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Even seemingly unshakeable axioms are prone to reassessment by historians, and Victorianism is no exception. Even the very period of Victorianism itself stands challenged: historians no longer refer unquestioningly to the "Victorian Age" as the precise years associated with the monarch but instead concentrate on a shorter period—a "high age"—from about 1830 to 1880. Yet critics shadowed the entire period in question, and the negative connotations were fired dramatically forward soon after the period ended, notably with Lytton Strachey's (1880–1932) mocking attack Eminent Victorians (1918). Moralizing, prudish, repressed (and repressive), and old-fashioned (rather than traditional)—each of these notions captures what Victorianism has meant to later generations.
Early Victorianism
The early Victorian years witnessed the emergence of a cluster of values and beliefs that represented the central ideas of Victorianism. These years are associated with developments in governance, economic and social life, science, and learning that capture the essential features of Victorianism. In governance, one can look to the reforms which, if not immediately democratic, changed the structure of parliament, ushering in a tradition of evolutionary change (with major Reforms Acts in 1832, 1867, 1884) and the expansion of local, middle-class political power with the Municipal Corporations Act (1835). In economic life, the hard-nosed essentials of political economy and utilitarianism reached a high point prior to the 1850s. Associated with such notable names as Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832), James Mill (1773–1836), and David Ricardo (1772–1823), and later refined and developed by luminaries such as John Stuart Mill (1806–1873), political economy helped to shape the policy conditions for the reform of the Elizabethan Poor Law (in the form of the Poor Law Amendment Act, 1834), and the ideology of self-help which, for a while, attained the status of mantra. By the time Samuel Smiles (1812–1904) penned the popularized guide to the joys of this creed (Self Help, 1859), the concept had already begun to be pushed to one side by a creeping state and the tendency of the working class to collectivize in the face of demands for Smilesian individualism: hence, the staggering rise of friendly societies, trade unions, the co-operative movement, and countless other examples of collective identification by the people.
Values and Beliefs
In religion, Victorianism balanced the ancient regime Anglicanism of the Church of England with a growing pluralism through alternative Christianities, new faiths, and the toleration of unbelief. The backdrop to this was a crisis of faith for Anglicans, dating to the early Victorian years, when the Church of England was rocked by fierce debates about Tractarianism, "Romish" rituals, and the intellectual contribution of the Oxford movement. At a more prosaic level, the Religious Census of 1851 revealed a general weakening of popular interest in the established church and many dissenting faiths, whilst Roman Catholicism prospered through Irish migration. Victorianism may be equated with spiritual piety and Christian morality, but alternative and opposite forces also had some importance. Agnosticism, advocated most notably by Thomas H. Huxley (1825–1895), offered, by the 1870s, an alternative to faith in the attempt to answer profound questions about the nature of being.
Victorianism came to be associated with patriarchical social values, stressing the importance of family and an image of motherhood captured well in Alfred Lord Tennyson's (1809–1892) poem, The Princess (1847):
Man for the field and woman for the hearth;
for the sword, and for the needle she;
Man with the head, and women with the heart;
Man to command, and woman to obey;
All else is confusion.
Thus, poetry, as well as prose, painting, and music, reflected hegemonic notions. Yet, the stereotype of the Victorian family perhaps assumed its importance precisely because there were so many challenges to it. In the cities, drink and crime denied many children the full influence of parental guidance, and the critics of industrialism saw in female and child labor a collection of evils that had to be addressed. But economic conditions placed women and children in this position. Poverty, drunkenness, and alcoholism were sometimes causes of prostitution. Charles Dickens's (1812–1870) portrayal of Nancy, the pathetic, doomed heroine of Oliver Twist (1837–1839), obliquely, and somewhat coyly, suggested how easy it was for a woman to fall prey to professional gangs. In Mary Barton (1848), Elizabeth Gaskell (1810–1901) captured the horror that Victorian society felt at the sight of a "fallen women" in her portrayal of the stunted relationship of the widower John Barton and his sister-in-law, the fallen woman. Social reportage also emphasized this aspect of Victorianism: Bracebridge Hemyng's (1809–1898) study of prostitution suggested that, in 1857, London had 8,600 who plied this trade.
