A Summary of Web Hosting Packages

Having taken a quick look at the various forms of shared hosting that can be used by clients to serve a web site to the rest of the world, the second installment in this couplet introduces a few alternative options which may require slightly larger budgets.

Dedicated Hosting
Forms of dedicated hosting are popular with larger business clients where performance and security are paramount and the budget is in place to do pay for it, because it offers complete control, high security and uncompromised physical resources.

Features:

• Client rents an entire single server
• Web site has access to all physical resource and connectivity
• Often comes with managed hosting

Benefits:

• Scope for complete control over server configuration
• No competition for bandwidth resource
• No competition for processor (CPU) resource
• Access to entire server’s disk space
• No security threats from other sites/partitions on the server

Drawbacks:

• Cost of renting entire server
• Potential for wasted capacity if higher spec hardware is rented than the site requires

Clustered Hosting
Clustered hosting employs more than one server to reduce the risk of downtime for clients who can’t afford their site to go offline.

Features:

• Web site is hosted across multiple servers
• Can utilise shared or dedicated servers
• Can offer back up systems and load balancing

Benefits:

• No single point of failure - one server failing does not take the site offline
• Load balancing allows traffic to be distributed between servers reducing the demand on each and improving overall performance

Drawbacks:

• Cost if using dedicated servers
• Lack of customisation if using shared servers

Colocation
Sometimes referred to as Co-location or simply Colo, this form of hosting allows clients to reap the benefits of a data center location but still retain ownership of the hardware.

Features:

• Client buys and owns server(s)
• Servers are housed in a data center
• Client rents space for servers

Benefits:

• Physical security of data center location
• Physical safety of data center location
• Access to high bandwidth connections
• Retained value of the hardware as company assets

Drawbacks:

• Initial cost of purchasing servers.
• Less scalability due to cost of replacing hardware
• Potential for wasted capacity if high spec hardware is purchased to future-proof the platform

Managed Hosting
Managed hosting is a type of hosting where the features refer to the support that the client receives rather than the type of server it comes with and therefore it can incorporate any type of hosting/server set up such as shared or dedicated. A fully managed platform is effectively the deluxe package for clients with larger budgets and a shortage of expertise in-house.

Features (typically):

• Expert support and advice
• Technicians available to make configuration changes
• Performance monitoring
• Usually a dedicated server

Benefits (depending on the type of support):

• Access to the expertise and knowledge of hosting provider
• Round the clock support in case of performance issues or downtime
• Proactive and reactive support for changes in the web site or web site usage
• Help to effectively scale and configure platform

Drawbacks:

• Will tend to be expensive in comparison to self-managed packages

© Stuart Mitchell 2012
If you are interested in finding out more about hosting visit Dedicated Hosting.

Hosting Considerations for An E-commerce Business - Hardware

More and more businesses are moving their propositions online so that they can interact with their customers wherever they are the world. Shops that were previously restricted to trading in local markets can now sell their products nationally and in many cases globally. Others have reaped the benefits of reducing their overheads such as rent and boosting their profit margins as a result. As the .com bubble of the early 2000s demonstrated however it isn’t simply a gold rush. To have an effective and competitive online proposition, an e-commerce site needs to perform well, have high uptime, process requests quickly and smoothly and be secure whenever a user interacts with it.

The following article aims, therefore, to provide a quick guide to the elements that businesses should consider when choosing a hosting platform for their e-commerce site. By addressing these considerations it should maximise the likelihood of the site performing well when required, under whatever is asked of it, without it going offline. For an e-commerce site these performance criteria are even more important as poor performance/user experiences can deter customers, down time can lead to lost transactions and in worst case scenarios site errors can even have financial repercussions for the customer.

Bandwidth

One of the key considerations for a site where performance - the responsiveness of user interactions, seamless user experience, page load times - is paramount is to ensure that the site benefits from high bandwidth connections. In other words, that the site is able to send and receive large amounts of data at any given time. For e-commerce sites this is a particular consideration because the site may be required to process high volumes of user generated transactions at given points in time, and, whilst a sluggish site may put users off using the site again, actual failures to process the transactions can have financial consequences for both the business and the customer.

The use of a data center location to host the web server will allow a business to access higher bandwidth connections than they may be able to implement in their own location, particularly as data centers are often positioned on the internet backbone. Plumping for a dedicated server package also ensures that the network connections for the web server are not shared with any other sites and that the e-commerce business therefore has access to the entire bandwidth capacity of that connection. Where websites share servers and consequently network connections, they will compete for that bandwidth and if one site has a spike in traffic it may take away bandwidth resource from the other(s).

Disk Space & CPU

The provisioning of server space and processing power is a defining feature of many of the various hosting packages that are available on the market. Often platforms will be described as dedicated hosting/server or shared hosting/server for example depending on whether they give the website access to the whole server - entire disk space and processing power - or share that resource amongst multiple sites in some form.

