Spanish Armada-era astrolabe returns to Scilly after mysterious global journey
It spent hundreds of years languishing on the seabed off the Isles of Scilly in the far south-west of Britain before being hauled back to the surface by divers and setting off a circumnavigation of the world.Finally the Pednathise Head astrolabe – a rare example of a 16th-century navigational instrument once used by sailors to determine latitude – is back on Scilly after being rediscovered on the other side of the Atlantic.It turns out that after being sold and leaving the UK, the astrolabe passed through private collections in Australia and the US, its true identity forgotten along the way, before ending up in a museum on the Florida Keys.“It’s been on quite a journey,” said Xavier Duffy, the curator of the Isles of Scilly Museum.“We’re thrilled to have it back on Scilly and in the care of the museum.
We can’t wait to share its story with visitors.”The astrolabe, made of a type of bronze, was found in about 1990 in the wreck of a Spanish ship that sank off Pednathise Head, part of Scilly’s uninhabited Western Rocks.The Scilly archipelago, 30 miles off the British mainland, is infamous for shipwrecks.It is not known what the unnamed ship was doing there but it is thought to have been lost at about the time of the Spanish Armada’s attempt to overthrow Elizabeth I in 1588.The Pednathise Head astrolabe was not complete but relatively few are known to survive worldwide and the intrigue around them helps make them valuable artefacts.
Philip Pullman saw examples at the History of Science Museum in Oxford and, in the His Dark Materials series, based the look of the mystical truth-telling device the alethiometer on the astrolabe.The Scilly astrolabe was sold and then vanished.It has now been established that at some point it was misidentified as another astrolabe found on a ship called the Nassau, a Dutch vessel that sank off Malaysia in 1606.It is known to have been in the collection of a man from South Australia but was seized by the state when he was convicted of serious crimes.The astrolabe was subsequently mentioned in a chat group by an Australian antiques dealer who said he had paid “peanuts” for it and it was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Curiously, it then found its way into the collection of a car dealer in New Jersey who donated it to the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum in the Florida Keys,A US expert on astrolabes, James Jobling, realised it was the Scilly astrolabe,There were two more stops for it – his laboratory in Texas and the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth, Cornwall – before it arrived back in Scilly,It will take pride of place as the centrepiece of a navigation case at the islands’ revamped museum on the most populous island, St Mary’s, next year,Lydia Bassett, the director of Scilly Arts & Heritage, said: “It’s great timing for us because our museum will open next autumn.
“The maritime gallery will tell the story of the many shipwrecks on Scilly,We’re so pleased to have the astrolabe back,”
Reeves could allow holiday tax on English hotel and Airbnb stays
British holidaymakers could have to pay a nightly tax on hotel stays and Airbnb-style visits in plans expected to be announced by Rachel Reeves in the budget next week.The chancellor is reportedly preparing to give mayors powers to raise taxes by charging tourists on the cost of an overnight stay in their cities.The tax could raise hundreds of millions of pounds for mayors to invest in transport and public services, but it would represent a further blow for the hospitality industry, which was squeezed by tax rises and extra employment costs announced in the last budget.The trade body UKHospitality, which represents thousands of restaurants, hotels and pubs, said a tourism tax of 5% – the rate to be set by Edinburgh from next July – would mean an effective consumer tax of 27%. That figure includes standard 20% VAT on the hotel stay, as well as VAT on the holiday tax itself, making it one of the highest tourist tax rates in Europe, the trade body said
The Running Man to David Hockney: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead
Stephen King’s dystopian novel gets an Edgar Wright reboot with Glen Powell, while the prolific British master is back with new paintingsThe Running ManOut nowEdgar Wright directs this reimagining of the 1987 sci-fi cult classic based on Stephen King’s 1982 novel, which envisioned a fictional America of 2025 sliding into totalitarianism. Glen Powell stars as the contestant attempting to survive a deadly televised game.Now You See Me: Now You Don’tOut nowThis third film in the magic-heist franchise reunites Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco and Isla Fisher as the Four Horsemen. Directed by Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland), the new instalment sees the gang target a massive diamond. Expect more sleight-of-hand shenanigans
Thames Water bidder says it is offering £1bn extra cash injection
A bidder for Thames Water has said it would inject £1bn more into the struggling utility company than rival proposals if it gained control.John Reynolds, the chief executive of the independent water retailer Castle Water, said the current plans under discussion with creditors to rebuild Thames Water’s finances does not go far enough and does not properly address its environmental crisis.Castle Water would provide a cash injection of at least £1bn over current proposals, he told the Times.“No one wants a restructuring that does not stick. The negotiations are not heading anywhere,” he said
Personal details of Tate galleries job applicants leaked online
Personal details submitted by applicants for a job at Tate art galleries have been leaked online, exposing their addresses, salaries and the phone numbers of their referees, the Guardian has learned.The records, running to hundreds of pages, appeared on a website unrelated to the government-sponsored organisation, which operates the Tate Modern and Tate Britain galleries in London, Tate St Ives in Cornwall and Tate Liverpool.The data includes details of applicants’ current employers and education, and relates to the Tate’s hunt for a website developer in October 2023. Information about 111 individuals is included. They are not named but their referees are, sometimes with mobile numbers and personal email addresses
England keep sights on rugby’s Everest in relentless climb to game’s summit | Robert Kitson
After finally scaling Mount Everest with Tenzing Norgay on 29 May 1953 the first person Edmund Hillary encountered on his descent was his longtime climbing friend, George Lowe. “Well, George,” Hillary said, “we knocked the bastard off.” Which is basically how England’s captain, Maro Itoje, and his team felt on Saturday having lifted the Hillary Shield, named in honour of the indomitable New Zealander who conquered the world’s most famous summit.English rugby’s ultimate Everest is still up ahead of them, of course, in the form of the 2027 World Cup, but this was their South Col moment. And while a first home win against the All Blacks since 2012 and their second‑highest margin of victory in this 120-year-old fixture will both be sources of satisfaction there was also a powerful sense that their upwardly mobile trek is far from complete
‘Simple, well-crafted and excellent’: supermarket chutneys, tasted and rated | The food filter
Our resident taster dipped, spread and dolloped his way through 10 chutneys in time for Christmas, so you don’t get in a pickle choosing one for yourself The fair price for 14 everyday items, from cleaning spray to olive oilThe Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.Chutney is a heritage recipe that’s been largely unchanged for a century, and some of the best versions are the simplest and most traditional. That said, even when it’s made on an industrial scale, chutney usually features just fruit, sugar, vinegar and perhaps some pectin
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