Behind the facade of staidness there was another sort of Victorianism—a kind of anti-Victorianism. Here, stifling mores were replaced by more adventurous and plural sexualities. Liaisons outside marriage, such as Dickens's longstanding affair with the actress Nelly Ternan, were common. William Gladstone's (1809–1898) self-flagellation—a habit the four-time prime minister shared with the bohemian Algernon Swinburne (1837–1909)—was his punishment for the sexual feelings (though there are no known sexual acts) aroused by his attempts to rescue London's prostitutes. Pornographic pictures and texts were readily available in the nineteenth century. Peep shows were commonplace and provided titillation to a broad spectrum of male society. As Simon Winchester's The Surgeon of Crowthorne (1999) demonstrates, William Chester Minor (1834–1920), the American military doctor, murderer, and prolific contributor to the Oxford English Dictionary, aggressively pursued a sex life that utterly contradicted the conventional image of his age. Obsessed with sex and a regular user of prostitutes—prior to his incarceration in 1872 in the new Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum for murdering a man in London—Minor harbored such a strong sense of self-loathing that he cut off his own penis. Homosexuality may have scandalized Victorian sensibilities, but it was not invisible. Literary works with a homosexual theme, such as Teleny (1883), were produced; Oscar Wilde's (1854–1900) trial and imprisonment reminded Victorians that homosexuality and pedophilia were part of their worlds; while the artist and aesthete Aubrey Beardsley (1872–1898) helped to create a self-image of sexual radicalism, including an unfinished pornographic novel, Under the Hill (1894). Not long after, in 1899, Lord Longford was recorded for posterity in Hansard with a telling contribution to a parliamentary debate: "Of course I have seen people recover from homosexualism. A boy at Eton assaulted my elder brother in the bath there and was later expelled for repeating the offence on another boy. Later he became a pillar of society and captained the county cricket team" (Sweet, p. 190).
Victorianism and Progress
No other age was quite so strongly associated with a faith in the progress of technologies. Victorianism is correctly and inextricably intertwined with inventions and the rise of the machine. Steam locomotion, iron, and then steel ships, telegraphy, and many other developments receive attention from historians, for the Victorians triumphed over so many challenges of distance and power that had held up such progress in earlier times. Justifiably, Victorianism remains associated with industrialism, urbanization, transport, technologies, travel, and communication. The essential character of Victorian technological determinism was that science and the practical men could change the world through invention and implementation.
Leaps in technology were matched by developments in social thought. Prophets of progress and the enemies of industrial modernity competed for space, and both groups contributed to the sense of what Victorianism was about. From the 1830s, the critics of Victorianism grew. Modernity was feared by many and loathed by some. Tories, such as the "Young England" group (which included Benjamin Disraeli [1804–1881]) looked back to a bygone age of preindustrial harmony, where deference, social equilibrium, and a more agreeable life was once thought to exist. Disraeli's classic, Sybil; or the Two Nations (1845), captured these sentiments brilliantly. Another stern early critic, the Scot Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881), shared the "Young England" aversion to modernity but looked forward, not back. He abhorred the Victorian tendency to seek mechanical solutions to human problems and sought, instead, a reinvention of an earlier morality, but in a future setting. This style of criticism connected many early nineteenth-century thinkers, such as Carlyle and Robert Owen (1771–1858), to later socialists, such as William Morris (1834–1896). By the 1880s the critique of Victorianism was powerful indeed. Unlike on the continent, where Marxism was much more influential and where anarchism and communism posed a seemingly greater challenge, most British socialism sought accommodation with capitalism and was reformist in character. The Fabian, Sidney Webb (1859–1947), represented an administrative type of socialism, based upon efficiency and organization. William Morris's utopian socialism was characterized by a more fundamental attack upon capitalism and a pursuit of an alternative moral and spiritual way of life. Socialist criticism of modernity also had echoes in the growing feminist challenge to Victorianism. Although suffragism achieved its ends beyond the Victorian period, its seeds were sprouting long before Victoria's end.
Traditional interpretations of society as a static entity were undermined as the period progressed. Charles Darwin's (1809–1882) theories of evolution and Herbert Spencer's (1820–1903) considerations upon human development were to have a startling impact, radically altering classic Victorian notions of society and how to manage it. A social science, borrowed from evolutionary theory, that downplayed contractual in favor of organic ideas of society emerged. Social Darwinism and other evolutionary theories played some part in the development of a philosophy of state interventionism, which marked later Victorian, and particularly twentieth-century, thought (though recent studies, for example, H. S. Jones's Victorian Political Thought [2000], sound more cautious and complicated notes). The search for perfectibility in society, which echoed nature's selection of the fittest, could be set up for or against the collectivization of social welfare.
Victorianism Beyond Britain
Victorianism—in architecture, science, governance, and culture—impacted heavily upon the wider world. Britain's short-lived preeminence as an imperial power bequeathed a rather hardier cultural imprint on the world. After the globalization of the English language, the most striking effect was in the character of civic culture in the English-speaking colonies and dominions: Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In these places, political systems, bureaucracies, and education took on a clearly Victorian character. Victorianism also affected street design and civic building programs—in India, parts of Africa, and the Far East, as well as in the Dominions. Urbanism marked the Victorian world outside of Britain, as well as within. So great was the growth in Sydney, for example, that in 1901 that city (not Liverpool or Glasgow) boasted "it now stands as the second city of the British Empire, as estimated by the annual value of its rateable property" (Briggs, p. 310).
Even when it stood at the leading edge of world culture, exercising a hegemonic power over large swaths of the globe, Victorianism had its critics. In politics, social thought, and economics, interventionism and a demand for action pushed classical laissez-faire ideologies to one side. Sexual repressiveness was challenged; many on the left of politics rejected capitalism; and an imperial rot set in after the arduous struggles of the Boer War (1899–1902). The challenge to Victorianism often came in the shape of a wholesale anti-Victorianism from a disparate array of groups: workers, women, socialists, bohemians, and from anticolonialists beyond the metropolitan stage.
