Happy New Year 2026

 

The very last astro-image of 2025 taken over our hedge in Suffolk, looking south towards Beccles. Orion is peeking over the bush, the constellation Taurus is in the middle and the open starcluster, The Pleiades or Seven Sisters, is top centre right.

I am hoping for more clear nights in 2026 than were manifest in 2025.

So a happy New Year Stargazers wherever you are in the 'ginormous' cosmos.

I am just about to have 'Tartiflette for Tea', so I am as happy as a 'piggy in poo' Yay!

At midnight, Toot and I may  wave a few 'sparklers' to celebrate!!!

Cwistmas Cwafting 2025

 

'Mr and Mrs Roberts and Neil' acrylic paint on canvas. October 2025. By David Cockney- no relation.

By kind permission of the owners and their insurers.

Painting a portrait

The best bit about art is that it is personal. In my arty farty realm there are no rules and happily for me I rate the 'journey' above the 'destination'.🤣

Now the big difference between a portrait and a landscape is primarily whatever way you choose to render a landscape " it doesn't get the hump" whereas a lack of 'likeness' in a portrait can cause a severe reaction from the model or sitter.

So I like to prepare a detailed drawing on the canvas using a very soft pencil prior to getting out the brushes and paint. 

At this stage getting the likeness from ' get go'  is a bonus but being there or thereabouts will do. There will be many design interactions once you start to paint.

As you can see, I use photographs and photo editing to compose my portrait. However, although. I really admire super realistic painting skills, I much prefer paintings to be looser and softer. If you want figurative realism why not stick with a photograph?

I love it once I get the canvas on my easel in the 'cabine' and start splashing on the paint with big brushes. Save the fine brushes to the end or it all gets a bit fiddly!

Now, all this 'squit' I'm posting regarding portrait painting should be run through the 'old architect who has never been taught to paint properly ' filter. Thing is, in the olden days, when I was schooled in the mysteries of architecture it took 7 years to train. One year was sufficient to acquire the building knowledge but it took another six years to lose any semblance of modesty or restraint when offering advice upon any subject under the Sun. You have been warned!

I have recently  moved from using oil paint to acrylic paint primarily because the drying time between coats for acrylic is much shorter, minutes rather than days.

               

I like to block in the face first concentrating upon: its shape, the relative position and size of facial features and levels of shadow and light as it defines facial contours. At this point in developing the 'picture' I use colours selected for their contrast rather than accuracy. 

Checking background colours and how they blend and contrast with the face is an important part of the development process.  Careful selection of colour during the development of the painting, will enable the end result to come together harmoniously and possess impact. 'Likeness' will come and go along the way and is impacted by very small additions and removals. Tiny changes to the eyes nose and mouth make significant differences.

It is a very good thing when painting to take a break and come back in 24 hours with a fresh eye. Given time to think you can return to your work with a better informed appreciation of what needs to change.

I like a bit of symbolism in a painting, see if you can find its use in my finished portrait of my partner Toot.

As the painting nears completion I use smaller brushes and transparent washes of paint. You can use acrylics as a wash if you use the appropriate paint medium. Once you have captured the ' likeness' put your brushes down.

Even after varnishing a painting, I sometimes add a small paint mark here or there, which just helps to emphasise likeness or composition.

Golden rule: it is not really about technique and all about fun and emotion.

Steve Dongle's favourite tree at Christmas

 

Steve Dongle and Father Christmas share a favourite tree at Christmas - The Nordmann Fir Abies nordmanniana (Steven) Spach.

A classic Yuletide tree that will keep its 'needles' from falling in the warmest of centrally heated homes.

Steve and all the other disparate characters that appear in this blog, together with our sponsors George and Anita, wish all our readers, wherever you are in this wonderful world, a very merry Christmas and a peaceful and happy New Year.

