I was invited to speak at a conference on Problem solving, behavioural insights and crime science hosted by the Police Service of Northern Ireland. The nice thing about this is that I got to make a whistle-stop visit to Belfast and, once the conference was done, I had a good day and a half to explore and visit some places.
It began with a ride around with PSNI officers to visit some of the areas most affected by The Troubles. The famous murals are extraordinary.
Then, once the conference was done, I could relax and take a stroll into the city. I made my way down to the River Lagan and the old docks where, famously, the Titanic was built. I then visited the 'Titanic Experience' which, it must be said, is very good. It tells the story of the ship's construction, the disaster, and the efforts made to locate the wreck. And there are a few poignant reminders on display, such as a deckchair, life jacket, a White Star Line tea service, a violin and more.
There's some great street art in the city. There are some nice galleries too. I visited the MAC to see a couple of new exhibitions.
Bolster day is an annual festival held at Chapel Porth cove near St Agnes, Cornwall, on the Sunday before the early Spring Bank Holiday in May. It re-enacts the events of a Cornish legend using giant puppets and local performers. During the day there are also Cornish dance displays and other entertainments.
Bolster was a giant who was said to live near the cliffs at St Agnes. He was also rumoured to eat children, sheep, cattle and people at random.
A knight, Sir Constantine, and other local dignitaries challenged Bolster to a fight to the death. Legend says that the fights took place at Chapel Porth and that the giant overcame all who challenged him.
He then fell in love with a beautiful young girl called Agnes and she was the one who finally vanquished him. She asked him to prove his devotion to her by filling a hole on the cliffs with his blood. So Bolster cut himself and did just that. However, the hole was a actually part of a crack in the rock and his blood ran down through the cliff and into the sea - the rocks are still stained red to this day. Bolster then died of blood loss, unable to complete the impossible task.
A very happy Trevithick Day to all my friends and family in and around Camborne and Redruth.
As I'm sure most of you know, Cornishman Richard Trevithick was the man who had the idea to take one of the steam engines that drove the pumps in local tin mines and use it to drive a set of wheels. This was, in some ways, the first automobile. A number of people suggested that his idea was nonsense and that machines could never replace horses.
And so Trevithick built a full-size steam road locomotive called Puffing Devil and, on Christmas Eve 1801, he demonstrated it by successfully carrying six passengers up Fore Street and then continuing on up Camborne Hill, from Camborne Cross, to the nearby village of Beacon. It inspired the popular Cornish folk song Camborne Hill.
This wasn't Trevithick's only achievement. He was a big, burly, and extremely strong man and became a champion Cornish wrestler. He was also a pioneer in the development of high pressure steam engines and the world's first locomotive-hauled railway journey took place on 21st February 1804, when one of Trevithick's unnamed steam locomotives hauled a train along the tramway of the Penydarren Ironworks, in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales.
During the prime of his career he was a well-known and highly respected figure in mining and engineering, but near the end of his life he fell out of the public eye - he was somehow eclipsed by Stephenson and his Rocket. He also suffered from ill-health towards the end of his life and, following a series of poor investments, died of pneumonia on 22nd April 1833 while working in Dartford in Kent. His colleagues at Hall's Ironworks made a collection for his funeral expenses and acted as bearers. They also paid a night watchman to guard his grave at night to deter grave robbers, as body snatching was common at that time.
Trevithick was buried in an unmarked grave in St Edmund's Burial Ground, East Hill, Dartford. The burial ground closed in 1857, with the gravestones being removed in 1956–57. A plaque marks the approximate spot believed to be the site of the grave.
But the Cornish never forgot him.
There's a fine statue of him outside Camborne public library.
(Photos: Sean Murphy)
And every year in Camborne, there's a big celebration of his life and a replica of Puffing Devil chuffs its noisy way through the streets and replicates Trevithick's extraordinary first trip up Camborne Hill.
Then, once the conference was done, I could relax and take a stroll into the city. I made my way down to the River Lagan and the old docks where, famously, the Titanic was built. I then visited the 'Titanic Experience' which, it must be said, is very good. It tells the story of the ship's construction, the disaster, and the efforts made to locate the wreck. And there are a few poignant reminders on display, such as a deckchair, life jacket, a White Star Line tea service, a violin and more.
There's some great street art in the city. There are some nice galleries too. I visited the MAC to see a couple of new exhibitions.
