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Hanover Time
A mission to purchase a sundial instead ends with a customized Hanover project.
I've always been fascinated by sundials. Large ones, unique ones, small garden ones, all a testament to the human will to understand the world around them. Visually simple in appearance, but quite complex in their method.
In simplest form, a sundial is a device used to calculate time via the altitude of the sun. Classic sundials have a gnomon that casts a shadow onto a flat area, although there are many other variations of increasing complexity. These devices can display the local solar time, which varies from the time shown on our modern watches. (Variances include the non-circular nature of our orbit and the tilt of Earth's axis.)
Ancient Egyptians kept track of time via the length of shadows, and the Old Testament notes the "dial of Ahaz." Giovanni Padovani in the 1570s and later Giuseppe Biancani in the 1620s gave us the techniques still used today to create accurate timepieces, or at least as accurate as we can get with these techniques.
CAD drawing of calibration lines - courtesy of Chet Roberts/ANCR Sundials
CAD drawing of the custom gnomon - courtesy of Chet Roberts/ANCR Sundials
My interest led to an initial hunt for an antique decorative sundial, but after some thought, I realized that I'd much rather have a working device that can provide accurate information. Both latitude and longitude must be considered in the design. (Note the CAD drawings above.) Chet Roberts of ANCR Sundials was able to help.
As part of the project, I was able to choose some text and a background of my choice. As the end product would be tied to the Hanover area for accuracy, it seemed obvious to use Hanover as the focus of the theme.
The black rose used in a Hanover area advertisement.
'Hanover" and the year was an easy choice, but there were several directions for the background. The black rose has been associated with Hanover at times due to the use of the symbol by the German royal dynasty, the House of Hanover. The dynasty's rule reached into Great Britain and Ireland.
The Hanover Area Chamber of Commerce utilized the black rose shown above in a campaign starting in the late 1970s. My only source was a poor scan of an advertisement, but I was able to work with it to create the larger pattern necessary, and to modify the original design to work within the circular space of the sundial. (See the update below.)
Modified black rose design.
And the process began!
After discussion and sharing of my background image and home address for correct calculations by Mr. Roberts, a design was created and approved.
Approved design - courtesy of Chet Roberts/ANCR Sundials
After the mathematical calculations and design process, a CNC router cut the pattern in foam, a process that takes approximately 5 ½ hours. Errors can occur, as was the case in the first few attempts on the Hanover pattern. The good news? That left a pattern to capture in this photograph.
Foam pattern
The foam pattern is carefully cleaned up and placed in foundry sand. Aluminum is heated to 1450 degrees, which vaporizes the foam pattern.
Slag created when molten aluminum is skimmed off before making the pour.
Sundial and gnomons - courtesy of Chet Roberts/ANCR Sundials
After removal, the work is machined and polished.
Photo courtesy of Chet Roberts/ANCR Sundials.
Back of the sundial, showing the completion date.
Completed sundial and gnomon.
And the project was completed and shipped. With the gnomon pointed north, the sundial does indeed provide accurate time.
Completed work - courtesy of Chet Roberts/ANCR Sundials
Pointing north to provide accurate time for its unique location.
ANCR Sundials is named for Audrey 'N Chet Roberts. It was Chet's wife's desire for a sundial that led him on a journey to making them for others. Before his retirement from his full time career, he worked "behind the camera" in numerous positions for WEWS Channel 5 and WJW Channel 8, both located in Ohio. Chet's other interests include amateur radio and 1/8th size steam locomotives.
- Update, 10/5/20 -
Since publishing this article, I have learned that while the Hanover community utilized a black rose symbolically in the late 1970s and onward, the design shown in this article was not created and used until the mid-1990s and was designed by Doug West. A better view of the original design, as provided by the logo artist is below,
- Update, 08/8/21 -
Chet has retired from making custom sundials; his Hanover sundial will always be treasured!
Other photographs of the sundial continue below.
Vanishing Village
Nestled between Hanover and McSherrystown is a small village with a vanishing name.
Entering Adams County from the York County Line, Pennsylvania
There was a time when drivers traveling between Hanover and McSherrytown on Route 116 would pass small signs noting the village name of Midway. Businesses noted the name. Today, visual remnants of the name are seldom found.