The Badger before Christmas

( By Syd Carp - noted aquarist)

'Twas the badger before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a goat;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas would actually turn up;

The kids were nestled all snug in their beds;

While visions of sugar-plums danced on their phones;

And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just unblocked the drains to remove something unpleasant,

The Hippodrome a unique Christmas Spectacular

 

From the moment the Edwardian seaside crowds first filed through its doors in 1903, the Hippodrome Circus in Great Yarmouth has stood as a living testament to the magic of the traditional circus. Conceived and built by the showman George Gilbert and designed by engineer-architect Ralph Scott Cockrill, the Hippodrome was one of the first purpose-built, permanent circus buildings in England, rising in brick and terracotta with art-nouveau and art-deco flourishes, at a time when seaside resorts were at the height of their popularity. Its façade—with ornate terracotta, towering arches and relief detail—settled into the town’s cultural heart, drawing visitors from far beyond the Norfolk coast.

Inside, the air buzzes with acrobats, clowns, equestrians and singers, but unlike any ordinary circus, the Hippodrome’s ring holds a secret. Beneath the sawdust floor lays a mechanical magic: with a dramatic descent of the wooden ring, the space can be transformed into a deep pool for water spectacle shows—a theatrical flourish that has made the building world-famous. This rare feature—the only such sinking-ring water stage still operating in the world—allows aquatic dances, synchronized swimming and fountain displays as climactic parts of the performance, blending circus artistry with the dramatic choreography of water and light. 

Across the decades the Hippodrome survived wars, changing tastes and even the decline of traditional big-top circuses. In 1979 it was rescued from decline by Peter Jay, who restored the water spectacle in 1981 and established a rhythm of seasonal Circus Spectaculars that continue to this day under the management of the Jay family. An extraordinary and multi-talented show business family. Audiences now flock not just for classic circus acts but for lavish productions—Pirates Live, Halloween Spooktacular and the much-loved Christmas Spectacular—where international performers, daredevil acrobats and the iconic water show converge in a uniquely immersive experience. 

Over a century after its opening, the Hippodrome remains not just a building but a living piece of performance history—Britain’s only surviving total circus theatre still dedicated to its original purpose, and one of the world’s most unusual stages where land, sea and spectacle meet under one roof.

I first went to the circus at the Hippodrome 70 years ago, and more recently attended with our children and then grandchildren. The Hippodrome is a keystone for a fun filled Christmas!

"There is no room in the aquarium"

 

Sadly, our aquarist chum, Syd Carp, has been a bit 'uncle dick' (slightly unwell). As a consequence the Cabine's aquarium was in need of a partial water change and a bit of water plant gardening. Literally the Lotus had taken over and there was "no room in the aquarium".

Thankfully, the east Coast's premier eco-warrior and arboriculturalist, Steve Dongle, came into the 'Cabine' today to help Syd carry out a ' tank tidy-up' for Christmas.

What a man! No wonder he is always followed by a 'Moon-shadow', a swan and a badger!

A Merry Christmas to all 'Tank Fans'.

Westward Leading and still proceeding.

 

"Our star in the east is currently Aldebaran an orange giant star in the Constellation Taurus the Bull. The Hyades and the Pleiades, open star clusters, provide additional colour and interest in this part of the sky. We await the arrival of Kings, Shepherds and Angels but will settle for Father Christmas".

Wooden Heart.

A wise lady once said to the woman I love most in all the world, that a Christmas Tree is really a celebratory totem of family memories. 

This elf-made wooden tree first appeared in our home nine years ago but some of the ornaments are much older. It holds memories of our children and grandchildren growing up and of parents and grandparents long dead.

The ornaments that adorn its branches, remind us of friends, former colleagues and of shared travel through time and the world.  It is a much loved decorative seasonal record of our long life together.  It celebrates both Christmas present and very many past Christmases. A lot of memories are held by one small wooden tree, which shares our sitting room for four weeks in December and January each and every subsequent year.

Hot and Cold Lava in Sicily

 

'Hot and Cold Lava'
digital art, 2025. George Roberts

A composite image put together using real data captured  over one day and night with my Seestar S30, in Sicily this summer. Etna, very kindly, decided to erupt and the roof terrace from our hotel provided us with a grandstand view. AI was not used in the generation of this image.

