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-- 1947 the Old Man's diary -- JAN TO DEC -- If the first week of August be warm, the winter will be white and long. A wet August never brings dearth. August rain gives honey, wine, and saffron. After Lammas, corn ripens as much by night as by day. (Note - Alluding to the heavy night dews.) If St. Bartholomew’s Day (24th) be fair and clear, Then hope for a prosperous autumn that year, but if this day be misty, beginning with a hoar frost, the cold weather will soon come, and a hard winter follow. St. Bartholomew. If it rains this day it will rain the forty days after. “St.Bartholomew brings the cold dew.”(Is there a heavy dew? Does the air feel chilly and autumnal?)” August ripens, September gathers in. August bears the burden, September the fruit. Till Bartholomew's Day is past and gone There may be hops, or there may be none. None in August should over the land, In December none over the sea. Observe on what day the first heavy fog occurs, and expect a hard frost on the same day in October. "Fairest of the months! Ripe summer's queen, The hey-day of the year with robes that gleam with sunny sheen ------- Sweet August doth appear." - R. Combe Miller. Third week of the month: Swan Upping, River Thames, between Sunbury and Pangbourne. 1st July 1837 Registration of births, marriages and deaths begins in Britain. 1st July 1937 999 emergency service introduced. 10th June - First Oxford v Cambridge boat race in 1829. First Saturday of the month: Rush-bearing Great Musgrave and Ambleside, Cumbria. In the Middle Ages, before carpets, rushes were used as floor-covering. 2nd July 1928 Equal voting rights are granted to women in Britain. 3rd July 1938 The Mallard broke the speed record for steam engines, 126 mph. 12th July 1690 Battle of the Boyne – Northern Ireland. 13th July National Day Northern Ireland. 15th July St Swithin's Day. 21st July 1837 Euston Railway Station, London's 1st is opened. 21st July 1969 Apollo 11 landed on the Moon. 25th July St James Day, patron Saint of pilgrims. St Christopher's Day. Patron Saint of Travellers. July 28th - 29th Delta Aquarids Meteor Shower. The Delta Aquarids is an average shower that can produce up to 20 Meteors per hour at its peak. It is produced by debris left behind by Comets Marsden and Kracht. The shower runs annually from July 12th to August 23rd. It peaks this year on the night of July 28th and morning of July 29th. Unfortunately the Full Moon will obscure most of the Meteors this year. But if you are patient, you may still be able to catch a few of the brighter ones. Meteors will radiate from the Constellation Aquarius, but can appear anywhere in the sky. July 29th - Full Moon. This Full Moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Full Buck Moon because the male buck deer would begin to grow their new antlers at this time of year. This Moon has also been known as the Full Thunder Moon and the Full Hay Moon. |