Polychaete research in the Falklands by Teresa Darbyshire - day 18 Peter Howlett, 2 December 2011 This was an odd ‘in between’ kind of day. With no car to get around I was very limited in my options of what to do. I got a lift over to the Fisheries department this morning and spent a few hours putting notes together of the animals I’ve found so far and the sites I’ve been to. I also managed to put names to some of species by going through relevant papers I had.Eventually I put together what pots and chemicals I needed to take with me on this weekend’s dive survey and walked back into Stanley. This was actually very pleasant as the weather at that point was warm and sunny and the wind seemed to be dropping off. On my way I passed a Night Heron (photo 1) at the water’s edge, the first I have seen not sitting still on a nest. Apparently they are generally most active at night, hence the name! All very tranquil.The low tide was late afternoon today and rather than waste it without a car, I decided to sample a different site along the edge of Stanley. This similarly involved a nice walk along the water’s edge deciding which spot to dig up. By this point, the usual strong wind had become a gentle breeze and the water was unusually still, it all made a nice change.Stanley is a long, stretched out town, so walking along the front takes a while. There’s not a great deal of change along the shore but I picked a spot just short of the wreck of the Jhelum (photo 2), an old wooden sailing ship condemned and left to rot all the way back in 1871!This site was slightly different to the one we first sampled over two weeks ago. The stones embedded in a coarse sand were covered underneath in the tubes of the same terebellid worm we found on day 1. Although these worms were the same, there were lots of others in the sand to pick out as well and I am hopeful that some of these may be different. Again, being car-less meant no going back to the lab to look at my catch under the microscope. I had to content myself with sorting them out in the flat instead.Plans are underway to hire a car next week to get me mobile again for my last week of sampling which will be great. As for tomorrow, we are leaving at 6am for Egg Harbour on the edge of Falkland Sound between East Falkland, where I am now, and the other main island, West Falkland, where we will be diving for the next few days. Hopefully, the still evening is a good sign of the weather we will get.
Frosty fingers Danielle Cowell, 2 December 2011 Frosty fingers as I cycled into the museum this morning - finally it is starting to feel like Winter.Yesterday was the first meteorological day of Winter, but the mild autumn, has left my garden looking a little confused.This Autumn has been one of the warmest on record since 1910, which could explain why my roses, daisies and trees are flowering in December! See the pics I took on my phone this morning.The first bit of frost appeared in the garden which will probably freeze my poor confused flowers. Alongside, these flowers I also have other trees displaying a bumber display of Autumn berries.Do you have any pictures of flowers in December?
James Pyke Thompson (1846-1897) David Jenkins, 1 December 2011 James Pyke Thompson, 1846-1897 James Pyke Thompson was one of Amgueddfa Cymru's most important benefactors. He bequeathed his art collection, and donated large sums of money to help secure the development of the National Museum.James Pyke Thompson was born in Bridgwater in Somerset. He was related to Samuel Browne, who was a partner in Spillers milling company, founded by Joel Spiller in Bridgwater in 1829.There were major changes to the UK milling industry during the nineteenth century. The small rural water- or windmills were overtaken by large steam-powered mills, which were located at major ports to process the increasing amount of grain being imported from abroad to feed a growing population.Spillers in CardiffSpillers opened just such a mill in Cardiff in 1854.Joel Spiller's early death the previous year and the retirement of Samuel Browne left the business in the hands of the Thompson family.It was in 1864 that James Pyke Thompson joined his father Charles in managing Spillers at Cardiff. He settled in Penarth in a fine house called Redlands, and he and his wife Sarah played an active role in Cardiff's West Grove Unitarian church.An enthusiastic art collectorBefore joining the firm, Pyke Thompson had spent a year in Paris, where he developed an interest in fine art. His collection comprised the remarkable pre-Raphaelite oil painting Fair Rosamund by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (purchased by him for just £72-9-0d in 1885), twenty-eight prints by Turner, over seventy watercolours by various British artists and a fine collection of Worcester, Chelsea, Nantgarw and Swansea porcelain.Pyke Thompson wanted to share his collection with the public. In 1887 he built a gallery, which he called the Turner House, in the grounds of his house. He opened it on 27 June 1888, and it was open on Sunday afternoons, a somewhat controversial issue at that time. Pyke Thompson had long argued that public museums and art galleries should open on Sundays, believing that such opportunities would "...elevate men's thoughts and touch their hearts."Pyke Thompson died at Sevenoaks, Kent, on 17 February 1897 and the Turner House was eventually taken over by the National Museum in 1921. In his will he bequeathed his art collection, which by then included a large Turner watercolour of Ewenny Priory, and the sum of £3,000 to Cardiff Museum; this was later transferred to the new National Museum.His generosity to the Museum is recalled in the Pyke Thompson gallery in National Museum Cardiff, where part of his collection of porcelain is on show today; other works of art from his collection are on show elsewhere in the Museum's art galleries.External linksFfotogallery, Turner House