Barry the Snowman 2025

 

Barry the Snowman surprised us all by arriving last night and taking up residence in his garden office. 🎄 Christmas ⛄ 2025 can now commence. Nice to see you mate!

One for David Bowie

 Conjunction between the Moon and the Pleiades with lots of 'serious moonlight'. December 2025.

The last known tree in the Universe of Old Men

 

'The last known tree in the Universe of Old Men'
 George Roberts, November 2025. Software credit: INCENDIA NEXT.

When architects get very old, they design & build sustainable castles in the sky.

Our favourite constellation - Orion the Hunter in all his splendour.

 

Orion over St Michael's Church,
Oulton Broad, Suffolk.

The Constellation Orion showing emission nebulosity
associated with the Orion Loop and Orion's Dagger.

The Flame and the Horsehead Nebula
below Orion's Belt.

The Orion Molecular Cloud
and the Running Man Nebula
in Orion's Dagger

One of the most interesting constellations in the winter northern hemisphere sky. When we see Orion striding across our garden, as we look south, we know that Autumn and Winter stretch before us. It will not be long before it's Christmas.

Many thanks for the photographs, to Kurt Thrust and the team at the Jodrell Plank Observatory, the Uk's most easterly operational astronomic observatory.

https://jodrellplankobservatory.blogspot.com/

The Persistence of Time or I should have built a 'retrospectascope'

 

'When I had a fringe Salvador' - digital art by George Roberts October 2025

'Growing up'

I had no sibling, sister or brother

So I listened to Dad and Mother

 

But one day I realised

What they said was

Utter Bollocks!

 

I was often told at school

Not to play the bloody fool

 

But one day I realised

What they said was

Management Bollocks!

 

Grandees of Commerce and State

Agree it’s a sad but true fact of fate

That you need loads of losers

To make just a few big winners

 

But one day I realised

What they said was

Economic Bollocks!

Schrödinger's cat

 

Schrödinger's cat - digital art, George Roberts October 2025

Quantum physics is all very well but no one explains why Erwin Schrödinger' chose a cat to put in that box. He could have secreted a miniature Schnauzer or an okapi or even a badger in a sealed box but instead opted for a domestic cat. Can animals only exist in multiple states in boxes or would a tied sack have sufficed for this particular mind experiment?  

There is no accounting for taste in pet husbandry and packaging at the Planck scale!

Tartiflette

 

You will never regret 

Eating Tartiflette 

Although you may feel queezie 

Because it's all so cheesy 

Recurring Patterns or I wonder what I will do when I grow up?

 

'Free Form' - abstract digital art  - George Roberts. September 2025

When I was a kid, many moons ago, I remember using the difference in the viscosity of paint and water, to create swirly patterns on dipped paper.  Now, with the aid of fractal math and video editors to distort the resultant images, I am back doing the same stuff and making similar patterns, sixty or more years after, but this time in digital format.

Similarly, I still enjoy grilling fish on an open fire in our small backyard, just like my Iron Age antecedents did thousands of years ago. Nothing much changes in East Anglia.

Liquified

 

Liquified - digital art September 2025, George Roberts

Orchids began to melt 

Rain drops fell as steam!

The tiger adjusted its equatorial belt

And gibbons started to scream

The Jealous Sun

 

The Jealous Sun
- digital art, George Roberts Sept 2025

The Milky Way - Then and Now.

 

The Milky Way from  Étoile-Saint-Cyrice. France, in 2016.
Canon 400d DSLR on a fixed tripod

" Ageing is a most surprising event. We all know it's happening to us, from the moment we become sentient to the moment we no longer are. So why the surprise? 

Well, each of us is the centre of our own story and in the day to day hub-bub of delivering our unique role in the universe, we lose sight of the passage of time.

