In conversation with David Strange and Beatrice Steele from the Norman Lockyer Observatory:
Discussing the legacies of Mary and Norman Lockyer and the significance of the Mary
Lockyer: Starlight project with Mayes Creative
Article by Olivia Cronin. Interview conducted on 11/10/2024.
To begin, I’d like you both to tell me a little about your backgrounds and, more specifically, what drew you to the Mary Lockyer: Starlight project.
David: I have been involved in the NLO since 2006. That was around the year when Dr Elizabeth Griffin from Cambridge University contacted us, saying she’d heard of a load of lantern slides from James Lockyer destined for the skip. She rescued them for us by contacting our treasurer Bill Hitchings, who went and picked them all up. So, we’ve had this wonderful collection since 2006. Since then, we purchased a set from a guy who was in the Exeter Magic Lantern society (he had bought them from an NLO dispersal sale around 1985), many of those featured Mary Lockyer. So that’s how I got involved with it.
Bea: As for me, my background is in Academic English. Before I started working on this PHD, I had been working on Master’s at Oxford in literature 1700-1830. So this is extremely different but I fancied a bit of a change. I’ve always been really interested in Victorian culture and society, and science/ science fiction as well. It was Jason Hall, my undergrad dissertation supervisor from Exeter, who told me about this project at the NLO as he knew I had this interest. In terms of my specific interest in the Lockyer ladies, I think there’s a lot of scholarship at the moment about women in astronomical fieldwork and the position of women outside of being wives to or sisters of astronomers (think of the Herschels). It’s a very timely project, and I believe that retrieving the histories/ rescuing those stories of marginalised groups in scientific coteries is really important.
David: I have been involved in the NLO since 2006. That was around the year when Dr Elizabeth Griffin from Cambridge University contacted us, saying she’d heard of a load of lantern slides from James Lockyer destined for the skip. She rescued them for us by contacting our treasurer Bill Hitchings, who went and picked them all up. So, we’ve had this wonderful collection since 2006. Since then, we purchased a set from a guy who was in the Exeter Magic Lantern society (he had bought them from an NLO dispersal sale around 1985), many of those featured Mary Lockyer. So that’s how I got involved with it.
Bea: As for me, my background is in Academic English. Before I started working on this PHD, I had been working on Master’s at Oxford in literature 1700-1830. So this is extremely different but I fancied a bit of a change. I’ve always been really interested in Victorian culture and society, and science/ science fiction as well. It was Jason Hall, my undergrad dissertation supervisor from Exeter, who told me about this project at the NLO as he knew I had this interest. In terms of my specific interest in the Lockyer ladies, I think there’s a lot of scholarship at the moment about women in astronomical fieldwork and the position of women outside of being wives to or sisters of astronomers (think of the Herschels). It’s a very timely project, and I believe that retrieving the histories/ rescuing those stories of marginalised groups in scientific coteries is really important.
Could you tell me about Mary Lockyer’s role or influence in Norman Lockyer’s work and the broader scientific community?
David: As far as I’ve learnt about Mary Lockyer, Lockyer’s first wife died in 1878. Mary Lockyer studied in London and got a job at the Solar Physics Observatory. Lockyer knew her quite well – there’s an affectionate letter that Lockyer sent her around 1899 to show this (Letter held at the Old Library, Exeter University). They were also both involved the Toynbee society, where they gave talks to underprivileged classes on scientific matters, at Toynbee Hall (which still exists today). Lockyer developed a friendship with Mary at this time, and in 1903, they got married. She certainly had a shared interest in archaeoastronomy.
