by Fern Shaw | Mar 3, 2014 | Uncategorized
All things water, that’s me that is (with thanks to Alas Smith and Jones).
Remember water slides? I most certainly do. Best things ever!
The most accessible or closest thing to a water slide we had growing up were what we called foefie slides.
A foefie slide, what you would call a zip slide, is usually a rope, fixed at an incline, along which a person suspended on a pulley may traverse a space, especially across a river.
The difference with our foefie slides is that we would ensure that the rope dipped low enough for us to end up in the river – bit daredevil like as should you not let go at the right moment, you’d end up pancaked in the bank opposite – not a pretty sight. The key element was the water though. Love slides, but slides where you end up in the water were tops.
There are some rather amazing slides across the globe, here are a few that I like in particular, like this one at an Italian resort, where guests can slide right into the Mediterranean Sea or; how about this one, on a cruise ship. Haven’t been on any of these as yet, but they are most certainly on my water slide to do list!
The last of these, at Disney’s Blizzard Beach, is pretty spectacular, ski themed slide with a 120-foot slope. One day, when I’m big!
Which is your favourite?
Oh and in the meantime, while you’re dreaming away about visiting one of these locations, remember to drop us a line at AquAid for all your water cooler requirements. What’s that? No, probably not a good idea to purchase a water cooler to use the water as a test run on your home made slide. Nice thought though!
by Fern Shaw | Dec 18, 2013 | Uncategorized
For such a teensy island I must say Britain certainly packs in a plethora of trivia from all around.
- The Slimbridge Wildlife & Wetlands Trust is the world’s largest and most diversified wildfowl centre. It has the largest collection of swans, geese, and ducks on Earth, and is the only place where all six species of Flamingo can still be observed. (We don’t source any of our water from here – promise.)
- Mother Shipton’s Cave near Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, is England’s oldest recorded tourist attraction. Its owner, Charles Slingsby, fenced off the site in 1630 and started charging visitors to gape at this so-called petrifying well. The mineral-rich water from this uncanny spring has the ability to give objects a stone-like appearance after a prolonged exposure. (Nor from here.)
- An official report of the European Union surveying universities in all member states ranked the University of London as the top performer in terms of publications and in terms of citations, and the University of Cambridge as top performers in terms of impact.
- French was the official language of England for about 300 years, from 1066 until 1362. Mais oui!
- The world’s largest second-hand book market can be found at Hay-on-Wye, a small village at the border of England and Wales. The village is also famous for proclaiming itself independent from the UK in 1977.
- Fish ‘n chips are apparently not much more a traditional English dish than is Chicken Tikka Masala. The first combined fish ‘n’ chip shop was actually opened by a Jewish immigrant, Joseph Malin, within the sound of Bow Bells in East London around 1860.
Now you know. What is home grown (so to speak) and all things British, is our water. Whether it’s from the Scottish highlands, the Warwickshire countryside or from a natural spring deep in the Irish Hill, AquAid’s water is packed full of minerals and nutrients to keep you topped up and super hydrated. Drink up. Enjoy.
by Fern Shaw | Dec 6, 2013 | Uncategorized
When I woke up this morning, it was just another day. Then I heard the news … South Africa’s former president, our Madiba, had passed away the night before.
I’m not even going to try to cover the legacy that this man of peace has left us, because I truly don’t have the words. What I can do though is relate a story of how this man’s actions affected me and millions of ordinary South Africans on a bright sunny autumn day in 1994.
The build-up to this day had had the most incredibly diverse reactions. There were stories of people stockpiling tinned food, bottled water, buying generators, all digging in (quite literally) in preparation for the craziness that was to come during the period that South Africa was to have its first ever democratic election.
Then there was my experience (as was the experience of millions of other citizens). What made it special for me was this:
I had lived in a commune for a number of years. We were absolutely spoilt in that we had two chars who looked after nine residents of the commune. Having never had domestic staff growing up, I believe I was especially thankful and appreciative for the way these two ladies washed, cleaned, ironed, tidied and cooked for all of us.
