Castle Rock is a fictional small town which is featured prominently in a number of Stephen King works. It is first introduced in The Dead Zone, where unwilling psychic Johnny Smith is drawn into the search for a murderer. The man in question, when discovered, is none other than... well, you don't want me to spoil it, do you?
Anyway, Castle Rock's Sheriff Bannerman, having recovered from this unmentioned incident, later reappears in Cujo, which takes place entirely in the town. Following this, The Dark Half, The Sun Dog and Needful Things all take place within the boundaries of this rather beleaguered location.
Thankfully, the residents of Castle Rock can breathe a sigh of relief: Needful Things was subtitled The Last Castle Rock Story, and although references to the town pop up in Gerald's Game, Bag Of Bones and King's latest (massive!) Under The Dome, a rewrite of It Grows On You from the short story collection Nightmares And Dreamscapes forms the final glimpse of Castle Rock as a main location.
Castle Rock Entertainment is also the film company that has produced several Stephen King adaptations: Misery, Hearts In Atlantis and Dreamcatcher being notable successes. Despite the name, a homage chosen after success with Stand By Me (based on the novella The Body), Castle Rock Entertainment does not exclusively work on King movies. Television programmes like Seinfeld were a part of Castle Rock Entertainment's output, and other successful films including When Harry Met Sally and A Few Good Men, were also produced by the company.
Showing posts with label locations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label locations. Show all posts
02 January 2010
27 November 2009
Bodmin Moor
Bodmin Moor is an eighty square mile section of the United Kingdom, situated in Cornwall, which is the very toe of the pointy bit, right at the opposite end to Scotland.
Bodmin is notable for a number of reasons, some serious, some rather whimsical. It is granite moorland, and interesting rock structures litter the area. Some are natural - a number of famous tors are to be found here, and many of them are named according to their appearance. The 20 foot tall Cheesewring, for example, looks like an old device used to force out excess liquid during the cheesemaking process. Rough Tor, on the other hand, is much higher and allows for excellent views across the moor.
Brown Willy (please don't snigger) is the highest point of Bodmin Moor, and lucky visitors may even catch sight of a buzzard, or other birds of prey. Less common creatures include the legendary Beast Of Bodmin Moor, which may or may not exist, and is only one of a number of rumoured big cats lurking about the English countryside.
Human stone constructions include a large range of stone barrows and various stone circles, a remnant of the bronze age population. And if you find your way to the Jamaica Inn at Bolventor, just off the A30, you're not too far from Dozmary Pool. A heady and mysterious place, rumoured to contain Excalibur, and therefore the home of the lady of the lake. It's traditionally held to be bottomless, and to have tunnel connecting it to the sea. That said, it dried up in 1869, so that sorted that one out. They did find a number of exciting neolithic arrowheads in the dried pool bed, but no magical swords.
Bodmin, apparently, means the house of the monks, and until Henry VIII got a little vengeful, Bodmin itself was an ecclesiastical town. Saint Petroc, the original monastery founder, is rumoured to be buried in an ivory casket in the crypt of his namesake church. There are eleven wells in Bodmin, too, which are reputed to have healing powers.
Less ethereally, there's just some great landscapes to see. Moors are fascinating places; there are vast open plains, and strange, wrinkled high lands. Do yourself a favour and invest in a tourist guide of some kind before simply marching off into the wilds; there's nothing worse than being rescued by emergency workers after you don't return to the bed and breakfast, apart from possibly not being rescued at all. You may scoff, but as recently as January 19th 2008 a properly-dressed walking couple who knew exactly what they were doing were caught in fog and had to be rescued by a police dog-handler.
Bodmin Moor benefits from its own website here, which gives plenty of guidance on places to visit, things to do, food to enjoy and how not to get completely lost. There are pretty pictures, too.
Bodmin is notable for a number of reasons, some serious, some rather whimsical. It is granite moorland, and interesting rock structures litter the area. Some are natural - a number of famous tors are to be found here, and many of them are named according to their appearance. The 20 foot tall Cheesewring, for example, looks like an old device used to force out excess liquid during the cheesemaking process. Rough Tor, on the other hand, is much higher and allows for excellent views across the moor.
Brown Willy (please don't snigger) is the highest point of Bodmin Moor, and lucky visitors may even catch sight of a buzzard, or other birds of prey. Less common creatures include the legendary Beast Of Bodmin Moor, which may or may not exist, and is only one of a number of rumoured big cats lurking about the English countryside.
Human stone constructions include a large range of stone barrows and various stone circles, a remnant of the bronze age population. And if you find your way to the Jamaica Inn at Bolventor, just off the A30, you're not too far from Dozmary Pool. A heady and mysterious place, rumoured to contain Excalibur, and therefore the home of the lady of the lake. It's traditionally held to be bottomless, and to have tunnel connecting it to the sea. That said, it dried up in 1869, so that sorted that one out. They did find a number of exciting neolithic arrowheads in the dried pool bed, but no magical swords.
Bodmin, apparently, means the house of the monks, and until Henry VIII got a little vengeful, Bodmin itself was an ecclesiastical town. Saint Petroc, the original monastery founder, is rumoured to be buried in an ivory casket in the crypt of his namesake church. There are eleven wells in Bodmin, too, which are reputed to have healing powers.
Less ethereally, there's just some great landscapes to see. Moors are fascinating places; there are vast open plains, and strange, wrinkled high lands. Do yourself a favour and invest in a tourist guide of some kind before simply marching off into the wilds; there's nothing worse than being rescued by emergency workers after you don't return to the bed and breakfast, apart from possibly not being rescued at all. You may scoff, but as recently as January 19th 2008 a properly-dressed walking couple who knew exactly what they were doing were caught in fog and had to be rescued by a police dog-handler.
Bodmin Moor benefits from its own website here, which gives plenty of guidance on places to visit, things to do, food to enjoy and how not to get completely lost. There are pretty pictures, too.
12 November 2009
Uhuru Park
Uhuru (Freedom) Park is a green space in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, nestling in the Upper Hill neighbourhood and bordering the central business district. It is close to the Kenyatta National Hospital and parliament buildings. Much of Nairobi is green space, reflected in the popular name 'The Green City In The Sun', and Uhuru Park is merely one of many large, green areas, although it does feature a man-made lake. It is bordered by Ngong road, Haillesellasie Avenue, Uhuru Highway and Nyerere road.
The park is a well known as a centre for rallies, services and speeches, such as the 1996 burning of condoms to protest against their use by a group led by archbishop Maurice Michael Otunga, or the 2007 election-related riots which led to clashes between police and protestors just short of the park entrance. However, what makes Uhuru Park particularly famous is the struggle between Daniel arap Moi of the Kenya African National Union and Wangari Maathai. Moi wished to build the sixty-two storey KANU headquarters in the park; Maathai is held in high regard for her near single-handed efforts to save the park in 1989. She was successful, and in 2004 received the Nobel Peace Prize for this and other courageous efforts against the former oppressive Kenyan regime.
The park is a well known as a centre for rallies, services and speeches, such as the 1996 burning of condoms to protest against their use by a group led by archbishop Maurice Michael Otunga, or the 2007 election-related riots which led to clashes between police and protestors just short of the park entrance. However, what makes Uhuru Park particularly famous is the struggle between Daniel arap Moi of the Kenya African National Union and Wangari Maathai. Moi wished to build the sixty-two storey KANU headquarters in the park; Maathai is held in high regard for her near single-handed efforts to save the park in 1989. She was successful, and in 2004 received the Nobel Peace Prize for this and other courageous efforts against the former oppressive Kenyan regime.
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