Of Time and Tide September 9, 2006
We had the chance to try a different rail line in route to Greenwich in the form of the DLR (Docklands Light Rail). The DLR is an extension of the metro system but with much nicer cars and seats. We found our way and stepped off the train in Greenwich about 10:30 AM. We came to this London burb in order to see two things that have been on my list for a long time; the British National Maritime Museum and the Royal Observatory. We got a bonus when we found out that the clipper ship Cutty Sark is also here and open for tours.
Greenwich is somewhat village-like and is yet another UNESCO World Heritage Site. (We’re thinking of renaming the Davis East West Expedition the UNESCO Tour.) The town is filled with architecture from most of the greats of the Enlightenment mainly due to royal patronage and is a great place to just stroll and look.
The National Maritime Museum is the collection that explains the phrase “Britannia Rules the Waves”. It covers everything from explorers to merchantman to liners to war ships and then throws in fun stuff about royal launches and yachts as well as record setting boats and people. My favorite section was The Lord Nelson exhibit, one of history’s figures that I admire. These rooms contained information on The HMS Victory, navy life of the period and even the tunic and other clothing that Nelson was wearing when he was shot during the Battle of Trafalgar. The section covering explorers was also very interesting. It focused on polar exploration and matched nicely with what we had seen in the museums in Oslo.
After a few hours we moved to the observatory so that we could hear a narrative about the site. The talk covered the reason the observatory was built, to map stars for navigational purposes, the astronomer’s that manned the observatory, the most famous being Edmund Halley of comet fame, and what the Prime Meridian means to us. The Observatory sits on a hill overlooking the Maritime Museum and the Thames. Minutes after we arrived we were treated to a tradition that has been around for hundreds of years. At 12:58 every day there is a red ball, mounted atop the original observatory building, which is raised to the top of a rod. At 1PM EXACTLY it is dropped to the bottom of the rod. This was done so that all the ships on the Thames could set their clocks. It is still dropped every day. This observatory is also the birthplace and the home of the Prime Meridian, the imaginary line of longitude that runs north and south around the earth, or the opposite of the equator. This is the basis for worldwide standardized time and allows us to co-ordinate everything from airline and shipping schedules to phone calls and TV programming. This was all done to try and solve the problem of ships determining their longitude at sea, a simple problem with a complex answer. While the observatory was built to map the stars the real answer came with accurate time keeping. (The difference in the time from where you are to the Prime Meridian will tell you how far away you are and allow you to locate your east/west position.) Parliament offered a prize of ￡20,000 (about US$12 million in today’s dollars) to anyone that could solve the problem of longitudinal location in a way that could be used by ships at sea. John Harrison was a Yorkshire carpenter that had the ability to reason out problems backed up with a lot of tenacity. Mr. Harrison labored for forty years to develop a mechanical watch that would accurately keep time during sea voyages. The requirement for the prize was accuracy to within two seconds a month. Mr. Harrison’s fifth prototype was ten times more accurate than required and literally changed the way time was kept. Many of his designs are still used in the finest automatic watches today. All five of his original timepieces are on display at the observatory. The first four are larger, about the size of a bedside table, while H5 was a watch design and about the size of a saucer.
We walked down the hill and toward the river where the Cutty Sark is in dry dock. The ship was launched in 1869 and set several run records between England / India and between England / Australia. Not only was she fast but was built to carry 1.3 million pounds of cargo. She first was in the tea trade and when the Suez Canal made her uncompetitive she was used for the wool trade. She ended her sailing life being used as a training ship between 1938 and 1953. She is the only surviving extreme clipper ship and the only tea clipper left. It was a pleasure to be able to walk her decks and imagine her motion with a full compliment of sail bent on. The Cutty Sark is currently undergoing efforts to keep her from deteriorating further.
After the Cutty Sark we caught a Thames Ferry to Westminster, A nice ride with one of the crew giving historical and interesting facts as we moved up the river. At Westminster we were able to catch the Tube back to Bayswater and a very late lunch of fajitas at a neighborhood restaurant.
Greenwich is somewhat village-like and is yet another UNESCO World Heritage Site. (We’re thinking of renaming the Davis East West Expedition the UNESCO Tour.) The town is filled with architecture from most of the greats of the Enlightenment mainly due to royal patronage and is a great place to just stroll and look.
The National Maritime Museum is the collection that explains the phrase “Britannia Rules the Waves”. It covers everything from explorers to merchantman to liners to war ships and then throws in fun stuff about royal launches and yachts as well as record setting boats and people. My favorite section was The Lord Nelson exhibit, one of history’s figures that I admire. These rooms contained information on The HMS Victory, navy life of the period and even the tunic and other clothing that Nelson was wearing when he was shot during the Battle of Trafalgar. The section covering explorers was also very interesting. It focused on polar exploration and matched nicely with what we had seen in the museums in Oslo.
After a few hours we moved to the observatory so that we could hear a narrative about the site. The talk covered the reason the observatory was built, to map stars for navigational purposes, the astronomer’s that manned the observatory, the most famous being Edmund Halley of comet fame, and what the Prime Meridian means to us. The Observatory sits on a hill overlooking the Maritime Museum and the Thames. Minutes after we arrived we were treated to a tradition that has been around for hundreds of years. At 12:58 every day there is a red ball, mounted atop the original observatory building, which is raised to the top of a rod. At 1PM EXACTLY it is dropped to the bottom of the rod. This was done so that all the ships on the Thames could set their clocks. It is still dropped every day. This observatory is also the birthplace and the home of the Prime Meridian, the imaginary line of longitude that runs north and south around the earth, or the opposite of the equator. This is the basis for worldwide standardized time and allows us to co-ordinate everything from airline and shipping schedules to phone calls and TV programming. This was all done to try and solve the problem of ships determining their longitude at sea, a simple problem with a complex answer. While the observatory was built to map the stars the real answer came with accurate time keeping. (The difference in the time from where you are to the Prime Meridian will tell you how far away you are and allow you to locate your east/west position.) Parliament offered a prize of ￡20,000 (about US$12 million in today’s dollars) to anyone that could solve the problem of longitudinal location in a way that could be used by ships at sea. John Harrison was a Yorkshire carpenter that had the ability to reason out problems backed up with a lot of tenacity. Mr. Harrison labored for forty years to develop a mechanical watch that would accurately keep time during sea voyages. The requirement for the prize was accuracy to within two seconds a month. Mr. Harrison’s fifth prototype was ten times more accurate than required and literally changed the way time was kept. Many of his designs are still used in the finest automatic watches today. All five of his original timepieces are on display at the observatory. The first four are larger, about the size of a bedside table, while H5 was a watch design and about the size of a saucer.
We walked down the hill and toward the river where the Cutty Sark is in dry dock. The ship was launched in 1869 and set several run records between England / India and between England / Australia. Not only was she fast but was built to carry 1.3 million pounds of cargo. She first was in the tea trade and when the Suez Canal made her uncompetitive she was used for the wool trade. She ended her sailing life being used as a training ship between 1938 and 1953. She is the only surviving extreme clipper ship and the only tea clipper left. It was a pleasure to be able to walk her decks and imagine her motion with a full compliment of sail bent on. The Cutty Sark is currently undergoing efforts to keep her from deteriorating further.
After the Cutty Sark we caught a Thames Ferry to Westminster, A nice ride with one of the crew giving historical and interesting facts as we moved up the river. At Westminster we were able to catch the Tube back to Bayswater and a very late lunch of fajitas at a neighborhood restaurant.
posted by Gary and Holly Davis @ 11:40 AM
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