IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
KT20 6HQ

A group of engineers and scientists gather early in the morning before (possibly) more mundane real work starts, to observe the first transit of Venus across the sun's disc in living memory. The telescope in the picture provided stunning pictures of the entire sequence using digital photography and also through the eyepiece - the actual photos taken can be observed at http://www.jim-easterbrook.me.uk/astro/ap/photo/venus/transit/ Others (including myself, equipped with a pair of binoculars to project the sun's image onto a card) had brought alternative ways of viewing the transit too - but the most innovative "viewing device" can also be seen in the picture - observe the traffic cone experiencing a new purpose as a pinhole camera to the right of the picture! It worked too!

The BBC's engineering research and development centre now occupies this Victorian gothic country house.

Since 1948 this country house at the centre of a later exclusive housing development has been the headquarters of the BBC's research department. According to an online article http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/sep/01/bbc.television the BBC were due to move out by the end of 2010, but the future use of the property is unclear. Here it is glimpsed down the private track from the nearest accessible road.

A rainbow can be seen arcing over Kingswood Warren, the location where the BBC's engineering research and development is based. Inventions that have come from the end of this rainbow include NICAM stereo, Teletext and a lot of the work behind digital telelvision in the UK including the Freeview platform. The department is however soon to be vacating this location which it has occupied since 1948 and moving to London W12 and Manchester.

We were having some new airconditioning installed. I photographed the crane lifting the heat exchanger onto the roof in a "round the corner" view mirror.