See also Empire and Imperialism ; Europe, Idea of ; Progress, Idea of ; Social Darwinism ; Utilitarianism .
Benson, E. F. As We Were: A Victorian Peepshow. London: Penguin, 2001.
Best, Geoffrey. Mid-Victorian Britain, 1851–75. London: Fontana, 1985.
Briggs, Asa. Victorian Cities. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993.
Francis, Mark, and John Morrow. A History of English Political Thought in the Nineteenth Century. London: Duckworth, 1994.
Harrison, John F. C. Late Victorian Britain, 1875–1901. London: Fontana, 1990.
Hoppen, K. Theodore. The Mid-Victorian Generation, 1846–1886. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Jones, H. Stuart. Victorian Political Thought. Basingstoke, U.K.: Macmillan, 2000.
Marcus, Steven. The Other Victorians: A Study of Sexuality and Pornography in Mid-Nineteenth Century England. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1966.
Mason, Michael. The Making of Victorian Sexuality. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.
Read, Donald. The Age of Urban Democracy, 1868–1914. London: Longman, 1994.
Sweet, Matthew. Inventing the Victorians. London: Faber and Faber, 2001.
Tomalin, Claire. The Invisible Woman: The Story of Nellie Ternan and Charles Dickens. London: Penguin, 1991.
Walkowitz, Judith. City of Dreadful Delight: Narratives of Sexual Danger in Late-Victorian London. London: Virago Press, 1992.
Wilson, A. N. The Victorians. London: Arrow Books, 2003.
Winchester, Simon. The Surgeon of Crowthorne. London: Penguin, 1999.
Zimmerman, Bonnie, ed. Lesbian Histories and Cultures. New York: Garland, 2000.
Donald M. MacRaild
VICTORIANISM. Queen Victoria reigned as monarch of Great Britain from 1837 until her death at the age of eighty-two in 1901. Although the people who lived during her reign had no special name for themselves, historians have termed them "Victorians," and the period itself the Victorian age. Nineteenth-century Great Britain and the United States shared a common language, some political institutions, and a similar culture, and thus the Victorian period is taken to encompass America as well. Victorian America is generally seen to denominate the period stretching from the outbreak of the Civil War to the beginning of World War I.
The later nineteenth century saw the United States become a world power. This political development was accompanied, and in part caused, by the emergence of a newly self-confident society, itself propelled by the twin engines of wealth and progress. Marked by a newly ascendant Anglo-Saxon middle class, increased bureaucratization, a consumer revolution aided by new communication technologies, and a growing consensus that power should be achieved through education and expertise rather than solely through wealth, Victorian America emerged from the crucible of the Civil War and Reconstruction a self-conscious and vibrant society. Alongside this confidence existed anxieties that America represented perhaps the "last best hope for mankind." Victorian America endured a fratricidal struggle, as well as periodic concerns that the great rush to modernization brought with it the onset of moral decay. Victorian culture, with its attendant worldview, was a central component of this new society, and indeed served to mark the Gilded Age in America.
The Importance of Being Earnest
The term "Victorianism" denotes no specific movement or ideology, but rather encompasses the varied and sometimes conflicting moral, cultural, social, and material components of American society during this period. If Victorianism has any central or defining characteristic, it would be the primacy of virtues, what in modern usage we term "values." Above all, Victorian Americans viewed life as a serious proposition, imbued with moral purpose. This view was derived in the main from religion, of which Evangelical Protestantism and Methodism were the most influential. Since earthly existence was a preparation for the afterlife, one should adhere to moral laws, with the Bible the guiding force. Every task served this moral purpose, and thus reading, work, and even leisure bore significance above and beyond their daily utility. Consequently, self-control was a highly prized trait. More broadly, Victorianism embodied attention to proper "character" and the maintenance of "respectability," the public display of one's inner morality. Practices such as covering furniture legs with pantaloons were largely myth, the stock-in-trade of the Victorian satirist, and the prudery of Thomas Bowdler (whose sanitized Family Shakespeare, appearing in ten volumes between 1804 and 1818, has given us the word "bowdlerized" to denote partial censorship) was less predominant as the century wore on. But Victorians paid great heed to propriety and appearances. Victorianism connoted absolute notions of right and wrong, and individuals were judged accordingly. This view was also applied to the world more generally. Victorians measured the success of their civilization according to its adherence to moral law, and judged other cultures accordingly. Here, Victorian values intertwined with nineteenth-century ideas of race, a social Darwinian outlook that conceived of a racial hierarchy, atop which were the Anglo-Saxon peoples.
Victorianism was not entirely as harsh as this sketch implies. Indeed, the Victorians employed a lighter view of life as well. If a strict adherence to moral law was the ideal, it was nonetheless recognized that men and women were very human creatures. Thus, lapses in moral judgment—a man's recourse to soliciting a prostitute, or a woman's purchase of an expensive dress—are not seen by historians as signs of hypocrisy, but rather examples of the ideological dissonance at the heart of daily life. Victorians also valued humor and leisure. Works of literature such as Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), which highlighted the sense of adventure and play central to life in Victorian America, proved vastly more popular than the work of more serious writers, such as Herman Melville, who sought to deconstruct such realist celebrations of American life.