Polychaete research in the Falklands by Teresa Darbyshire - day 17 Peter Howlett, 1 December 2011 I’m halfway through my trip. Two weeks from now, at the time I’m writing this, I should be back in my own bed. It’s a strange thought.My intention to do another pre-breakfast orca vigil this morning failed as I woke to to the sound of wind and rain at 5.30. I wasn’t that dedicated and so went back to sleep. Still, after breakfast, with a couple of hours before my flight back, I headed out with a last hope. As I reached the beach I thought I saw a black fin in the water….no it was five! I spent the next hour and a half happily watching a pod of orcas patrolling outside the sheltered pool that the seal pups play in (photo 1). The occasional squall blew through leaving me very damp and the strong wind made standing up difficult but it was worth staying. My camera’s not good enough to get really good shots from the distance I was at but I did what I could. Sadly, I didn’t get to see any seal-munching though, ah well.The flight back was bumpy and the landing was my first experience of approaching a runway sideways but ended smoothly. The flight also afforded good views of the islands from the air (photo 2) The afternoon was spent editing two talks I am due to give here, one to a general public audience and one, slightly more technical, to the staff at the Fisheries department. Now that I have had a couple of weeks here and have some photographs of the worms I have been collecting, I was able to add a bit more local relevance to the presentations.Sadly, the night before I went diving last week, the owner of the car I was borrowing returned and retrieved it. I now have to work on finding an alternative in order to do more shore sampling. Still ,we are off on a new dive survey on Friday morning and I have plenty to do at the lab tomorrow to keep me going until then.Not much to report today so I thought I might add a few words on life out here for those who are interested.Before I flew out, several friends voiced doubt and some concern about the availability of various supplies out here. In some cases you might have thought I was flying out to a third world country! Just in case though I was careful to pack some essentials. A small jar of marmite and some chocolate. Well, let’s face it, toiletries were bound to be available. I am happy to report however, that supply levels are good and marmite, the rating standard, is indeed available. Even my Green & Blacks milk chocolate can be replaced.Groceries are generally quite expensive. However, as the two main supermarket brands stocked are Sainsbury and Waitrose it’s difficult to judge how much of the expense is the brand and how much the shipping!Fresh fruit and vegetables are expensive and not available in a large variety but frozen and tinned varieties are easy to stock up on. Fresh meat is mostly beef or mutton of varying cuts and both are cheap, very good quality and very tasty. In terms of other kinds of non-food supplies its difficult to know what’s available. From what I’ve heard though most are bought via Amazon!People are all very friendly and in that typical island style, everyone knows everyone and where they live. If you need to know where someone lives or their phone number, if you ask someone on the street then they will probably know!As mentioned before, 99% of all cars on the road are 4x4s and most of these are landrovers. Speed limit is 25mph around town and 40mph everywhere else for very good reasons. It’s only around Stanley that smooth roads exist. Outside of town, roads are just gravel and only go to the main settlements. Beyond that there are just tracks that require the 4x4. I’ve heard several stories of accidents and none are between cars, all involve coming off the road. I won’t be speeding anywhere! Fingers crossed I’ll get some transport sorted though so I can trundle off somewhere new soon.
William James Tatem, 1st Baron Glanely (1868-1942) David Jenkins, 30 November 2011 William James Tatem, 1st Baron Glanely of St Fagans. Lord Glanely is probably best remembered today as a noted racehorse owner, whose horses won all five Classic races of the British turf. However, he made his money in shipping, and was generous in his support of numerous worthy causes in south Wales, particularly Amgueddfa Cymru and Cardiff University. Tatem was not Welsh at all; he was born at Appledore in north Devon in 1868, and the early death of his father Thomas led his mother to move her family to Cardiff when Tatem was eighteen. He joined the shipping company Anning Brothers as a clerk and became thoroughly familiar with all aspects of the shipping business. Armed with this knowledge he ventured into shipping on his own account in 1897, and the master of one of his first ships was a fellow-native of Appledore, William Reardon Smith. A substantial fleet By 1914 Tatem had built up a substantial fleet of sixteen ships. He was knighted in 1916 and in 1918 was elevated to the peerage, taking the title Baron Glanely of St Fagans. A perceptive and far-sighted shipowner, he sold off his entire fleet for a vast sum at the height of the post-First World War boom in 1919, only to re-enter shipowning with the purchase of six new ships, obtained at bargain prices, a few years later. This enabled him to survive the depression years far better than many of his contemporaries. Exning, Lord Glanely's palatial Newmarket house. Lord Glanely leads in Singapore, victorious in the 1930 St Leger; the jockey was Gordon Richards 'Sporting Bill' His horse-racing interests expanded considerably after the First World War. In 1919-20 he bought the fine house Exning in Newmarket, together with the nearby Lagrange stables. His first major win came at Royal Ascot in 1919 when his Grand Parade won the Derby. This win caused some controversy, as he had another horse running in the same race, the favourite, Dominion. At the finishing post Dominion was far down the field, while Grand Parade came home first at 33:1 — and all of Glanely's money was on the latter horse! He was a familiar figure at all the major race meetings and was popularly known as "sporting Bill". Philanthropy and charitable causes He was generous in his financial support of the National Museum, and this is recalled by the Glanely gallery in National Museum Cardiff. He was twice president of the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire, in 1920-25 and 1934-42, where he had funded the construction of new scientific laboratories. During the Spanish Civil War he employed two of his own ships to transport a large number of Basque refugees to south Wales, and he also endowed a charity to support them thereafter. Despite his success in so many endeavours, personal happiness eluded him. His only son Shandon died aged just six in 1905, and Lady Glanely died following injuries sustained in a car accident in 1930. He was killed in an air-raid on Weston-Super-Mare on 24 June 1942.
