Happy International Women's Day - Reach for the moon and the stars .

As I am always looking up and photographing lunar events, the sun and the sky I thought I would share the remarkable story of Katherine Johnson. who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2015 . 

Katherine Johnson joined the team at Langley in 1953 as a physicist, space scientist and mathematician, who provided the calculations for Alan Shepherd’s historic first flight into space, John Glenn’s ground-breaking orbit of the earth and the trajectory for Apollo 11’s moon landing

In February 2021 a space supply ship carrying some four tons of cargo bound for the International Space Station launched from Virginia. The S.S. Katherine Johnson, a Northrop Grumman Cygnus capsule, was named in honour of this mathematician whose contributions were featured in the Oscar-nominated film 'Hidden Figures'. 

"Five Women Who Made the Moon Landing Possible - That “giant leap for mankind” happened thanks to plenty of women."

The five women were:

JoAnn Morgan - Launch Controller

Margaret Hamilton - Computer Scientist

Mary Jackson - Aeronautical Engineer

Katherine Johnson - Aerospace Technologist

Judy Sullivan - Biomedical Engineer

• "Katherine Johnson—joined the team at Langley in 1953. A physicist, space scientist and mathematician, Johnson provided the calculations for Alan Shepherd’s historic first flight into space, John Glenn’s ground-breaking orbit of the earth and the trajectory for Apollo 11’s moon landing." (History.com)

• The S.S. Katherine Johnson, a Northrop Grumman Cygnus capsule, was due to arrive at the International Space Station Monday, on Febrary 22nd bearing some 8,000 pounds of science and research supplies and vehicle hardware.  (NPR 20/2/21)

• "Five Women Who Made the Moon Landing Possible That “giant leap for mankind” happened thanks to plenty of women." New York Times

• Movie Hidden Figures Three female African-American mathematicians play a pivotal role in astronaut John Glenn's launch into orbit. Meanwhile, they also have to deal with racial and gender discrimination at work. Wikapedia

Snow Moon 27th February 2021. Photo credit Pat Adams (North Devon Focus) 

Movie 'Hidden Figures' DVD - Amazon 

Book 'Hidden Figures - Paperback - Amazon

Watch 'Hidden Figures All 4 8th March 

'Hidden Figures' Hiddenfigures.com 

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Happy World Book Day - The North Devon and Exmoor landscape has inspired many writers and poets.

The  North Devon and Exmoor landscape has inspired many writers and poets.

Westward Ho! is synonymous with two famous authors, It was named after the novel ‘Westward Ho!’ written by Charles Kingsley when he lived in #Bideford. He grew up around the bay in Clovelly. His children’s novel ‘The Water-Babies’, is said to be inspired by the fishing village where his father was once Rector.

Rudyard Kipling, author of ‘The Jungle Book’, attended the United Services College, the long white building. The first verse of his poem ‘If’ features on the promenade below Kipling Tors. His collection of stories, ‘Stalky & Co’, is based on his experiences at the College, which he attended from January 1878 to 1882.  He was a winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Today's writers are still being inspired by our beautiful coast and countryside including North Devon's own Liz Shakespeare, the author of five books set in Devon. She was born and brought up in Devon and her writing has been influenced by the family stories she grew up with and the sense of being deeply rooted in the area. She draws her inspiration from the Devon countryside and from the strong historical identity of the area.

In the frame what was once the United Services College. Westward Ho! Photo credit Pat Adams (North Devon Focus)

In the frame Kipling Tors. Westward Ho! Photo credit Pat Adams (North Devon Focus)

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Photos taken #onthisday 4th March 2017 

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Other authors and poets of note

RD Blackmoor - Lorna Doone

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

RF Delderfield - A Horseman Riding By, To Serve Them All My Days

Percey Bysshe Shelley

William Wordsworth

Henry Williamson - Tarka the Otter

Liz Shakespeare - The Song of the Skylark; The Postman Poet and The Poems of Edward Capern; All Around The Year; The Turning of the Tide; Fever – A Story from a Devon Churchyard; The Memory be Green

Keeping meadows in mind – and why they matter. Free online talk bu author Stephen Moss on the importance of wildflower meadows

Best-selling nature writer and broadcaster Stephen Moss is giving a free online talk to illustrate why creating wildflower meadows is important for turning around wildlife declines and helping to tackle climate change.

The 'Why meadows matter' talk, on Wednesday 3rd February at 7:30pm, focuses on a key habitat for the subject of Stephen Moss's latest book, The Swallow: A Biography. Wildflower-rich meadows are home to a diverse array of insects. That means they are important places not only for bumblebees, butterflies and other pollinators, but also for the smaller prey species hunted by insect-eating birds such as swallows.

This online event has been organised by Dartmoor-based Moor Meadows, a community wildflower and wildlife conservation group. Open to everyone, the event is free but you must register.  CLICK HERE TO REGISTER YOUR PLACE

Traditional wildflower meadows have disappeared from most of the English countryside, largely due to changes in agriculture during the 20th century. With the loss of diverse wild plants came an associated loss of insects and other wildlife.

But in recent years, techniques have been perfected to re-create wildflower-rich grasslands. As groups such as Moor Meadows have shown, wildflower 'meadows' can be restored or created on farmland, in gardens and churchyards, and on roadside verges.

Event organizer and Moor Meadows co-founder Donna Cox of Buckfastleigh said: "Wildflower meadows are among the most important wildlife habitats, as they support disproportionately high numbers of plant and animal species. Yet 97% of Britain's wildflower meadows have been lost since the 1930s. Meadows have a fascinating history and are a wonderful wildlife spectacle in the present – but they are important for the future of both wildlife and people."

The free talk on 'Why meadows matter' will include a Question and Answer session so attendees can quiz Stephen Moss about the wildlife to be found in meadows and the importance of wildflower-rich grasslands for reducing pollution in our waterways, storing carbon from the atmosphere, reversing the declines in pollinating insects, helping to improve people's mental health and more.

Stephen Moss said: "Wildflower meadows have such a central importance not only for wildlife, but also in our history, literature and culture. They have all but disappeared in recent decades, but Moor Meadows is now helping to bring them back."

In addition to the general Q&A session the free event will also include a conversation between Stephen Moss and Dartmoor-based RSPB Chairman Kevin Cox.

Stephen Moss - Author of  'The Swallow: A Biography'

People enjoying Brimpts meadow, near Dartmeet. Photo credit Wendy Searle

Meadow brown butterfly Photo credit Robbie Phillips

"Keeping meadows in mind – and why they matter"

Free online talk on the importance of wildflower meadows organised by More Meadows – Wednesday 3rd February at 7:30pm

Places on the free online talk by Stephen Moss - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

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