For much of life, time is experienced as a series of events: births, marriages and deaths being the 'big three'. We also split time into zones, Pre-school, School, University, Work and Retirement. We seldom think of time as a finite resource to be used with care and never squandered. Perhaps we can only move effectively through the 'now space' of our lives, if we relegate time to the mechanical beat of  'before and after'.

Time's best trick is to pretend it advances linearly. Sure, the way we measure it, the steady tick of the metronome, makes it seem that any second is like any other. But, I'm pretty sure that since my seventy-fifth birthday, the passage of time is accelerating as I decelerate in almost every other possible way.

'Age' doesn't have to mark time with 'decline' and in some areas, just like an ageing Camembert, I have matured. This is why the prudent ageing gentleman should always wear stronger smelling cologne, post 70th birthday!

The above photograph was taken in 2016 from Olly Penrice's balcony looking west, just after sunset. Quite an inexpensive camera and lens combination being used with enthusiasm rather than expertise. Nearly ten years on I have more expensive cameras , lenses, software and other 'techy gee-gaws' to play with. As I am a bit more experienced in astrophotography, I thought I would dig in the archive to find the data from 2016 and give it the 2025 data processing treatment.

Olly gave me my first lesson in processing digital data for astro-photography and from the week spent with him, my hobby and interest have developed. Both Anita and I remember the week we spent with Olly and Monique with great happiness. 

When I looked at the image I could see the Milky Way rising above the trees, sense the salamander on the steps, hear the boar moving in the dark and smell the wood burning on the fire. Memories involve all our faculties and can be happy and sad simultaneously!

On and Off Grid

 

'Wired'
-digital abstract art -
 George Roberts September 2025

Wired 

- a poem by George about 

 21st  century tom-twattery

I woke up early this morning

Opened my phone, yawning

Read the BBC online

So sadly, I am ‘wired’

Went to town by car

It wasn’t so very far

‘Fuckin-flags’ on lamp-posts!

So sadly, I am wired

Opened a letter from HRMC

They need £800 sent from me

My 97 year old mother is in arrears

So sadly, I am wired.

Not wishing to be blunt

All I need is one more ****

To apply additional bleak bullshit in my life

As sad to say, I am 100% wired.

5 minutes ago, the phone rang in the hall

It was of course an unsolicited nuisance call

So being terminally wired

I pulled the bloody plug and went off grid

Panspermia

 

'Panspermia'
- digital art, George Roberts August 2025

All across the universe spread so very thin

Micro crystalline structures holding DNA within

Withstanding deep freeze and radiation

Gravitation, kinetic impacts and ablation

Information coded for all creation

A continuous cosmic secular revelation 

George Roberts

The idea of 'Panspermia' is one of those scientific hypotheses that carries with it not only biological and astronomical implications, but also deep philosophical ones. At its heart, Panspermia proposes that life does not necessarily have to originate on the planet where it is found. Instead, the seeds of life, or even fully formed microorganisms, may be transported between worlds on fragments of rock ejected by cosmic collisions. 

The mechanism is straightforward in principle, if spectacular in scale. When a large asteroid or comet collides with a planet, the violence of the impact may blast pieces of its surface into space. If those pieces are expelled with enough force, they can escape the planet’s gravity and begin a journey through the Cosmos. Some of these rocks might carry within them microbes, cocooned in the protective shielding of stone. Over millions and billions of years, these fragments can drift, crossing the vastness between worlds. Eventually, gravitational pull may draw them into the orbit of another planet, where they fall through the atmosphere and come to rest on a new surface. In such a scenario, if the microbes inside remain viable, they may awaken in a new environment and establish themselves in alien soil.

Evidence that such a process is at least physically possible already exists. We have discovered meteorites on Earth that can be traced back to Mars, most famously the Antarctic specimen known as ALH84001. If Martian rocks can find their way here, then by extension, Earth rocks can find their way to Mars. Laboratory experiments and space missions have also demonstrated that certain hardy microbes, such as bacterial spores, can survive extremes of radiation, temperature, and vacuum, at least for long durations. The challenge lies in proving survival over the immense timescales required for interplanetary travel, as well as surviving the heat and stress of atmospheric entry.