Bea: As a photographer, I think she’s interesting. I wouldn’t exactly call her a pioneer in that field, but she was very interested in it. She’s responsible for a lot of the lantern slides we have. That extended to eclipse expeditions as well. As for her personal interests, there’s a lot of information in the Sidmouth Museum and Exeter Library collections about her. Like Lockyer, she had an interest in Japan and martial arts – reading her Jiu-Jitsu article in Nature was one of my highlights of the research. Her participation in the suffrage movement was interesting – when I went to Sidmouth Museum, I found out that she was the treasurer or secretary of that society. She was a suffragist, not a suffragette – she wasn’t actually that active in it - she was a more passive supporter of that movement. Maybe that’s been slightly overexaggerated in the accounts of her life. I think it’s quite tempting to put really progressive causes onto people in the past. She may have been more involved in that because she was a big name in Sidmouth due to her family – it may have been more of a natural role she fell into. Aside from that, the archaeoastronomy work and the biography of Norman’s life were also important contributions from Mary.
I think you're right when you talk about imposing progressive narratives onto people out of wishful thinking, perhaps wanting to create spectacular stories around figures we’re fascinated by. I do know that Mary was instrumental in setting up College Hall, the UK’s first residential hall for women, which does indicate some of her feminist activism, though perhaps not in such a dramatized way as we might imagine. I love your mention of the Jiu-Jitsu article in Nature you found at Exeter’s Library, which has also been a highlight of the research for me.
David: As far as I’ve learnt about Mary Lockyer, Lockyer’s first wife died in 1878. Mary Lockyer studied in London and got a job at the Solar Physics Observatory. Lockyer knew her quite well – there’s an affectionate letter that Lockyer sent her around 1899 to show this (Letter held at the Old Library, Exeter University). They were also both involved the Toynbee society, where they gave talks to underprivileged classes on scientific matters, at Toynbee Hall (which still exists today). Lockyer developed a friendship with Mary at this time, and in 1903, they got married. She certainly had a shared interest in archaeoastronomy.
Bea: As a photographer, I think she’s interesting. I wouldn’t exactly call her a pioneer in that field, but she was very interested in it. She’s responsible for a lot of the lantern slides we have. That extended to eclipse expeditions as well. As for her personal interests, there’s a lot of information in the Sidmouth Museum and Exeter Library collections about her. Like Lockyer, she had an interest in Japan and martial arts – reading her Jiu-Jitsu article in Nature was one of my highlights of the research. Her participation in the suffrage movement was interesting – when I went to Sidmouth Museum, I found out that she was the treasurer or secretary of that society. She was a suffragist, not a suffragette – she wasn’t actually that active in it - she was a more passive supporter of that movement. Maybe that’s been slightly overexaggerated in the accounts of her life. I think it’s quite tempting to put really progressive causes onto people in the past. She may have been more involved in that because she was a big name in Sidmouth due to her family – it may have been more of a natural role she fell into. Aside from that, the archaeoastronomy work and the biography of Norman’s life were also important contributions from Mary.
I think you're right when you talk about imposing progressive narratives onto people out of wishful thinking, perhaps wanting to create spectacular stories around figures we’re fascinated by. I do know that Mary was instrumental in setting up College Hall, the UK’s first residential hall for women, which does indicate some of her feminist activism, though perhaps not in such a dramatized way as we might imagine. I love your mention of the Jiu-Jitsu article in Nature you found at Exeter’s Library, which has also been a highlight of the research for me.
Moving on slightly, Bea, I wanted to ask about the photos you came across in your research – what was your experience working with the lantern slides as sources?
Bea: When I first came to grips with them, it was a little intimidating because there were literally thousands, the vast majority being spectral plates, which were a little hard to get to grips with. To deal with this, I made my own photographic databases of the lantern slides and chose the most significant of spectral plates to talk about and took a cross-section. Part of doing a PhD is learning where to draw the line. With any archival work, you have to be selective but view them as a collective whole, all of them are linked together.
Because they’re lantern slides, one of the most important things to keep in mind is that they would have been made for lectures and made for presentation, so when they’re all together, you can’t view them as disparate objects because they’re not intended that way and that’s not how they would have been experienced. There’s also the didactic element to the slides - it’s important to consider they were used in education. I’ve been able to link quite a few of them to specific lectures Lockyer gave, from newspapers and journals – so I know roughly how the lectures would have been delivered and how people would’ve experienced them.
