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Monday, 21 April 2014

Where in the World?

Location Specific Sundials

[Last updated addition 07/09/14: "Sagres, Portugal"]

Paris, France

This link to Shadow Pro a great site dedicated to sundials, shows a large number of sundials located in Paris either publicly or privately.
It shows them by location area so visitors can maximize any opportunity to view them in person.
Church of St. Eustache, 1st District, Paris, France
Source: Shadows Pro

Sagres, Portugal

This link shows a great example of a publicly accessible sundial there for all to enjoy in Sagres in the far South of Portugal displayed on the Waymarking website at www.waymarking.com that provides tools for you to catalog, mark and visit interesting and useful locations around the world.
Sagres, Portugal

Switzerland

This link to a Wikipedia article specifically set up to show Sundials in Switzerland.
There are multiple examples with links provided alphabetically by Canton, the administrative areas of Switzerland.
File:Ammerswil Kirchturm 154.jpg
Ammerswil Kirchturm,
Kanton Aargua, Switzerland
Source: Wikipedia

Monday, 17 March 2014

Sundial Sources - artists, creators designers and more

Sundial Sources


This post will begin a round the globe view of what is available from who and where.

[This 'Sundial Sources' post 06/09/14]

So you want to have a sundial?


Where can you find them to see?

Sundials are available to see in all countries of the world but what is publicly available will vary considerably.
Some countries where there are enthusiasts with an historic, artistic, aesthetic, engineering or perhaps simply a personal interest have logged and identified sundials throughout their countries.  There are even sundial trails - basically tourist routes which will enable a number of dials to be seen and often learn about their history, design, construction and other facts associated with them.

The Internet is a good source of information when trying to find out more about where to see sundials.
Types of location will include churches and other religious buildings, castles and fortified structures, ornamental parks and gardens, public spaces such as public squares and town or city centers, museums - especially in countries with more prolonged sunshine throughout the year, large garden centers and many other places.
See elsewhere in this blog for various examples in various places.

Where can you find them to buy them?

With so many sources all over the world, again the Internet is a great place to start to find the right source - from garden centers to artists studios and from specialist artisans to manufacturers in bulk.

Just a small sample of the great number of Internet sites
covering the creation and/or supply of sundials worldwide

What kind of price are they available from?

From a few pence/cents for a small paper dial through to whatever you want or are able to pay.
Just look at these 2 extreme examples to give an idea of the scope of difference:

sundial cut out paper
Paper sundial customised to your location on Earth


Sundial Bridge, Turtle Bay, California, USA
Conceived by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava

Who makes them?

See under "Where can you find them buy them" above.

What types of sundial are there?

There are dozens upon dozens different types and styles of sundial.
See Sundial Types and Terms

Can I influence the design?

That depends upon the designer you choose but in principle you certainly can.
Just have a chat with the designer, manufacturer or even the sales person before making a purchase.

How large are they?
As small



or as large as you like.
Sundial Bridge, Turtle Bay, California, USA

How do you decide?

That really is down to you as an individual or organisation dependent upon your need or requirements.
Is this simply for your garden as a nice feature to sit beside a bird bath?

Or could it be perhaps for a prestigious property such as a National Trust stately home in the England, Wales or Northern Ireland - or the National Trust in Scotland, maybe Australia or Italy, a Royal Oak Foundation property in the United States of America, a Parador in Spain or even a town centre or public - or private - park somewhere - anywhere in the World.

The need and the requirement will certainly help you to decide what to get - and the artists, creators, designers and manufacturers will help you with your decision.


Sunday, 9 March 2014

Dials Out and About

Sundials Out and About

[Last updated addition 07/09/14: "Sundial, St Thomas's Square, Salisbury"]
You may be surprised to know just how many sundials are around - including where you live.

Unless you live in the open countryside the chances are that there will be local examples on a house - for example in Salisbury, England,


This photo of Salisbury is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Here is another example, this time on the wall of a shop that can be found quite easily on the wall above a shop window as you wander around the small lanes around the City Centre.

Sundial, St Thomas's Square, Salisbury


On the wall of a church,

On the sundial trail in Oxford [Daily Telegraph]

or perhaps in your town centre.


The Armada dial, Plymouth, England
As previously written they have been about in many forms for thousands of years and today there are a wealth and variety of types in more places than ever from the traditional locations such as on churches and within castles to private houses, gardens and public spaces.

When you are out and about sundials are not always obvious, frequently being mounted on walls at high levels, sometimes 2 or 3 stories above street level, or as what seem to be artistic objects in parks it is not always obvious what they are.

