Irelands coastal forts

[Tubetec]

Took a trip around here yesterday ,
Its quite a feat of engineering ,dates from around the 1670's although the army had a camp on that hill long before .

Theres a few interesting stories of the lives of the people stationed there in the museum section . One guy a musician and British army soldier was making his way back to London to see family and perform a concert . On his way back his transport  was ambushed by the IRA .He pleaded with the commander not to execute him , and showed him a specially engraved watch commemorating a famous performance the he had given , in the end the IRA man let him go but took his watch .Several years later after a concert he was approached by a man ,who thanked him graciously for the performance and handed him the watch.I forget the actual quote of what the guy said to him ,but it was along the lines of ,'just as well you had the watch or neither of us might have made it here tonight '.

There was another story of the lives of a happy couple, newly weds ,an officer and the camp commanders daughter.
One evening the girl saw some flowers on the cliffs below the fort , her husband took over the sentries post and sent the soldier down to fetch the flowers for the lady , it took the guy longer than expected to go all around the ramparts and down to fetch the flowers. In the mean time the lady had returned to quarters and her husband  managed to fall asleep on duty . The commander who was out for a stroll and found him asleep, before even properly verifying the mans identity executed him on the spot, only later to realise what he had done . The poor girl threw herself off cliffs in grief soon afterwards .

The star shaped formation is typical of British built forts of the time ,and theres a good few examples of these in my neck of the woods . Its a pitty now the government have given the go ahead to a toxic waste incinerator right close to another really great heritage site on Spike Island, in Cork harbour. Theres already several 'supersites' in the area from industrial production over the years ,now they plan to rain down dioxins and other crap on the land where we produce our foods and especially on people  upwards  of the prevailing wind ,where cancer rates are already 50% above  the national average.
Short term thinking for maximum gain they dont give a bollocks if they poison everyone in the process .In a way nothings changed here from the bad old days ,like with the baby home and adoption scandals the priority is profit not health and well being of the people so nothing has changed in that respect. Wheather they realise it or not thats the message this incompetent  government  is sending the people and its causing a lot of anger .

 

[Tubetec]

And the fortifications at Spike Island , just downwind of the new incinerator site . The government have ploughed many 10's of millions into renovating/remediating  the slag heap from a former steel works near the navalbase in Haulbowline and millions more into PR about how clean and what a great tourist destination it is , only to now schedual a sh*t factory on our doorsteps

Feckin gobsh*tes,the lot of em :-X

 

[JohnRoberts]

And the fortifications at Spike Island , just downwind of the new incinerator site . The government have ploughed many 10's of millions into renovating/remediating  the slag heap from a former steel works near the navalbase in Haulbowline ,, only to now schedual a sh*t factory on our doorsteps

Feckin gobsh*tes,the lot of em :-X

Is this a NIMBY concern, or general argument with the process?  Historically the west has been a little too comfortable exporting waste to poor nations (like in Africa). The PC description of this is "recycling" but ultimately we are responsible for our own waste too.

I always liked the concept of dumping nuclear waste into under ocean subduction zones where tectonic plates slide underneath each other, but this is a relatively slow moving process so not attractive for large physical amounts of waste.

JR

 

[Tubetec]

Hi John ,

Well,
the idea here is that Ireland will become a net importer of waste instead of just taking care of its own  There planning on importing toxic waste ,reducing and concentrating that waste by burning it and of course a certain amount of the hazardous material ends up in the air and on the land where animals graze.At the end the volume of the waste is reduced some ,but it still requires either to be exported to a disposal facility abroad or carefully locked up from the environment forever here. Current reports say Indaver Irelands plant(same company that plans to build the Cork plant) at Ringsend in Dublin has incinerator ash piled up at the quaysides and sitting there unprotected from the elements,  leaching noxious crap into Dublin bay.

The idea of using the earths own forces to dispose of nuclear waste does sound nice ,but how can  you make sure what ever it is your sending down remains contained ,that might prove difficult ,and of course your talking more geological time frames like you said .Might it not be the ultimate folly to think we could actually start messing with the forces of gravity that hold the planet together and  in its position in the solar system ,there's really a lot of unknowns .