At the moment, I’m looking at trying to make an online database so I can make them accessible for everyone. Some of them were reproduced at the time, in Nature or in Lockyer’s books, but it would be nice to get some more obscure or experimental ones out there. In terms of how I’m framing the project, I’ve written a few chapters of the thesis and they seem to be coalescing towards a story of how the photograph began to overtake the human eye witness at this point in history, and that’s where the project’s at right now. I’m used to working with written sources but photography was completely new to me. It’s all fascinating.
Bea: When I first came to grips with them, it was a little intimidating because there were literally thousands, the vast majority being spectral plates, which were a little hard to get to grips with. To deal with this, I made my own photographic databases of the lantern slides and chose the most significant of spectral plates to talk about and took a cross-section. Part of doing a PhD is learning where to draw the line. With any archival work, you have to be selective but view them as a collective whole, all of them are linked together.
Because they’re lantern slides, one of the most important things to keep in mind is that they would have been made for lectures and made for presentation, so when they’re all together, you can’t view them as disparate objects because they’re not intended that way and that’s not how they would have been experienced. There’s also the didactic element to the slides - it’s important to consider they were used in education. I’ve been able to link quite a few of them to specific lectures Lockyer gave, from newspapers and journals – so I know roughly how the lectures would have been delivered and how people would’ve experienced them.
At the moment, I’m looking at trying to make an online database so I can make them accessible for everyone. Some of them were reproduced at the time, in Nature or in Lockyer’s books, but it would be nice to get some more obscure or experimental ones out there. In terms of how I’m framing the project, I’ve written a few chapters of the thesis and they seem to be coalescing towards a story of how the photograph began to overtake the human eye witness at this point in history, and that’s where the project’s at right now. I’m used to working with written sources but photography was completely new to me. It’s all fascinating.
Lantern Slide showing Mary Lockyer
Credit: Norman Lockyer Observatory
Credit: Norman Lockyer Observatory
Was this period the beginning of photography being commonly used in astronomical research?
David: Yes—photography was really a new art in Lockyer’s day. It was developed in the 1830s and 40s, but in the earliest photographs, the plates were extremely slow. It was only with the advent of wet collodion plates, around the 1880s and 90s, that it became possible to capture images of fainter objects like galaxies. Think of pioneers like Isaac Roberts, who led the way in deep space photography during that era.
Bea: And by that time, photography had essentially been made cheap and accessible. I’m currently drafting a chapter on one of the eclipse expedition lantern slides at the NLO. One of the fascinating aspects is the extent to which the military supported Lockyer on these eclipse expeditions, often using them as opportunities to train their personnel in the new art of photography. They knew that photography could be crucial, not only for espionage but also for colonial measurement and management, aerial photography, and so on. They were almost piggybacking off Lockyer’s expertise, using his expeditions as exercises to train their men as photographers and develop a scientific perspective on the world.
David: Yes—photography was really a new art in Lockyer’s day. It was developed in the 1830s and 40s, but in the earliest photographs, the plates were extremely slow. It was only with the advent of wet collodion plates, around the 1880s and 90s, that it became possible to capture images of fainter objects like galaxies. Think of pioneers like Isaac Roberts, who led the way in deep space photography during that era.
Bea: And by that time, photography had essentially been made cheap and accessible. I’m currently drafting a chapter on one of the eclipse expedition lantern slides at the NLO. One of the fascinating aspects is the extent to which the military supported Lockyer on these eclipse expeditions, often using them as opportunities to train their personnel in the new art of photography. They knew that photography could be crucial, not only for espionage but also for colonial measurement and management, aerial photography, and so on. They were almost piggybacking off Lockyer’s expertise, using his expeditions as exercises to train their men as photographers and develop a scientific perspective on the world.
How fascinating! And how would that practically work?
