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#georgian — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #georgian, aggregated by home.social.

  1. Tuesday, May 5, 2026

    Russian losses in Ukraine may have set a grim new record -- Belarus develops military training grounds and logistics routes in cooperation with Russia -- Ukraine reportedly strikes Russian Shahed, Iskander component facility, major oil refinery amid large-scale attack -- Russia launches more than 10 times as many drones at Ukraine's port infrastructure in 2026 as last year ... and more

    activitypub.writeworks.uk/2026

  2. Did you know Excessively Diverting has an irregular newsletter? We do! The newsletter comes out occasionally when something is too long for social media. You can read back issues and subscribe ➡ excessivelydiverting.substack.. #AmReading @bookstodon #ReadingCommunity #Regency #Georgian #EmilyBronte #CharlotteBronte #AnneBronte #Victorian @romancelandia #JaneAusten

  3. Nottingham Forest plays today but I won’t know the score until after this has posted. I’m heading to my brother and his family this weekend to watch my nephew play basketball. (He’s 6!) I’m coming home Saturday afternoon and then back to my usual routine on Sunday.

    What are you doing this weekend?

    #AmReading @bookstodon #ReadingCommunity #Regency #Georgian #EmilyBronte #CharlotteBronte #AnneBronte #Victorian @romancelandia #JaneAusten

  4. Monday, October 6, 2025

    [vlog] Ukraine's nuclear plants at risk, Russian drones in Europe -- Massive Russian attack on residential areas in Ukraine kills 6, injures 18 -- Lithuania's Vilnius airport closed in response to airspace violation, media reports -- Amid controversial elections, Georgian protestors attempt to storm presidential palace ... and more

    activitypub.writeworks.uk/2025

  5. Tuesday, July 29, 2025

    “Peace through strength is possible,” Zelensky — Investigation: Despite sanctions, American trucks are being used by Russia to launch kamikaze drones — Unidentified drone enters Lithuania from Belarus amid rising tensions — Ukraine liberates Kindrativka village in Sumy Oblast amid ongoing Russian offensive … and more

    activitypub.writeworks.uk/2025

  6. Sunday, May 4, 2025

    Ukrainian sea drone downs Russian fighter jet in world-first strike — Russia used thermobaric weapons in drone strike on Kharkiv, Ukrainian prosecutors say — Russian drone attack on Kyiv injures 11 people, including 2 children, damages shopping mall — France to ramp up AASM Hammer smart bomb production for Ukraine … and more

    activitypub.writeworks.uk/2025

  7. 1/5 Somerset House

    I recently went on a tour of #SomersetHouse - a #Georgian building built as government offices and now an arts/cultural centre. It has fantastic staircases.

    If you look closely you can see my feet.

    #Olympus EM1iii #laowa7_5mm
    #photography #london #stairs #architecture

  8. In 1461 during the #WarsoftheRoses the 2nd Battle of St Albans was partially fought (flight of the Yorkists) on #Nomansland Common & in #C17th gangs of thieves regularly robbed travellers on the Common including the legendary ‘Wicked Lady’ Highwaywoman Katherine Ferrers.

    #HarryHolt #Holt #Genealogy #Bareknuckle #Boxing #Pugilist #Regency #Georgian #C18th #C19th #History

  9. Servitude: the thread about why James Craig’s New Town isn’t as regular as he would have liked

    Have you ever wondered why at the far western end of Queen Street, where it meets North Charlotte Street, the regular, right-angled Georgian grid of the First New Town does something odd and has a bevelled corner? You have? Great! Lets find out why that is.

    The junction of Queen Street and North Charlotte Street – with the continuation of the block if it followed the grid of the New Town plan in green

    No, the Georgians weren’t future-proofing the street corner here for a 20th century traffic engineer’s filter lane. This has to do with something much more predictable than that – land ownership disputes!

    1893 OS Town Plan of Edinburgh, showing the bevelled end to the north western block of the First New Town. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

    You see, when Town Council first had a plan of land ownership drawn up for the planning of the New Town, they didn’t actually yet own all the land on which they intended to build. In fact, they only owned about three quarters of it. Standing in the way to the west was “Allan’s Park“, owned by Dean of Guild Allan (Thomas Allan), and “Barjarg’s Feu” – owned by James Erskine, Lord Barjarg of Drumsheugh House.

    John Laurie. Plan of lands for the New Town of Edinburgh, 1766. Allan’s Park is highlighted yellow, with the dashed red boundary, Barjarg’s Feu in green. The land owned by the City is surrounded by the red boundary. Crown copyright, NRS, RHP6080/1

    Allan’s Park was relatively easy to acquire, and was done so by the time the above plan was released to James Craig and other prospective architects for the design competition in April 1766, but Barjarg’s Feu still formed a salient into it. But planning proceeded on the basis that the Council hoped to acquire the land anyway and James Craig’s winning entry therefore drew the western town blocks over it.

