The average family car generates 24 tonnes of CO2 in its lifetime.

Between Messrs Branson and Bezos around 600 tonnes of CO2 was thrown into the upper atmosphere for an experience that lasted less than 2 hours.
The average car is driven for 150,000 miles in its lifetime and at an average speed of 30 miles per hour that equates to 5,000 hours.  24 tonnes spread over 5,000 hours is 0.0048 tonnes per hour.  So one hour in car terms equals 125,000 cars or 3,750,000 miles
Cars, although pollutants are tools for commerce.  People use them to go to the shops, work or for the leisure industry.  They  therefore generate revenue and wealth for society.
Branson and Bezos appear to be frittering away money and hastening the demise of our environment with seemingly megalomaniac dreams.  No wonder their exploits have not been given astronaut status.  Global government and society should make them accountable.
Space tourism is not the future.  It could hasten our end.  

If we want the earth to last our children's and their children's lifetimes we need to act.
Electric vehicles, more use of public transport, less overall use of transport maybe and less  environmentally affecting homes are just some of the actions that are needed.  Less use of plastic, reduced food waste are just some of the things that we need to act on sooner rather than later.

I recently bought the poster below to remind me what will happen to Somerset if water rises too much and flooding is now proven to be a direct consequence of global warming.  Not mentioning forest fires across the world.  Record breaking hottest days.

Each Home Counts is an initiative that will improve the environmental impact and efficiency of new and existing dwellings.  To support this I added to my services by becoming a retrofit assessor.

I have been undertaking Energy Performance Assessments for a number of years but these are only in place as the law demands it.  A retrofit assessment is not yet law so it will be interesting to see if the PAS2035 new homes initiative happens.  
A number of other government initiatives including the Green Deal Advice Scheme came broadly to nothing.
People only tend to change their behaviour when not doing something adversely affects their pocket or where it is significantly cheaper or cost effective to do so.  
Electric vehicle take up has been slow as there is not the necessary infrastructure to support them but no doubt within a few years there will be.
Roof Insulation
Wall Insulation
Double and Triple Glazing
Floor Insulation
All things that will make a massive difference.  That's before we look at types of heating and lighting.
​It is worth making a difference so if you want to know more get in touch.  Failing that if you live in Somerset order some waders before Amazon sell out !

​So we decided to make a week of it.
My van, a Volkswagen Transporter T6/T30 Kombi had the bed and kitchen pod removed to make room for the 14 boxes of books. The necessary to make tea en-route was put in the back together with a bag of clothes and time to leave Somerset and head to Lancashire to load up books and pick up Dad.
Once everything was loaded an overnight at Mum and Dads then a leisurely start on the Monday morning.
First overnight stop was Perth at Dad’s brothers house on the banks of the Tay Estuary.  On the way we had lunch at the Falkirk Wheel then a brief stop to say hello to the Kelpies then onwards to Newburgh.
Tuesday morning we head to Dornoch along the A9 which has some jaw dropping views along the way, not least the bridges across the Inverness and Moray Firths.
On checking in to the Dornoch Hotel overlooking a golf course then over a stretch of dunes to the sea beyond.
We found the Highland Spice Indian restaurant as a treat for Dad to celebrate fathers day.  Mum dislikes the aroma of aromatic spices created when a good curry is being cooked or as she describes it the “smell of curry” so Dad only has the chance of a good curry when he is released from Mum’s culinary clutches and has a meal out on his own.
After an excellent meal we popped across the road to the Dornoch Castle Whisky bar and sat in their grounds enjoying the warm evening weather.  We had coffee and for desert a wee dram of Elements of Islay Peat whisky, a blend of single malts from around the island.  A big, punchy full throttle dram with notes of roasted fruit, smoke and roasted spice.  Bracing aromas of salty seaweed, lemon, lime and grapefruit all entwined with peat smoke and bonfire embers.  Dad said that it was the best whisky he had ever tasted and at £5 a dram not bad value too.
Wednesday morning back on the A9 towards our ferry at Scrabster but as we had time via Wick and John O Groats.  The A9 is the major road running from the Falkirk council area in central Scotland to Scrabster Harbour, Thurso in the far north, via Stirling, Bridge of Allan, Perth and Inverness. At 273 miles, it is the longest road in Scotland and the fifth-longest ‘A’ road in the United Kingdom.

We took advantage of the good weather and found a seat for the 90 minute crossing on the ship’s sun deck.  During the crossing we spied a couple of dolphins cavorting in the water and got a great view of the Old Man of Hoy.  Turning in to the bay at Stromness we got our first view of the Hall of Celstrain before docking and being met by Andrew and Sigrid.  They were waiting beside their largely green Renault Kangoo that had a number of ​During the crossing we spied a couple of dolphins cavorting in the water and got a great view of the Old Man of Hoy.  Turning in to the bay at Stromness we got our first view of the Hall of Celstrain before docking and being met by Andrew and Sigrid.  They were waiting beside their largely green Renault Kangoo that had a number of dents on every panel including a fresh one added that very afternoon when the Kangoo more than gently kissed a Stromness lamp post.
 