Sites that are likely to place high demands on the processing capabilities of their server because they request a lot of data, and/or sites that need to store a large amount of content (information in databases, page files etc), both of which e-commerce sites are a prime example, benefit from being hosted on a dedicated server. E-commerce sites usually need to send, receive and store a lot of information, not just transaction data but (e.g. product) page content as well. With a dedicated package they won’t be in competition with any other sites for the use of processing power and will, by definition, have access to a greater amount of disk space, the entirety of their server’s disk space.

As an alternative, business hosting in the cloud, accessing pooled server space and computing power on demand, can also be a suitable option for achieving the capacity that e-commerce sites may need to handle the data they generate. This storage capacity can be accessed as and when the site needs it and theoretically without a practical ceiling as far as most businesses are concerned.

© Stuart Mitchell 2012

A Dozen Essential Wine Terms - Part 1

Château Margaux, a First Growth from the Bordeaux region of France, is highly collectible. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Many of us enjoy the odd glass of wine and often have our own favourite vineyards, grape varieties and regions, however, the world of wine enthusiasts can seem a little esoteric, even daunting, dissuading us from pursuing our tastes further and exploring the myriad of wines on offer. This needn’t be the case and armed with a little knowledge, the world of wine can be a fascinating one to explore.

To help you on your way, the following provides a brief summary of half a dozen of the most common pieces of wine related jargon.

Appellation
This is a French term in origin that broadly represents the region in which a wine is produced, i.e., where a wine’s grapes were grown. It can, however, be more specific in also determining the methods used in the production of the wine or the grape varieties used, but equally can have no bearing on theses factors at all. In France the term appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) is used to protect the branding of certain products, including wine, so that they can only carry the appellation designation if they meet the specific criteria. Perhaps the most famous example of this is Champagne - specifically a sparkling white wine from the Champagne region of northern France.

Corked

A commonly used term to generally describe a wine that has gone off, or wines where there are small pieces of cork in the wine. The term more accurately describes wines in which a specific chemical reaction has occurred involving chlorines, which have been introduced into the wine from the cork (or during the wine making process), and which has tainted the wine. The result is that the wine tastes and smells of damp and moldy socks. Screwcaps on bottles of wine are becoming more popular because they reduce the incidences of corking which by some estimations can affect up to 7% of all wines.

Decanting

This is the process of transferring the wine from its original bottle to an alternative vessel, a decanter for example, from which the wine is then served. The process is understood to improve and release the aroma and flavours of the wine as it gives it a chance to breathe (i.e., aerate, and therefore oxidise a little). However, there is much debate as to the true benefits of the process and little empirical evidence to support any of it despite the fact that is still generally considered good practice.

Oenology/Oenophile

Oenology is simply the study of wine and all things related to wine such as the processes behind wine production (although not necessarily the cultivation of the grape which is covered by the topic known as viticulture). A person, therefore, who has an interest in wine can be labelled a oenophile, whilst an expert in these areas will be known as an oenologist.

New & Old World

These terms are used to distinguish the traditional wine producing regions, largely located around the Mediterranean in southern/central Europe and northern Africa, from the more recent territories such as Australasia, North America, South America and South Africa where wine production techniques have been exported through historical European colonisation. There are often differing characteristics between old and new world wines due to the differing climates but many of the European grape varieties and wine style/production templates used for new world wines have been taken from their old world forefathers. However, without the extensive history and perceived pedigree behind them new world vineyards are still seen to be playing catch up by some wine critics.

Vintage

The term vintage is used in a number of contexts and often slightly misleadingly. In its true sense and most accurately a vintage wine is one that has been produced using grapes from one specific year’s harvest. A wine can benefit from being a vintage if that year’s harvest produced a particularly high quality yield and as a result the term has become synonymous with better quality wine. From that inference the term has spread into common language in a corrupted form to label anything which is of a perceived quality whilst being old, but in the wine world there can still be bad vintages as well as good.

Where the wine maker is after a more consistent wine they will blend together grapes from more than one harvest to even-out the discrepancies and these wines are known as non-vintages.

© Stuart Mitchell 2012
If you want to find out more about collecting, buying and selling wine for personal or investment purposes then visit Wine Comparison.

The History of the Old Bailey - Expansion

Old Bailey (P1000292) (Photo credit: swh)

Having been resurrected after the Great Fire of London, the Old Bailey court buildings saw significant developments throughout the Georgian period alongside its neighbour, Newgate gaol, until it was completely rebuilt at the start of the 20th century. The second instalment of this article tells this story, arriving at the Old Bailey we know today.

Georgian Developments
The newly rebuilt Old Bailey courts were open to the elements until 1734 to reduce the prevalence of diseases and with good reason it seems. After they were enclosed to improve privacy, typhus became a common problem, accounting for 60 souls in one outbreak alone, the Lord Mayor amongst them. The buildings saw further developments between 1774 and 1824 when a new court was added. Following the fire and up until 1834, the courts had had a limited remit as the court for London’s shire county of Middlesex but, in 1834, the Old Bailey took on responsibility for hearing cases from across England as it became officially recognised as the Central Criminal Court for the first time.

