The Calm After the Storm & The Summer Heath Ponds

Well that was a pretty uncomfortable start to our week with Monday and Tuesday's

Summer temperatures hitting an all time record breaking 40.3c. Even our parts here

in North West London reached 39c over the two days. And it really was a case of sitting

it out indoors and waiting for Wednesday when things finally calmed down.

What is odd though is how as a country we never seem prepared for such extreme conditions.

Our Railway system just couldn't cope and many travel plans were ruined due to train

cancellations.

And pity those workers that had to endure their journeys to work on the hot Underground on

those two days, unless of course you were travelling on the new cool Elizabeth Line which I'm

hoping to take a trip on soon for an up and coming blog post. 

But worst of all was the many fires around the country causing 41 homes to be destroyed

leaving some people with literally nothing, no home, no clothes, no money and all personal

items of sentimental value, completely gone. How do people cope with something like that?

Apparently our London firefighters had their busiest day since the Second World War.

The worst place to be hit was the Essex Village of Wennington where a row of adjoining houses

were literally burnt and gutted. And some locals have claimed that a large steaming compost

heap of dry grass may have self ignited causing the fires with the help of the hot winds which 

spread the flames.

At one point some of the villagers took refuge in the local St Mary and St Peter's Church which

miraculously escaped any damage although the surrounding graveyard is now charred black (below).

Some parts of the Church itself are believed to be almost a thousand years old.

And if you were watching Live Sky News coverage on Tuesday, it did look like

the flames were getting ever closer and closer to the Church.

Above: The view from space one year apart showing the now current dry grasslands of

South East England compared to a healthier looking picture from last Summer.

Via Meteorologist Dan Holley's twitter page

SUNDAY ON THE HEATH

On a very warm Sunday just before this week's big heat arrived I thought I would

take a walk over to the Ponds on the Heath before a two day heat lockdown. Although

the high temperatures didn't seem to put off many who still headed off to the Parks and beaches on

our hottest days ever recorded.

The July Full Buck Moon

Above: Wednesday evening's July Full Buck Moon taken from a high point in Hampstead

London. Apparently it was the largest of three of this Summer's Supermoons,

being at it's closest point in it's orbit around the Earth.

And for a while it was shrouded in cloud on Wednesday evening, but with a little

patience it soon showed itself fully.

Below is my favourite Full Moon taken earlier this year over the Easter weekend. And this

one was called a Pink Moon.

It's amazing how our Full Moons were given their names by early American Native Indians.

Apparently many tribes kept track of time by observing the seasons and the lunar months.

Below are some familiar words from a Cree Indian Proverb.

IT'S A JULY HEATWAVE!

It looks like Britain is preparing for some extreme weather with Monday and Tuesday

expected to reach temperatures of 38c and 39c and possibly 40c. And if it does then

it will break all records. I believe the record was set in Cambridge at 38.7 Celsius

back in 2019 B.C ( before Covid ).

Already the Hospitals are preparing for extra admissions for the elderly and vulnerable. And

it is likely that there will be casualties.

And yet we still haven't embraced air conditioning in the home. And it's a bit late to

order one of those mini box air coolers that now seem so popular. But I wonder if they

actually work.

Of course with Monday fast approaching, the BBC has finally decided to put aside their

top story about the ragbag of  hopefuls chasing for the Tory Leadership. They do seem to revel

in any national domestic panic situation. And some are asking why the hot heat colour of orange on

their weather maps has suddenly changed in to a dark panic red colour.

HERE

Of course I'm not a fan of this kind of heat. It drains you and there's not very much you

can be getting on with. Which is why, like many, I've been getting up extra early these

recent mornings while it's cooler, so as to get on with chores and any online activity.

Perhaps later today will be my last trip out to the shops for a few days until the heat passes. 

Looking forward to next Wednesday when things cool down.

  

In the map image (below left) is a temperature prediction by the Met Office for

the year of 2050.

And in the below right image is the predictions for the up and coming weather for

Monday 18th and Tuesday 19th of July. So climate changes are moving forward faster

than we were expecting.

Hadrian and Antinous

The history of the Roman Empire is always a fascinating subject to read and hear

about. But I don't ever remember it as being part of our School curriculum. And so

in this cleverly created video put together by the people at Royalty Now, we learn about

the life of one of Rome's great Emperors, Emperor Hadrian who succeeded Trajan.

Of course I'm familiar with the name Hadrian as his name did pop up in some of our

School history lessons when learning about the building of Hadrian's Wall which cut

off Scotland from Northern Britain and which still exists today as a World

Heritage site.

And so in the 123 AD Emperor Hadrian met his muse Antinous who was eventually to

become his lover. And together they travelled surveying the corners of the Empire. But while

participating in the Festival of the Nile, the body of Antinous was found floating in the River in

suspicious circumstances.

Emperor Hadrian never got over his loss and so had over two thousand statues created

in the memory of Antinous, as if to cement a God like legacy.

The final part of this video above creates a digital image of what Hadrian and Antinous might

have really looked like.

ROYALTY NOW STUDIOS

Below: A bust of Antinous from my last visit to

The British Museum in 2019

HERE