Features – Roundabout Publications

RECENT EVENTS in SCIENCE: Proxima B, and the Goldilocks Zone

September 29, 2016

space-681638_1280 In August, scientists made a major discovery in their search for extra-terrestrial life, a potentially habitable planet orbiting our nearest neighbouring star.

For a planet to be considered habitable, it must be within the Goldilocks zone of its star. This is the area where the planet isn’t so close to the star that its water evaporates, but not so far away that it freezes. This is the most important factor when looking for life on other planets as it is believed that all life requires water to survive. Even if alien life is not found, finding liquid water alone would be a major advancement, as Earth is the only planet currently known to hold liquid water.

If we wanted to actually live on such a planet, it would also need to be a similar size to Earth. Bigger planets have stronger gravity and vice versa, so if the planet is smaller than Earth, there would be less gravity and we would have to find ways to weigh ourselves down so we don’t float around like astronauts on the moon. If the planet was much bigger than Earth, we would feel like we were being constantly weighed down, which could have a negative impact on our health.

These specific conditions mean that it’s very rare to find a planet that could hold life, or that we could live on without spacesuits and airlocks. Even when we do find promising planets, they are too far away to be explored in the next century. However, it’s possible that such a planet has been sitting just 4.2 light years away this entire time.

The closest star to our sun, Proxima Centauri, was discovered in 1915, but its planet Proxima b was only confirmed on August 24th this year. A planet orbiting Proxima Centauri has been theorised for the past few decades, but more advanced technology and a great deal of patience were required to actually detect it. The team at Queen Mary University of London that confirmed the planet’s existence had to observe the star every night for over ten weeks to collect enough data to prove that the planet existed.

Until Proxima b’s discovery, the closest known planet to earth was Wolf 1061b, but it is too close to its sun to be considered habitable. Various projects such as the Kepler Space Observatory have been searching for exoplanets (planets outside our solar system) for many years and will continue to in the future.

Other projects have also recently been announced to aid the search for extra-terrestrial life, such as the 100 million dollar Breakthough Starshot project, which aims to develop a nanosized probe that can travel at 20% the speed of light to gather data from exoplanets. Due to the recent confirmation of Proxima b, it will now be the probe’s first destination. The probe will take around 50-100 years to travel to Proxima b (depending on the technology available) but will be able to send information and photographs back within four years.

As life is seemingly only found under very specific conditions, and the data from Proxima b is still very limited, whether or not it will actually contain life is disputed. Either way, its discovery alone is a major step forward for scientists, and further investigation will help us develop a much greater understanding of our solar system.

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Jessie Brown is a college student currently studying Maths, Further Maths, and Physics. She has an interest in space and plans to become an astrophysicist.

NORTHUMBERLAND AND BORDER WALKS: A TRIP UP THE COAST by GEOFF HOLLAND

September 29, 2016

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A naked blue sky and the mere whisper of a breeze. High pressure loitering over Britain, an ‘Indian Summer’ of sorts and the perfect weather for a trip up the coast.

We had no particular plan, simply a day to enjoy the remnants of the month along Northumberland’s golden edge. So we set our sights on Alnmouth, picture postcard perfect and slap bang in the middle of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. But first Amble, last visited many years ago and by all accounts now enjoying something of a renaissance. Lying at the mouth of the River Coquet and commonly known as ‘the friendliest port’, the town is dominated by the impressive marina and its innovative harbour village, the ideal spot for an al fresco cappuccino and a slice of lemon drizzle cake – delicious beneath the midday sun.

Next, time to kick-start the legs so off we drove to Alnmouth, home to England’s oldest nine hole links golf course and a magnet for tourists. Once parked we wandered northwards, a huge sky and a distant low tide, acres of sand stretching as far as the eye could see. A series of timber groynes and then Marden Rocks, huge black boulders, smooth as beeswax, and a single curlew’s call. Here in August 1928 the Clyde-built steamship S.S. Monaleen was swept onto the rocks in gale force winds and eventually split in half. Now it was as quiet as a country churchyard.

On along the beach, above us and out of sight was Foxton Hall golf course and then Seaton Point, popular with anglers and an eclectic collection of beach huts and static caravans. We weaved our way through a maze of bracken-fringed footpaths, the route of St. Oswald’s Way and the 103 kilometre long Northumberland Coastal Path, and onto Boulmer, a natural harbour and one of the last traditional fishing villages in Northumberland. A Sea King helicopter, distinctive in yellow, flew overhead, the final day of search and rescue operations from the nearby base – the sad end of a glorious era.

The tide was on the turn, time now to retrace our footsteps back to Alnmouth, a race against the incoming sea. Once past Marden Rocks and a single motionless grey heron we were high and dry with only an easy stroll back to the car. No need to hurry. In the distance, hazy on the horizon, tiny Coquet Island haven to an array of bird life: puffin, rosette tern, kittiwake, fulmar, arctic tern, sandwich tern and eider duck – the ultimate twitchers paradise.