In its role from the time of the Great Fire of London to its designation as the official central court for England & Wales, the Old Bailey was also responsible for hearing all death penalty cases in the capital due the the presence of the neighbouring Newgate prison. Newgate became the holding gaol and the final destination for those awaiting the ultimate punishment and indeed the hangings of convicted prisoners were performed just outside of the gaol and court buildings right up until 1868. The gaol and the courts of the Old Bailey were connected by a passage known as Dead Man’s Walk where crowds of spectators would gather to admonish the guilty party on their short trip to the gallows. The popularity of this spectacle grew to the extent that the court authorities were forced to build an underground passage for the condemned after one single crushing incident in 1807 which killed 28.

20th Century Development
Up until the twentieth century the Old Bailey and its courtrooms were annexed to its much larger next-door neighbour, Newgate prison. In 1902 however the last of the ancient and infamous gaol was finally demolished and in its place the modern Old Bailey was constructed and extended to form the buildings that are much more recognisable to us today.

This new Old Bailey was built in an Edwardian Baroque style by the architect Edward Mountford, the man who was also behind the town halls in Sheffield and Lancaster. It was complete with a ceremonial entrance, still only deemed fit for the Lord Mayor and royalty, as well as the famous dome with its iconic and unmistakable Lady Justice figure stood upon it. The Lady Justice herself (a derivation from the classical goddesses of justice, e.g., the Roman Justitia) was created by the sculptor Frederick Pomeroy with the sword in her right hand and scales in her left to signify the weighing-up of evidence and the application of justice respectively. The new grand Old Bailey finally had its official opening by the reigning Edward VII in 1907.

However, a third of a century later the building suffered extensive damage from German bombing during the London blitz and the building wasn’t fully restored to its former glory until some years into the 50s. The interior of the Great Hall beneath the dome, for example wasn’t completed until 1952 although it was updated to include paintings which reflected its turbulent recent war history, the older history of the city of London as well as key figures in the history of law and justice (and of course royalty). The Blitz wasn’t the last trauma to hit the buildings of the Old Bailey though as they were also damaged by a strategically placed IRA car bomb in 1973 - perhaps a perverse testament to the role that the courts play and their importance in criminal law proceedings in the UK. Visitors to the courts can still see a shard of glass which became embedded in the wall above the main staircase as a result of the explosion.

The final or most recent stage in the development of the Old Bailey complex came the year previous in 1972 when it was extended with the construction of the new South Block boosting its capacity and taking its court count to 19 - a long way from its original incarnation as a single courtroom annexed to the long gone Newgate gaol.

© Stuart Mitchell 2012
If you want to find out more legal services in the capital then you can visit Solicitors London.

The History of the Old Bailey - Background & Origins

English: Plaque Old Bailey Plaque on the wall of the Old Bailey courthouse commemerating the site where the old Newgate prison used to stand (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Old Bailey is one of the most famous institutions relating to law and crime in the UK and perhaps beyond. The building and courtrooms of the Old Bailey have been the stage for many of the country’s highest profile criminal cases down the centuries and so the name, as well as the building with its domed roof and gold statue of Lady Justice, have become symbolic of the judicial system and the courts of London and the UK.

Background
The name the ‘Old Bailey’ is used to refer to what is more accurately the Central Criminal Court for England and Wales (Scotland & Northern Ireland have their own) and the buildings that make up the court complex. The courts are to be found on the edge of the City of London on the corner of the Old Bailey road and Newgate Street.

In its role as a crown court, the Old Bailey has and does witness the most significant and serious criminal cases from around the capital as well as a few, when their specific circumstances warrant it, from elsewhere across England and Wales. As a result it has the highest profile of any criminal court in the country and so it is referred to extensively in popular British culture. The iconic Lady Justice statue atop the domed roof symbolises British justice whilst the functional entrance to the courts in south of Old Bailey has become very familiar to us all from countless news reports down the years.

Early History
The common-use name for the courts is actually taken from the name of the street on which it is found. The name of the street in turn refers to the fact that it was historically the site of the western segment of the old wall, or bailey, surrounding the city of London. The wall originally dated from the Roman occupation and a small portion of it can still be seen in the basement of the Old Bailey court buildings.

The site immediately to the north of the Old Bailey was the location of a gate within these walls which could also trace its origins back to the Roman era and which sat across the old Silchester to Londinium Roman road. The imposing gate buildings, which became known as Newgate, were appropriated to house criminals entering or leaving the city and in 1188 the first incarnation of the infamous Newgate prison was constructed at the gate on the orders of Henry II.