    Craig’s winning New Town plan (Copy of 1768 as presented to King George III) overlaid on the above land ownership map of James Laurie. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

    Building commenced at the eastern end within short order and by the late 1760s or early 1770s, the New Town was creeping westwards. By the time it reached the boundary of Barjarg’s Feu in 1785, in the vicinity of Castle Street, the the owner – by now styled Lord Alva having inherited that estate – agreed to sell to the council and the plan could continue uninterrupted (although it took until 1820 to conclude, and was not on entirely favourable terms for the Cityand subsequent proprietors). But if we look closer at the western edge of Craig’s plan, and compare it with what is on the ground, we notice that Queen Street should meet North Charlotte Street on a regular grid (it doesn’t) and both Queen Street and the city grid should extend for another block west from where it does (it doesn’t!). Something else stood in the way. (P.S. Charlotte Square was originally to be St. George’s Square)

    North western end of Craig’s 1768 New Town plan. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

    So what went wrong? Well, it wasn’t just Lord Alva’s land in the way. In 1782, the Trustees of Heriot’s Hospital (who had sold much of the land for the northern portion of the New Town to the city) had sold a portion of land to Francis Stuart, 9th Earl of Moray and on this he had built for himself a mansion, Moray House, and laid out extensive gardens. And Moray wasn’t for selling, so the New Town plans had to be hurriedly altered to build around his land.

    Moray House, based on Robert Kirkwood’s 1819 elevation. CC-by-SA 4.0 StephenCDicksonAinslie’s 1804 Town Plan of Edinburgh showing Moray’s land, highlighted in yellow, at the end of Queen Street. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

    This explains why the north western corner could not be completed as planned, and why Queen Street stopped short at North Charlotte Street, but not why they build that awkward and incongruous bevel on the corner? Well that’s because of a little legal thing called “servitude”. What does servitude mean? “A right that an owner of heritable property has over property owned by another. A servitude runs with the land and not the owner“. The Earl of Moray and Lord Alva had servitude over each other that neither could built within 90 feet of their boundary. When Edinburgh bought the land from Alva, Moray maintained his servitude over it. And can you guess what the distance from the bevelled façade on the corner of Queen Street and North Charlotte Street is from the boundary with the Earl of Moray’s land? Yes, that’s right, it’s *exactly* 90 feet.

    Ainslie’s 1804 Town Plan of Edinburgh with a measured distance to it from Moray’s land. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandExcerpt from “Block plan of Moray Place” of 1825, showing the boundary of the Moray Feu and how the bevel of the end of Queen Street aligns with it. RHP83734 © Crown copyright

    This old boundary cut through what is now Glenfinlas Street and explains why the pavement suddenly changes width about 1/3 of the way down – it was built at two different times.

    Glenfinlas Street, showing the width in pavement change.

    It wasn’t until the intransigent Earl of Moray’s son began to be feu the ground in 1822 that the owners of the properties on the north side of Charlotte Square got the change to buy the rest of “their” gardens. The maps below show 1817 compared with 1849 (slide to compare). You can see at this time, a garden wall still existed on the old boundary at the very west of these gardens, and that the formal portions (marked out by the perimeter paths) also conform to the boundary.

    Comparison of Ainslie’s 1804 Town Plan (l) and 1849 OS Town plan (r). Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

    You can find the result of this boundary dispute in other places too. It is the reason for instance that Randolph Lane takes an odd, irregular form if you follow it northwards.

    North end of Randolph Lane. The lane is aligned with the Edinburgh grid behind the camera, but follows the alignment of the Moray Feu boundaries beyond it.

    Amazingly, the last of the legal niceties over this portion of land weren’t resolved along this boundary for almost 170 years! Those nicely cleaned and restored “Georgian” townhouses at 1-3 Glenfinlas Street? They were only built in 1990 to finally finish this corner of the New Town (almost) as planned.

    The south portion of Glenfinlas Street – the three “townhouses” built from the cleaner stone date from 1990.

    There’s actually a few more of these incongruous and awkwardly non-right angles scattered through the New Town – it’s always about old boundaries. This thread details the Gabriel’s Road boundary and the line it still cleaves across the New Town. If you want to understand why any New Town street in Edinburgh isn’t on a right angle – overlay an old land boundary plan on it (in this case, the eastern end of John Laurie’s 1766 plan) and it will probably reveal the answer. Broughton Street and York Lane? Cathedral Lane and the foot of Leith Street? St. James Square and Gabriel’s Road? Truncated southern side of Abercrombie Place? Property boundaries are your answer.

    Boundaries highlighted on John Laurie’s 1766 plan (l) overlaid and georeferenced on the modern streets as seen on aerial photograph (r).

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    #Lochend #Logan #Restalrig #StMargaret
  10. The exact location of Thomas Hickman’s grave is unknown. The burial ground was renamed 'Postman’s Park' & is one of #London’s largest #PublicOpenSpaces containing the '#Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice' proposed by artist #GeorgeFrederickWatts in 1887(Est 1900) #StBotolph #Aldersgate

    #HarryHolt #Genealogy #Pugilist #Holt #HarryHoltBiography #SportsHistory #Bareknuckle #Boxing #Prizefighter #LondonPrizeRing #Regency #Georgian #C19th #19thCentury #History