The implications of Panspermia stretch far beyond the technical. If life on Earth began not here but on Mars, it would force us to reconsider our place in the story of creation. Earth might not be the cradle of life, but rather one link in a chain of worlds passing life’s torch from one to the next. On an even larger scale, if Panspermia were shown to occur frequently, then life in the universe might not be rare at all. Once it begins in one favourable place, it could spread, seeding many worlds with variations of the same ancestral spark.

There is also something profoundly humbling in the thought that we may not be entirely “of” the Earth. Our roots, biological and existential, might extend beyond this planet to other corners of the solar system, perhaps even beyond. If life on Mars or Europa were someday found to share a genetic kinship with life on Earth, it would not only prove that we are not alone, but that we are part of a wider cosmic family. It would mean that the universe is less a collection of isolated worlds, and more a web of connected habitats, bound together by the quiet migration of life.

In turbulent times such as ours, when human anxieties are often sharpened by the fragility of our own existence, the concept of Panspermia offers a curious comfort. It suggests that life is resilient, not fragile; that it finds ways to endure, adapt, and spread across unimaginable distances. Whether or not Panspermia turns out to be true in a literal sense, it is a reminder that life—our life—is deeply embedded in the processes of the cosmos, shaped by forces both violent and creative, yet still capable of carrying forward the fragile flame of existence.

Aftermath - Stone of regret.

 

"Aftermath" - pyrography on ceramic - Herr Aldi August 2025.

"The light that burns twice as bright burns for half as long" - Eldon Tyrell.

Spiders from Mars

 

'Spiders from Mars'
digital art (Mandelbulb 3 software), George Roberts August 2025.

After listening last night, to the Darsham Dogs performing Ziggy  Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, I wondered what Spiders from Mars would be like!

My guess, a bit scary, a bit DC Comics and very robot!

Deep Time, from before the time of Aslan

 

 

The trace plant leaf or stem found in the broken coal 
(central brown rectangle).

Whilst undertaking a partial water change of his tropical fish aquarium, Syd Carp dropped a piece of coal onto the floor. The lump of coal split to reveal a partial trace plant fossil.  Syd showed this remnant of Carboniferous life to his Australian friend  Barry 'Digger' Stone who was much intrigued down under.  

The Carboniferous Period in the United Kingdom

The Carboniferous Period, spanning approximately 359 to 299 million years ago, was a time of profound geological and biological development, particularly well represented in the United Kingdom's fossil record. Named for the vast coal-bearing strata it left behind, the period is divided into two epochs: the Mississippian (early Carboniferous) and the Pennsylvanian (late Carboniferous), though in the UK it is traditionally divided into the Dinantian and Silesian.

Geology and Environment

During the early Carboniferous, much of the British Isles lay near the equator and was submerged beneath warm, shallow tropical seas. This setting fostered the development of extensive limestone formations, such as those found in the Peak District, Mendip Hills, and South Wales, forming ideal conditions for the fossilization of marine life. Over time, as the period progressed, these seas gave way to extensive coastal swamps, delta plains, and flooded forests, particularly in areas like Yorkshire, Scotland, and the Forest of Dean.

The later Carboniferous saw the formation of immense peat-forming forests, composed of towering lycopsids, calamites (giant horsetails), and ferns, which eventually formed the coal seams of Northern England, South Wales, and Central Scotland. The repeated flooding and burial of these forests created the alternating layers of coal and shale characteristic of this period.

Fossils of the Carboniferous in the UK

The fossil record from this time is among the richest in the British Isles. Notable finds include:

Marine Invertebrates: Early Carboniferous limestones preserve an abundance of marine fossils, including crinoids (sea lilies), brachiopods, corals, and gastropods.