The valuation of moral law and respectability also had a positive influence. Victorians' devotion to self-control and the development of proper "character" led them to pursue laudable humanitarian and charitable goals. While self-reliance may have been the ultimate goal—see, for example, the incredible popularity of the novelist Horatio Alger's Ragged Dick (1867) and From Canal Boy to President (1881), which championed the theme of poor-boy-makes-good—many Victorians devoted themselves to working with the downtrodden of society and supporting charities. Often such work was religious in organization, such as the Young Men's Christian Association. Still, the motive behind Victorian charitable work was to offer a "hand up," not a "handout." Other Victorian social causes included the abolition of slavery, though here of course were marked regional divides. Indeed, Victorianism was stronger in the northern states, where economic opportunities were more plentiful, and a stronger cultural Anglophilia was present. While Victorianism was closely linked with middle-class values, it was not intrinsically tied to social class. The wealthy man who hoarded his profits was no more respectable than the poor man who refused to improve himself.
The aspect of Victorianism that is perhaps most familiar is the divide between the private and public spheres. The Victorians cherished the home and the family as cornerstones of respectability, physical and social environments where the individual found solace from the vicissitudes of daily life. Women had a special role in maintaining home and family, and thus assumed a position as moral guardian. In this sense, Victorian women enjoyed a degree of influence. Women also assumed influence in the wider role through their work for various humanitarian and reform causes. That said, Victorianism dictated strict gender roles. Individuals, and especially women, were generally ignorant of their sexuality, and women furthermore were divorced from power because they had few legally recognized ownership rights. The "cult of domesticity" was as much a hindrance as a source of self-pride.
Victorianism was also embodied in the various manifestations of the visual arts. Victorian culture was intensely visual and demonstrative, from architecture and furniture to the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. Aesthetics and function were given equal weight. Although not as prevalent as in England, Pre-Raphaelitism and the arts and crafts movement were influential in America during the Victorian era. Special attention must also be paid to the importance of the decorative arts in the Victorian world. As the place where the private and the public coincided, the material culture of the Victorian parlor displayed the tenets and concerns of Victorianism.
Victorianism After the Victorians
Victorianism has generated widely variant interpretations in the century since the death of its eponymous patron. Originally used simply as a broad designation for the previous century, early-twentieth-century commentators quickly called the term into rebuke, charging the Victorians with emotional aridity, a crass and ugly visual culture, and an arrogant self-confidence that encouraged racial and patriarchal hierarchies. Critics such as H. L. Mencken asserted that Victorian culture was the epitome of philistinism, valuing popularity over merit, and watering down great works of art so as to make them palatable to an uncultured mass. The Bible was praised not because of its message, but because it was a "best-seller." The rise of modernism in the arts in the wake of World War I further delegitimized Victorianism by calling into question the Victorian notion of representational, or mimetic, art and the belief that the arts were imbued with moral teachings. Victorian individualism, and the importance of self-reliance, fell into disrepute with the development of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal and the rise of the welfare state.
By the second half of the twentieth century, however, Victorianism enjoyed something of a revival. Critics such as Walter Houghton and the socialist Raymond Williams pointed to the critical trends present in Victorian culture, with Williams in particular revealing an organic and consensual strain in Victorian thought that served as the impetus for positive reform. Victorian visual culture has also received a more sympathetic examination by American historians of architecture, including Henry Russell Hitchcock, who see in it the precursor to contemporary design movements. On a separate front, commentators such as the conservative historian Gertrude Himmelfarb point with favor to the Victorians' moral code, which in her view was a force for good in that it encouraged personal responsibility and rejected state patronage, a more effective recipe for dealing with social problems such as poverty.
Whether it is viewed as a mental and cultural world that championed progress, morality, and self-worth, or as a social code that promoted stultifying hierarchies and a base philistinism, Victorianism has proved of central significance in explaining the formative decades of the emergence of the United States as a dynamic cultural and political power.
Himmelfarb, Gertrude. The De-Moralization of Society: From Victorian Virtues to Modern Values. New York: Knopf, 1995.
Houghton, Walter Edwards. The Victorian Frame of Mind. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1957.
Howe, Daniel Walker. "Victorian Culture in America." In Victorian America. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1976.
Ickingrill, Steve, and Stephan Mills, eds. Victorianism in the United States: Its Era and Its Legacy. Amsterdam: VU University Press, 1992.
Schlereth, Thomas J. Victorian America: Transformations in Everyday Life, 1876–1915. New York: HarperCollins, 1991.
Stevenson, Louise L. The Victorian Homefront: American Thought and Culture, 1860–1880. New York: Twayne, 1991.
Williams, Raymond. Culture and Society. New York: Columbia University Press, 1958.