A sublime sky and the River Aln slipping into the glittering sea, the Northumberland coast was at its most magnificent. We were not yet ready for the day to end. Then, as if from a magician’s hat, an idea, simple enough, a meal at the nearby Hog’s Head Inn, echoes of Harry Potter and Aberforth Dumbledore. And so, with our tastebuds tingling in anticipation, we headed fleet-footed to Alnwick, ready to sample the Inn’s highly recommended scampi and chips. The seaside theme continued

Geoff Holland has contributed to a number of magazines and has written four books of self-guided walks, ‘The Hills of Upper Coquetdale’, ‘The Cheviot Hills’, ‘Walks from Wooler’ and ‘Walks on the Wild Side: The Cheviot Hills’. All books can be purchased online from www.trailguides.co.uk. Geoff, who has lived in Monkseaton for over 40 years, also operates the award-winning website www.cheviotwalks.co.uk. His poems have appeared in a number of publications.

ALL AT SEA: Skelleftea

September 29, 2016

This Swedish port is situated in the north of the Gulf of Bothnia, and as we arrived in the middle of summer, there was very little difference between night and day. It had taken us about seven days to reach this remote area and it was very unusual to spend the midnight to four watches in daylight.

The pilot station was on a small island at the entrance to the river Skelleftea (Skelleftealven in Swedish) and the pilot came on board with a delightful young woman who we learned was his niece and soon, of course, she became the centre of attention. She had black hair, unusual in Sweden and particularly so in the capital. But, smiling sweetly, she told us that there was a plentiful supply of peroxide in Stockholm!

She said that in the summer, her family lived on the island, and had to use the pilot boat to travel the fifteen miles or so to Skelleftea itself for shopping. She was an English teacher on her long summer holiday and, obviously, her English was very good.

On this occasion we had two berths at which to discharge our cargo, one on the south side of the river and the other at a factory with very tall chimneys on the opposite side. Both were about ten miles from the town, so we assumed going ashore was out of the question.

In various ports around Scandinavia we would launch a lifeboat to practice our boatmanship and this seemed a very good place to do it. We mentioned this to our new friend, Eva, who told us we would be welcome to see her family on the island.

So, with the ship safely berthed, the boat was launched, the great, cumbersome sail was hoisted and off we went to be warmly welcomed by the family with whom we spent a very pleasant couple of hours before returning to the ship.

Later, the ship moved to the second berth where it was fascinating to watch the sun setting through the ‘night’ – a dark shadow slowly climbing up the chimneys but not quite reaching the top before falling back to the bottom when the sun rose above the horizon.

I was off watch at the new berth when suddenly I was summoned to the deck. Someone in a boat was shouting for me.

The pilot boat was alongside with Eva asking if I was free for a trip to town. Of course I was free and spent five or six hours with her as she shopped in the little town then gave me a guided tour afterwards. Then, back to the ship to climb the pilot ladder to raucous and ribald shouts from the crew.

All too soon the cargo was finished and we sailed from this delightful port and, as the pilot disembarked close to the island, Eva and her family were on the shoreline waving as we passed, outward bound for England again.

Terry Took was born in Yorkshire but has lived in Tynemouth for over 50 years. He spent 45 years in the Merchant Navy which included 27 years as North Sea Pilot. He then spent five years as a lecturer at the Marine Department of South Tyneside College.

He is now an Elder Brother in Trinity House.

If you have any comments or would like to contact Terry then please e-mail him at pilotone@pilotone.plus.com.

