Tuesday 23 June 2009
Monday 22 June 2009
Project Kelvin - Work in Progress
Project Kelvin
Connecting NI to USA via High Speed Cable
The ships at work Portrush West Bay on NI Mon 22nd June 2009
Project Kelvin - The Cable Layer/Joiner
Monday June 22nd 2009 Project Kelvin is underway at Portrush, this is the Cable Layer
C.S Sovereign beginning her work on the high speed broadband link between NI and the USA
WORK began on Monday on the multi-million pound Kelvin Project cable site at the West Strand in Portrush.
The Kelvin Project will create a trans-Atlantic communication cable, bringing massive opportunities across Northern Ireland.
A large drilling rig will be assembled at the car park at the West Strand and will start drilling in around ten days time.
The rig will drill out from the car park to the beach. Then around June 20, weather permitting, a cable ship will leave Portland in Dorset to bring the cable to Portrush.
The ship will be visible for a week as divers will float the cable out towards the bore hole which has been drilled.
Mr Bullock added: “There will be around ten days disruption at the car park but this has been approved by Coleraine Borough Council who have been enormously supportive of the project.
“We will keep disruption to a minimum and we hope that everyone will realise that the improvements will far outweigh the disruption.”
Work on the cable landing station at Dundooan outside Coleraine should begin shortly after the Portrush leg of operations have been completed.
“There will be various different teams working on each part of the operation. The ship’s crew numbers around 35 and they will work 24/7.
“We are due to complete all the work by the end of the year. The there will be a period of testing before going live in March 2010.”
Cable Ship
Yard number 956
Delivery year 1991
Purchaser British Telecom
Built by Krimpen Shipyard
LOA 127.30 m
Lpp 106.94 m
Breadth 21.00 m
Depth 13.00 m
Design draught 5.90 m
Scantling draught 7.00 m
Speed 14.00 kn
Deadweight 7,455 t
DP Class 1
No workclass ROV's 1
Cable capacity 6,000 t
Cable lenght 4,400 km
Total inst power 11,800 kW
C.S Sovereign beginning her work on the high speed broadband link between NI and the USA
WORK began on Monday on the multi-million pound Kelvin Project cable site at the West Strand in Portrush.
The Kelvin Project will create a trans-Atlantic communication cable, bringing massive opportunities across Northern Ireland.
A large drilling rig will be assembled at the car park at the West Strand and will start drilling in around ten days time.
The rig will drill out from the car park to the beach. Then around June 20, weather permitting, a cable ship will leave Portland in Dorset to bring the cable to Portrush.
The ship will be visible for a week as divers will float the cable out towards the bore hole which has been drilled.
Mr Bullock added: “There will be around ten days disruption at the car park but this has been approved by Coleraine Borough Council who have been enormously supportive of the project.
“We will keep disruption to a minimum and we hope that everyone will realise that the improvements will far outweigh the disruption.”
Work on the cable landing station at Dundooan outside Coleraine should begin shortly after the Portrush leg of operations have been completed.
“There will be various different teams working on each part of the operation. The ship’s crew numbers around 35 and they will work 24/7.
“We are due to complete all the work by the end of the year. The there will be a period of testing before going live in March 2010.”
Cable Ship
Yard number 956
Delivery year 1991
Purchaser British Telecom
Built by Krimpen Shipyard
LOA 127.30 m
Lpp 106.94 m
Breadth 21.00 m
Depth 13.00 m
Design draught 5.90 m
Scantling draught 7.00 m
Speed 14.00 kn
Deadweight 7,455 t
DP Class 1
No workclass ROV's 1
Cable capacity 6,000 t
Cable lenght 4,400 km
Total inst power 11,800 kW
Sunday 21 June 2009
Tuesday 16 June 2009
Monday 15 June 2009
The RNLI "William Gordon Burr" at Portrush
This is an extra large (3072 x 2304 Pixels) copy,it's really cool when printed out or processed.
Please DONATE to the RNLI, they do a really wonderful job, and without pay as well!!!!