See alsoArt: Decorative Arts ; Arts and Crafts Movement ; Class ; Family Values ; Gender and Gender Roles ; Racial Science ; Social Darwinism .


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Amanda Bynes is once again making headlines, but this time, thankfully, it's not for something involving a motor vehicle.
The ex-Nickelodeon star resurfaced with two big new additions — cheek piercings!
Celebrity couples: They dated?!
In a photo she posted Sunday, Bynes showed off the two piercings along with heavy makeup, false eyelashes, long curly hair and no shortage of bling. She captioned the photo simply, "Talk that talk."
Late last year, Bynes had her license suspended because of unpaid tickets and was later charged with driving with a suspended license. She pleaded not guilty in late September.

subset: commoncrawl


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Friday June 15, 2012, happened to be the 797th anniversary of the day certain feudal barons in England confronted King John and asked him to guarantee a "charter of liberties" which eventually became the Magna Carta. So it was an appropriate day in June 2012: Torture Awareness Month, to think about the legal issues that have emerged with Eric Holder's and other Obama lawyers' equating of "due process" with the latest CIA and Pentagon "baseball cards kill list". Passers-by marked the Magna Carta anniversary from 11 am to 1 pm outside the Federal Courthouse in Minneapolis by taking a look at our well-footnoted display of visual panels tracing this once-proud history and contemplating some of the hard legal questions that naturally arise.
The ACLU has brought an active FOIA lawsuit seeking release of the recent Office of Legal Counsel memo that, according to Attorney General Holder, somehow gamely opines that "due process" can be any process that we do. It does not have to be "judicial process" but can instead be a CIA or Pentagon Power-Point as long as it's carefully and secretly compiled and put on glossy baseball cards. But some of us who didn't go to Harvard or Yale might question the soundness of this new-fangled targeted killing doctrine that seems to turn the Magna Carta on its head!


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#authenticity, #Blogging, #Permissiontogrow, #permissiontorest, #revelation, #writer, a shift in writing, a tree does not ask permission to grow, cancerous body, change starts from within, complete the lesson, go through the bad to get to the good, hear God whispers, online lessons, pass the test, walking in obedience, when you are ready to learn the teacher will appear
Let me start by saying, I love seeing God walk through my life. I was mopping earlier, and had a revelation. Does that ever happen to you? When you are focused on a task, He whispers. It used to happen while vacuuming, but this house has carpet in only one room. He knows it gonna take longer than one room for me to hear Him, so it's while mopping.
I am of the belief that change starts from within. If you have a situation in your life that your gut, or instinct feels unease about, look in the mirror. How long do we allow it linger before addressing it? I purchased a couple of online courses this year, and didn't complete them. These courses were offered on a donation basis, so there again, not a lot of money.
There was a time I thought you had to invest a lot of money for it to be meaningful. If you have read any of my Blogs, you know I no longer believe that. The lesson is always worth the price, no matter how large, or how small. We just need to complete the lesson.
I saw a shift in my writing after we returned home from Missouri. It's like I have this new, non Cancerous body, but God is still trying to get down to the good stuff. Authenticity.
The shift started with Be Engaged, published five days ago. From there I went onto being a Rule Breaker, revealing some Perspective, and some More Perspective, which brought me to today concerning Boxes. My friend Connie left a comment under Boxes. I realized the Amaryllis wasn't the only thing that needed Permission to Grow.
I'm not a tree, so I need to give myself Permission to Grow.
My best guess as to why I didn't complete those lessons is…I was uncomfortable. They hit something within that I wasn't ready to see. So, I grabbed my planner, and wrote that in there. Complete the lessons! Then of course my mind was flooded with all the 'what if's.'
I'm going to stifle the 'what if's' today, and roll in obedience to God. Whatever it is I wasn't willing to see before, I am ready to see now. To begin any change, acceptance is a good place to start. During Chemo, I gave myself Permission to Rest, and now it's time to grow!
Barbara is a Writer, a Mom to her 17-year-old daughter, a recent Breast Cancer survivor, and she loves God. When she started this Blog in 2014 Letitgocoach was the name that stuck. She enjoys helping people Let Go of what is holding them back from having a beautiful life. Her life is beautiful, and an example of Letting Go and Letting God. You may connect with her via email. email@example.com


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Every Cobra lawnmower has been expertly designed in the U.K to cater specifically for the changing conditions of the British lawn.
With exceptional performance and style, the Cobra RM46SPH petrol lawnmower is powered by a Honda GCV140 engine. The RM46SPH is self propelled and has a rear roller for a striped finish.
The Cobra RM46SPH petrol lawnmower is equipped with a 60 litre fabric grass bag, ideal for collecting large amounts of grass clippings before the need for emptying.
The grass bag on the Cobra RM46SPH is made from a robust, high quality fabric. This fabric enables a strong free flow of air which means that grass collection on this machine is even more compact and comprehensive.