David: On Lockyer’s expeditions, he took as many as 200 personnel and was very much regarded as a Regimental Sergeant Major. They’d arrive at their destinations about a fortnight before the actual eclipse, and he would set up training programs so that all the various teams on different cameras could practice plate-changing and timing. There would be a large eclipse clock, with someone calling out the time signals—timing was critical during the eclipse, as you wouldn’t want to risk blindness. So, everything was meticulously trained. There’s a well-known case of Lockyer’s eclipse expedition to Norway on the HMS Volage, where he requested personnel to help man all his stations. The crew numbered about 200, and everyone was a volunteer. The entire crew was involved in his timing and procedures for taking the photos, but unfortunately, that trip was cloudy, so they couldn’t capture the results.
I don’t think I’d ever thought much about the intersection between astronomy and the military before.
David: Well, luckily Lockyer had a foot in the door because he worked in the War Office and wrote the rule book for the army. He obviously carried some weight, so when he demanded the navy give him gunboats to go out to Mallorca or Spain, he did get supported by the armed forces.
David: On Lockyer’s expeditions, he took as many as 200 personnel and was very much regarded as a Regimental Sergeant Major. They’d arrive at their destinations about a fortnight before the actual eclipse, and he would set up training programs so that all the various teams on different cameras could practice plate-changing and timing. There would be a large eclipse clock, with someone calling out the time signals—timing was critical during the eclipse, as you wouldn’t want to risk blindness. So, everything was meticulously trained. There’s a well-known case of Lockyer’s eclipse expedition to Norway on the HMS Volage, where he requested personnel to help man all his stations. The crew numbered about 200, and everyone was a volunteer. The entire crew was involved in his timing and procedures for taking the photos, but unfortunately, that trip was cloudy, so they couldn’t capture the results.
I don’t think I’d ever thought much about the intersection between astronomy and the military before.
David: Well, luckily Lockyer had a foot in the door because he worked in the War Office and wrote the rule book for the army. He obviously carried some weight, so when he demanded the navy give him gunboats to go out to Mallorca or Spain, he did get supported by the armed forces.
Was there anything in it for them, other than training for their men? Why would the army be interested in funding those expeditions?
David: I suppose, in those days, it was seen as a scientific endeavour that was widely promoted and encouraged. Lockyer had been the secretary of the Devonshire Committee, a government-run initiative aimed at improving the teaching of sciences in colleges and schools. At that time, science was more dominant on the continent, and Britain was trying to catch up.
Bea: There was also the colonial angle. When Lockyer went to the 1898 eclipse in India, one of his tasks was to check up on all of the observatories. He was collaborating with the military and his son, Jim Lockyer, to try to solve the problem of famines in India, which they believed might be related to the sunspot cycle. It’s interesting, really, as a kind of forerunner to climate science, now such a major field of research. Although it turned out to be unfounded and largely based on cherry-picked data, this type of science in the colonies often served the imperial narrative rather than addressing the real issues, which were severe mismanagement and the ongoing export of grain from India, even during times of extreme famine. So, these expeditions served multiple purposes, creating interactions between bureaucracy, colonial interests, the military, and even tourism—there was a substantial contingent of tourists on the Norway expedition, travelling on their own pleasure cruise.
Those are such intriguing connections. Could you expand on the link with climate science today? How do you see the interaction between these two fields, astronomy and climate science?
Bea: In terms of the links they thought sunspots had with the weather, they believed it was connected to rainfall, and they were trying to find correlations to explain meteorological patterns, like droughts in India and Southern Australia. That’s why the meteorological office in India sent people to the 1898 eclipse to discuss this research with Lockyer. It didn’t ultimately come to anything, but it’s an early example of climate science and attempts to predict these patterns so people could have a better chance of surviving them.
