right.

Lighthouses undergoing restoration in 2010.

POW Pier Lighthouse in 2010.

Prince of Wales Pier Lighthouse 

Built 1902. 46 feet high stone tower.

Very quick flashing green light VQ, 100+ flashes per minute.

Cycling route map and biometrics are on this Polar Flow web page.

Abridged versions of this post are also on Facebook and Twitter.

GoPro Hero 8 Timewarp Cycle Video, Urban Coast, Dover, UK

A first attempt (with commentary) at a time lapse video made on Tuesday, 12th of May 2020 - the last day of full Coronavirus Lockdown restrictions as they applied to exercise in England:

All I did was select "Time Warp", the resolution, a linear lens aperture (as opposed to "fish-eye"), and then pressed  the "Start" and "Stop" buttons on my GoPro Hero 8 Black action camera as and when necessary.

Every other setting was selected by the camera's software (I may start messing about with the controls before making another time lapse video, but quite frankly, there just aren't enough hours in the day!)

The video's resolution is 1080p at 30 frames per second. It is 3 minutes long and took over 8 hours to upload to YouTube.

I would shoot 1080p at 60fps, 2.7K or even 4K, if it wasn't for the upload time overhead (plus my clockwork computer isn't exactly sympathetic towards video editing).

Nevertheless, I'm still very pleased with the results 😀

First Seafront Cycling Video

A conventional video of a bike ride along the seafront promenade between the Eastern Docks and New Marina Pier identifies 20, mostly historical, local landmarks.

The time warp video route map (of what has become my "standard" daily bike ride) was plotted by a Polar Beat smartphone app in conjunction with a Polar H10 heart rate monitor (review):

Outward Route:

1-6 Robsons Yard Flats, Tower Hamlets, Dover in 2009.

6 Robsons Yard, West Street, East Street, Tower Hamlets Road, De Burgh Street, Templar Street, London Road, Buckland Bridege.

Buckland Avenue, Barton Road, Frith Road, Salisbury Road, Albert Road, Maison Dieu Road, Woolcomber Street.

A20 Townwall Street, East Cliff, Athol Terrace, East Cliff (Marine Parade).

Dover seafront promenade from the Eastern Docks to the New Marina Pier (Dover Western Docks Revival, DWDR).

Return Route:

Light Trails on Limekiln Roundabout at Night (2010)

New Marina Pier to the Esplanade, Union Street, A20 Limekiln Street to Likekiln Roundabout (that I called Limehouse Roundabout in the video!).

Limekiln Roundabout, Limekiln Stret, Prince of Wales Roundabout, Snargate Street, York Street Roundabout.

York Street, Folkestone Road Roundabout, Folkestone Road, Priory Station Approach Road, Dover Priory Rail Station, Dover Priory Roundabout.

Priory Station Approach Road, Folkestone Road, Folkestone Road Roundabout, Priory Street, High Street.

Tower Hamlets Road, East Street, West Street, 6 Robsons Yard.

Original route map and biometrics (after I remembered to connect my heart rate monitor!) are on this Polar Flow web page.

Abridged versions of this post are also on Facebook and Twitter.
 

1/2 First Covid-19 Lockdown Cycle Ride, Dover Seafront, UK

A permitted Coronavirus cycle ride along the promenade from the Eastern Docks to the New Marina Pier, Port of Dover, Kent, England, UK.

After the video there are close-ups of numbers 1 to 10 of the mainly historical local landmarks that are mentioned in the commentary.

A second post, 2/2 First Covid-19 Lockdown Cycle Ride, contains close-ups of landmarks 11 to 20 (nb "First" in both titles indicates that I'll be making another video of the same route):

The video was filmed on Sunday, 10th of May 2020, using a head-mounted GoPro Hero 8 Black action camera and its built-in microphones.

Time Lapse Video Start

Two days later I made a three-minute GoPro "Time Warp" (time lapse) video with commentary.

It contains a sequence that also shows the promenade from the Eastern Docks to the New Marina Pier.

Local landmarks, numbers 1 to 10:

Click on a thumbnail for a larger view, or any text link to go to the related blog post.