Born 1948 in Kent, Andrew Appleby became an independent wanderer from a very early age. The youngest of three brothers, he constantly lagged behind and still does, even now, on a walk finding clay in banks and around ponds, or searching the ground for ancient artifacts. His natural tendency towards incendiary pursuits helped fire his meagre works from the age of seven, and at eleven he was smitten with the archaeology bug. This led to discovering a Neolithic site with quantities of prehistoric pottery... his yearning to make these pots was born. He spent most of his secondary school years in the pottery department. His father had related his tales of Orkney in the army intelligence service during World War Two, so Andrew and his brother hitch-hiked there from Kent. The archaeology, scenery, atmosphere and colours had a lasting effect and a decade later moved to the Isles permanently, setting up his pottery in an old chicken house at Fursbreck Farm in Harray. From his first weeks in residence, folk said, You must go and see the Harray Potter! He’s just magic! , hence its name. Past Chair of the Orkney Archaeology Society.  He is currently President of the John Rae Society, honouring the Orcadian Arctic explorer. 
 
Dad mentioned to Sigrid that he was nearly 80 and feeling his age.  Sigrid exclaimed that this was nothing as she is 86 and still going strong. 
 
During the crossing we received a message asking if Dad would be interviewed by BBC Radio Orkney.  Dad was dead against this as he didn’t want any fuss.  Instead he asked me to speak on his behalf instead.  I reluctantly agreed.

​John Rae was born at the Hall of Clestrain in Orphir on September 30, 1813 and grew up in comfort in affluent surroundings. But forsaking the pleasures of hearth and home, the young John Rae thrived on the outdoor life. Making the most of the rural location, Rae spent most of his boyhood sailing, climbing, trekking, hunting and fishing – activities that served him well for his future exploits.
Then, in 1819, John Rae Senior was made the Orkney agent of the Hudsons Bay Company
As a boy, Rae would accompany his father on the short sea crossing between Clestrain and Stromness where the HBC had their offices. Here, the young Rae would watch the company's many supply ships visit the town – their final port of call before crossing the Atlantic. 

​In 1833, shortly after qualifying as a surgeon in Edinburgh, John Rae signed on as a surgeon aboard the HBC ship Prince of Wales. The ship’s destination was Moose Factory in James Bay – an area at the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada.
Intending only to serve a single season, the early “arrival” of ice meant Rae was forced to spend the winter on the desolate and windswept Charlton Island.
Despite the conditions, Rae found himself captivated by "the wild sort of life to be found in the Hudson's Bay Company service". So much so that he accepted the post of surgeon at Moose Factory and remained there for ten years.
During his time at Moose Factory, Rae learned much about the area and, in particular, the Canadian natives. He regarded himself as a student of the native Cree Indians, learning skills from them such as making and maintaining snowshoes and how to hunt caribou and store the meat.
From the Inuit he learned how to ice the runners of a sled, how to combat snow-blindness and how to construct a shelter – all vital survival skills.
It was this association with "natives" that contributed to Rae’s eventual downfall. Many considered his “habit” of dressing like a native a disgrace and frowned upon his methods.
Despite this, Rae's time with the Native Americans saw him acquire a great deal of their knowledge, as well as a great respect for their culture, traditions and skills. Eventually, Rae became regarded as the foremost authority of Native American methods of Arctic survival and travel.