The Old Bailey courthouses evolved as an addition to the Newgate prison whilst the prison complex was developed and improved in the 16th century using funding from the late Sir Richard Whittington (the inspiration behind Dick Whittington). The first record of the actual law court dates back to 1585 although that, along with the rest of the prison complex were destroyed in the 1666 Great Fire of London and whilst the prison was rebuilt in 1672, the courts were not reestablished for a further two years.

© Stuart Mitchell 2012
If you want to find out more legal services in the capital then you can visit Solicitors London.

Types of Investment Trusts - Splits

An assortment of United States coins, including quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The previous part of this article summarised what actually constitutes an investment trust, including how they are run, and provided an introduction into one particular type of investment trust, the REIT. In this second part, Split Capital Investment Trusts are introduced with a quick summary of how they may be used by investors.

Split Capital Investment Trusts
Also known as Splits, this variation of an investment trust strays from the more simple template in that it can offer a number of different share types within the one trust, each with a certain profile of risk vs potential yield.

Splits tend to be run across a fixed term and therefore have a stated closing date, known as a wind-up date. At this date the assets accumulated through the fund are distributed to the investors in a predefined order depending on what class of share they have purchased, with the low risk shares paying out first, but with limited gains, and the high risk shares paying out last, but with the highest potential gains if the fund were to perform well enough.

The share classes that pay out first usually have protection on the original capital investment which is then countered by the fact that they don’t receive any income and during the life of the fund and the fact that the final redemption prices is predefined (so that the potential yield, if the fund were to grow sufficiently, has a ceiling). The series of share classes to pay out next will have diminishing protection on the original capital investment, but greater shares of the income payments and of the remaining asset growth if the investments were to perform very well. Therefore, with the last share class to pay out there is a high risk that there will be very low returns after the higher priority shares have been paid if the investment trust performs below expectations, but there is no limit on the potential gains if it does indeed perform well.

This choice allows investors with differing aims to invest into the trust in accordance with their own investment strategy. For example, pension fund managers running annuity funds may find that they can take up shares with higher risk (little capital protection as they will be redeemed after the lower risk share classes) but that have the potential to pay out more income if the underlying investments perform well. Contrastingly, private small scale investors who are after long term investment returns may be better suited to zero dividend preference shares (the first to pay out) which have the security of a fixed return/capital protection but miss out on the income payments along the way.

Even within these investment trust groups there will be a significant variety in the risk and potential reward profiles from one trust to the next depending on the stated strategy of the fund manager and the company sectors (geographical, industrial etc) in which they specialise. There should therefore be investment companies offering the right shares to meet any investors needs. If the price is right of course!

© Stuart Mitchell 2012

The Classifications of Cloud Computing

Although hype and conjecture has surrounded the concept of cloud computing for a long time now it is more than just a buzz term. With the increased uptake in portable devices such as smartphones, tablets and even laptops in the private consumer sector, as well as the resultant shift to home based work, business on the move and the use of personal devices in the workplace, the need for centralised, virtualised computing resources has surged in the last couple of years. In fact many of us use some form of cloud computing every day without really acknowledging it, whether it be webmail or online gaming.

What is Cloud Computing
In a very general sense, cloud computing describes any scenario where the user (the cloud client) is accessing computing resource from a virtualised environment (the cloud) via an internet connection. It can be though of in contrast to use of computing resource on the user’s local machine, local network or defined physical machines on other networks. Cloud services generally work by providers pooling together extensive physical resources (e.g., multiple servers across multiple data centers) to create a service which users can tap into as and when they need it (i.e., on demand) without the need to install anything locally, hardware or software.

Where a service is chargeable they can be offered on a pay as you go basis where the user only pays for what they actually consume, much like a utility like electricity where consumers can tap into the national grid (analogous to the internet) and pay simply for what they use.

There are a variety of different services that can be propositioned under the cloud computing umbrella term and that meet the above definitions, but they are broadly classified into three camps, depending on the provisioning of hardware and software resource.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Usually shortened to IaaS, this classification of cloud computing incorporates services which offer virtualised physical computing resource, that is, resource such as server space, bandwidth, networking.

Salient examples of IaaS offerings include cloud hosting where websites are hosted on virtual server partitions which draw physical resource from a pool of multiple servers across multiple data centers. This idea can offer specific advantages such as

cost effective scaleability - hardware resource can be accessed on demand so that the client only pays for what they use and they are not retricted by capacity
reliability - there is no single point of server failure as data is also duplicated (backed up) across multiple servers. If one server fails, the web site will not go offline

The areas of IaaS and cloud hosting can also include the concept of Virtual Data Centers (VDC) where a virtualised network of servers or computers is made available to the user instead of simply server space.

Platform as a Service (PaaS)
PaaS describes a proposition which includes the software that is required to create an operating environment which can be used by the client to create their own applications. In other words PaaS will include tools such as a solution stack - operating system, server-side scripting environment, database support etc - in addition to the pooled computing hardware resource as detailed above. Cloud clients often have control over what tools are installed within their platforms, sometimes from a restricted list, and how they are configured but all the building blocks are supplied by the provider.