LOCAL HISTORY: WHITLEY LINKS

September 29, 2016

201610_1_the-links-50 Originally known as Whitley (meaning white lea or pasture land), the whole area in the 12th century was owned by the Prior of Tynemouth. Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the Priory lands and estate were enclosed and divided up, except for the area now known as Whitley Links, which to this day remains as open land.
During the early 19th century, Whitley Links was strewn with colliery heaps and ironstone workings which had become thickly overgrown with gorse. Most of the work of clearing and levelling the area, resulting ultimately in the current green expanse, was initiated by Whitley Bay Golf Club whose members began using the Links in October 1890.
A document was also drawn up during that year between the Duke of Northumberland and the local Board of Health, allowing stint holders the right to graze cattle on the land between the 13th of May and the 11th of November each year.
The Links takes its name from the original nine hole golf course, which was situated on this narrow strip of land along the coast, with the clubhouse once being positioned opposite the end of Marine Avenue. The course moved on several occasions, eventually finding its present venue at Briardene in 1954.
One of the most prominent features located opposite Whitley Links was the Prudhoe Memorial Convalescent Homes, built in 1867, which will be the subject of a future article.
For a period of time in the 19th century, the northern end of The Links was used as a soldiers’ camp and firing range, and from 1907 the Whitley and Monkseaton Urban District Council began to landscape and lay out various new paths and walkways, including Panama Dip, the Sunken Gardens and the Bandstand, as well as the Empress Gardens.
It is interesting to note that Whitley Links is subject to a restrictive covenant placed upon it in 1929 by Lord Hastings, when it was sold to the then Whitley Bay Town Council. This effectively restricts any form of development work from taking place on the land, as well as outlining further limits on its use. A widely held view is that the Links is a treasured and unique resource, tranquil, beautiful, and completely unsuitable for any building development.
One of the peculiar restrictions and by-laws dating from 1899 actually bans all wheeled vehicles from the Links, with offenders facing a penalty of £2 or the option of a public flogging. Fortunately the regulation is not actively enforced, so wheelchair users, parents with prams or children on pushbikes are safe from prosecution – and, of course, the council grass-cutters can carry on work as normal!

Further reading for many of Charlie’s articles can be found in his books: ‘Monkseaton Village’ (Vol. 1 & 2), ‘North Shields Public Houses, Inns & Taverns’ (Part 1 & 2), ‘Tynemouth Remembered’ and ’Whitley Bay Remembered’ (Part 1 & 2) , all published by Summerhill Books.

More information on www.monkseaton.info and on the Monkseaton Village Facebook Page.

NORTHUMBERLAND AND BORDER WALKS: Small Hill, Big Views

September 1, 2016

It was my first solo hill walk of the year, and I needed to slowly rebuild my fitness level with a route less strenuous than normal. So, on a bright, late summer’s day, I headed up to Wooler and the nearby Humbleton Burn Picnic Area, an ideal spot to start any number of fine walks into the Cheviot Hills.

I had mapped out a six mile route containing a variety of terrain, not overly demanding but with sufficient ups and downs, twists and turns to keep me happy. Initially I followed the route of St. Cuthbert’s Way, first alongside the tiny trickle of Humbleton Burn and then across the gentle, emerald green slopes of Wooler Common. To the west lay the track to distant Broadstruther, once a derelict cottage now renovated for use by grouse shooting parties. My route, however, turned south first to Earlehillhead, a handful of neat farm buildings, and then onto Switcher Wood and one of the loveliest views in the area.

The panorama was immaculate, a single native tree in the foreground, Langlee and Housey Crags in the middle distance, heather-clad slopes slipping down to the tree-veiled Harthope Burn, and conical Hedgehope Hill, the second highest hill in the range, majestic in the background.

Then down I went, turning to my right to follow the delightful Carey Burn upstream. First an easy grass-carpeted track, then a narrow, scree-clinging path until, caught in a jumble of dense foliage and tumbling over cold, grey rock, I reached Careyburn Linn, a diamond in a magpie’s hoard of precious stones. Peaceful, simple to reach places do not come any better than this and I was reluctant to leave.

But on I eventually went, threading my way through the narrow, bracken-infested upper reaches of the valley as far as the junction with the bridleway linking Wooler Common and lonely Broadstruther. This marked the extreme point of my walk. A sharp right turn and I was confronted with a stiff, breath-stealing climb up the tree-covered slopes of Watch Hill to the sun-stroked open moor, where a sea of deep purple flowering heather stretched towards my next port-of-call, flat-topped, grass-covered Hart Heugh.

I was almost within touching distance of this super little hill and I was soon picking my way towards the large pile of stones which marks its 326 metre high top. Whichever way I looked familiar hills came into view: Broadhope, Preston, Watch and Hedgehope Hills, as fine a quartet as you could wish for, The Cheviot with Bellyside and Braydon Crags vying for attention and, last but not least, Cold Law looming large across the deep incision of the valley I had earlier wandered through. I wallowed in the beauty of Northumberland’s finest hills whilst enjoying a very leisurely lunch.

Before I left Hart Heugh I made a first ever visit to its subsidiary top, a puny five metres lower and little more than stone’s throw away from the true summit. The detour proved worthwhile, offering me a slightly different perspective of some of my favourite hills in the range. I then wound my way back to the Humbleton Burn, satisfied with my day’s walk.

Geoff Holland is a regular contributor to a number of magazines and the author of four books of self-guided walks, ‘The Hills of Upper Coquetdale’, ‘The Cheviot Hills’, ‘Walks from Wooler’ and ‘Walks on the Wild Side: The Cheviot Hills’. All books can be purchased online from www.trailguides.co.uk. Geoff, who has lived in Monkseaton for over 40 years, also operates the award-winning website www.cheviotwalks.co.uk. His poems have appeared in a number of publications.