David: There’s an interesting tale to tell you about Lockyer and weather predictions. Lockyer was involved in one of the earliest transatlantic radio communications with Marconi in Newfoundland. Lockyer asks him, over the radio: “What’s the weather like in Newfoundland?”. Marconi replied. Lockyer then sends a letter to The Times, saying “The invention of radio will enable us to foretell what the weather will be in a few days’ time!” Really, that’s one of the earliest weather reports from the other side of the Atlantic!
These are wonderful stories; it must have been thrilling to communicate with people across the world for the first time, and I love that Norman took that opportunity to ask about the weather!
David: I suppose, in those days, it was seen as a scientific endeavour that was widely promoted and encouraged. Lockyer had been the secretary of the Devonshire Committee, a government-run initiative aimed at improving the teaching of sciences in colleges and schools. At that time, science was more dominant on the continent, and Britain was trying to catch up.
Bea: There was also the colonial angle. When Lockyer went to the 1898 eclipse in India, one of his tasks was to check up on all of the observatories. He was collaborating with the military and his son, Jim Lockyer, to try to solve the problem of famines in India, which they believed might be related to the sunspot cycle. It’s interesting, really, as a kind of forerunner to climate science, now such a major field of research. Although it turned out to be unfounded and largely based on cherry-picked data, this type of science in the colonies often served the imperial narrative rather than addressing the real issues, which were severe mismanagement and the ongoing export of grain from India, even during times of extreme famine. So, these expeditions served multiple purposes, creating interactions between bureaucracy, colonial interests, the military, and even tourism—there was a substantial contingent of tourists on the Norway expedition, travelling on their own pleasure cruise.
Those are such intriguing connections. Could you expand on the link with climate science today? How do you see the interaction between these two fields, astronomy and climate science?
Bea: In terms of the links they thought sunspots had with the weather, they believed it was connected to rainfall, and they were trying to find correlations to explain meteorological patterns, like droughts in India and Southern Australia. That’s why the meteorological office in India sent people to the 1898 eclipse to discuss this research with Lockyer. It didn’t ultimately come to anything, but it’s an early example of climate science and attempts to predict these patterns so people could have a better chance of surviving them.
David: There’s an interesting tale to tell you about Lockyer and weather predictions. Lockyer was involved in one of the earliest transatlantic radio communications with Marconi in Newfoundland. Lockyer asks him, over the radio: “What’s the weather like in Newfoundland?”. Marconi replied. Lockyer then sends a letter to The Times, saying “The invention of radio will enable us to foretell what the weather will be in a few days’ time!” Really, that’s one of the earliest weather reports from the other side of the Atlantic!
These are wonderful stories; it must have been thrilling to communicate with people across the world for the first time, and I love that Norman took that opportunity to ask about the weather!
Mary Lockyer and students from University College of the South West
Credit: Norman Lockyer Observatory
Credit: Norman Lockyer Observatory
I’d like to return to an earlier point in our conversation. I’m really struck by what you said earlier, Bea, about decentring the grand amateurs and thinking more about the women involved in astronomy. Could you expand on that idea?
Bea: I think the goal of this project is ultimately to change public perception of this era and begin to dismantle this ‘great man’ understanding of the subject. One of the most interesting parts of my project is discovering how much of astronomical study is a group endeavour, not just the work of experts. I find all of the marginal people involved really interesting.
What do you think is driving this shift in thinking?
Bea: There are many factors involved. It’s not all due to people’s prejudices, but there was a definite lionization of these great statesman-like heroes at the time. Edward Berenson has an interesting book about the charismatic men made into celebrities in the pages of the Illustrated London News (here, Bea references Heroes of Empire), in connection with the colonization of Africa. It’s somewhat inevitable that people in a certain field will rise above the rest, whether through charisma or talent. We’re not trying to flatten the field and give everyone equal credit, because that would be inaccurate.
Can you help us highlight any other women who have been instrumental in astronomical work?