​For example, Rae was said to be the best snowshoe walker of his time. Over two months in 1844/45, he covered 1,200 miles on foot, a feat that earned him the nickname “Aglooka” - "he who takes long strides" - from the Inuit.
His resilience and survival skills led to him being commissioned to go north to the west coast of Melville Peninsula from Fury and Hecla Strait southwards, and westwards to Dease, filling in the "blanks" that existed on the maps of northern Canada’s coastline.
By the winter of 1849, Rae had taken over the charge of the Mackenzie River district at Fort Simpson.
Before long, Rae was drawn into the search for a lost Royal Navy expedition.
The expedition, led by Sir John Franklin, had disappeared after leaving England in 1845 to search for the Northwest Passage - a navigable Arctic route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific.
Franklin's expedition was made up of two ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, and 134 men. Its failure to return resulted in one of the largest, most expensive, searches ever mounted.
In charge of the search was Sir John Richardson, who wanted Rae as his second-in-command. Rae ended up leading two missions in an attempt to locate the missing sailors.
Throughout this period, Rae continued charting the unknown territories of the north Canadian coast. Because of this, he succeeded where Franklin had failed and proved the existence of the North West passage.
Rae abandoned the search for Franklin in 1854 after learning that the expedition had ended in disaster and that the last survivors having been forced to resort to cannibalism.
In April 1854, Rae had heard from an Inuit that a group of 40 white men had been seen four years previously. Watched by a group of native seal hunters, the white men had been dragging a boat and sledges south along the west coast of King William Island.
Going on the native accounts, Rae concluded the men had perished in the winter of 1850, after ice had crushed their ships.
Some time later, Rae learned that the Inuit had discovered around 30 bodies and a number of graves. Some of these were on the mainland, with five on an island which Rae wrote was: "about a long day's journey to the north west of a large stream, which can be no other than Great Fish River".
The men had died of starvation.
Rae wrote: "Some of the bodies had been buried (probably those of the first victims of famine); some were in a tent or tents; others under the boat, which had been turned over to form a shelter, and several lay scattered about in different directions."
He added: "From the mutilated state of many of the bodies and the contents of the kettles, it is evident that our wretched Countrymen had been driven to the last dread alternative - cannibalism - as a means of prolonging existence."
John Rae later acquired some of the dead men’s possessions from the Inuit. Items such as cutlery, watches and a medal that had once belonged to Franklin proved the expedition had perished.
Going solely on the accounts of the Inuit, Rae did not actually visit the site, saying that the Inuit were reluctant to make the 10 or 12 day trek to the site of the lost expedition.
This "failure" to visit the site led to considerable criticism after Rae’s report was published. The document damned the doctor in the eyes of Victorian England. 

​Rae’s conclusions as to the fate of the Franklin Expedition was condemned by the establishment and his integrity was called into question.
“How dare this man, who dressed and mingled with Canadian natives, suggest that men of the Royal Navy indulged in cannibalism? And more to the point imagine accepting the word of the natives without verifying it!”
Particularly vitriolic in her attacks was Franklin's wife. Lady Jane Franklin sought to glorify the memory of her husband as the man who found the Northwest Passage, so unsurprisingly Rae's discoveries did not go down well.
Aiding Lady Franklin was the writer Charles Dickens.
Dickens published articles rejecting Rae’s conclusions and the manner in which he had reached them. According to Dickens, it was unthinkable that the English Navy "would or could in any extremity of hunger, alleviate that pains of starvation by this horrible means".
But Rae refused to back down. He stood by the content of his report and the circumstances surrounding the fate of the Franklin Expedition.
The full story was only revealed when an expedition sent by Lady Franklin found a small cairn at Point Victory, on the north west coast of King William Island.
Here, one Lieutenant Crozier, second in command, had left a message confirming that Sir John Franklin had died on June 11, 1847. Franklin had been the 25th man to perish on the expedition.
The cairn was found in May 1859, 11 years after Crozier had written that the survivors were starting out for Great Fish River. Skeletons of some of the last survivors appeared to confirm that the men had resorted to cannibalism.
Dr John Rae retired from the Hudson's Bay Company in 1856 at the age of 43. But his exploring days were far from over.

​When the Atlantic telegraph cable failed, a route was suggested through the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland to North America. Rae was called upon to explore the landward side of this route.
Then, in 1884, he accepted a task that brought him back, for the time being, into the service of the Hudson's Bay Company. The HBC, in partnership with the Western Telegraph Union Company, was exploring the possibility of a telegraph route through Siberia, the Bering Strait, Alaska and British Columbia. Rae was asked to survey a section of the proposed route from Red River to Victoria.
In the course of this survey he negotiated a considerable stretch of the Fraser River in a dugout canoe, without a guide. His survey notes proved of value in the later development of the Canadian west.
But following the Franklin controversy, John Rae, and his exploits, began to slip from the pages of the history books. His achievements were ignored or, at best, grudgingly acknowledged.
Although they had failed to find the North West passage, Franklin and his officers were posthumously knighted. Aside from his other achievements, Rae had found the Passage but received no recognition or award. He was the only major explorer of the era not to receive a knighthood.
Dr John Rae died in London on July 22, 1893, aged 79.
On Saturday, July 29, 1893, his body arrived in Kirkwall on board the paddle steamer St Magnus. A solemn crowd gathered to pay their respects as John Rae returned home for the last time.
His coffin was carried to St Magnus Cathedral where he was buried with great ceremony. His remains lie in the Cathedral kirkyard, marked by a humble gravestone.
Inside the cathedral nave is a memorial to the man - a recumbent figure carved in stone. Wearing his Arctic travelling clothes, Rae sleeps with his gun by his side, and a blanket, or sleeping bag, thrown over his body.
A growing number people are becoming aware of John Rae and his achievements.

Orkney has loads of places to see and do but people kept saying that I had to see the Italian Chapel built by prisoners of war out of whatever they could find.