Cloud Hosting can again be used as an example of PaaS as many of the packages on the market will provide the user with, not just the virtual server, but the entire platform such as the solution stack that is required to build and host a website. Other examples of PaaS include test and development environments for software builds. As with SaaS below, these services offer their clients greater opportunities for collaboration and location independence when they are being used to build applications.

Software as a Service (SaaS)
This is probably the most familiar form of cloud computing to most consumers. It describes an offering where the service being accessed via the internet is an application or a software service. It is an area that many of the big software and internet companies such as Microsoft, Google and Apple are flourishing in as we all seem to be following the trend, moving away from locally installed (and sometimes incompatible) software to applications that are being run in the cloud, accessed through an internet browser.

Obvious examples of SaaS include Google Docs and Microsoft Office 365 (which can integrate with the traditional installation of the software), but this class of cloud computing also encompasses other services such as webmail and online gaming which are accessed entirely online.

There are a number of cloud computing categories which fall within SaaS and follow the same naming convention such as Desktop as a Service (or Virtual Desktops, where a virtual version of a computer’s desktop is stored and accessed in the cloud) and Test Environment as a Cloud (TEaaS, involving a central hosted test environment for the testing of software).

Key drivers behind the growth in SaaS are the facts that cloud based applications can be used from any physical location as long as there is an internet connection (ADSL or 3G for example) and across any device running any operating system. This independence from geographical and technological constraints allows personal users and workers to not only work on applications and files in any scenario but to collaborate on and share these services with few restrictions.

© Stuart Mitchell 2012

The Colonial Styles of North America - Northern European

English: Front of a typical Dutch Colonial Revival house in Plainfield, , , built in 1923. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Americas have a long and complex history of colonisation by European settlers commonly understood to date back to the adventures of a certain C Columbus but in truth starting with the earliest visits of the Viking sailors in the first millennium AD. Whilst much might not survive of their influence on the land, the styles of the later medieval European settlers are still displayed in the colonial styles of old and modern North American architecture alike. Thanks to the mix of settlers there are a variety of influences to choose from.

French
The legacy of French settlers in North America can still be felt strongly in certain parts of French speaking Canada as well as around the Mississippi and its delta in the USA. Their buildings are typically characterised by being timber framed with large upright log pillars/columns set into the ground, known as porteaux-en-terre, or on platforms, known as porteaux-sur-solle. They are often distinctive in having a large porch along the front extent of the building, under the span of the main roof, with the raised porch and living quarters perching upon raised basements. The porches are also used to connect the building separate rooms with entrances leading through french (floor to ceiling glass panelled) doors. Entrance ways and windows can also feature plantation style shutters, whilst the walls between the timber frames are usually constructed of mixtures of clay, mud, animal hair, stones and latterly brickwork.

This French colonial style has become particularly associated with the American South, the Mississippi delta and the Plantation style due to its aptness for humid, hot and sometimes boggy environments.

Dutch
Migrants from the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, northern Germany and northern France settled extensively along the eastern seaboard of the USA, south of New England, particularly around the town then known as New Amsterdam, now known as New York (following its later purchase by the English). The term Dutch Colonial is commonly used to refer to houses with gambrel roofs - roofs that have a shallow slope towards the top of the roof and a steeper slope on the roof’s bottom portion (with an additional flare on some styles) - as well as some revivalist versions of these styles from the twentieth century. In reality however, Dutch settlers imported a mixture of styles and features including the use of brick, chimneys on each end of the roof, sash windows, stable (Dutch) doors and exterior wooden shutters whilst the earliest examples Dutch colonial architecture would have been simple single room houses which could have been developed over time.

German
Rather misleadingly the term German colonial can be applied to the architectural imports of settlers from across northern Europe, from Scandinavia to the Celtic nations of the UK, as well Germany itself. These migrants colonised similar territories as the ‘Dutch’ settlers from the Low Countries as mentioned above, just slightly to the south and inland, in places like Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. They also imported similar features from their homelands such as the use of exposed brick work and wishbone chimneys. Indeed Dutch Colonial is seen by some as a derivation of Deutsch (German/Germanic) rather than specifically referring to styles from the Netherlands. However, German colonial styles in particular also feature the use of very thick walls, medieval European style half-timbering and stone reinforcement arches over window and door frames, whilst roofs tend to be steep in design rather than the Dutch gambrels.

© Stuart Mitchell 2012

A Guide to the 5 Biggest Towns in Wiltshire - Facts and Figures

County Flag of Wiltshire (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The county of Wiltshire is one of the richest historical counties in the country with an abundance of prehistory on display including the world famous sites of Stonehenge, Avebury and Silbury Hill. Although not densely populated, the county has many settlements of note and this two parted article looks at the varying profiles of the five largest. In part one we’ll run down the top five whilst taking a look at each town’s history and culture in the following part.

