Message text written by "Chuck O'Connell" >Is there any one place where sundial photos are achived, indexed and accessible on the web?<
Sadly the prevalence of theft has meant that all those who keep archived data about dials - like the BSS here in the UK - must be very vigilant about inadvertent publication about dials of any sort since even the humblest horizontal dial is often worth quite a bit for its brass/ bronze content alone. It is for this reason that the BSS does not publicise information about dials on the Internet. It may be of interest to members of this list to know that in my position as the BSS Registrar in this week alone I have processed information about three more dials stolen from sites here in the UK. Having said that it is true that some dials - particularly vertical ones high out of reach on buildings - are rather less vulnerable but even so some do get removed or vandalised. On the one hand it is imperative that we record the dials that we still have left in the UK but on the other hand we must be careful not to enhance the level of theft by publicising the details too widely. I would however support a move to publicise stolen dials on the Internet. That way we might just possibly get some back.... Piers Nicholson (of the web page Sundials on the Internet) does indeed plan to offer such a facility in the future and I hope it proves successful. Patrick.