Midway, located in Conewago Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania, borders Hanover (in York County) and McSherrystown. It is considered an unincorporated census-designated place, or a CDP. The United States Census Bureau considers CDPs to be a concentration of population for statistical purposes only. This areas have boundaries that tend to be softly defined and have no legal status. The 2010 census determined that Midway has a population of 2,125, which includes members of my family.
The signs noting your entrance to the area have been removed, and very few signs noting the name can still be spotted. As time goes on, explaining the location of your house as being "in Midway" has become less helpful. Midway, it seems, is a bit of a vanishing village.
Image by Ruhrfisch, used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
Midway Tavern, Hanover/Midway, Pennsylvania
360 Photos on Visual Realia
Visual Realia is capturing area photographs with a 360 degree view.
An interactive 360 photo as shown in a Facebook post.
Google's 360 Photos are a new way to immerse the viewer into any location. A sphere-shaped image is created and shared in a way where the audience can move around the scene in all directions via a movement of a smartphone, a finer swipe, or mouse movement. On some devices, the user can soon in and out of the scene.
Facebook has now utilized the same technology on Facebook 360 Photos, and the two work together.
Visual Realia (Andrew T. Smith) is now sharing numerous Hanover-area 360 photographs on its associated Inside Hanover Facebook page, and even more are linked from his site's 360s page, which can be found at the top of each page or via a click here.
A 360 photo as it appears in "flattened" form.
It's not possible to view this 360 photo of the Electric Map directly in this web page, but you can view it in interactive form in the Facebook post linked here. They may also be viewed in a web browser visiting Google Maps or in the Google Street View app for iPhone or Android.
Have a Google Cardboard viewer? (If not, you should get one! Quite fun.) Using the viewer in conjunction with the Street View app fields a three dimensional experience that puts the viewer right into the scene.
Check out the Visual Realia 360 photos now!
New Gallery: A Pennsylvania Farm
Pennsylvania Farm Gallery
A gallery of photographs captured in 2009 has been added to the photography page. Visit the scenes from a Pennsylvania farm by clicking here.
"Textures" Gallery Posted
A new gallery of photographs featuring textures has been posted.
"Tritone Roadster"
Textures can add an extra element of interest to a photograph, if used with care. A gallery of eleven photographs utilizing textures can be found by clicking here.
Century in the Making: Devil's Den Photographs
Family photographs are important keepsakes. Here's a hundred year effort.
Curvin and Cora Smith (back row) and friends at Devil's Den, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
This is an updated version of posts first shared in 2012 and 2013. I hope you enjoy this family history quest.
July of 1863 saw heavy fighting and death in Pennsylvania's small town of Gettysburg, and the Devil's Den and Little Round Top areas of the Gettysburg National Military Park were attracting visitors 50 years later when my grandparents, Cora and Curvin, had their photograph taken (seated in the back row) along with friends by a professional photographer from York. The photo was taken in July, four months before their wedding.
The photograph was always a favorite family treasure for me, and I always intended to get a similar photograph from the same vantage point. Living less than 30 minutes away, I visited often but always failed to remember to bring along the family photo for reference. Early on a February 2012 morning, I headed out to get the shot, and I was quite pleased to spend 40 minutes alone in the Devil's Den and Little Round Top area.
Lining up the 1913 photograph with the current site...
Little had changed, except for the loss of some trees in the background.
Devil's Den , 2012
The following year, having reached the century mark for the original photograph, I journeyed out again with my daughters and granddaughter, once again recreating the original, but this time with new family members.
At the 100 year anniversary of the original, current family members visit the original location.
It's quite unusual to find oneself in these spots without tourists and history buffs, and the calmness of the morning made it a peaceful one and perfect for photographing a few extra shots.
My photography interests usually do not lend themselves to making major alterations to the content of images, although the serenity of the day made me think of what the location might have been like for the local residents and the first soldiers to arrive. I removed the tourist path, road signs and the street from the area as I imagined the original view, shown below.
"Before War" - battlefield site as imagined before the historic battle
Before the war, at the fiftieth anniversary, and yet again a century later, Devil's Den is an imposing site. Perhaps relatives will visit yet again one hundred years from now to see similar imagery.