Swindon
Swindon is a town located in the north of Wiltshire. It is by far the largest town in the county with a population of over 155,000 according the 2001 census and is the only town in Wiltshire to witness large scale industrialisation in its role as an important transport hub; initially with the canals, more significantly with the railways and latterly with the M4 corridor stretching from London to Bristol and on to Swansea. Alongside other M4 corridor towns such as Slough, Reading, Newbury and Bristol, it has become a centre, in particular for the services and technology industries. Whilst it sits within the boundaries of the ceremonial county of Wiltshire it actually belongs to the borough of Swindon and therefore apart from the governance of the rest of county.

Salisbury
Otherwise known as New Sarum, Salisbury is the only city in the county of Wiltshire and is the second largest settlement behind Swindon with a population around 40,000. Formerly at the centre of Salisbury District it now sits under the control of the Unitary Authority of Wiltshire Council, with the city’s charter being held by Salisbury City Council. The city is located in the south of the county on the confluence of the Salisbury/Hampshire Avon with the Bourne, Nadder, Wylye and Ebble, near the border with Hampshire. Notably, it also lends its name to the expanse of chalkland, Salisbury Plain, that stretches north and covers the interior of the county. It has been a city since time immemorial and due to its proximity to Stonehenge, the New Forest and a number of historical attractions such as its famous Cathedral and Old Sarum, it is a notable tourist destination as well as a thriving market town.

Trowbridge
Despite being only the third largest town in Wiltshire with a population of over 28,000, Trowbridge is also the ceremonial and administrative capital of the county. In a county where the two largest settlements are found in the north and south, the town was deemed the ideal place to locate the county’s administrative functions due to its more central location in a cluster of westerly settlements. Trowbridge is found on the river Biss with the Kennet and Avon Canal also running through it, and is only 12 miles from the historic spa city of Bath.

Chippenham
In the north west of the county of Wiltshire is the fourth largest settlement, Chippenham, with a population of around 28,000, fractionally behind that of Trowbridge. The historic market town is situated on the river Avon (Bristol Avon), roughly mid-way between the relative metropolis of Swindon and Bath. As such it largely serves as a commuter town but with growing industry due to its healthy transport links.

Melksham
The smallest of Wiltshire’s top five towns is Melksham with a population of just 21,000. The town is another of Wiltshire’s settlements which sits on the Bristol Avon in the west of the county and, similar to both nearby Trowbridge and Chippenham, it is found only just across the county border from Bath. As with its near neighbours, the town’s profile is that of a small market town with burgeoning business estates due to its proximity to the M4 corridor.

Having highlighted and introduced Wiltshire’s top five settlements, the second part of this article, which will follow soon, will delve into the rich history and culture of each in a little more detail.

© Stuart Mitchell 2012
If you want to find out more about legal services that are available in the Wiltshire area then visit Solicitors Melksham.

Mayfair - A Potted History

English: Shepherd Market, Mayfair, London W1J (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For many the name Mayfair is instantly recognisable as the most expensive property on a UK monopoly board and, to a large extent as a result of that association, it is considered one of, if not the, most prestigious areas of London. In reality, it does a good job of living up to that billing and is home to some of the wealthiest commercial and private inhabitants in London, but how did it all come about.

The May Fair

The area of London that we now know as Mayfair, was until the late 16th century farmland on the banks of the old River Tyburn, on the fringes of the city. As may seem obvious, the name of the area was derived from a fair that was held on the site every May and which ran for almost a hundred years from the late 17th century onwards. The fortnightly fair began life in Shepherd Market as a livestock market but later evolved into a broader proposition with a variety of trade stalls and entertainments such as jugglers and theatre.

However, as it grew it attracted more and more ‘undesirables’ whilst, at the same time, the area surrounding the fair was increasingly being built upon and gentrified as a result of its position on the outskirts of the city as well as its proximity to the royal estates. The fair and the area’s new Georgian residents therefore made uneasy bedfellows and in 1764 the fair was moved to Fair Fields in Bow following complaints from the locals.

The Urbanisation of Mayfair

Consequently, the transition of Mayfair from a rural area to an urban district coincided with the decline in fortunes for the fair. From the mid 17th to 18th centuries the streets replaced the fields with the names of many still harking back their original uses - the most obvious example being Shepherd Market where it all began. The urbanisation was driven by local and wealthy land owners such as the Grosvenor family (later to become the Dukes of Westminster) as well as the Royal family (indeed much of the area has in fact remained in crown possession to this day) and so the new streets were filled with sumptuous Georgian mansions and townhouses which were sought after by London’s elite.

Mayfair’s streets spread to fill some of London’s prime real estate; leading off the grand Regents Street to the east and filling the space between the royal parks and estates of Hyde Park to the west and Green and St James parks to the south with their royal palaces. The area became part of the traditional parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields - a parish of central and west London, encompassing the city of Westminster - and with that location, combined with the its fashionable buildings and architecture, its allure was guaranteed to the present day.