Rope Bridge at Carrick-a-Rede
Spanning a chasm some eighty feet deep is the famous Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, it's construction once consisted of a single rope hand rail and widely spaced slats which the fishermen would traverse across with salmon caught off the island. The single handrail was subsequently replaced by a two hand railed bridge, the current, caged bridge was installed by the National Trust during Easter of 2000 as a further safety measure. Although no-one has ever been injured falling off the old bridge, there have been many instances of visitors being unable to face the return walk back across the bridge, resulting in them being taken off the island by boat. A collection of old photographs in Sheep Island View Hostel show a local man doing various stunts on the bridge which include riding a bicycle across it and performing handstands on a chair in the middle. Primarily a 'seasonal' working bridge for the fishermen, since the demise of salmon fishing along the coast, the bridge is nowadays more widely used by passing visitor's and marketed as a tourist attraction. The area is exceptional in is natural beauty, to the left as you come down the steep hill is Larrybane headland which once stretched out towards Sheep Island and had a promontory fort on the top dating to 800AD, underneath large caves once served as home to boat builders and a safe resting place from winter storms. During the 1950's blasting, quarrying and shipping of limestone removed most of Larrybane Head, it is well worth a walk down to the old quarry area as some incredible views can be enjoyed from here.
Monday 8 June 2009
Sunday 7 June 2009
Flags of the UNION
When James VI of Scotland inherited as James I of England in 1603, the crowns of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland were united in him, although each remained independent states.
On 12 April 1606, a new flag to represent the personal union between England and Scotland was specified in a royal decree, according to which the flag of England (a red cross with a white background, known as St George's Cross) and the flag of Scotland (a white saltire with a blue background, known as the Saltire or Saint Andrew's Cross) would be "joyned together according to the forme made by our heralds, and sent by Us to our Admerall to be published to our Subjects." The original sketches which accompanied this specification are lost. When deciding on the order of the flags, James 1 choose to put the English St George cross over the Scottish saltire flag, making it clear which country had control. This royal flag was at first only for use at sea on civil and military ships of both Scotland and England. In 1634, its use was restricted to the monarch's ships. Land forces continued to use their respective national banners.
The current Union Flag dates from 1 January 1801 with the Act of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Ireland and the Kingdom of Great Britain to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The new design added the red saltire cross attributed to St Patrick for Ireland. This saltire is overlaid on the saltire of St Andrew, but still beneath the cross of St George. To make it clear Ireland was not superior to Scotland, the Irish cross was placed off-centre and made thinner. The red cross is thought to have come from the heraldic device of the Fitzgerald family who were sent by Henry II of England to aid Anglo-Norman rule in Ireland and has rarely been used as an emblem of Ireland by the Irish: a harp, a Celtic cross, a shamrock, or (since 1922) an Irish tricolour have been more common. However, the exact origin of the flag is unknown, with evidence of saltires being present on ancient Irish coins and maps. The St Patrick's saltire flag has been used in more recent times for St Patrick's Day in Northern Ireland, by various organisations wishing to avoid the sectarianism that may be implied by the use of either the tricolour or symbols of Unionism.
The current flag is blazoned Azure, the Crosses Saltire of St Andrew and St Patrick, quarterly per saltire, counterchanged Argent and Gules, the latter fimbriated of the second, surmounted by the Cross of St George of the third, fimbriated as the saltire.
The Union Flag is often flown by unionists and loyalists but is disliked by many nationalists and republicans. We will to maintain the right to fly this flag as our NATIONAL FLAG.
The ULSTER Banner
Know to ULSTER people as the ULSTER FLAG and
displayed with great pride by those LOYAL to the CROWN
In 1924, the Government of Northern Ireland was granted arms by Royal Warrant and had the right to display these arms on a flag or banner. This right was exercised for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 and assent was given for the use of such a flag, known as the "Ulster Banner," on festive occasions. The Ulster Banner should not be confused with the Ulster flag.
Ulster Banner
Edwardian Flag of Northern Ireland Tudor Flag of Northern Ireland
Edwardian version
Tudor version
The Banner was designed by Sir Gerald Wollaston, then Norray and Ulster King of Arms; a white flag carrying the cross of St George, with a white six pointed star carrying the red hand of Ulster in the centre of the cross, the star being ensigned by the imperial crown.
In November 1973 the College of Arms advised that it would be improper to use the Northern Ireland Coat of Arms after the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 had been passed. The effect of this has now been overtaken by The Flags Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 which prohibits the flying of any flag on Government buildings, other than the Union Flag, and in certain circumstances, the Europe Flag, the Flag of a visiting Head of State, or the Royal Standard.
The Northern Ireland Crest
When the Government of Northern Ireland was prorogued in 1972 the arms went out of official use. The grant has not been rescinded, but the arms are considered historical, as the body to which the arms were granted no longer exists and so cannot be used unless regranted to another armiger. The current Northern Ireland Executive does not use a coat of arms simply to appease the republican minority. Saturday 6 June 2009
Thursday 4 June 2009
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