British Sundial Society

A summary of the recent
Exeter Conference - 2010
April 9-11 2010
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2010's conference was a great success - not least because the sun actually shone for us! Thanks to all who helped make it so successful and thanks especially to all those overseas delegates who braved the risks of a rail strike to come.

If you didn't come this year why not try and make it to next year's meeting? Click here for details and a booking form for the 2011 Conference at Wyboston Lakes.
To whet your appetite here are some images from the meeting; thanks to Mike Isaacs, Chris Lusby-Taylor and John Davis for these.

A summary of comments received is given below but first, some pictures. Click on any thumbnail for a larger image.

Here is a short video clip of the dials we saw on Martin Jenkins' excellent Saturday Dial Tour.

This year we placed a questionnaire into each delegate's conference wallet. So far we've had about a 36% response! Click on the image below to see a breakdown of the comments we have received so far. A summary in percentage terms was also included with the June edition of the Bulletin.

If you were a delegate and have not yet submitted your completed BSS Questionnaire, please do send it to Patrick Powers at the address in the back of any Bulletin. Your views will be added to those in the table above.

Here's a reminder of where we were, what we heard about and the excellent facilities that Exeter University offered us:

Here are some images of the University facilities. Top to bottom and left to right, we see two external views of Holland Hall, inside a bedroom, the approach to our block of rooms, room fridge (unstocked!) and safe, two shots taken inside the dining hall, the self serving area, the lecture theatre, the lectern and the 20ins deep modular tables that were used for exhibits.

The Location	The Streatham Campus, which is the biggest of the three University sites in Exeter, is built within a former country estate overlooking the city and its surrounding countryside. The campus is one of the most beautiful in the country with gardens having many rare species of plants and trees. It presents a beautiful and relaxing environment for students and visitors to enjoy. There are also excellent sporting facilities on site. At the centre and in an area which we shall pass as we walk to and from the lectures, is the Italianate Reed Hall Mansion. You can get a flavour of the site here. Those who may be interested to see a 360 degree panorama view of some of the parts of Holland Hall may select 'Holland Hall' under 'Catered Accommodation' in the link here.
Holland Hall	Holland Hall is named after Sir Geoffrey Holland, the Vice-Chancellor of the University who retired in 2002. Often called, 'The Pride of the University', it is one of the newest halls and opened in September 2004. It is the University's largest and most expensive of the catered halls and was built to very high standard, with en-suite rooms having double beds, showers, toilets, heated towel rails, telephone and Internet points. (See Panorama View of a room).
Trivia	The University was founded in 1855. Across all of its campuses it caters for some 10,800 undergraduates and 5,000 postgraduates. The University is rated 13th in the 2010 Guardian University Guide, 9th by the Times Good UK University Guide. It is rated 7th in the national universities and colleges satisfaction ranking and 4th in the list of traditional universities. It is said that the University's Streatham Campus has more trees per student than any other university campus in the United Kingdom. On the Campus there is a Sculpture Walk, including pieces by Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and a statue to commemorate the events of 1989 in Tiananmen Square. The Harry Potter authoress JK Rowling read French and Classics at Exeter in 1983. Having previously been called "Dutch Courage", the bar in Holland Hall is now called "The Clog". Worried about the weather after the terrible January? Well, there's hope yet!! The warmest moment in the UK came in Exeter (no less!) on January 16th, when the mercury reached 12.4˚C (54.3˚F). How about that? Let's hope that April will also be above average..