Charles Lightoller in Dover

8 East Cliff, Marine Parade

Former home of Charles Lightoller, survivor of the 1912 RMS Titanic iceberg disaster.

Moved here in 1916 during World War One after joining the Dover Patrol.

1 East Cliff (Marine Parade), Dover

1 East Cliff, Marine Parade

Former home of General Sir Henry Le Geyt Bruce, Knight Commander of the Bath, 1824-1899.

Transferred from Bengal Artillery to Royal Artillery after 1857 Indian Mutiny.

Seaplane Station

First World War RAF or RFC squadron location.

Moat's Bulwark, A20 Townwall Street

Mote's Bulwark, White Cliffs below Dover Castle 

One of King Henry VIII's 'little forts' of which there were three in Dover.

The other two being the Black Bulwark and Archcliffe Fort.

Dover Castle and Gateway Flats

The Gateway Flats

Built as a result of damage sustained during the Second World War.

The Gateway, with 221 flats that all have views of the English Channel, was completed in October 1959 at a cost of one million pounds.

Lord Warden House, DWDR

Lord Warden Hotel (now Lord Warden House)

Where Louis Blériot (link to blog post) had breakfast after the first flight across the English Channel in 1909.

Ex-HMS Wasp in World War II. Now used by freight agents.

Matthew Webb, Dover Seafront

Captain Matthew Webb

Bust (or statue) symbolically rests on fishes and seashell above  plinth,

First recorded person to swim the English Channel in 1875. Died Niagara Falls 1883 (USA and Canada border).

Charles Rolls facing Strait of Dover

Statue of Charles Rolls, Dover Seafront

In 1910, he became the first man to fly non-stop across the English Channel and back again.

Co-founder of the Royal Aero Club and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.

Every One Remembered Statue

WW1 Every One Remembered Statue

First World War Centenary Commemorative Sculpture by Mark Humphrey.

Located in Granville Gardens, symbolically facing the English Channel, France, and the Western Front beyond.

Dover Seafront Promenade

Sustrans Portrait Bench, Marine Parade

Silhouette sculpture of Jamie Clark, 2012 Olympic Games Torch holder; Dame Vera Lynn (WW2 song, There'll be Bluebirds over the White Cliffs of Dover; Ian Fleming, author of 007 James Bond novels.

Cycling route map and biometrics are on this Polar Flow web page.

Abridged versions of this post are also on Facebook and Twitter.

White Cliffs of Dover Rockfall 2012 - 2020, Kent England UK

On the 4th of March 2012, BBC News reported that a large section of Dover's famous white cliffs had broken away and crashed into the English Channel (1)

This zoomed shot of approximately 2.5 miles from St Martin's Battery on the Western Heights shows the western terminator of the landslide as a vertical line running down the center of the photograph:

The "smeared" cliff face to the right of the terminator is an oblique view of the area affected. Note the thin horizontal chalk crevasse on the cliff top above and beyond the top edge of the "smear" but just below the skyline.

The photo was taken about an hour before high tide and consequently it doesn't show the full height or spread of the spoil heap:

This section of cliffs is shown in the Rough and Ready White Cliffs of Dover Video (along with a close-up of HM Dover Coastguard station mentioned below) that was filmed at the same time as the main photo was taken.

This next photo has been extracted from the Daily Telegraph video that follows it.

The video was taken soon after the cliff collapsed in 2012 and the image shows the coastline a little  further to the east (ie out of sight of my vantage point at St Martin's Battery):

The "horizontal chalk crevasse" in the main photo is the top right boundary of the lozenge-shaped area of cliffs that might be where the next substantial cliff fall into the English Channel occurs.

The one-minute Daily Telegraph video, "White cliffs of Dover fall into the sea" (no commentaty):

A final photograph taken on the 22nd of July 2010 prior to the rockfall of 2012:

P&O Ferries cross-channel passenger ferry, MS Pride of Calais in front of the Eastern Arm pier and Eastern Docks of Dover harbour (Port of Dover).

On the cliff top behind the ship's funnel is a foreshortened view of the top-left chalk crevasse shown in the video still; the area of the 2012 cliff fall is to its left (nearer the stern of the ship).