* Honda GCV140 Engine - the Honda GCV140 petrol engine offers a quiet, yet powerful and lightweight combination for a variety of demanding applications. The Honda GCV140 engine powers Cobra lawnmowers for medium to large gardens
* Closer cut - with a fully adjustable 7 cutting heights ranging from 17mm for a superb low finish, up to 75mm for tackling longer grass, choose the Cobra RM46SPH. All this is achieved by simply using the single height of cut adjustment lever which has been conveniently positioned next to the rear roller
* Traditional striped lawn - the rear roller series of petrol lawnmowers from Cobra all come equipped with a full width rear roller to help produce a traditional striped finish. The RM46SPH also gives you the ability to mow right up to the edge of flowerbeds and borders. The rear roller supports the lawn mower when the front wheels are in line with the border edge
* Collection system - direct collection
|Rear Roller
|Self propelled
|Cutting Width (cm)
|Blade Type
|Power Type
|Honda GCV140 160cc
|No of Heights of Cut
|Lowest Height of Cut (mm)
|Highest Height of Cut (mm)
|Height of Cut Adjustment
|Single lever
|Grass Bag Capacity (ltr)
|Handle Folding
|Max Domestic Warranty (yrs)
Price includes VAT and free delivery to mainland UK. Please see delivery section for further details.
Please email firstname.lastname@example.com or call for further information.


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This five part series teaches you how to repair your Samsung LCD TV power clicking problem. This video is probably best to for TV experts or those fearless TV owner. This video walks you through the steps of giving your family entertainment center some at home surgery. The instructor with careful instructions and with your TV's safety in mind walks you through everything you need to know fix this pesky problem.
You need:
*Samsung LCD TV
*A soft surface
*Screw driver


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- Home
- Pupil Wellbeing
- Emotional Well Being
Emotional Wellbeing
From April 2018 Christ Church CEP Academy has joined up with some local secondary schools and some other local primary schools as part of the HeadStart Programme.
The programme will run for just over a year and will provide additional resources and services for our 10 and 11 year olds.
At present referrals are being made to support Year 6 pupils in their transition to secondary. If you are interested please contact the school.
As a HeadStart school our pupils over the age of 10 can access an online counselling service called Kooth.
Christ Church CEP Academy, Brockman Road,
Folkestone, Kent, CT20 1DJ Telephone: 01303 253645


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Great communication skills, and by association strong presentation skills, are traits shared by highly successful people. The ability to be able to clearly communicate your ideas and key messages is critical to business success. So why do most people present their business propositions in the same old way – "this is what we do, this is how we do it, here's a copy of my slides, any questions? (SILENCE)" …
You know the drill. Another pointless 'death by PowerPoint' experience.
One of the reasons is 'the curse of knowledge'. Typically we are presenting on subjects we know very well; projects or topics we have worked on for weeks/months/years. It is really easy to assume that:
A "great" presentation, pitch or speech is measured in the end not simply on the content, important though that is, but on the delivery and ultimately the impact. Having the presentation skills to deliver well planned, crystal clear, focused content in an engaging and memorable way counts.
Today your performances are often recorded, streamed live and distributed with ease.
In the past poor presentations could be easily forgotten. Now, performances are probably going to end up on your company website or a YouTube page, and possibly someone else's site.
Don't waste the opportunity. Hone your skills.
Look better than ever on that conference platform and make your next presentation really compelling.
Deliver something that really energises you, your audience and your business.
Feel confident in your ability to get your ideas heard and your key messages received and understood.
Sharpen up your communication skills.
Speaking and Presenting help you craft the presentations you want to give and the speeches others will want to hear.
To explore this further call me direct on +44 (0)1367 244020
Alternatively, let me know your interest and I will contact you.
P.S. Ask me about our 'live online' coaching packages. They save you time and money and are flexible enough to fit around your work committments.
Richard Lock: International trainer, speaker,and coach helping businesses and individuals learn the secrets of effective communication.
To find out more about workshops, self study options, 'live online' virtual classroom sessions , personal coaching or other blended learning approaches please get in touch.
See also:
Cause Related learning for employee engagement
RHL Associates for management development


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Small Business Marketing Consultant, Edinburgh13/12/2015
Small business marketing that works
Sending the right message to the right people at the right time is the key to your small business marketing.
But that's not all: To get the best results, focus on your customers and how you can help them rather than simply advertising your products & services.
Let your small business thrive
Sole traders, micro & small businesses benefit especially from making their marketing all about their customers: From generating new business, retaining existing customers as well as increasing referrals & repeat business.
Marketing offers many effective & affordable ways to do just that. This way you can put your small business growth on solid ground while avoiding expensive, intrusive & pushy tactics.
Find your voice
To attract paying customers, your small business needs to be visible and stand out from your competitors.
Communicating your unique brand helps you set yourself apart in the marketplace, attract your ideal clients – and helps to increase conversions, referrals & customer satisfaction in the process.
So let's find the marketing activities that are worth your time & money and create a clear message for your small business!
Have a look around to learn about my marketing services & rates, find out who I am or what my clients have to say about me. You can also get marketing advice & tips on my blog – or simply get in touch for a chat.