I happened to form a particular bond with the one lady, Rosie Mkhonza, in that she was like a second mom to me. She came to live on the property when I had my very first home in the area and she worked for me one day a week.
To cut to the chase – nothing can describe the feeling I had having Rosie and her sister, Noki, all pile into my car and arrive at our local voting station, where we proceeded to join a queue of hundreds of people. See, Rosie, as with countless South Africans, had never voted before, so here she was as a 40+ year old woman, about to vote for the very first time for a government and leader of her choice. A landmark moment in the most immeasurable of ways. I cannot begin to describe the pride and happiness I felt standing in that queue with all of these wonderful ordinary people, as we patiently and mostly quietly, waited our turn on this world changing day. As it happened, Rosie and Noki’s vote (I believe) meant that their choice, Nelson Mandela, became our first ever democratically elected President for South Africa.
I think it behoves us all, as citizens of the world, to continue with Madiba’s legacy of humility and peace.
Good night Tata, thank you. Peace be with you and your family.
‘Death is something inevitable. When a man has done what he considers to be his duty to his people and his country, he can rest in peace. I believe I have made that effort and that is, therefore, why I will sleep for the eternity.’ ~ Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
by Fern Shaw | Dec 2, 2013 | Uncategorized
The water wheel was most likely first invented around 400BC. Its uses were multiple; including milling flour in gristmills and grinding wood into pulp for papermaking, but other uses include hammering wrought iron, machining, ore crushing and pounding fibre for use in the manufacture of cloth.
Water power was an important source of energy in ancient China civilization. One of the most intriguing applications was for iron. Water power was also applied at an early date to grinding grain. Large rotary mills appeared in China about the same time as in Europe (2nd century BC). But while for centuries Europe relied heavily on slave- and donkey-powered mills, in China the waterwheel was a critical power supply.
Chinese waterwheels were typically horizontal (illustration left). The vertical wheel, however, was known. It was used to operate trip hammers for hulling rice and crushing ore. The edge-runner mill was another commonly used crushing device. With the latter a circular stone on edge running around a lower millstone was used to pulverize. The edge runner appeared in China in the 5th century AD. Both the trip hammer and edge runner were not used in Europe until eight centuries later.
Throughout the first 13 centuries AD, technological innovations filtered slowly but steadily from the advanced East to the somewhat more backward West. Carried at first through central Asia over the 4,000-mile Silk Route and later by sea, some innovations were exported swiftly, while others (like waterwheel paraphernalia) took centuries.
The first description of a water wheel that can be definitely identified as vertical is from Vitruvius, an engineer of the Augustan Age (31 BC – 14 AD), who composed a 10 volume treatise on all aspects of Roman engineering. One of the most remarkable Roman applications of a waterwheel was at Barbegal (illustration right) near Arles in southern France. Dating from the 4th Century AD, the factory was an immense flour mill which employed 16 overshot water wheels.
Some water wheels are fed by water from a mill pond, which is formed when a flowing stream is dammed. A channel for the water flowing to or from a water wheel is called a mill race or simply a “race”, and is customarily divided into sections. The race bringing water from the mill pond to the water wheel is a headrace; the one carrying water after it has left the wheel is commonly referred to as a tailrace.
Now you know. Of course, we at AquAid don’t make use of water wheels to bring your water to you, nor do we employ water wheels to dispense your cool, fresh drinking water, but rather a range of water coolers, all designed to best suit your requirements.
by Fern Shaw | Oct 7, 2013 | Uncategorized
This is not what you think. Me plugging away about ways with water, but rather, waterways. Yes, waterways, canals, barges, the whole patootie. Spread throughout the U.K.
In England and Wales, there are over 2 000 miles of waterways and they fall under the auspices of The Canal & River Trust.
In Scotland, there are just over 135 miles of canals and waterways – these treasures are under Scottish Canals.
Just to give an indication of how truly remarkable and diverse these waterways are, pictured above from left to right are:
The Falkirk Wheel in Scotland; the The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in Wales and The Llangollen Canal between England and Wales.
