Off Topic Hull City Centre Public Realm Strategy

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I think tommorow Thu 29th at 1.00pm the golden ball atop the guildhall will drop.

Can anyone confirm.
It did.
I went to watch it
I know it will do the same thing every day now, but I still thought it was worth going along for the first one in 100years.
Had a natter with some senior council staff as it was happening…they relaxed when it worked!
It was worth going to watch the seagulls attacking the drone which was up to video it! <laugh>
The bells played Eternal Father Strong to Save ( ‘for those in peril on the sea’) too, and I think they will do each day. Nice touch.
 
It did.
I went to watch it
I know it will do the same thing every day now, but I still thought it was worth going along for the first one in 100years.
Had a natter with some senior council staff as it was happening…they relaxed when it worked!
It was worth going to watch the seagulls attacking the drone which was up to video it! <laugh>
The bells played Eternal Father Strong to Save ( ‘for those in peril on the sea’) too, and I think they will do each day. Nice touch.

Is there an explanation anywhere of what it actually does? I've seen loads of mentions of it 'dropping' again but no idea what that really means and no one seems to ever say. I read that it was used to help ships set their clocks but can't imagine how.
 
It did.
I went to watch it
I know it will do the same thing every day now, but I still thought it was worth going along for the first one in 100years.
Had a natter with some senior council staff as it was happening…they relaxed when it worked!
It was worth going to watch the seagulls attacking the drone which was up to video it! <laugh>
The bells played Eternal Father Strong to Save ( ‘for those in peril on the sea’) too, and I think they will do each day. Nice touch.

I was there too, I realised after the event the best place to watch from would have been outside of the court building.
 
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Is there an explanation anywhere of what it actually does? I've seen loads of mentions of it 'dropping' again but no idea what that really means and no one seems to ever say. I read that it was used to help ships set their clocks but can't imagine how.

It was indeed used to accurately set ships clocks…

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_ball
 
It did.
I went to watch it
I know it will do the same thing every day now, but I still thought it was worth going along for the first one in 100years.
Had a natter with some senior council staff as it was happening…they relaxed when it worked!
It was worth going to watch the seagulls attacking the drone which was up to video it! <laugh>
The bells played Eternal Father Strong to Save ( ‘for those in peril on the sea’) too, and I think they will do each day. Nice touch.
Talk about underwhelming though, ball goes up a few feet, slowly comes back down, hardly a drop was it?
 
Is there an explanation anywhere of what it actually does? I've seen loads of mentions of it 'dropping' again but no idea what that really means and no one seems to ever say. I read that it was used to help ships set their clocks but can't imagine how.
I see OLM posted a link, but yes when it dropped all the ships that could see it knew it was exactly 1pm so they could set their own time and of course timing was vital for navigation.
Don’t forget it was next to one of, if not the, busiest ports in the country when Queens Gardens was actually a dock.
 
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I see OLM posted a link, but yes when it dropped all the ships that could see it knew it was exactly 1pm so they could set their own time and of course timing was vital for navigation.
Don’t forget it was next to one of, if not the, busiest ports in the country when Queens Gardens was actually a dock.

Still one in Leeds, though not working. Obviously not used for timing for navigation. You would hardly notice it walking by. Hull’s may have been the tallest. It is the tallest of the remaining few.
 
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It was out of date technology when it was installed in 1918. By the mid 1920s accurate radio time signals rendered all time balls obsolete. I wonder how many mariners ever actually used it?

As the ball is mostly in the down position, how did they know when it was 5 to 1 to see the ball go up then drop at precisely 1.00pm.
 
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