Modern Mayfair

Mayfair is now synonymous with elite London, home to the rich and the powerful and it has gained this reputation for good reason - not just due to its prime location on a monopoly board! Situated within the city of Westminster and surrounded by the royal estates to the south and west, it is also bordered by the up-market Marylebone to the north and the commercial and entertainment hearts of London, Oxford Street, the west end and Soho just to the east, making it an incredibly convenient as well as prestigious place within the capital to live.

However, most of the area is actually non-residential. It is home to a good proportion of London’s high-end commercial premises with some of the most exclusive shopping in the world. Savile Row, the world famous street of bespoke tailors is found to the east of Mayfair as is the most definitive street of high-end fashion shops (clothing, jewellery and art etc) in the country, Bond Street, with its unrivalled portfolio of designer brands.

In addition, Mayfair is the location of high profile foreign embassy offices, with the most obvious example being the US embassy in Grosvenor Square, as well as cultural hots spots such as the Royal Academy of Arts. Due perhaps to its location, architecture, fashion and cultural offerings and prestige the area also contains most of the top hotels in the capital with names such as the Dorchester and Claridges.

With all these delights on offer, the brand of Mayfair has never been stronger and it continues to be known all over the world. From humble beginnings it is now one of most desirable places to live not just in the UK, but Europe and beyond.

© Stuart Mitchell 2012
If you are keen to find out more about living in West London then visit Estate Agents Mayfair.

The UK’s Best Beaches, The South Coast

English: Boats on the beach at Bognor Regis (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the second part of this series in which we look at some of the best beaches across the UK, the focus shifts along the coast from the South West of England to the central Southern coast, from the shores of the New Forest on the Solent to the cultural hubbub of Brighton.

Hampshire - Milford-on-Sea
The coast of Hampshire has some of the most industrialised and built up coastline in the south of England, dominated by the two large ports of Southampton and Portsmouth. There are, however, pockets of unspoilt coastline still to be found, in particular toward the eastern and western edges of the county. Beyond Portsmouth in the East is the sanctuary of Hayling Island, a haven for both wildlife and windsurfers. In the West meanwhile, the coast between Southampton and Bournemouth frames the southern edge of the New Forest and looks out to sea toward the Isle of Wight.

The highlight of this coast is arguably the beach at Milford-on-Sea, a long shingle beach with sand exposed at low tide. The beach stretches into Hurst spit and towards Hurst Castle (built by Henry VIII) which juts out into the mouth of the Solent, encircling the quiet harbour at Keyhaven with its marshes and nature reserves. The western end merges into a stretch of beach that is almost unbroken to Poole harbour. The beach and the spit are perfect for a long stroll with views along the way of the Isle of Wight and the shoreline back down the coast to Christchurch. What’s more, in the evening, it provides an ideal spot to watch the sun set over the horizon. There are amenities and eateries on the beach but the village of Milford-on-Sea itself is also worth a visit; set back from the beach with plenty of shops, cafes and a typical village green.

West Sussex - Climping Beach
The coast of West Sussex has been a popular tourist destination for over a hundred years with people flocking to the traditional resorts of Bognor Regis and Worthing for their holidays. As a result, much of the coast is accompanied by conurbations which merge into eachother behind it and it can be hard to find a quiet spot away from the masses. For those looking to experience a bit of escapism however the best spot on this coastline is Climping Beach, situated south of the picturesque town and castle of Arundel (on the mouth of the river Arun) and between Littlehampton and the tourist hot spot of Bognor Regis. The pebble beach is ideal for those who are after a piece of coast that is more secluded and slightly rugged whilst still also hoping for a good spot for swimming. It is a scenic beach but its lack of amenities and its location slightly off the beaten track perhaps make it one more for the adults; the popular West Wittering to the west tends to be more widely recommended as a destination for the whole family.

East Sussex - Brighton
The Sussex coast in general, but particularly the East Sussex coast, has been fashionable destination ever since the Georgian era, boosted by the development of the subsequent Victorian railways which brought the London hordes down to the coast. The area has been a favourite of Royalty too, with the name of Bognor Regis back in West Sussex reflecting the patronage of George V whilst the Royal Pavilion at Brighton is testament to the popularity of the town with his ancestor George IV 150 years earlier. Brighton is certainly the hub of this coastline and is still popular with locals and London day-trippers alike to the extent that it is sometimes referred to as London-by-the-sea.

Despite that moniker it is a far more relaxing destination than that suggests and has something to offer for all walks of life. The blue flag pebble beach is ideal for bathing or for a quiet spot to sit and read, whilst the attractions of Palace Pier can provide hours of entertainment for all the family. The town that sits behind the beach is full of attractive Georgian architecture with the jewel in the crown arguably being the extravagant Indian influenced Royal Pavilion. Most famously however Brighton is an important center for all aspects of free thinking, bohemian and alternative culture and is particularly known as the UK's lesbian/gay capital. It offers a thriving music and arts scene - with numerous festivals, gigs and exhibitions - a rich night life and a bustling shopping and restaurant experience around The Lanes. As a destination therefore it is a must on any cultural trip to the south coast.

