Greetings fellow dialists, A recent letter in the BSS Bulletin (v.15, p.61) suggests that dials on pubs may be rare. I fancy this may not be entirely true and I can think of at least half a dozen pub dials in my area.
But I believe pub dials are exposed to a particular risk, the risk of being painted out. The dial made by William Emerson, the eminent eighteenth century mathematician, in the village of Hurworth in County Durham has a number of strange and meaningless lines on it in addition to the conventional hour lines. It is said that fairly recently the brewery company engaged painters to paint the front of the pub and in the course of this they painted out the dial. There was a considerable local fuss as Emerson is rather revered in Hurworth and it is said that the painters had to return and restore the dial. This could explain the redundant extra lines, put in by ignorant people. I know of a second dial which has been painted out and continues in that condition at this moment. It is in Sedgefield, County Durham (Tony Blair's constituency, no less) and is on the front of the "Black Lion". I have a picture of it before it was offered this insult. It is now the same colour as the rest of the pub wall, with the exception of the gnomon which is picked out with gold paint! Can anyone supply further examples? I feel that through careless brewers and foolish painters it is pub dials in particular that are in danger of being lost through being painted out. Frank 55N 1W -- Frank Evans [EMAIL PROTECTED] -
