The British Sundial Society

Promoting the Art and Science of Gnomonics since 1989

The 2016-2020 Award Scheme – summary of entries

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This, the sixth scheme, has had a record number of entries, boosted in part by time available due to the COVID-19 lockdown. Visitors to the website are encouraged to submit comments on any or all of the sundials, using the reply box at the bottom of each page, on aspects such as design, craftsmanship and overall function of the dial. These comments will help the Trustees to choose the entries for particular Awards.

In summary, we have a large ‘monumental’ dial in Malaysia; a restoration of very old polyhedral dial; a ‘first venture’ to commemorate a ruby wedding; the restoration of a stained glass window dial; a number of dials (conventional and unconventional) by experts in Cambridge; an obelisk for a garden in Cornwall; a novel altitude dial linked to human activities rather than just the hours, and a number of precision dials of different types cut in slate.

17 Sep. Syed Kamarulzaman – Ta Ha Sundial, Sepang, Malaysia
10 Nov. David Brown – The Re-birth of a Large Polyhedral Sundial
16 Nov. David Hawker – A Ruby Wedding Dial
28 Nov. Didsbury Old Parsonage – Rare Stained Glass Sundial Window at Didsbury Old Parsonage
30 Nov. Frank King – Five Dials by Frank King
2 Dec. Mark Lennox-Boyd – The Voss Obelisk
22 Dec. ToolToy Project – The Circadian Yardstick
29 Dec. Martin Jenkins – 5 slate precision dials

Five Dials by Martin Jenkins

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Martin Jenkins has clearly made excellent use of his time in 2020 and has, just ahead of the deadline, submitted details of five dials to the 2020 BSS Sundial Design And Restoration Awards

Battle of Britain – 80th Anniversary

Because of my interest in flying and 2020 being the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, I decided to design and make a west facing dial to commemorate the event. The dial is slate, 600mm by 480mm x 20 mm thickness. The knowing of time is a very important aspect in flight whether for navigation, fuel management, or coordination between air traffic.

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The Circadian Yardstick

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An unusual submission to the 2020 BSS Sundial Design And Restoration Awards from the team at Tool/Toy Project.

This is the Circadian Yardstick, part of a collection of instruments made by Tool/Toy Project in 2019 for the Oslo Architecture Triennale. The collection consists of a set of objects designed to slow down the daily domestic routine by encouraging regular playful interactions with the Sun in the home. The devices engage the senses, encouraging various ways to listen, touch, watch, meditate, navigate and dance with the sunshine and its effects. 

The Circadian Yardstick works by measuring the length of the shadow of a pin (gnomon), which in turn indicates what our bodies are doing according to our circadian rhythms at various times of the day – from peak alertness to an enhanced sense of smell. By intellectually connecting our internal cycles to those of the Sun, the yardstick encourages the user to live in harmony with both.
Read on for full description and more pictures.

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2021 Solar Data Card

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I’m sorry to say that the 2021 Solar Data Card included with the December Bulletin contained a number of inaccuracies, all due to an oversight by me and in no way reflecting on the accuracy of the information kindly provided by Fiona Vincent. Apologies to her and to members for the mistake. A corrected version will be included with the March Bulletin and is provided here as a PDF which can be printed on a single sheet of A4 and folded to provide a two-sided A5 “card”.

Save the date: BSS Zoom Event – 17:00 to 18:30 BST, 17 April 2021

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BSS Zoom Event

In lieu of our 2021 Conference we plan to host three talks via Zoom on 17 April 2021. They will start at 17:00 BST and expect the entire event to last about 90 minutes. This time of day should suit those living in any time zone from the west coast of North America to the Middle East.

The speakers will be Fred Sawyer (President of NASS), Roger Bailey (sundial designer and former Secretary of NASS) and Woody Sullivan (Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington and instigator of the first sundial on Mars), all of whom are well known to those who attend our Conferences. We shall provide titles for the talks in the new year. Meantime, Fred has promised that there will be no equations in his talk!

Registration

If you would like to attend please email conf2021@sundialsoc.org.uk. You will be sent an acknowledgement and, later, a formal Zoom invitation. The event is free and open to anyone.

Zoom

Many people have become very familiar with Zoom over the last few months but if you have managed to avoid it so far and would like some help, please read on for guidance on both its use and how to install it, kindly provided by BSS member Mike Faraday, as well as an offer of 1:1 assistance from Frank King.

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The Voss Obelisk

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Another submission to the 2020 BSS Sundial Design And Restoration Awards, this time from our Patron Sir Mark Lennox-Boyd.

Name:
The Voss Obelisk
Type:
Pair of declining reclining slate dials with a third information slate
Year:
2019
Materials:
Burlington Slate dial plates with gold-plated bronze gnomons
Size:
Dial plates are approximately 40 cm square
Location:
Cornwall
Design and delineation:
Mark Lennox-Boyd
Dial Plate Cutting:
Ben Jones
Gnomon:
Fabrication by John Huddlestone.
Obelisk:
Portuguese Granite cut in Portugal and supplied by Lantoom Quarry, Cornwall
Hidden metalwork:
John Huddlestone
Reference:
Mark Lennox-Boyd and Ben Jones: ‘The Voss Obelisk, Time for Evermore’, BSS Bulletin 31(iv) 12-16 (December 2019).

BSS Sundial Design And Restoration Awards 2020

There’s still time to enter the competition, so for those who have been creating dials during lockdown now is the time to share! For more information, see details of the competition.