Bea: There are a few women involved in astronomical fieldwork who deserve mention. One of them, who interacted with Lockyer at the India eclipse, was Elizabeth Campbell from the Lick Observatory in the U.S. She came over with her husband, Prof. Campbell, and was instrumental in running that expedition—she basically managed the entire camp while her husband focused on the operation of the prismatic cameras. It’s a lot of hidden, invisible labor, in addition to their scientific expertise. In the U.S., it’s a different context, as they were much more progressive regarding women in astronomy—think of Dava Sobel’s The Glass Universe, which discusses the women computers at Harvard Observatory and Yerkes. We need to keep the British context in mind during these discussions, which was frankly less progressive than in the U.S. and on the continent.
David: I’d mention one other example. We have a wonderful set of lantern slides from the 1927 NLO eclipse expedition to the Oliver Duckett mound in Richmond, Yorkshire. Both Mary and Kate Lockyer were involved—Kate Lockyer was James Lockyer’s wife and Mary’s stepdaughter-in-law. We have a wonderful photograph of Kate operating the prismatic camera for James Lockyer. Unfortunately, that expedition was also pretty cloudy, and they didn’t manage to get meaningful results.
Bea: I think the goal of this project is ultimately to change public perception of this era and begin to dismantle this ‘great man’ understanding of the subject. One of the most interesting parts of my project is discovering how much of astronomical study is a group endeavour, not just the work of experts. I find all of the marginal people involved really interesting.
What do you think is driving this shift in thinking?
Bea: There are many factors involved. It’s not all due to people’s prejudices, but there was a definite lionization of these great statesman-like heroes at the time. Edward Berenson has an interesting book about the charismatic men made into celebrities in the pages of the Illustrated London News (here, Bea references Heroes of Empire), in connection with the colonization of Africa. It’s somewhat inevitable that people in a certain field will rise above the rest, whether through charisma or talent. We’re not trying to flatten the field and give everyone equal credit, because that would be inaccurate.
Can you help us highlight any other women who have been instrumental in astronomical work?
Bea: There are a few women involved in astronomical fieldwork who deserve mention. One of them, who interacted with Lockyer at the India eclipse, was Elizabeth Campbell from the Lick Observatory in the U.S. She came over with her husband, Prof. Campbell, and was instrumental in running that expedition—she basically managed the entire camp while her husband focused on the operation of the prismatic cameras. It’s a lot of hidden, invisible labor, in addition to their scientific expertise. In the U.S., it’s a different context, as they were much more progressive regarding women in astronomy—think of Dava Sobel’s The Glass Universe, which discusses the women computers at Harvard Observatory and Yerkes. We need to keep the British context in mind during these discussions, which was frankly less progressive than in the U.S. and on the continent.
David: I’d mention one other example. We have a wonderful set of lantern slides from the 1927 NLO eclipse expedition to the Oliver Duckett mound in Richmond, Yorkshire. Both Mary and Kate Lockyer were involved—Kate Lockyer was James Lockyer’s wife and Mary’s stepdaughter-in-law. We have a wonderful photograph of Kate operating the prismatic camera for James Lockyer. Unfortunately, that expedition was also pretty cloudy, and they didn’t manage to get meaningful results.
Kate Lockyer operating the prismatic camera
Credit: Norman Lockyer Observatory
Credit: Norman Lockyer Observatory
More on the 1927 eclipse expedition, on which David has previously delivered a talk: They set up a huge, 60ft coronagraph. They had to work out exactly where the sun would be at the moment of the eclipse, to align this camera, with great big wooden stilts, so they could get the angle right. There was a huge, great big complex operation to get this thing set up, and then of course it was cloudy! You can imagine them all, in their gaberdine macs in the miserable weather.
Talking about Kate has piqued my interest in the descendants of the Lockyer family. Are there any you’re still in contact with at the NLO?
David: Yes - in fact, just this last month, we had a visitor who would have been Ormonde Lockyer (James’ brother), 3x great-granddaughter coming to visit us. She is now involved with looking at the Exeter archives and graveyards and is very interested in this history.
