Photography – SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR)

Originally opened in 1920, Croydon Airport played a pivotal role in advancing aviation in the aftermath of World War 1.

UK: Croydon Aerodrome Open as Museum! (11.6.2026)

11/06/2026 Adrian (釋大道)

As far as I am aware, this place was originally called the “Croydon Aerodrome” – and only later became an “Airport”. As it is located just outside Sutton (in Purley Way) – I have seen it described as “Sutton Airport”. I also have a dim memory that the area was used in WWI by the Royal Flying Corps – and possibly a place for launching Airships and/or Balloons – although this information is missing in this article (although I have linked the museum above). The single comment left below states that the museum has been open since 2000 – but this is news to me and I live near this area. I thought it served as a hotel and perhaps part of it still does. I know that the UK’s last Hangman – Albert Pierrepoint – used Croydon Airport when travelling around London gaols plying his deadly trade (probably in 1953). It was very rare for ordinary working-class people to use air travel prior to the 1970s (the Beatles did in the 1960s onward – as they were mega-rich and famous by then) – but Albert Pierrepoint’s travel was paid for him by the Home Office – his employer.

WWII Home Guard Emplacement - Waverly Abbey - Farnham

UK: WWII Home Guard Fort Revisit – Waverly Abbey – Farnham! (23.5.2026)

23/05/2026 Adrian (釋大道)

Perhaps a platoon (30-men), or a “section” (10-men) would have manned this small fort. There was a small artillary gun at the front together with a machine-gun – whilst others defended the walls via “murder-holes” in the centre of the walls or high-up from the Parapet (Merlons) and Battlement. A team would man the front gun(s) – whilst the other soldiers would be positioned on the outside and inside of the “zig-zag” structure. The enemy would have to advance past Embrasures blasting with vicious fire-power. When entering the interior (over the dead bodies of the exterior guard) the enemy would be met with sharply changing brick structures all defended round blind-corners. The interior guard would fall back to the rear of the front-gun to make a final stand. The heavy guns would be destroyed to prevent capture. These young and old men (and some women) formed static infantry formations designed to stand their ground and buy time for the regular army to reach the location.

USSR: Mao Zedong Celebrates Joseph Stalin’s Official [1949] 70th Birthday! (21.5.2026)

21/05/2026 Adrian (釋大道)

The 1878 Register of Infant Births kept in the Orthodox Episcopal Church of Gori City (Georgia) states (on page 33): “On December 6th, Gori resident and peasant Vissarion Ivanovich Dzhugashvili and his legal wife Ekaterina Gebrienovna gave birth to a son, Joseph”. This reference is taken as Stalin’s “actual” or “material” birthdate by many historians – although the former Catholic monk – Joseph McCabe – runs with the official date (explained below) which I find curious as he might well have had contacts who could have accessed the Church Records in Georgia. One reason might be that the politicised “Church” was viewed as acting hand-in-glove with the bourgeois (or “feudal” State in the Russian context) and therefore part of the problem that must be overthrown (that is, shifted from “public” to “private”). In this sense, who cares what the Church records? As the Secular State is primary (as the vehicle through which “Socialism” is achieved that leads to “Communism” and the dissolving of the State) – it should decide material reality and its manifestation.

China: May 1st – International Workers’ Day – Celebrating the Empowerment of Women & Girls! (1.5.2026)

01/05/2026 Adrian (釋大道)

Zhong, 49, who is also a deputy to the 14th National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature, and an inheritor of the She ethnic martial arts, said: “Only a thriving village can preserve the She ethnic martial arts.”

Under her leadership, roads were repaired, streetlamps installed, and tourism facilities upgraded. Instead of moving away, many villagers became homestay hosts or martial arts performers. Thanks to rural tourism centered on the She ethnic martial arts, the village’s revenue jumped from 200,000 yuan ($28,000) in 2021 to 500,000 yuan in 2024.

According to the 2022 progress monitoring report of the Outline for Women’s Development in China (2021-30), women accounted for 54.3 percent of neighborhood committee members and 41.3 percent of neighborhood committee directors, as well as 26.1 percent of village committee members and 10.9 percent of village committee directors.

Data from the Ministry of Civil Affairs showed that in 2022, there were 489,000 village committees, with a total of 2.154 million village committee members. And there were 118,000 neighbourhood committees, comprising 663,000 neighbourhood committee members.

Brixham: A Photographic Strole Down “Windmill Hill”! (3.4.2026)

03/04/2026 Adrian (釋大道)

Gee had to park the car at the top of Wind Mill Hill – as that was the only place a parking-space was available not patrolled by militant locals who still seem to think WWII is ongoing. I jest – but one or two were a little bit prickly – commenting about “Townies” and “City-Dwellers” with “their big cars”! And so on. Still, at the end of the day, we are the visitors and we will be gone tomorrow. After carrying-out my duty – and visiting my various family relatives – I thought it would be a good idea to make a record of the journey down the hill from the parking-spot to the rented house. The view was quite beautiful and I hope I have captured our journey on foot down a steep Brixham hill – although we could not actually find a “Wind Mill”! Come to think of it – we are supposed to be near the Brixham Army Cadet Centre – but we never found this place either!

Conveyance Title - 71 Mount Pleasant Road, Brixhan

Brixham: Framed 1920 Conveyance Deed – Kai-Lin Helped Me Read It! (3.4.2026)

03/04/2026 Adrian (釋大道)

Today, such people are “preserved” as a “right” – as their presence helps us understand our own human history (the Celts – my ethnicity – used to strip naked, get drunk, and cover themselves in shit before a battle). But I digress. In the bedroom our two daughters are occupying – the above legal document has been “framed” and hung on the wall for all to see and admire. Indeed, until, this morning, none of us had actually noticed it. In 2026, this second-floor building (“71a” is beneath us) is termed “Rock Hopper” – and this is the name used in all the advertising literature. The back yard is a narrow strip of land – but I suspect that “71” and “71a” were originally one and the same dwelling. The steep rock-face at the end of the garden turns-out to be the edges of an old quarry – whatever that was used for – probably prior to these houses being built on a steep and narrow hill (incline).

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