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Picture: Marilyn Manson's Rape of the World Tour billboard on Broadway advertising his upcoming concert at the Big Apple on January 29th & 30th. New York...
A former bandmate of Marilyn Manson has been denied access to the star's financial records as part of an ongoing lawsuit.
Keyboardist Stephen Bier - also known by his stage name of Madonna Wayne Gacy - filed a breach of contract lawsuit against the goth rocker last year (Aug07).
Bier accuses Manson - real name Brian Warner - of using money from their former band partnership to buy personal goods.
The musician's lawyers had asked Manson to turn over his tax records to provide evidence of his earnings, but on Wednesday (10Sep08) Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael L. Stern refused the request.
Manson countersued Bier in December (07) alleging he breached a contract by not fully participating in the making of master recordings, performing in concerts and helping to sell band merchandise.
Manson - who fired Bier in 2007 - maintains that the band's partnership was dissolved in 1996, but Bier insists it still exists and claims he is entitled to a share in the group's revenues.
Bier is seeking more than $20 million (GBP10.8 million) in damages.
Point for point, I agree with just about everything mordant muckraker Michael Moore has to...


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Okay, so I figured I would take on the 1 hr challenge….bring it on Joe Calhoon! If you have not joined the OTB Marketing & Design book club – It is not too late! However, in the next hour I might share spoilers. Can you do that with business books? Sorry, gonna spoil the ending here…. your SUCCESS, if you do the WORK!
Love the way the book is set up, you can skip and do the exercises or read proof, case studies, and Joe's theory on why you need to do said exercises. For this challenge, I have decided to "short cut" it through. Joe gives you time frames for each chapter exercise and I have made it my goal to follow his lead. (Which if I make it, it will be surprising, since I am an over thinker and tend to take instructions and add my own… what else can I do, to make the results better than what they expect?)
I have to admit I read the Introduction first….which is where Joe explains how the book works. Introduction and Chapter One – 5 minutes. (I peaked and thumbed through a few of the Chapters to see what he was explaining)
So, because I read in Chapter One the real work begins in Chapter Three, I quickly skimmed Chapter Two. I read it quickly, but I get the gist of Joe's message, his writing style is easy to read and he has a way of making you want to forget the short cut and read it all. Which if I wasn't challenging myself to do this in an hour, I definitely would be reading cover to cover.
Chapter Three – Vision – What Big Goal Will Inspire You and Your Team? He says you can do this in 6 minutes. He is right! I did it in less than 6 minutes!! (I actually did it twice, once for OTB Marketing & Design and again, for this book club!)
Here is what I came up with for the book club:
A leading provider of inspiration for goal oriented small business entrepreneurs, globally.
and for OTB Marketing & Design:
A trusted leader of result driven graphic design & web development solutions for passionate small and growing businesses, internationally.
Chapter Four – The Customer-Centered Mission Statement - Another 6 minutes and I have succeeded again! Gosh I feel good. This is a very positive exercise. I am ready to conquer the world!
For the book club:
Helping entreprenuers stay focused, inspiring them not only to read marketing and business books,but to implement them with results.
For OTB Marketing & Design:
Helping our customers promote their business with professional quality material designed to attract and secure more clients.
Chapter Five – Values – What Standards Will Help Your Team Enjoy Working Together? Yes..another 6 minutes to complete your Values. I found this one tougher and took the complete 6 minutes for both the book club and OTB Marketing Graphics & Design. I found this exercise more difficult because I had a hard time choosing which of the values listed I want our club and business to be known for. Really…I quickly realized, you can't represent them all effectively and although I may not put a value on my list, doesn't mean I will advocate the opposite.LOL
So here goes…for the club:
Dedicated to: Empowerment, Excellence, Fun, Generosity
(Meaning I will take personal action to achieve an agreed upon result; giving power and authority to club members for their own success, I will engage my best efforts for the success of the organization, in a fostered environment of playfulness and enjoyment, giving freely of my time, talent and treasure)
and for OTB Marketing & Design:
Integrity, Honesty, Passion, Creativity and Teamwork
(Meaning we will do what we say and adhere to ethical principles, telling the truth, being frank and sincere in all situations, demonstrating a strong fondness and enthusiasm for the work we do, producing original ideas and thoughts, bringing into existence something new while working together in development, problem solving and achievement to accomplish a shared purpose with our clients.)
I am going to keep going…(breaking for a cuppa tea though!) …Joe says we are 30% finished our Business Plan. Wow!


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Rather than the screens, sensors, microchips and Big Data typically employed by Smart City designers, Daan Roosegaarde works with a more fanciful tool kit: smog-eating machines, light-emitting plankton and solar-sensitive paint.
"When we talk about innovation today, it's screen-based, but Smart City is not about another app or microchip," said Mr. Roosegaarde, whose design firm, Studio Roosegaarde, is based in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. "Big Data is important, but things can go wrong if we only focus on technology and forget to connect with people and to connect people with their environment."
