Campbell–Stokes Sphere ( Sunshine Recorder )

A mid twentieth century Campbell–Stokes sunshine recorder, by Casella & Co, London. Pattern: Mk III C 45- 65 (latitudes 45° – 65°, North or South). 4 inch glass sphere. Serial number: 6962 Marked: CASELLA LONDON MADE IN ENGLAND 6962 For similar Casella sunshine recorders see the collections of: Science Museum, London. OBJECT NUMBER:1995-820. The National Museum of the Royal New Zealand Navy, Torpedo Bay, New Zealand. The Campbell–Stokes sphere is used to record sunshine. It was invented by John Francis Campbell in 1853 and modified in 1879 by Sir George Gabriel Stokes. The original design by Campbell consisted of a glass sphere set into a wooden bowl with the sun burning a trace on the bowl. Stokes’s refinement was to make the housing out of metal and to have a card holder set behind the sphere. C. F. Casella and Co: Established in 1810 as Tagliabue and Casella. Incorporated as a limited liability company, C. F. Casella and Co, in 1910. Circa 1930: C. F. Casella and Co Ltd., of Regent House, Britannia Walk, London, N1 7ND - Makers of anemometers, anemographs, barometers, barographs, hygrometers, hygrographs, radiation instruments, rain gauges...

A WWII ship's bell from the Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Queen of Thanet, dated 1941. Pendant number J-30. Diameter: 27cm - 10 ½ inches. Height: 28 cm - 11 inches. HMS Queen of Thanet (J30), formerly HMS Melton, was a Racecourse-class minesweeper of the Royal Navy. She was built by William Hamilton & Company in Port Glasgow, Scotland. Melton was launched in March 1916 with the pennant number 898. During World War I she served with the Auxiliary Patrol. Post-war she was transferred to the Mine Clearance Service. Between the wars Melton was sold to Hughes Bolckow Shipbreaking Co in 1927. She was bought by The New Medway Steam Packet Company in 1929 and converted for excursion work on the River Medway and River Thames. She was renamed Queen of Thanet. For the next twelve years she could be found working from Sheerness and Southend. Regular excursions took her to Gravesend, Margate, Clacton and Dover as well as cross-channel voyages to Calais, Boulogne and Dunkirk. In September 1939 she was requisitioned by the Admiralty for minesweeping duties once more and commissioned as HMS Queen of Thanet, pennant number J30. In May 1940 she took part in the Dunkirk evacuation rescuing 4,000 men in four trips. Of that number, 2,000 were transferred from the ex-LNER steamer Prague, after the latter had been damaged by near misses from shells and dive bombers off Gravelines. For Operation Overlord in June 1944 she was stationed at Selsey as the Mulberry Despatch Control Ship. After the war she was returned in 1946 to her owners to recommence excursion work around the Thames Estuary. In January 1949 she was sold to Red Funnel and transferred to Southampton. After refitting at Thorneycroft's yard at Northam she was commissioned in the spring as the company's second Solent Queen. For the next two years she operated excursions from Southampton in the summer. In June 1951 while slipped for survey and repair, she caught fire and was written off as a constructive loss. She was scrapped by Dover Industries Ltd at Dover Eastern Docks in 1951 Literature on HMS Queen of Thanet see: Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships...

Portable tape recorder with speakers TC-144 CS by Sony from the 1970s. Made in Korea. The individual components have been tested and cleaned by a specialist workshop. Defective part...

The first book to showcase the award-winning work of interior designer and entrepreneur Fiona Barratt-Campbell, whose interiors marry a sense of opulence with bold, material simplici...