Seascale is a town with some Physics pedigree - you can see the Sellafield plant looming large behind it in the picture below. I did once hear that it had the highest average IQ of any town in the country in the 1950s due to the influx of Physicists sent to build the plant. I wonder if that's still true.
So I was really pleased to find a lovely bit of Physics near the station. It's a sundial where you act as the gnomon and your shadow points to the correct time. There are even two sets of numbers - one set for GMT and the other for British Summer Time. The clever bit is the block you stand on - different months mean different shadow positions. Note that the months near the solstice have thinner sections. Those near the equinox have wider sections because the day length changes fastest near the equinox. It claimed to be to within 15 mins, but I thought it was 30 minutes out. Whatever - any equipment that even tries to state its uncertainty gets my vote!
Random bloke tries out the sundial.
The all important month block.
