INFORMATION RELEASE
Saturday, April 17, 2010 – for immediate release – images available
FAO Newsdesk/Features, 2 pages
Recent Installations by Macmillan Hunter Sundials for the National Trust for Scotland – from Ross-shire to Glasgow
A new and contemporary-design sundial has just been installed in Ross-shire at the National Trust for Scotland’s Inverewe Garden, which opened to visitors on April 1. Designed by Alastair Hunter of Edinburgh-based Macmillan Hunter, a small family-run business, the sundial, at 5.5 degrees West, is situated at almost the most westerly point in mainland Britain.
Roy Dowsett, property manager for the National Trust for Scotland at Inverewe, says: “The sundial looks great and I am sure it is going to generate a lot of interest; Inverewe is an excellent site for it.”
If they are to be accurate, sundials have to be manufactured for their specific location; a sundial designed for Edinburgh or Glasgow would not be accurate or appropriate for Inverewe. Speaking of the new Macmillan Hunter sundial, Alastair Hunter of Macmillan Hunter says:
“We had to manufacture the sundial at Inverewe to take account of its location. We had to do new calculations for time and seasons: the lines for the length of day, for example, had to be redrawn to account for the longer summer daylight so far north, 58 degrees North – and there wasn’t an existing sundial in the garden for us to make comparisons.”
The sundial is positioned at the side of the drive, next to the main house, in an area that is open to the sun. The site was chosen for this reason, and, just as importantly, because it is highly visible for visitors and fits in well with the building and plant structures that surround it.
Further south, Macmillan Hunter has installed a sundial at the National Trust for Scotland’s Greenbank Garden in Glasgow. The Glasgow dial is at a similar latitude (approx 56 degrees) to the design prototype in Edinburgh, but adapted for a longitude further west. The dial is Macmillan Hunter’s professional-class entry for the British Sundial Society’s 2010 sundial design competition.
For further information, images or to interview Alastair Hunter, please contact: Christopher Glen, Macmillan Hunter’s PR, on 07977 229469
Additional Information
About Macmillan Hunter. Founded by Alastair Hunter, a professional engineer and sundial expert, Macmillan Hunter specialises in creating sundials that combine contemporary design and precision-engineering. Macmillan Hunter operates throughout the UK.
The British Sundial Society’s competition is run every five years. The closing date for 2010 entries was February 28, 2010. Judging will take place during the course of 2010, with awards being announced in April 2011.
“New sundial installed at Inverewe in time for notable solar date”