A SMALL FIREWORK GALLERY
REMEMBER, REMEMBER…
A SMALL FIREWORK GALLERY
Category: GENERAL
CAIUS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE: 6 SUNDIALS ON THE GATE OF HONOUR
Gonville and Caius College is one of the oldest colleges of Cambridge University. It was founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, who has suffered the cruel fate of rarely being mentioned nowadays; the college is almost invariably referred to simply as ‘Caius’, after John Caius, the man who re-founded the college in 1557 at a time when it had fallen on hard times.
The college has 3 fine gates that represent the stages of academic life: matriculation, with entrance through the Gate of Humility; undergraduate life, with regular passage through the Gate of Virtue during a student’s career; and finally graduation,with students passing through the Gate of Honour to the Senate House to receive their degrees.
The lower part of the Gate of Honour
The middle section of the Gate of Honour
The handsome modern sundial was installed in 1963 as part of the 400th anniversary celebration of the college’s re-foundation by Caius. There are in fact 6 vertical sundials, arranged in 3 pairs placed round the hexagonal tower. They were designed by an astronomer and fellow Dr Message, and the Junior Bursar Dr Powell. The bronze dial faces are painted with vitreous enamel. Of the original set of sundials dating from 1557, only traces remained.
There is something very satisfying about this set of dials. The symmetry, the proportions, the materials and the design all seem to work in harmony. Cambridge colleges have many sundials between them, many original and ancient. Of the modern dials, the Caius Gate of Honour is adorned by, arguably, the finest.**
** The principal sundial of my own college is dignified but… somewhat undistinguished in comparison!
Photo credit: All photos Mrs RH during a recent academic festivity
For further reading, track down a copy of “Cambridge Sundials” by Alexis Brookes and Margaret Stanier (available from the British Sundial Society). It can also be found as a downloadable pdf. There is an equivalent book by Margaret Stanier covering Oxford
CHINESE NEW YEAR AT CHISWICK HOUSE
Chinese New Year was celebrated at Chiswick House with a spectacular display of large and colourful inflatable animals from around the world. The same display had previously been used at Longleat. We watched them being installed; and once the event had been opened, it was the perfect place to take children as night fell.
SUMMER WHITES: BUTTERFLIES IN DORSET
GREAT GREY OWL
I met this remarkable-looking bird at an owl sanctuary near Bodmin. I saw a sign to the place on my way back from Cornwall to Dorset, and diverted to investigate. I found a large, well-kept enterprise with plenty of birds, visitors and school parties. There was a very informative open-air display of several species that were explained in turn, and which visitors were in most cases permitted to stroke. A very worthwhile diversion that I’d recommend to anyone trekking along the A30 with a bit of time to spare. The place is called THE SCREECH OWL SANCTUARY.
Many owl species can rotate their necks through 270º or more. This one managed a 180º rotation effortlessly, with its feet in identical positions.
SANDWICH SHARING: IMAGES FROM A CINQUE PORT
Sandwich is a cinque port, along with Hastings, New Romney, Hythe and Dover – we had some warm family disagreements discussions about these until someone managed to get a phone signal and look them up. The town has a large number of medieval buildings, and we enjoyed a quick look round recently when we were staying nearby.
THE FISHER GATE (1384) on the quayside
THE BARBICAN (and toll house)
THE TOLL TABLE, 1905
Although viable vehicles using an internal combustion engine had only been in existence for about 6 years (and were few and far between), steam vehicles were not uncommon. It’s surprising to learn the variety of transport methods still catered for in post-Victorian England. I’d like to have possessed a ‘wain’. And a ‘chaise’, for that matter.
RIVER STOUR at the quayside, with the swing bridge road that now leads to the Barbican
IS THIS FOR REAL? (looking at the modern screws, I concluded not)
ST PETER’S CHURCH (C13 / 14), now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust
MEMORIAL IN ST PETER’S CHURCH with ambiguous tribute
SANDWICH WEAVERS (1500) a home and workshop used by Dutch workers in the c16 
THE SWING BRIDGE OVER THE STOUR
The quayside was used for army embarkations for wars with France
Too good to miss (from a Kent Events website)
METAMORPHOSIS! SOUTHERN HAWKER DRAGONFLY EMERGENCE
AMAZING DRAGONFLY METAMORPHOSIS SEQUENCE
I very rarely reblog, but this set of photos from Foraging Photographer are so intriguing that they deserve to be shared around…
Actually it’s an incomplete metamorphosis, as dragon and damselflies not have a pupal stage like butterflies. Nevertheless, seeing a fully formed dragonfly emerge from the body of an aquatic nymph is a spectacular thing to see.
I’ve photographed the emergence of an adult dragonfly from its nymph body before – HERE – but I was very pleased to get the chance to do it again on Friday. To see a creature go from this…
to this…
…is one of the most remarkable transformations in nature.
Since we built our pond five years ago, we’ve had a variety of dragon and damselfly nymphs in there. As the pond has developed from bare sand substrate with a few plants through to its current state of abundant overgrown vegetation, different species have made it their nursery, the size of the nymphs (and eventual adults) increasing in size year on year. In the first…
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OTHERWISE ENGAGED…
This little Blog has been rather more neglected than usual of late while we have been away. Now back in the UK, and hoping to pay it some attention soon now that all the fun is over… Book launched, fish caught, things eaten and drunk. Reality check starts… NOW.
A JELLYFISH IN OXFORDSHIRE: GOOGLE SURPRISES
There are various websites revealing the weird and wonderful oddities thrown up by the Google mapping projects. Google ‘Google Map Fail’ or ‘Google Streetview Fail’ for examples, including the location of Tessa Jowell inside the Houses of Parliament, complete with directions for reaching ‘Tony Blair’ in the time of 4 hours 40 mins. 
The aerial mapping project has similarly revealed amazing vast drawings in remote desert regions, viewable only from the air; jet fighters laid up in municipal car parks; and Coca Cola logos in surprising places. By chance, I found one of my own when I was looking at the topography of the Oxfordshire / Wiltshire border.
Something of interest in a field close to Ashbury?
Zoom in – what on earth is that in the field near top centre?
Mmmmm. Looks familiar, but out of place…
Good grief – aliens have been at work…
…and they plainly know all about undersea creatures on Earth
PEAT WORKINGS, COUNTY MAYO
Between Louisburgh, Co. Mayo and Killary Harbour to the south – the boundary with Galway – is a fertile plain. This gives way to an area of wonderful high mountains and loughs, and some of the best salmon fishing in Ireland. The plain is drained by rivers, and is the perfect location for one of Ireland’s great natural resources: PEAT.
The backdrop to the north includes the spectacular conical pilgrimage mountain CROAGH PATRICK, rising more than 2,500 feet almost directly out of the sea. Peat workings can be seen from the main road south, but they are best viewed by taking a side road through boggy countryside to the more remote areas.
In places the cut turf is stacked like old-fashioned corn stooks, in gently curving rows. The effect is of some organic work that the sculptor ANTONY GORMLEY might have dreamed up.
ROLLING HARBOUR GALLERY 