| My thanks to everyone who joined me for my talk on The Secret World of Weather at the Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival on Friday. It was the first large audience indoor event I’ve done in a long time and it was a buzz. I took the above photo during my walk around the South Devon town. A. Which direction are we looking? B. How can the telegraph pole help us make a basic map? |
Answers:
A. We are looking at the north side of a church, so we must be looking… South. Clues: 1. Moss, algae and dull lichens on the roof. Compare this with the opposite side of the same church in the photo below, where we can see plenty of golden Xanthoria lichens. You’ll also notice the door is on the south side at the west end, which is typical of traditional church architecture. 2. There is a strip of algae on the telegraph pole, a strong sign this is the north side of the pole. 3. There are few wind clues in the foliage as it is in the shelter of the church. This is a weak clue in itself: the trees are likely to be on the lee side (NE) of the building. The beady-eyed may have spotted just the slightest trace of a wind from the right in the branches at the very bottom-right of the picture, which is the only part not sheltered by the church. B. Telegraph Pole: There are many more lines running off to the right of the pole than to the left. It is likely, but not guaranteed, that the centre of town is to the right and behind us. Having worked out that we are looking south, we should head NW to find the centre of town.  |
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