A total of 1679 miles covered.  The T6 didn't miss a beat and propelled us in total comfort.  The trip has encouraged me to head back up to Scotland to look at the north West part of the country in more depth.

On the way home we popped to Ecclefechan to sample their tarts.  Dad was dropped off in Lancashire and I headed down to sunny Somerset to put the van back together.

My biological father had a best friend who actually became Dad number two after an early and untimely death in 1980.
Dad, a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society has had a lifelong interest in exploration and adventure and encouraged my biological father into sea kayaking.
Back in 1964 he saw a classified advertisement in a catalogue and sent off a cheque for a Nivada Grenchen Depthomatic watch.  A 17 Jewel Waterproof Swiss automatic with an internal rotating bezel and first to incorporate a depth gauge.

He loaned it to my father during a motorcycle trip across Europe where he unfortunately had an accident which ultimately ended his life just outside Montpellier, Southern France.  Along with his other possessions the watch was recovered and returned to Dad who vowed to one day hand it to me.
Now, 57 years on it is resplendent on my right wrist.  The original exterior bezel showed significant signs of wear and age and the depth gauge being rubber was brittle and no longer working but all other parts of the watch in absolutely perfect condition. Keeping better time than my automatic Omega Seamaster which is around half its age.
After a bit of internet research I discovered that a replacement exterior bezel could be purchased and once delivered from Hong Kong replacing it was a relatively simple procedure.   
Vintage watches usually have a rich and varied history, were originally used as tools and almost always have a story to tell. This Depthomatic was worn by Dad on some early pioneering kayaking adventures including crossing the English Channel and the North Sea then further afield off Greenland in the oceans of the Arctic and Antarctic.
Back in the 1960’s and 1970’s Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his crew sailed and dived from a ship called the Calypso.  These dive expeditions were documented and along with Rolex and Omega, some crew including Bernard Delmotte sported the Depthomatic on his wrist.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau was a French navy officer, explorer, conservationist, filmmaker, scientist and photographer who researched the sea and all forms of life in the water.  He developed the aqua-lung and pioneered marine life conservation.
Back in the 1960’s watches were necessary tools and without them diving would be precarious and life threatening.  Now, with the advent of rugged digital watches like the Casio G Shock which is cheap to replace if lost and unlikely to go wrong unless the battery runs out, any other watches now fall under the category of jewellery.
The Nivada Depthomatic was manufactured in Grenchen, Switzerland and had some famous brothers including the Antarctic and the Chronomaster.  It’s distinguishing characteristic was the built in Bourdon Tube Bathymeter where ambient pressure is transmitted to a spring mechanism within a C shaped tube that shows the depth against markings on the outer bezel.  The watch also has a rotating inner bezel that unlike most divers watches cannot be knocked whilst underwater.
The 17 Jewel Depthomatic has a double wall acrylic crystal protecting the rotating inner bezel and broad arrow hands.
Nivada Grenchen began in 1926 and in 1930 was one of the first to manufacture an automatic watch.  Then, in 1950 the first waterproof automatic watch called the Antarctic was developed.  This was worn by members of the American Navy Deep Freeze 1 during their expedition to the South Pole from 1955-1956.

There is not a huge call for photography when the world is on lockdown so I have been enjoying some time in my studio,  the first thing was to clear out some old equipment that 'might get used one day' so Ebay has been a bit busy of late and the Royal Mail has enjoyed some increased patronage.  I have also had some time to get back to some tabletop photography.

So the satellites have been flying through our skies with amazing visibility over the last couple of nights.  Somehow I missed them but as it was a mild night I thought that I would stroll to the rugby field next to our house and see if any good images could be had.  
I originally was just making pictures of the sky with no visual hook and this didn't seem to work, instead I recomposed nearer the goal posts and this is the final image.  It would have been nicer if that very bright star was more rugby ball shaped but you can't have everything.

So Covid 19 has arrived with a vengeance and has closed down a large part of the world.  Bill Gates gave a Ted Talk in 2015 saying that the next big crisis was not nuclear war, terrorism or conflict.  It would be a virus and the result would remove three trillion dollars from personal wealth for the people that survive.

On the plus side I had the chance to take the drone out to one of my favourite churches and get a couple of new perspectives.

It was quite  windy day but the skies were clear and dry.  I hope to spend the next couple of weeks adding to my collection of views from above.  If you are bored then check out that Ted talk by Mr Gates on Youtube.

In the good old days I used to carry so much kit that a day trip became almost a mini expedition.  These days, I minimise my equipment to just what will be required on the day and in addition to the good old Iphone 11 I often sneak in my Fuji kit.  Here is a video on what I take.

You can create quite a diverse range of images with a very simple camera set up.  The video is a few years old now but the equipment still works fine and despite sensor and camera technology advancing fast these X100s beasts still produce awesome images.