Monday 7 September 2009

Looking Back - London Blitzed


On this day in 1940, the German air force unleashed a wave of heavy bombing raids on London, killing hundreds of civilians and injuring many more. The Ministry of Home Security said the scale of the attacks was the largest the Germans had yet attempted.
The first raids came towards the end of the afternoon, and were concentrated on the densely populated East End, along the river by London Docks. About 300 bombers attacked the city for over an hour and a half. The entire docklands area seemed to be ablaze as hundreds of fires lit up the sky. Once darkness fell, the fires could be seen more than 10 miles away, and it is believed that the light guided a second wave of German bombers which began coming over at about 1930 GMT.
The night bombing lasted over eight hours, one bomb exploding on a crowded air raid shelter in the East London district. In what was described as a million to one chance the bomb fell directly on the 3ft by 1ft ventilation shaft - the only vulnerable place in a strongly protected underground shelter which could accommodate over 1,000 people.
In the air, a series of ferocious dogfights developed as the German aircraft flew up the Thames Estuary. The Air Ministry says at least 15 enemy aircraft crashed into the estuary, and in all, the Ministry said, 88 German aircraft were shot down, against 22 RAF planes lost.

Ski Dubai

Ski Dubai is claimed to be one of the largest indoor ski resorts in the world, with 22.500 square metres of indoor ski area. It is part of the Mall of the Emirates, which is one of the largest shopping malls in the world.
An extremely efficient insulation system is the key to maintain the temperature of -1 degrees Celsius during the day and -6 degrees during the night when the snow is produced.
Ski Dubai is part of the Majid Al Futtaim Group of Companies, a leader for shopping malls in the region. Ski Dubai has 5 runs of varying difficulties, the longest being 400 metres with a fall of over 60 metres. There are 22,500 square metres covered with real snow all year round. The temperature is maintained at a comfortable -1 to -2 degrees. It is 85 metres high and 80 metres wide. It has a 3,000 square metre Snow Park with a snow cavern. It has a full capacity of 1,500 guests.
Dubai Ski: Under construction
Dubai Ski: Completed project.
Dubai Ski: A resort regular.
Dubai Ski: A view of one of the runs.

Dubai Ski: Indoor winter wonderland

Brainteaser - Sunday's Answer

Sunday's brainteaser asked you to crack a code to arrive at the answer, there was also a clue to point you in the right direction.



The answer was HOTSHOT


To crack the code you needed to reverse the alphabet as follows;


A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Z Y X W V U T S R Q P O N M L K J I H G F E D C B A

Therefore the A in EMULATE became Z etc.

Church Signs


Getting Married? Here's An Idea

I noticed this short report, by Anne Shooter, in last Friday's Daily Mail. Always mindful of keeping Journal readers up with the latest trends, I thought you might find it interesting.