Marine invertebrate.
 - collected by Anita and George Roberts from the foreshore,
Howick Bay, Northumberland

Coral
- collected by Anita and George Roberts from the foreshore,
Holy Island, Northumberland

Plant Fossils: Late Carboniferous coal measures are famous for fossilized lepidodendrons (scale trees), sigillaria, and sphenopterids. Impressions of their leaves and bark are commonly found in coal shales.

Lepidodendron leaf
- collected by Anita and George Roberts
from near Bolsover, Chesterfield, Derbyshire

Terrestrial Arthropods: Giant millipedes like Arthropleura and large dragonfly-like insects such as Meganeura (with wingspans up to 70 cm) have been discovered in Carboniferous deposits.

Wing of a Carboniferous insect
found in shale at Radstock Colliery tip by George and Alice Roberts(now Boon)
(fossil now sadly lost)

Early Tetrapods: The UK also holds significant fossils of early land vertebrates, including primitive amphibians and reptile-like tetrapods, especially from sites like East Kirkton Quarry in Scotland.

These fossils provide a critical window into the transition from marine to terrestrial life and the rise of complex forest ecosystems that altered the planet's atmosphere by sequestering vast amounts of carbon dioxide.

Chart: Geological Time Scale – Position of the Carboniferous Period

Eon                 Era                 Period          Approx. Start (MYA) Approx. End (MYA)

Phanerozoic Paleozoic Cambrian          541                           485

                                                Ordovician        485                           444

                                                Silurian           444                           419

                                                Devonian          419                           359

                                                Carboniferous  359                                  299

                                                Permian         299                                  252

Mesozoic                                Triassic         252                                  201

                                                Jurassic          201                                 145

                                                Cretaceous  145                                 66

Cenozoic                                 Paleogene  66                                 23

                                                Neogene          23                                 2.6

                                                Quaternary  2.6                                 Present

Note: In the UK, the Carboniferous is further subdivided into:

Dinantian (Lower Carboniferous)

Silesian (Upper Carboniferous), which includes:

Namurian

Westphalian

Stephanian (less developed in the UK)

"Although there is some debate between Mr Tumnus and two beavers, the time before Aslan is thought to predate the Cambrian Period" - C.S. Lewis

Manchester Nostalgia and a fair bit of Brutalism

 

The Manchester University Schools of Architecture and Planning Building
Architects Professors Hanson and Kantorowich, completed 1970.

There are many things about becoming old, some good and some not so good. Having recently returned from a wonderful visit to Manchester after a very long absence, I  had a number of memories, which suddenly popped into my head and seemed important to share. 

I remembered my interview in 1967-68 for a place on the prestigious MA Architecture course. I was interviewed by the then Professor of Architecture Norman Hanson a formidable white South African emigre. In particular I recall his final remark delivered in the style of Joss Ackland in Lethal Weapon 2. " We will give 'u' a place Roberts but you need to lose that ridiculous accent". ( I came from Maidstone, Kent -so was geographically almost French). 

I never saw 'Norman' again in the seven or so years I attended the School of Architecture. He seems to have disappeared from my student radar after he was named in a Private Eye article. As for Professor Kantorowich my only memory of him was once bumping into him , one summer vacation, in an otherwise deserted  lift in the School of Architecture and him bemoaning " There's no paper in the toilets".

Funny what sticks in the mind as you age disgracefully!

I joined the School in the September of 1968, when it was housed in a building located in Moss Side and shared with the Department of Law. The curriculum and methodology was based upon the Bauhaus, with Architects expected to acquire a wide and mixed set of skills and knowledge. I recall with pleasure, the Wednesday afternoon 'life-drawing' classes, where I first saw a real naked woman with the lights on! The structural engineering, materials sciences, urban design, history of art and architecture, building construction, environmental engineering and legal studies - were less enjoyable and fully clothed.

I moved into the new building shown in the above plan and photographs in 1970 and continued my studies leading to a Ba (hons) Arch in 1972, a BArch in 1974 and I became a Registered Architect in 1975. Sadly, the MA I set out to pursue in 1968 had changed into a BArch, through no fault of my own.