The British canal system of water transport played a vital role in the United Kingdom’s Industrial Revolution at a time when roads were only just emerging from the medieval mud and long trains of pack horses were the only means of “mass” transit by road of raw materials and finished products. The UK was the first country to acquire a nationwide canal network. These waterways have been an integral part of U.K. history since Roman times.
The first British canals were built in Roman times as irrigation or land drainage canals or short connecting spurs between navigable rivers. In the Middle Ages a spate of building projects, such as castles, monasteries and churches, led to the improvement of rivers for the transportation of building materials. Various Acts of Parliament were passed regulating transportation of goods, tolls and horse towpaths for various rivers.
In the post-medieval period some natural waterways were ‘canalised’ or improved for boat traffic, in the 16th century. The first Act of Parliament was obtained by the City of Canterbury, in 1515, to extend navigation on the River Stour in Kent, followed by the River Exe in 1539, which led to the construction in 1566 of a new channel, the Exeter Canal. Simple flash locks were provided to regulate the flow of water and allow loaded boats to pass through shallow waters by admitting a rush of water, but these were not purpose-built canals as we understand them today.
Now, as yet, we at AquAid haven’t come up with a plan to ‘canal’ your super spring water to your premises or school, but we can assure you that our super spring water isn’t sourced from these canals (especially the ones that were built for drainage – ew.)
What we can say, with assurance, is that our bottle fed water coolers use only the tippy toppy spring water from one of three sources.
by Fern Shaw | Aug 30, 2013 | Uncategorized
Land & People
- The highest temperature ever recorded in England was 38.5°C in Brogdale, Kent, on 10 August 2003. Really, really. According to the London Weather Centre this summer’s record heat was only a paltry 37.4°C recorded at Heathrow around 1.30pm. – The demand for AquAid water coolers certainly attests to this!
- Among the three ghosts said to haunt Athelhampton House (pictured middle), Dorchester, one of them is an ape.
- English people consume more tea per capita than anybody else in the world (2.5 times more than the Japanese and 22 times more than the Americans or the French). – remember, AquAid also offer a range of in-cup drinks, including tea. Of course!
Culture & Language
- One of England’s quaintest traditional events is the cheese rolling competition in Brockworth, Gloucestershire. Every year in May, people chase Double Gloucester cheese down the steep Cooper’s Hill. The tradition is said to have originated with fertility rites in Roman times. Other cheese rolling events exist in England, for example at the Uffington White Horse in Oxfordshire.
- Oxford University once had rules that specifically forbade students from bringing bows and arrows to class. – I’m pleased to say that you’ll find it unlikely that AquAid’s delivery teams pitch up with anything other than our clean, fresh drinking water.
History & Monuments
- The Foss Dyke, connecting the River Trent at Torksey to Lincoln, is the oldest canal in Britain. It was built by the Romans around 120 CE and is still navigable today. – A note – we at AquAid don’t get our water from the River Trent.
- Yorkwas the first English city to become settled permanently by the Danish Vikings (in 867) and the last to remain under Viking rule (until 954). It served as capital of the Danelaw under the name of Jorvik.
- The mathematician Thomas Harriot (1560–1621) invented the symbols for “is less than” [<] and “is greater than” [>].
Economy
- Britain has the highest per capita consumption of cider, as well as the largest cider-producing companies in the world. Over half of England’s cider is produced in Herefordshire. The world’s largest producer of cider is H. P. Bulmer, based in Hereford. Cider making was introduced by Viscount Scudamore in 1639, who brought the recipe from France. In 1674 he built the county’s largest house with cider money at Holme Lacy, near Hereford.
- Harry Ramsden’s holds the Guinness World Record for the largest fish and chip shop in the world, seating 250 people, serving nearly a million customers a year. It is Britain’s longest established restaurant chain. Its first shop opened 1928 at Guiseley, West Yorkshire.
- England boasts the company that is the third largest employer on Earth. The National Health Service is preceded only by China’s Red Army and India’s main railway.