Sounds we need to start thinking of some bright ideas to reuse plastics here that starves these incinerator shower of shit merchants out of the market.

 

[JohnRoberts]

Hi John ,



Sounds we need to start thinking of some bright ideas to reuse plastics here that starves these incinerator shower of sh*t merchants out of the market.

Plastics are already widely recycled (I hear).  I recycle my glass beer bottles by refilling them with beer.  8)

I have a small stash of toxic trash... like burned out CFL lamps (mercury), batteries, etc.  I have declined to just throw them out with the household trash that ends up in a local landfill, but so far no convenient practical options found ( I live in a poor area.). I suspect my neighbors are not as thoughtful so my toxic trash would not be lonely in that landfill, but that doesn't make it OK.

Sorry I do not follow your musings about gravity.

JR

 

[emrr]

Crazy, I just watched a travel feature that included that fort just last night...

 

[Tubetec]

Messing with the elements in the core of the earth is what I meant ,putting down stuff that doesnt normally exist there like for instance plutonium ,but I guess we dont really know whats really down there so can we afford to start experimenting ?
I try to keep hazardous stuff seperate too ,but theres no shadow of a doubt that dumping said things into the environment more than undoes any of the good from the energy saving characteristics in the longer term. Most people dont know or care to dispose of such things properly .

Yeah Charles fort is just outside Kinsale ,
The town managed to turn its fortunes around years go with the food and hospitality sector and its house prices are probably up to double the average for equivalent properties by the sea in other towns nearby.  The seafood is legendary down there alright ,fresh ,high quality and good generous portions ,prices are maybe a bit above what you'd find in the city ,but as I said quality is first rate. The town is full of small independant retailers of craft and artesan produce and plenty of pubs & hotels with live music too.Street food market on (I think)Fridays is great , loads of hippy/gipsy musicians gather and jam out their world music for the crowd . Has all the usual seaside attractions fishing boating sailing etc several different museums and one of the most exclusive golf courses in the country at the old head , the icing on the cake though is of course the magical west Cork 'easy about time' lifestyle. As I always say, you never grow a day older in west Cork while the sun is shining.

 

[JohnRoberts]

Messing with the elements in the core of the earth is what I meant ,putting down stuff that doesnt normally exist there like for instance plutonium ,but I guess we dont really know whats really down there so can we afford to start experimenting ?

core science is more interesting than you think... not just a hot spinning rock cooling off.
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/nuclear-fission-confirmed-as-source-of-more-than-half-of-earths-heat/
Don't tell the global warming crowd that there's nuclear fission going on underfoot. 

I try to keep hazardous stuff seperate too ,but theres no shadow of a doubt that dumping said things into the environment more than undoes any of the good from the energy saving characteristics in the longer term. Most people dont know or care to dispose of such things properly .

people will do the right thing if it isn't too hard or too expensive... for me both right now. I'd have to ship the toxic refuse somewhere, if they let me.

Yeah Charles fort is just outside Kinsale ,
The town managed to turn its fortunes around years go with the food and hospitality sector and its house prices are probably up to double the average for equivalent properties by the sea in other towns nearby.  The seafood is legendary down there alright ,fresh ,high quality and good generous portions ,prices are maybe a bit above what you'd find in the city ,but as I said quality is first rate. The town is full of small independant retailers of craft and artesan produce and plenty of pubs & hotels with live music too.Street food market on (I think)Fridays is great , loads of hippy/gipsy musicians gather and jam out their world music for the crowd . Has all the usual seaside attractions fishing boating sailing etc several different museums and one of the most exclusive golf courses in the country at the old head , the icing on the cake though is of course the magical west Cork 'easy about time' lifestyle. As I always say, you never grow a day older in west Cork while the sun is shining.

a weather joke...about rain no doubt... ;D

  I don't recall a lot of sun the few times I've visited in UK, but you don't go to London for the weather (or to MS).  8)

JR