In the next parts of this article we’ll continue the journey around the South East coast, past the Thames and up towards the big skies and open shores of the East of England.

© Stuart Mitchell 2012
If you want to find swimwear for your UK beach holiday then visit Designer Swimwear for Men.

England’s Cricket Stadia - The History of Lord’s & the MCC

MCC (Photo credit: Andy Welsher)

If you mention cricket grounds and London, the first thing that most people will think of is Lord’s. Perhaps the most famous cricket ground in the world, it is most notably the home of the MCC, the Marylebone Cricket Club, the guardian’s of the laws of the game to this day.

In addition it has been the home of the International Cricket Council (ICC), the worldwide governing body of cricket, until they relocated to Dubai in 2005, and is still the home of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the European Cricket Council (ECC). Due to its history, the role it has played in the development of the game and its position as the game’s HQ for most of its existence, it is still regarded by most as the spiritual home of cricket despite not necessarily being its administrative centre anymore.

History of the Ground
The ground that we know as Lord’s today is in fact the third home for the MCC since its formation. The original Lord’s, now known as Lord’s Old Ground was created by Thomas Lord in 1787 when he founded the MCC on the site of the modern day Dorset Square, just north of Marylebone. The club’s tenure at this ground was cut short because of issues with rent and so he moved it north in 1811 to the second of the MCC’s three homes just off the Lisson Grove thoroughfare in St John’s Wood. However the MCC’s stay at Lord’s Middle Ground was even shorter lived as the building of the Regent’s Canal forced Thomas Lord to move the club (almost literally) a stone’s through further north to its present location in St John’s Wood after just three years.

Lord’s witnessed the first in its long and illustrious history of cricket matches when the MCC lined up against a team representing Hertfordshire in 1814, whilst a few years later in 1818, it hosted a match which is still being replayed to this day and which made its first appearance on the Old Ground in 1805, between sides from the public schools of Eton and Harrow. However, it wasn’t until the relatively late 1884 that the ground saw its first international test match with England hosting their oldest foes Australia.

History of the MCC
The MCC itself was founded as an evolution of earlier cricket clubs whose roots are lost in the mists of time. However, its immediate predecessors were the White Conduit Club and, before that, the London Cricket Club, based in Islington - both general sporting clubs with a focus on cricket. It can even trace some of its DNA (e.g., memberships) back to the early pioneers of cricket at the Hambledon Club based in the Hampshire village, just outside of Southampton. The White Conduit Club (WCC) evolved out of the Star & Garter (previously known as “Je ne sais quoi”) club in Pall Mall in the early 18th century and it was this club who drew up some of the earliest laws of the game.

Individual clubs still followed different sets of rules until the Star & Garter’s descendant club the MCC took on the mantle of governors of the game of cricket in 1788 and produced the first set of laws which would in time become the game’s unifying code. Although the MCC still maintains these laws, it has released much of its governing responsibilities in other areas to newer organisations such as the ICC and the ECB (from 1993 onwards).

During the 20th century, the MCC also took on the responsibility or raising the England national team and only relinquished this duty too after the winter tour of Australia in 1976/7 although the recognisable bacon and eggs colours of the MCC was used by the team as late as their 1996/7 tour of New Zealand.

Tennis & Other Sports

Lord‘s and the Marylebone Cricket Club don’t just boast a pivotal history in the game of cricket but they also played a fundamental role in the development of the game of lawn tennis and subsequently what we think of as tennis today. Prior to their switch in 1876 to the All England Club at Wimbledon, the MCC was also responsible for the laws of the game in their first couple of years in existence.

The ground even witnessed a baseball games, cricket’s distant American cousin, during the First World War between teams representing the US and Canada, whilst many other sports have also made use of the facilities including archery which will make a reappearance there during the 2012 London Olympics.

Modern Developments
Whilst the famous Pavilion, including its Long Room, was built in 1890 in a recognisably Victorian style a large proportion of the grounds other stands have been rebuilt during the late 20th century (e.g., Mounds Stand 1987, Grandstand 1996). The most striking addition to the ground is arguably the futuristic media centre which was finished in 1999 and went on to receive awards for the quality of its design. There are still plans for a further 10,000 seats to be added to the ground to take its capacity up to 42,000 as well as the addition of an ice rink and apartments to go alongside the ground and the club’s existing facilities such as the world’s oldest sports museum and a rare real-tennis court.

© Stuart Mitchell 2012
If you are keen to find out more about living in West London or Wimbledon then visit Estate Agents Marylebone or Wimbledon Flats respectively.