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Portal:Transport/Selected article/2010 archive

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Week 31
August 1-August 7
The pool at Harrow

Harrow Skate Park is one of the few remaining working seventies shotcrete skateparks in the UK. It is located next to Harrow Leisure Centre in Wealdstone in the London Borough of Harrow, England. It is one of the most noted skateparks in the UK and has been compared to other classic seventies skatepark designs such as Marina del Rey (Los Angeles) and "Pipeline" (Upland, California) in the USA.

The skatepark's planning began in 1976 and it opened in 1978 and is a noted tourist attraction. It was designed by G-Force designer Adrian Rolt and was built by Skate Park Construction, the leading skateboard park construction and design team in the UK at the time. Its pool design was based on the keyhole pool at Skateboard Heaven in Spring Valley, California.

Current features include a concrete Half-pipe, the bowl known as the 'blue bowl' or 'wedding pool', a street section with a concrete bank and a wooden quarter pipe (this secion previously included a metal box and metal quarter pipe that had to be removed for safety reasons), the snakerun, and four moguls. The performance bowl was filled in a number of years ago by the council and remains out of action despite attempts to dig it out. The park did have other recent additions such as a Mini ramp, but that was destroyed by local vandals. The park operates free of charge and is open from 9:00 am till dusk.

The local skateboarding and BMX scene is very friendly and locals use the park as a place to hang out and socialise as well as ride the ramps. Since the seventies the park has been the starting ground for a number of professional skaters and BMX users such as Steve Douglas. Its significance has been noted by the leading architectural historian Professor Iain Borden who said it was used in the eighties by "the best-known London skaters and 'H-Boyz' (Harrow regulars)". It has been threatened with closure on a number of occasions and was out of action for a few years in the eighties. In 2003 it was reopened after the Council spent £60,000 refurbishing it and its opening celebration was attended by the chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority Toby Harris, Baron Harris of Haringey and Harrow East MP and Minister for London Tony McNulty.

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Week 33
August 15-August 21
Morven Park, Leesburg, Virginia

Morven Park is an estate in Leesburg, Virginia, United States, that includes the historic Winmill Carriage Museum. The gardens are open to the public at no charge.

The park is also home to the Museum of Hounds and Hunting, with displays of art, artifacts and memorabilia about the sport of foxhunting. Opened in 1985, the museum is located in the north wing of the Westmoreland Davis Mansion.

The Westmoreland Davis Mansion is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a Virginia Historic Landmark. The Westmoreland Davis Memorial Foundation, named for former owner and late Virginia Governor Westmoreland Davis, operates the property and offers tours.

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Week 34
August 22-August 28
Milwaukee County Transit System bus 4413

The Milwaukee County Transit System is the largest transit agency in Wisconsin and ranks among the top 50 transit agencies in the United States. The county-run agency was formed in 1975 after it took over the assets of the Milwaukee & Suburban Transport Company, a private operator.

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Week 35
An Atlantic Express school bus operates through Oceanside, New York.

Atlantic Express is an operator of transit buses, paratransit, and school buses in the United States, specializing primarily in school bus service, while operating transit buses in New York City. Atlantic Express is the fifth largest bus operator in the United States and Canada, behind First Student/First Student Canada, National Express PLC's Durham School Services, Student Transportation of America, and the MTA of New York's bus division (to which Atlantic Express is a contractor).

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