How wonderful! What a rich ancestry to look back on.
Talking about Kate has piqued my interest in the descendants of the Lockyer family. Are there any you’re still in contact with at the NLO?
David: Yes - in fact, just this last month, we had a visitor who would have been Ormonde Lockyer (James’ brother), 3x great-granddaughter coming to visit us. She is now involved with looking at the Exeter archives and graveyards and is very interested in this history.
How wonderful! What a rich ancestry to look back on.
I have one final question for you both to round off this interview. When reflecting on the project we’ve been part of with Mayes Creative, what stands out as a highlight? I know there’s always more research to be done, but I’d love to know your thoughts so far.
David: For us at the NLO, I know we all loved Carolyn’s talk she gave at an astronomy fair about Mary Lockyer and the archaeoastronomy aspects of Mary and the Lockyer’s work. Of course there’s also the community project in getting this wonderful quilt made.
Bea: Unfortunately, I wasn’t present for the open day, but I did go and visit the Patchers and Quilters when they were making the quilt. Because Mary and the family were so prominent in the Sidmouth community, it was clear that people locally felt a really strong connection to her and her story - it was really bringing the community together. It might sound a bit saccharine, but that was a real highlight for me, seeing how it brought people together and reflected the community. A lot of the really physics-y space stuff is super interesting, but it’s great when we can bring it back to Sidmouth and Devon and in touch with people’s lives here.
I was also so pleased to see the final piece created by the Sidmouth Patchers and Quilters – it was such a lovely and unique outcome for this project. Is it now settled at the NLO?
David: No, I should think it’s on tour now – ultimately it will end up with us though!
David: For us at the NLO, I know we all loved Carolyn’s talk she gave at an astronomy fair about Mary Lockyer and the archaeoastronomy aspects of Mary and the Lockyer’s work. Of course there’s also the community project in getting this wonderful quilt made.
Bea: Unfortunately, I wasn’t present for the open day, but I did go and visit the Patchers and Quilters when they were making the quilt. Because Mary and the family were so prominent in the Sidmouth community, it was clear that people locally felt a really strong connection to her and her story - it was really bringing the community together. It might sound a bit saccharine, but that was a real highlight for me, seeing how it brought people together and reflected the community. A lot of the really physics-y space stuff is super interesting, but it’s great when we can bring it back to Sidmouth and Devon and in touch with people’s lives here.
I was also so pleased to see the final piece created by the Sidmouth Patchers and Quilters – it was such a lovely and unique outcome for this project. Is it now settled at the NLO?
David: No, I should think it’s on tour now – ultimately it will end up with us though!
Photograph of the finished quilt by the Sidmouth Patchers and Quilters
It’s been inspiring to hear about the unique collaborations on this project and the many ways it has connected local heritage with the community. Before joining, I hadn’t fully realized the significance of the NLO and the Lockyers, despite living so close to Sidmouth, so it’s been wonderful to learn about the rich history right on my doorstep. Conducting research in Exeter’s Old Library archival collections has also been a fantastic experience and a refreshing change from my usual studies.
I'd also like to highlight the contribution from The Turning Tides Project in Crediton, whose artwork and musical pieces have brought an additional community-focused layer to this project. It’s clear how much creativity and passion have gone into this endeavour!
Thank you both for sharing your insights with me—I look forward to seeing what’s next, especially with plans already underway for Norman Lockyer’s 189th birthday celebration next May. What a fitting tribute to his enduring legacy!
I'd also like to highlight the contribution from The Turning Tides Project in Crediton, whose artwork and musical pieces have brought an additional community-focused layer to this project. It’s clear how much creativity and passion have gone into this endeavour!
Thank you both for sharing your insights with me—I look forward to seeing what’s next, especially with plans already underway for Norman Lockyer’s 189th birthday celebration next May. What a fitting tribute to his enduring legacy!
With thanks to the Heritage Lottery Fund, Santander and The Norman Lockyer Observatory for their contributions.