The 'throw out' rate from the School of Architecture was scandalously high. I remember when I was in my first year, a girl in her sixth year saying, " look around your first year friends and by the time you get to sixth year only one in four will remain". As it turns out she was spot on right, with the original 60 students in my first year reduced to 15 in my sixth.

When we first entered the new building on Oxford Road we thought Hanson and Kantorowich had overdone the number of toilets provided. When we stood awaiting our third year examination results every toilet was taken. 100% occupation for two hours, which seemed like a lifetime for those about to crash and burn. Never underestimate an architect or a nervous bowel!

Well interestingly, 'Brutalist Architecture' of which the School is an example has had a bit of a renaissance. Truthfully, I was never a great fan but good examples of all types and styles of architecture generally age well. My final year professor and project tutor, the late Mike McKinnell, was a truly lovely man, a fine architect and a great teacher. He was also the architect of the world famous and Brutalist building, Boston City Hall. 

Boston City Hall

Brutalism, as an architectural style, was and is all about exposing the structural elements and baring essential materials used in construction. For 'Brutalists', decoration was an unnecessary architectural addition and should therefore be avoided. The minimalist use of concrete, steel and glass can provide for great buildings but poorly understood material and environmental science can render such buildings unuseable. Extreme weather can also compound material and environmental issues.

The public will often criticize some buildings as being 'ugly' but it is worth noting that good architecture does not have to be pretty!

Many of the staff at the Manchester School who taught me, I still remember with affectation:

Rod Males, Don Buttress (great name for an architect), Bernie Gosschalk, Joe Lynes, Prof Bell, Prof Benson, Geoff Worsley, Betty Bicket the librarian and Mr Dearden (who was immensely kind to have put up with me- as I could be loud and difficult). Apologies for any bad name spelling. There are other teachers and academics I have probably forgotten, who I should have remembered and mentioned but I am quite an old architect now - so please forgive me. 

My absolute favourites were Dr Buttle and Gordon Toplis. Two quiet, modest and decent men with extraordinary personal war time histories. I am not sure how much architectural knowledge I gleaned from them but I truly believe, I learnt much about myself and my strengths and weaknesses, through their kindness, conversation and positive criticism. After all when the architectural technical stuff is laid end to end, you cannot fail to appreciate, that University is mostly about growing up, becoming independent and coming to terms with yourself, warts and all! At 18 years of age, I had a 'shed load' of unacknowledged warts!

The 'circle of life' has now played its part and  in 2024 -25, a granddaughter has Geography lectures in the very same building and lecture theatres, where I once sat and contemplated my uncertain future. How good is that Simba!

Get Tanked up with Syd Carp No 5 - The Lotus Position

 

" A big hello to all my 'tank' fans on the web! Just thought I would  share this useful bit of information relating to the Lotus as an aquarium plant. 

The Lotus comes in more than one variety and is usually purchased from specialist suppliers as a bulb or corm. The red varieties tend to be slower growing than the green. They may take some time to start growing, and even longer to establish, but once they do, they can take over an aquarium in just a few weeks. 

The lotus leaves can be seen in the image above - upper right. The recent warm and sunny weather has occasioned a sudden surge in Lotus growth. This morning, I noticed one small leaf had reached the water surface. This is a critical moment in which the prudent tank keeper will take remedial action by removing the stem supporting this expeditionary leaf. If you once let lotus leaves reach the water-air interface, the take over of the aquarium is assured.

The Lotus is a very beautiful aquarium plant but extremely invasive. Just like swans, you should never turn your back on a Lotus once it is on the move"! - Syd Carp.

Covehithe Suffolk (lower to middle stone age - settlements in East Anglia)

 

Flint Hand Axe
- found by Mr M. Robinson in 2025 0n Covehithe Beach 

Extract from the British Regional Geology publication
London and Thames Valley, Third Edition.

The Suffolk Coast is both beautiful and geologically interesting. As little ago as the Bronze Age, East Anglia was joined to Europe by 'Doggerland', a low lying land of rivers, lakes, forests and marsh. Stone age hominids roamed freely across an ancient Europe and United Kingdom, following the wildlife on which they preyed. There were clearly no pleistocene equivalents for 'vegetarians' or 'Nigel Farage'!

