Publisher's Synopsis
A selection of 114 colour images that help to describe and explain the rather quaint, idiosyncratic character of Bude, a small seaside resort town on the north east coast of Cornwall in south west England. [Bude was the sunniest place in the UK 2013, The Meteorological Office.] In the opening chapter the reader's imagination is given full scope with 'New Paintings' by Dave King which reflect the painter's Abstract, Cubist and Minimalist training through his 'playing' with line and juxtaposition of differing shapes and colours. Maintaining a celebratory theme, 'The Bude Light Sculpture' not only commemorates the 2000 Millennium but also the unsung Victorian inventor of 'The Bude Light', Sir Goldsworthy Gurney [1793-1875.] Gurney's range of significant inventions included "The High Pressure Steam Jet", "The Oxy-Hydrogen Blow Pipe", "The Gurney Stove" and "The Steam Carriage Drag" ["The world's first mechanised vehicle to travel over distance at sustained speed."] The contributors to the marvellous Bude Castle Heritage Centre further explain Gurney's work whilst also presenting a variety of exhibits: Gurney's solutions to 'The Great Stink' from Parliament's foul smelling sewers and 'The Hot Air Problem' by his heating and ventilation systems for The House of Commons; Gurney's Bude Castle [now the home of the Heritage Centre] ingeniously and successfully built on sand; Two influential Bude families in the history of the Town - the Grenville and Acland families; The history of 'Limelight'; Preventing explosions in coal mines by improved ventilation; Improving safety at sea with the reflecting and rotating "Gurney and Rixon Light" that led to lighthouses around the coast developing their own signature of flashes to warn shipping [a system that is still in use by Trinity House today]; Anthony Payne, The Giant of Cornwall in The English Civil War; "HMS Widemouth Bay" and Bude's very own Archie Jewell, a look-out on the 'RMS Titanic.' Bude [Population size 5,091, 2011] is easily accessed from London by Motorway and A class road: M4 > M5 > A39 [Atlantic Highway] > A3072 or by train to Barnstaple and then by A39 to Bude. [This book is the counterpart to "Beautiful Bude! Great Beaches, History and Awesome Rocks: A charming family seaside resort in South-West England UK"]