Sometimes they are hidden away in the most unexpected places - you could live near one for years without even knowing that they exist.  This may not be because they are simply too small and insignificant but because of where they are.
An example of this is the one on the roof of the International Village Mall in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Roof top sundial, Vancouver, BC, Canada
[Google Earth 150314]
























Wednesday, 5 March 2014

Sculpture - and Art

Sculpture - and Art

This blog post introducing outside sculpture and artistic objects (objects d'art) has been moved to its own blog Sculpture - and Art to give it a more dedicated space in which to grow.

NOTE 

Use the built in Google Translate at the top right of this blog to see the content of in a language of your choice.

Sunday, 2 March 2014

Weather Vanes

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Use the built in Google Translate at the top right of this blog to see the content of in a language of your choice.
This blog is best viewed with Google Chrome.


Weather Vanes / Weathervanes

This blog post originally introduced a section on weather vanes, also known as weathervanes has been moved to its own blog Weather Vanes / Weathervanes to give it a more dedicated space in which to grow.

NOTE 

Use the built in Google Translate at the top right of this blog to see the content of in a language of your choice.




Sunday, 23 February 2014

World Record, Light and Time

World’s Largest Sundial

First searched for on 11th January 2004 and as at today, 24th February 2014 there is still not an entry in the Guinness World Records for this topic, though as mentioned elsewhere in this blog the answer to "what is the world's largest sundial" will almost certainly be the Sundial Bridge, Turtle Bay, California, USA.

NOTE 

Use the built in Google Translate at the top right of this blog to see the content of in a language of your choice.  This blog is best viewed with Google Chrome.

World's Most Expensive Sundial / Sundials on Mars

Yes, there are sundials on the 3rd planet in our solar system the red planet - Mars.
No, they have not been found there but sent there mounted on the Mars Rovers that NASA landed on Mars in March 2012
Also sometimes referred to as the World's most expensive sundial.
A nice claim but is this so actually the case?

The sundial itself is a fairly simple device and not an expensive item but if its delivery and ongoing operation as a part of the Mars Surveyor mission are included in the cost then yes it could be classed as the most expensive sundial.

The ball is the nodus, the post is the gnomon. The cameras on board are able to use the colors on the corners for calibrating colors, and the inner circles for greyscale. There is a mirrored section on the middle circle to reflect the sky.
Bill Nye's Sundial on Mars



















There are many articles about the topic on the Internet - here are just a few of them.

Europe’s Largest Sundial

According to the link Sutton-in-Ashfield, this is the largest sundial in Europe in Portland Square, Sutton, England.



Europe's Highest Sundial

Found at Guderup, Denmark it is 28 meters in diameter and can sometimes be accurately read to within 2 minutes, The clock is 12 meters high and thus Europe's highest. Around it is located a circular bench because the clock is almost located at the old herredsting place where the "wise men" sat in a circle and took key decisions.

Sundial Trails and Groups, Societies and Websites

SUNDIAL SOCIETIES

There are an increasing number of countries that have sundial societies in them – often more than one – Spain for instance has at least 4 and the UK has at least 3.
The Sundial Societies, Groups and Websites of the World page lists a number of them and includes quite a range of countries that have dedicated societies, groups or web pages.

This page and a broad range of other sundial related information and comment can be found on the colourful SunInfo page.  The specific section/link can be seen in the lower left hand corner of the image below but this is only shows a very small part of the overall page dedicated to sundials.

Extract from the SunInfo page

The information provided varies greatly but generally has photographs and images, history and descriptions, links to other sources of information including details about sundial trails.
They may also include details of sundial manufacturers of which there are as many as they are varied.

NOTE 

Use the built in Google Translate at the top right of this blog to see the content of in a language of your choice.  This blog is best viewed with Google Chrome.



·         Austria
·         Belgium
·         Canada
·         Czech Republic
·         France
·         Germany
·         Hungary
·         Ireland
·         Japan
·         Netherlands
·         New Zealand
·         Norway
·         Poland
·         Portugal
·         Slovakia
·         Spain
·         Switzerland
·         United Kingdom
·         United States of America

SUNDIAL TRAIL

Currently, February 2014, there are may different countries with sundial trails throughout the world (see this link, http://www.sundials.co.uk/sunlist.htm) with the UK and Ireland for instance showing 18 different trails from County Down to Guernsey to Cambridgeshire and beyond.

The countries list below has grown by another 3 or 4 since 2007 as the popularity of interest in sundials rises.
Note: it can be seen that there is a great similarity between the listings for the trails and the groups/societies/websites.


·         Austria
·         Australia
·         Belgium
·         Canada
·         Czech Republic
·         Ecuador
·         England
·         France
·         Germany
·         Guernsey
·         Israel
·         Italy
·         Malta
·         Monaco
·         Netherlands
·         New Zealand
·         Northern Ireland
·         Poland
·         Scotland
·         Spain
·         Turkey
·         United States of America