The manufacture of flint hand axes in the Lower to Middle Stone Age in Doggerland—a now-submerged landmass that once connected Britain to continental Europe—was part of a broader tradition of early human tool-making in the Paleolithic period. These tools were likely produced by Homo heidelbergensis, Neanderthals, and possibly early Homo sapiens, and they reflect a sophisticated understanding of materials, technique, and utility.

Doggerland existed roughly between 1 million and 8,000 years ago, gradually submerged due to post-glacial sea level rise after the last Ice Age. During the Lower (c. 3.3 million – 300,000 years ago) and Middle Paleolithic (c. 300,000 – 40,000 years ago) periods, it was a habitable environment with rivers, forests, and rich ecosystems—ideal for early human habitation and tool-making.

Materials and Toolstone:

The primary raw material was flint, abundant in chalk-rich regions of Doggerland and surrounding areas.

Flint was valued for its conchoidal fracture, allowing it to be chipped predictably and sharply.

Manufacture Process of Flint Hand Axes

1. Selecting the Nodule:

Toolmakers selected flint nodules of suitable size, shape, and quality.

The ideal nodules were free from flaws and had consistent internal structure.

2. Initial Shaping (Hard Hammer Percussion):

Using a hammerstone (often quartzite or another hard rock), the knapper struck the flint to remove large flakes.

This formed a rough, bifacial (two-sided) shape.

3. Refining the Form (Soft Hammer Percussion):

A softer hammer made of antler, bone, or wood was used for more controlled flake removal.

The hand axe was refined into a tear-drop, oval, or pointed shape, depending on its intended function.

4. Final Retouch and Sharpening:

Edges were finely retouched to produce sharp, durable cutting edges.

This could involve pressure flaking—pressing small flakes off the edge using a pointed tool.

Forms and Functionality

Hand axes varied in size and shape but were typically symmetrical and ergonomic.

They served as multi-purpose tools: cutting meat, scraping hides, breaking bones, woodworking, and digging.

Technological Cultures in Doggerland

Doggerland’s hand axe technology corresponds to:

• Acheulean tradition (Lower Paleolithic): Characterized by large, symmetrical hand axes; widespread across Eurasia and Africa.
• Mousterian tradition (Middle Paleolithic): More refined tools, often associated with Neanderthals; included Levallois technique, a more sophisticated method of preparing cores for predictable flake removal.

Archaeological Evidence

Submerged finds from the North Sea (e.g. trawled hand axes, animal bones) confirm Paleolithic activity in Doggerland.

Flint artifacts often show signs of expert craftsmanship, indicating skill transmission and cultural continuity.

Associated faunal remains (mammoth, bison) and pollen studies indicate a varied, resource-rich environment.

Fossilised antler found on Pakefield Beach, Suffolk.

Summary

The manufacture of flint hand axes in Doggerland reflects a complex tradition of prehistoric craftsmanship. These tools were created using deliberate, staged techniques, evolving over time as part of broader technological cultures like the Acheulean and Mousterian. The tools reveal much about the lives, movements, and adaptive strategies of early humans in a dynamic, now-vanished landscape.

Rondini

 

'Rondini'
- digital art composition for acrylic on canvas to follow
- George Roberts June 2025

Each and every day, on holiday in Sicily, we would swim in the hotel pool. The sun shone brightly on the water, which bubbled, moved and sparkled in the light. Overhead swallows wheeled and banked to snatch insects on the wing and take them back to their nests, which hung festooned from eaves and balconies. In these moments it is not hard to imagine what heaven might look and feel like for us mere mortals. 

As I was swimming, I decided that on our return home, I would create an image, which held the moment. This is the first stage in the process. I will use this digital composition, put together from photographs using Affinity Photo software, as a starting point and guide from which hopefully my painting will over time evolve.