MS Pride of Calais was a cross-channel ferry owned and operated by P&O Ferries. She operated the Dover to Calais route between 1987 and 2012.

In early 2013, under bareboat charter to Transeuropa Ferries, she served on their Ramsgate to Ostend route and was re-named MS Ostend Spirit.

After further lay-up in the Port of Tilbury she was sold for scrap and finally beached at a salvage yard in Turkey on 13 November 2013. (3)

The White Cliffs of Dover, part of the North Downs formation, is the region of English coastline facing the Strait of Dover and France.

The cliff face, which reaches a height of 350 feet (110 m), owes its striking appearance to its composition of chalk accented by streaks of black flint.

The cliffs, on both sides of the town of Dover in Kent, stretch for eight miles (13 km). A section of coastline encompassing the cliffs was purchased by the National Trust in 2016. (4)

Also on this blog:

Shakespeare Cliff

Shakespeare Cliff (west of Dover) marks the point where Great Britain most closely approaches continental Europe. On a clear day, the cliffs are easily visible from the French coast.

East Cliff and History

This panorama shows the area of White Cliffs of Dover between the River Dour valley (the town) to the left and Broadlees Bottom (A2 Jubilee Way) to the right.

The post contains close-up of three items of historical interest.

(1) Abridged from White cliffs of Dover section falls into sea:

A large section of Dover's famous white cliffs has broken away and crashed into the Channel, according to the coastguard.

Tonnes of rock collapsed into the sea between Langdon Cliffs and South Foreland Lighthouse.

Dover Coastguard said no-one was injured during the "substantial" rockfall, which happened in an area know locally as Crab Bay.

The National Trust has put up warning signs to alert walkers.

It is thought freezing conditions over the winter may have weakened the chalk cliffs.

(2) The main photograph was taken from St Martin's Battery on the Western Heights on the 24th of April during a permitted Coronavirus bike ride.

(3) Extract from MS Pride of Calais.

(4) Extract from White Cliffs of Dover 

See the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Covid-19 lockdown: a cycling route map and biometrics can be seen on this Polar Flow web page.

Abridged versions of this post are also on  Facebook and Twitter.

Rough and Ready White Cliffs of Dover Video, Kent England UK

This one-minute video was filmed from St Martin's Battery on the Western Heights during a permitted Coronavirus Lockdown bike ride on Friday, 24th of April, 2020.

A panoramic landscape that includes zoomed shots of the cliffs and Dover Coastguard station. Final shot shows the Eastern Docks cross-channel ferry terminal and English Channel beyond:

Elsewhere in the video: Dover Castle, Dover harbour (Port of Dover), and the English Channel.

After brief comments on the White Cliffs of Dover, there are photographs showing close-ups of three points of interest in the video: a Victorian print of Langdon Bay, "Space City" (Eastern Docks) at Dawn, and the "twin Towers" of the Coastguard station.


The White Cliffs of Dover 

These cliffs which form part of the British coastline facing the Strait of Dover and France. The cliffs are part of the North Downs formation.

The cliff face, which reaches up to 107 metres (351 ft), owes its striking façade to its composition of chalk (pure white calcium carbonate) accentuated by streaks of black flint.

The cliffs spread east and west from the town of Dover in the county of Kent, an ancient and still important English port.

The cliffs have great symbolic value for Britain because they face towards Continental Europe across the narrowest part of the English Channel, where invasions have historically threatened and against which the cliffs form a symbolic guard.

Because crossing at Dover was the primary route to the continent before air travel, the white line of cliffs also formed the first or last sight of the UK for travelers.

The cliffs are located along the coastline between approximately: Latitude 51°06'N, Longitude 1°14'E and Latitude 51°12'N, Longitude 1°24'E.

Shakespeare Cliff

Shakespeare Cliff (west of Dover) marks the point where Great Britain most closely approaches continental Europe. On a clear day, the cliffs are easily visible from the French coast.

The link on the left contains another of the Victorian prints shown below.

