Cobnor Activities Centre’s finest finds out about what makes our tides turn

March 2nd, 2010

Last week our multi-activity centre’s very own Pete Alner visited the Royal Observatory Greenwich and the National Maritime Museum; a must-do for all you sailing and natural navigation enthusiasts. The weather was abysmal but good old Pete, being a hardened salty sea-dog used to manning the Centre’s safety powerboat in all conditions, braved the wet stuff to check out the museums.

The Royal Observatory is home of the Prime Meridian of the World and of Greenwich Mean Time, both essential to planning and coordinating sailing trips. Here Pete got to learn more about longitude, latitude and how sailors used to navigate with the stars. He saw the world famous Meridian Line; the red Time Ball on top of Flamsteed house, one of the world’s earliest public time signals that still falls at 13.00 every day; the 28-inch refracting telescope, the largest of its kind in the UK; a meteorite that is over 4.5 million years old and John Harrison’s invention of a timekeeper that could withstand the unstable motions of sea going vessels. Pete also attended two planetarium shows: Secrets of the Sun and Visions of Saturn.

Secrets of the Sun involved a look at the role the sun plays in the life of our solar system. From the nuclear forces churning at the heart of the sun to the mass ejections of solar material in to surrounding space, experiencing the power of the sun and its impact on the planets and ultimately life on Earth. The show also revealed the life cycle of the sun itself, going back to its beginnings and moving forward in time to its eventual death. This was accompanied by Solar Story, an exhibition of striking images that help us to understand the nature of our closest star and its effects on Earth.

Visions of Saturn followed the Cassini spacecraft by taking a virtual trip to Saturn and discovering the amazing secrets of its clouds, rings and moons. This was a fascinating visual spectacular, which actually made you feel like you were on Saturn and gave insight into the planet that has been so easily valuable from the South Coast just lately.

Then after a spot of lunch it was off to the National Maritime Museum where the highlights included antique sea vessels to modern maritime marvels. On the ground floor Pete enjoyed the exquisitely-gilded Prince Frederick’s barge, built for King George II’s eldest son and used for royal occasions on the Thames until 1846 as well as Miss Britain III, the first single-engine powerboat to exceed 100mph on open water and for several years remained the fastest in the world.

There was even a touch of interactivity to be enjoyed, such as taking control of the Bridge Gallery where it was possible to steer a ship into port using a state-of-the-art simulator. But the queues were quite lengthy and Pete was more than satisfied with having real boats to steer around Chichester Harbour when he returned home.

Pete says, “The Royal Observatory and the National Maritime Museum make a great family day out and I could see a number of the people who attend sailing courses and activity camps at Cobnor Activities Centre really appreciating the fun activities and educational resources available there.”