Stargazing Event on Hadrian's Wall

Sadly the event is cancelled due to cloud cover:Wednesday 18th of January 2012: Cawfields, time: 7pm - 9pm. Rescheduled to 11th March same time. Witness some of the darkest skies in the country by joining us (this is all organised by Northumberland National Park) at the Cawfields site, near Haltwhistle for an evening of Stargazing in the Northumberland National Park. For directions go to the following Northumberland National Park PDF. Cawfields is marked A on the map.

Links:  http://www.newcastleastronomical.org.uk/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/thingstodo/activity/stargazing-12/occurrence/55323
http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/hadrianswall/text.asp?PageId=185

P.S.: It is weather variable...so check first before venturing out. Check the links for info & phone numbers. The Milecastle Inn opposite Cawfields has organised some food for £2 a go on the night itself.

A Grand Day Out at The British Museum

Hadrian meets Hadriana: "It's up close and personal now pet!"
Hadrian surveys his new subjects outside The British Museum.

I think it is definitely worth going to the Hadrian Empire and Conflict Exhibition if you have the time, the inclination and the odd denarius (coin) or two!
The exhibition covers Hadrian's whole life, love(s), reign, and grand living quarters (his sumptuous villa/entire town at Tivoli). To his final resting place (Mauseoleum)/Castel San Angelo in Rome.
On the way home in the car. I read this letter from The Daily Telegraph (06/09/08):
Poor gallery layouts undermine visitors’ enjoyment SIR – Like Catherine Adams (Letters, September 3), I also went to Getty Images Gallery after seeing it on your website and was amazed by the clarity and atmosphere of these photographs, as well as the accessibility of the exhibits. I then went to the much-vaunted Hadrian exhibition at the British Museum and was very disappointed – not by the content, but by the display layout. Small exhibits were in cases at waist level. Labels were displayed at knee level with subdued overhead lighting, with the result that, as soon as a visitor leant over to look into the case, no one else could see a thing. He could not read it either, as his shadow was cast over the label. Fortunately, on returning home, I caught Dan Snow’s BBC programme Hadrian, which gave close-ups of the exhibits I had struggled to see, and I watched from the comfort of my armchair. Chris Green, Prestwood, Buckinghamshire
I have to say that the exhibition was jam packed and agree with a lot of the sentiments expressed here. That is a pity because there were a great many interesting exhibits - including some of the famous Vindolanda wooden tablets. I also did see Dan Snow's marvellous programme and I am hoping that I recorded it somewhere. If you can't get to the exhibition...try to see Dan's BBC programme on Hadrian. Well worth a visit!

"Northern Cities beyond revival"

"Northern Cities beyond revival" states a recent BBC report on another report concocted by a Conservative think tank (!) One of the cities mentioned includes Sunderland. Following discussion of this in the press plus a recent post by Arthur Clewley I saw a letter sent to "The Times" on Friday August 15th in defence of that great City which I would like to reproduce here:

From The Times
August 15, 2008
No need to move south when it’s far from grim up north
Sunderland has much to offer
Sir, I am certain that many residents of Sunderland may enjoy a trip to Oxford or Cambridge. However, they would be happy to return home to the seaside, their homes and a city that is being rejuvenated. Sunderland was a world-renowned centre of learning almost 600 years before Oxford or Cambridge. St Peter’s, Monkwearmouth, was founded in AD674 by the city’s patron saint, Benedict Biscop. It contained the largest library north of the Alps and produced the Codex Amiatinus, the world’s most famous Latin Bible.

More recently, Sunderland has won several awards for Britain in Bloom and in 2002 the prestigious gold award for Europe in Bloom. With the advent of the Metro, there has been improved employment and, with this, house prices have leapt. New housing developments such as the Marina and Echo 24, as well as the rejuvenation of the Georgian core, have added to pride in the city. Of course, one cannot mention Sunderland without football. The Stadium of Light is a marvellous building, putting almost all other new stadiums in the shade.

Maybe Policy Exchange (“David Cameron faces a grim trip up North after call to abandon poor cities”, Aug 13) decided to criticise Sunderland as it realises that the Tories have no chance of regaining a seat in the city after Margaret Thatcher’s destruction of one of the most modern shipyards in Europe, with a full order book at the time.

Sue Collins Sunderland

I rest my case, m'lord!