The cliffs are composed mainly of soft, white chalk with a very fine-grained texture, composed primarily of coccoliths, plates of calcium carbonate formed by coccolithophores, single-celled planktonic algae whose skeletal remains sank to the bottom of the ocean and, together with the remains of bottom-living creatures, formed sediments.

Flint, quartz, and iron pyrites ("Fools Gold") are also found in the chalk.

See the National Trust's web page about the White Cliffs of Dover.


Victorian Colour Photo of the White Cliffs of Dover, Kent UK

Derived from a United States Library of Congress photo-mechanical print dated circa 1890-1900 (the above Shakespeare Cliff link has another of these prints)

From the book, The Economy of Kent (Kent History Project):

In 1900 on the White Cliffs of Dover the benefits of American cereals were advertised by two gigantic notices marked 'Quaker Oats'.

Does this photo show one of them on the cliff-top?

This stretch of cliffs contains Langdon Bay, Crab Bay, and Fan Bay; the SS Preussen and SS Falcon are local shipwrecks.


Rain at Dawn for Space City: Eastern Docks of the Port of Dover, Kent

An 1800-yard zoom photo from St Martin's Battery on the Western Heights of the futuristic Eastern Docks cross-channel ferry terminal of Dover Harbour.

English Channel ferry operators: P&O Ferries and DFDS Seaways.

Shows the A2 Jubilee Way flyover and light trails on the A20 at East Cliff (Marine Parade); Dover Coastguard Station on skyline.

The photo was taken on the 17th of September, 2010.


Twin Towers of HM Dover Coastguard Station from the East, Swingate, UK

An early morning view of the station at Langdon Battery photographed on Thursday, April the 7th, 2011.

On the right is the Radar Scanner or Antenna. A similar antenna is used by the French Coastguard at the CROSS Gris Nez Rescue Center.

On the left, 70 yards behind the radar tower, is the Microwave Radio Mast whose dishes receive additional radar data from radar sites at Fairlight (near Hastings, East Sussex) and Margate (North Kent).

Between the two towers is the sloping roof of the futuristic-looking Operations Room or Control Room.

There are other buildings and a helipad out-of-shot to the right. There is also a third, smaller mast (tower) on the station, possibly used for gathering meteorological data.

See the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Covid-19 lockdown: a cycling route map and biometrics can be seen on this Polar Flow web page.

Abridged versions of this post are also on Facebook and Twitter.

1968 Video: Repairing the White Cliffs of Dover, Kent, UK

A one minute film clip from a British Pathé newsreel showing three workmen suspended in a cradle as they repair unstable areas of the cliff face below Dover Castle and above East Cliff. Three photographs follow the video:

The event was reported elsewhere in the press. I was a boy soldier in the Army Apprentices College at Harrogate at the time and I recall my astonishment at turning a page of the Daily Telegraph and seeing a photograph of Graham Barker, my brother-in-law (see below) working on the cliff face!

This is another still photograph of Graham at Alamy that is available for personal or commercial use only (you can see it at Strengthening the white cliffs). It has the following caption:

9th September, 1968 - Strengthening the white cliffs.: With a fine view of Dover Harbor in the background, Mr. Dennis Smith, 29, of Dover and Mr. Graham Barker (right), 32, of Sheffield, prying loose chalk and flints from the face of the ''White Cliffs'' (nb it might have been clearer if the text said Graham is above Dennis!)

They are undertaking the first stage in an operation to lessen the constant danger of falls caused by erosion and water see page.

Marples Ridgway and Sir William Halcrow and Partners, consultant engineers, under contract to the Ministry of Public Building and Works, are working on about half a mile of the worst affected section, part of the boundary of Dover Castle.

Sixty-four bolts up to 25ft. long have been set in concrete in the cliff face to secure the surface sections to firm bedrock. Each bolt has been checked at the outward end with a Horstman tension meter, a small cylinder of glass which discloses changes in stress when viewed by polarised light.

No changes have been recorded since the bolts were installed a month ago. (Credit Image: Keystone Pictures USA/ZUMAPRESS) 

The first photo is a panorama of the white cliffs below Dover Castle. The workmen were working on the left-hand half of the cliffs above the unseen street of East Cliff:

East Cliff and History

The above photo also appears in a separate post along with close-ups of three points of historical interest. Click on the thumbnail or link to the left.

