Author: Ms. R.

The Alderley Edge mines in Cheshire were mined from the Bronze Age (about 4,000 years ago) until the early 20th century. the mining has left miles of underground passages. Although they are often referred to as “copper mines,” the more general name is more accurate. Both copper and lead have been mined at Alderley Edge since the late 17th century. In one of the mines, the mineral sought was cobalt ore. In 1804, James Ashton built a sail-driven mill……

Read More

Like the best jelly cakes, The Cosmos appears at first glance to be an elaborate optical illusion. A Milky Way wrought in condensed milk jelly spirals out of its galactic center into shimmering nebulas of edible glitter. Although astronomers would not be able to identify the constellations suspended within the mirror-smooth dome, the overall effect is uncannily photorealistic. “We were looking specifically at Hubble imagery,” says pastry chef Jena Derman, who, along with mixologist Jack Schramm, runs the jelly……

Read More

In Okayama Prefecture, near the coast of the Seto Inland Sea, which sits between three of Japan’s islands, is a shell-mound cemetery called Tsukumo. There, preserved in layers of soil and shells, archaeologists had uncovered the remains of more than 170 prehistoric Japanese fisher-hunter-gatherers dating to more than 3,000 years ago. Among them was the remains of a man, designated No. 24, that had scientists baffled. No. 24 was missing his right leg and left hand. His bones were……

Read More

The story of the Carmelite Monastery in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, actually begins about eight centuries before it was built. The Carmelite Order is a Roman Catholic religious order for men and women. As far as scholars can determine, it was founded in the 12th-century at Mount Carmel in Israel. The order of Carmelite nuns was formalized in 1452. In 1602, three Carmelite friars came with Don Sebastian Vizcaino’s expedition to central California. When they saw the area now known as……

Read More

The Morritt Arms Hotel dates back to the 17th-century and originated as a farm in the small town of Greta Bridge. This century, some of the original farm buildings were converted into the hotel that stands today. The area around the Morritt was a popular stop on the Carlisle to London coach and experienced a high turnover of visitors. Charles Dickens visited Greta Bridge in 1839 when carrying out research for Nicholas Nickelby, his third novel, which looked into……

Read More

Thirty miles north of San Francisco, Tom Stapleton sets out on a trail that takes him deep into the forest, weaving around the massive trunks of redwoods. The trees have special significance for him. “Being in a redwood forest is actually like being in a cathedral,” he says. “There’s something that’s very spiritual, very humbling and moving there. It makes you seem so insignificant because you’re this human being that’s a tiny speck compared to these towering trees.” He……

Read More

The abandoned but still largely in-tact Cresta Valley ski resort is a beautiful and tragic testimony to Australia’s changing climate. Shut down in 2003 after a bushfire destroyed much of its infrastructure, the chairlifts and Pomas at Cresta Valley still stand with their chairs neatly stacked beside them. Located within 100 meters of the Horn road, Cresta Valley is a trailhead for bushwalkers in the summer and a destination for tobogganers, cross country skiers, and snow-shoers in the winter…….

Read More

This place was originally called the Fairbanks Exploration Company gold dredge #3. It was established in 1923 as a gold mining operation. Between 1926 and 1957, some $70 million worth of gold was extracted from this lake. At one time the population of the mining camp reached 10,000, making it bigger than Fairbanks, Alaska! The dredge ceased operations in 1962. It changed hands several times before Jane Haigh and Patricia Peirsol bought the property in 1997. Haigh is a historian and……

Read More

On November 4th, 2016, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake ripped across multiple fault lines on New Zealand’s South Island. This earthquake caused immense devastation and irreversibly changed the landscape in many areas.  One such area of dramatic landscape alteration was Ward Beach, about 83 miles (135 kilometers) northeast of the epicenter.  Here, the land rose by over six feet (two meters). This caused the seafloor to uplift, exposing an otherworldly landscape. The area that is now exposed includes the K-T……

Read More