Friday
The Observatory was something I would pay to see.
How to find it? Just follow the crowd up the hill.
How to find it? Just follow the crowd up the hill.
Flamsteed House - the original Observatory building at Greenwich,
designed by (St. Paul's Cathedral architect) Sir Christopher Wren in 1675.
designed by (St. Paul's Cathedral architect) Sir Christopher Wren in 1675.
From their website: The bright red Time Ball on top of Flamsteed House is one of the world's earliest public time signals, distributing time to ships on the Thames and many Londoners. It was first used in 1833 and still operates today. Each day, at 12.55, the time ball rises half way up its mast. At 12.58 it rises all the way to the top. At 13.00 exactly, the ball falls, and so provides a signal to anyone who happens to be looking. Of course, if you were looking the wrong way, you had to wait until the next day before it happened again.
Only the richest people could afford to buy clocks and watches of their own. Most people relied on public sundials to tell the time. This led to different local times across the country, with clocks on the eastern side of the country about 30 minutes ahead of those in the west. The difficulties created by everyone using their own local time eventually led to the creation of Standard Time based on the Prime Meridian at Greenwich.
Only the richest people could afford to buy clocks and watches of their own. Most people relied on public sundials to tell the time. This led to different local times across the country, with clocks on the eastern side of the country about 30 minutes ahead of those in the west. The difficulties created by everyone using their own local time eventually led to the creation of Standard Time based on the Prime Meridian at Greenwich.
Looking back down the hill.
91 days until the Olympics, back then.
Herringbone - I like it anywhere.
Astronomical quadrant inside the Octagon Room.
Marine timekeeper by John Harrison, c. 1735.
40-foot Herschelian (reflector) telescope tube.
Gardens on the grounds.
Walking back down the hill.
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