This next photo shows the street of East Cliff that is obscured in the panorama photo by the Georgian houses of East Cliff (Marine Parade), or more commonly these days, just "Marine Parade":

These are the houses whose back gardens are shown in the British Pathé (alt. British Pathe) film clip.

This street contains the "First and Last" pub: the first public house to be found after landing in England, and the last public house before sailing from it at the nearby Eastern Docks and cross-channel ferry terminal

Excerpt from the Alamy caption:

"...Mr. Graham Barker (right), 32, of Sheffield..."

Graham did indeed originate from Sheffield, Yorkshire, but at the time the film was made he was living with his wife, Rosalie and two children, Jeanette and Graham (Junior) at 81 Clarendon Place, Dover:

Number 81 is the magnolia coloured house on the left with the antique-looking outside light fixture (photo taken 6th of June, 2009)..

Graham was stationed at Dover Castle in the mid-1950s as a National Service soldier in the York and Lancaster regiment ("York and Lancs").

He met and married my eldest step-sister, Rosalie Higgins and moved into the above house around 1963 or 1964.

Rosalie and Graham now live near Maison Dieu Road in the center of Dover.

Graham's best friend in 1968 was a chap called "Buller" who also appears in the video.

The panorama photo and view of the houses of East Cliff were both taken on the 20th of April, 2020 during a permitted Coronavirus (Covid-19) Lockdown bike ride.

A cycling route map and biometrics can be seen on this Polar Flow web page.

Abridged versions of this post are also on Facebook and Twitter.

Arcadia Cruise Ship Video, Port of Dover, 18 April 2020, UK

The P&O Cruises ship, MS Arcadia entering the English Channel through the Western Entrance of Dover harbour (Port of Dover) after arriving here from Southanpton three days ago.

The Southern Breakwater is on the left and Admiralty Pier on the right.

There are no passengers on board the MS Arcadia, of course, because of the Coronavirus Pandemic Lockdown:

The Arcadia returned to Dover just before 4 am the following day (Sunday, 19th of April, 2020).

MS Arcadia at Berth C

Instead of returning to the Eastern Arm Pier where she had previously been berthed, the ship moored at Berth C in the Cargo Area of the new Western Docks development.

Two photos of the passenger ship in her new position (taken from the Marina Pier) can be seen by clicking on the thumbnail to the left.

MV Arcadia was ordered by Holland America Line in 2000 as their fifth Vista-class vessel.

In 2003 she was allocated to Cunard Line to become their Queen Victoria.

Shortly before her launch the decision was made to transfer the ship to the P&O Cruises fleet. As a result, Arcadia has a Cunard-style mast similar to those found on RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 and RMS Queen Mary 2.

She also sports a modified Queen Elizabeth 2-style funnel, with cowling removed instead of the traditional P&O style funnel found on the purpose-built Oriana and Aurora.

The passenger ship Arcadia, along with Oriana, are adult-only ships. This real-time AIS map shows her current position:
 

 Click on the "X" in the Arcadia's information banner to see the satellite map behind

Ship Details:

Name:    Arcadia
Namesake:    The region of Arcadia (Greece)
Owner:    Carnival plc
Operator:    P&O Cruises

Identification:

    Call sign: ZCDN2
    IMO number: 9226906
    MMSI number: 310459000

Port of registry:     Hamilton, Bermuda
Ordered:    2000
Builder:    Fincantieri (Porto Marghera, Italy)

Cost:    USD 400 million
Yard number:    6078
Laid down:    12 July 2003
Launched:    26 June 2004
Acquired:    29 March 2005
In service:    April 2005

Status:    In service

The video was made during a permitted Covid-19 Lockdown bike ride.

A cycling route map and biometrics can be seen on this Polar Flow web page.

Abridged versions of this post are also on Facebook and Twitter.

Source: MV Arcadia

Video of Dover UK in World War II - 1942

I downloaded the video from this page on the Internet Archive where I found that the people who donated it had copied my YouTube description of a lower resolution version word for word - cheeky blighters! ( 😀 )

From time to time during this period of Coronavirus lock down, I'll be doing "Then and Now" comparisons between locations shown in the video and how those locations look today.