It is that sort of philosophy that led Mr. Roosegaarde and his partners to create the Smog Free Tower, the world's first outdoor air cleaner. Just 23 feet tall, it looks like a miniature chrome-latticed skyscraper. But inside, a powerful vacuum uses ionization technology to suck up smog, filter out the dangerous particles and release purified air. Mr. Roosegaarde contends that in 36 hours it can eliminate 70 to 80 percent of the impurities in the air from an area the size of a football stadium.
The tower was designed by Mr. Roosegaarde, then tested in Rotterdam. But now it is about to take on a much bigger challenge: China's Ministry of Environmental Protection recently commissioned Mr. Roosegaarde to temporarily install the tower at a public location in Beijing in September to see how well it performs in the catastrophically smoggy air that is choking China's largest cities. It will then go on a sort of smog-fighting tour, with related educational events, to four other Chinese cities over the next year.
Neither the Chinese nor Mr. Roosegaarde are under the illusion that the tower will make any real difference in China's overall air quality.
Liu Guozheng, deputy director of the China Forum of Environmental Journalists, a part of the environment ministry, said the Chinese would have to undertake a much more ambitious effort to get at the roots of smog. "However, the role of the Smog Free Tower as a warning sign is still very significant," he said. "It is a reminder of our mission and responsibility to fight against smog issues."
Ma Jun, an environmental activist in Beijing, echoed that view, calling the Smog Free Tower project a form of "performance art" aimed at raising awareness about air pollution.
But Mr. Roosegaarde considers it a first step.
And aside from whatever effect it has on the environment, the tower is significant for the entrepreneurship it represents.
"This signals how cities are finding new ways to solve problems, paving the way for new ideas from a much more diverse community of entrepreneurs, innovators and citizens," said Sascha Haselmayer of Citymart, a New York-based consultancy that helps cities solve problems and share solutions.
Mr. Roosegaarde said both the Chinese government and his group would monitor the air around the tower, which uses 1,400 watts of electricity per day, roughly that of an electric kettle.
One byproduct of the project is as imaginative as the tower itself: The carbon particles extracted from the air will be compressed and sealed in acrylic in the form of rings, cuff links and cubes, and then sold. The proceeds will be put toward the development and construction of more towers.
Mr. Roosegaarde, 36, said the keepsakes were offered during a crowdfunding campaign that provided the initial 113,000 euros, or around $125,000, for the tower. Rings were given to people who donated 250 euros. He said he had received preorders for 1,600 pieces, mostly rings, at a comparable price.
The project's prototype, which was based on existing technology for purification systems in hospitals and parking garages, took two years to develop at a cost of "around a million euros," Mr. Roosegaarde said. In addition to the crowdfunding, the City of Rotterdam; the Port of Rotterdam; Stichting Doen, a Dutch foundation; and Studio Roosegaarde provided financial support.
An early adviser to Studio Roosegaarde was Bob Ursem, a nanoparticles expert at the Delft University of Technology, who devised a method for positively charging particles to extract them from the air.
Mr. Roosegaarde said the idea for the Smog Free Tower came about during a 2013 trip to Beijing, when he learned the blanket of smog was so bad that the city's children could not play outdoors for part of the year.
The tower has prompted inquiries from other cities, including Mexico City, New Delhi and Mumbai in India, and Santiago, Chile.
The project typifies the Roosegaarde gestalt: technology and social relevance, connectivity and poetry joined together to create a way of experiencing the urban landscape. "What stories will people tell breathing the cleaner air around the towers?" he said. "In my life, physical experiences changed me, made me look at things differently. My job is to create this atmosphere."
The son of a math teacher, Mr. Roosegaarde grew up in the lake countryside of Nieuwkoop, in the western Netherlands. Then the country boy went urban.
"I'm a guy who fell in love with cities and places before girls," he said. "At 16, it was, 'Ah, Antwerp.'"
After studying art and architecture, he decided to stay in Rotterdam, because it "has the can-do attitude of a harbor city," he said. "It gives us the context to test ideas and make a mistake."
He opened Studio Roosegaarde, situated in a more than 10,000-square-foot former glass factory near the harbor. It typically employs a team of 15 designers, engineers and support staff members but can grow to as many as 30 as experts are added for specific projects.
Apart from the Smog Free Tower, other Roosegaarde projects that are eliciting international interest are the Smart Highway and the Van Gogh Bicycle Path, in collaboration with Heijmans, the Dutch infrastructure services company. Both projects use paint that is charged by sunlight during the day and glows at night.
The highway paint (the pilot project is in the Dutch city of Oss) glows green and is bright enough to eliminate the need for streetlights. The bicycle path (in Eindhoven) is a multicolored swirl inspired by Van Gogh's work.
Another project involves harvesting light-producing marine plankton called dinoflagellates to produce a liquid that glows at night. "We are working on improving the quality of life for the organism, the intensity of light it creates and eliminating the smell," he said. "The idea is to light up a bicycle path with a river of light that is 100 percent natural."
He describes himself as a futurist focused on the present.
"I'm not saying I have all the answers. It's about thinking in proposals, not opinions. You do it by building stuff, showing it."