Anyway:

Original titles: Dover (1942), Dover Front Line, Britain's Front Line Revisited:

A British Ministry of Information Second World War film, released by the Office of War Information, about Dover during 1942.

This version for US consumption is narrated by the American journalist and media figure, Edward R. Murrow.

Features:

Dunkirk Evacuation

Winston Churchill

The Mayor

Dover Town Hall

St Martin's Battery "Look-a-like"

Pencester Gardens.

This World War Two (WWII, WW2) film gives a resume of the Battle of Britain and Dunkirk Evacuation, 'current' Royal Navy training (including commando raids and landing craft operations), British Army Infantry training in the preliminay build-up for D-Day, and the future of the air war.

Interviews with, and contributions from, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force (RAF Fighter Pilot and Bomber Pilot) personnel and a woman from a mixed Anti-Aircraft Battery. A shore battery 'in action'.

Interviews with local residents including the Mayor.

Farming and other rural scenes, general views of Dover. Specific bomb damage to the Grand Hotel and Burlington Hotel. Scene of the Salvation Army playing amid the ruins. Front-line country - "Hell-fire Corner".

Approximately the last third is concerned with the air war (although aerial footage is included throughout) and types of military aeroplanes (bombers and fighters) mentioned include:

German Messerschmitt 109 (ME 109) fighter; Spitfire and Hurricane fighters; Blenheim, Boston, Stirling, Lancaster, Manchester, Wellington, and Halifax bombers.

Abridged versions of this post are also on Facebook and Twitter.

Last Days of Britain's First Granada Cinema, Dover, UK

A niche interest "urban exploration" video showing the interior of the Art Deco building at the junction of Castle Street and Dolphin Passage shortly after demolition work began in July, 2014.

Sister post to "Then and Now, Britain's First Granada Cinema, Dover, UK" (not yet uploaded)

Contents:

1) Introduction

2) The video, "Last Days of Britain's First Granada Cinema"

3) The Grand Staircase ruins in July, 2010

The Granada in its hey-day:

1) Introduction

Designed by architect Cecil Masey and constructed in 1929, this building was opened as the first Granada cinema in Britain by Sidney and Cecil Bernstein on the 8th of January, 1930.

The interior designer was Theodore Komisarjevsky who set the auditorium in a Moorish style and the foyer in a Louis XV, 18th century french style.

See: My Office at The Eight Bells

The Granada became the ABC Cinema from 1960 to 1982 ("Saturday Morning Pictures"!) It was subsequently re-invented as Images ("Damages") Nightclub and then finally, Snoops Nightclub.

The site at  62 Castle Street, Dover CT16 1PA is owned by J D Wetherspoon who also own the local Eight Bells pub in Dover.

2) The video, "Last Days of Britain's First Granada Cinema"

The relevance of the video to the Coronavirus pandemic is because of the current lock down restrictions in place in England:

In 2014 I entered the rear of the Granada and took half-a-dozen video clips of the ruined interior using my Canon 600D DSLR for videography for the first time.

My intention was to learn how to use the camera in this mode and then to review the footage in order to decide what scenes to take on a subsequent visit.

Unfortunately, a rudimentary security fence was in place the next time I arrived at the site. It could be circumvented quite easily but in my mind the fence made the difference between simple trespass and breaking and entering.

The original clips have been sitting on my PC ever since. My clockwork computer doesn't do video editing and so, on the basis that any video is better than no video at all, I've used the increase in spare time that I have to merge the clips into one continuous sequence with no editing at all.

3) The Grand Staircase ruins in July, 2010

A better view of the staircase than that shown in the video. It was made of marble and led to the Upper Circle with chandeliers and Venetian mirrors:

The ticket office and reception area, and then Dolphin Passage, are behind the viewer; the auditorium is to the left; a main exit and Castle Street (that joins the Market Square to Castle Hill Road) is to the right.

External links of interest:

ABC Cinema Dover

Granada / ABC Cinema Castle Street
 
ABC Cinema Dover Concert Set lists

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