Today, a bit of a mystery.
Imagine that you're doing research on branch of your family. In our story, all that we know about one of our mysterious relatives is that he worked at this church. We know that because we found a hardcopy of this print with a hand-written note on the back "Uncle Robbie worked here..."
That's it. No location, no date, no handy GPS lat/long coordinates.
But we're SearchResearchers! We can suss out just about anything.
So... can you?
Here's the picture. (Yes, I know it's not a work of art. Remember, this is a snapshot taken by an unknown relative in an unknown part of the world.)
And our questions:
1. Where is this church, and what's the name of the church?
2. If you figure that part out, when was it built?
When you put your answer into the comments, be sure to say HOW you figured this one out.
Where in the world is this??
Search on!
Imagine that you're doing research on branch of your family. In our story, all that we know about one of our mysterious relatives is that he worked at this church. We know that because we found a hardcopy of this print with a hand-written note on the back "Uncle Robbie worked here..."
That's it. No location, no date, no handy GPS lat/long coordinates.
But we're SearchResearchers! We can suss out just about anything.
So... can you?
Here's the picture. (Yes, I know it's not a work of art. Remember, this is a snapshot taken by an unknown relative in an unknown part of the world.)
And our questions:
1. Where is this church, and what's the name of the church?
2. If you figure that part out, when was it built?
When you put your answer into the comments, be sure to say HOW you figured this one out.
Where in the world is this??
Search on!
(P.S. More about SRS meetups soon. Folks in the Washington DC / College Park area, put a hold on the evening of Tuesday, Dec 3rd, say, 7PM-ish for a meetup somewhere in the area.)
1. St John the Baptist Church, Newcastle upon Tyne, England
ReplyDelete2. The old church of St. John, believed to date from c.1287
Searched on 'via metrocenter' and picked up on bus route 31, nearest population is Newcastle, did a map search on churches and using street view confirmed the location. About 10 minutes.
St. John the Baptist
ReplyDeleteGrainger St, Newcastle upon Tyne,
Tyne and Wear NE1 5JG, United Kingdom
built approx. 1287
searched 31 bus metrocentre
that led to city Newcastle
searched Newcastle churches images
found and read Wikipedia entry
It's St. John the Baptist Church in Newcastle, England (built, according to Wikipedia, circa 1287).
ReplyDeleteI actually did a Google search for the license plate number on the bus, and oddly enough, a bunch of Flickr results popped up showing that exact bus. Those were marked as having been taken in Newcastle, so a quick "newcastle church" Google Image search brought me to an image of our church!
Good day, Dr. Russell, fellow SearchResearchers
ReplyDeleteSearched:
[ABC taxi 2323636] To find: Newcastle
Trimmed image and zoom to find: Slaters
[Slaters newcastle] in Google Maps
Then search nearby [Churches] then Street view Pegman
To find: St. John The Baptist
[St. John The Baptist New Castle]
St. John The Baptist, Newcastle
[history site:www.stjohnthebaptistnewcastle.co.uk]
A Brief History of the Church Interesting facts and history of the Church. Document a.
[St John The Baptist Newcastle History]
'St John's church', Historical Account of Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Including the Borough of Gateshead
Answers
1. Where is this church, and what's the name of the church?
A: Newcastle, Uk. St. John the Baptist is the Church.
2. If you figure that part out, when was it built?
A: 1130. Document a says:" The only distinctive feature of this original Norman church remaining today is one rounded window arch, which can be seen in the chancel. The tower was added in c.1270."
Green with envy over how cleanly formatted your post is Ramón. Really nicely done.
DeleteRamón - think you hit upon the simplest, most direct route to the solution by using the minicab number - nice job.
Deletethe first listing on the serp page: (here)
identified the city & included a map for their location that was very near the church in question… interesting sidenote - if you did a 180 on Grainger
and passed the Grainger Town/Market you would arrive at the Earl Grey monument… it's rumored that Captain Jean-Luc Picard is seen in the vicinity from time to time (67334.5) paying homage for his favorite beverage… when is Google coming out with the replicator?
pizza printer
Buscar en!
Good pickup on that Picard ref, Remmij. I'll comment on it tomorrow.
DeleteCareful review of the photo reveals that the cars are driving on the left side of the road, right hand drive... first thought United Kingdom.
ReplyDeleteGoogle search: united kingdom 2323636
search returns ABC taxi in Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom
Google image search: Newcastle Upon Tyne church
First picture appears to be the same church.
Clicking on the photo reveals St John the Baptist in Newcastle
go to Google Maps to verify, yes the 45 degree view verifies the church location at Westgate Road and Grainger St
total time 5 mins
Chris - that was a brilliant way to zero in on what city we were looking for. Some times its the most obvious that we don't see.
DeleteSt John the Baptist Church, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Most sources that I see list the date of consecration as 1145, but there is a fair amount of variation. Wikipedia dates the building from 1287, but this is later than most. I was thrown off briefly because on my screen the bus placard looked to be in the Armenian alphabet. But Armenian churches don't look like that, and anyway, an Armenian taxi wouldn't be using Roman letters. So I just googled the phone number on the taxi, which located the city as Newcastle. After that it was easy.
ReplyDeleteNewcastle upon Tyne; St John the Baptist Church
ReplyDeleteThis church has probably been built about the year 1287
Google search on [2323636 taxi] ==> A B C Taxis, Newcastle upon Tyne
Google image search on [church Newcastle upon Tyne] ==> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_John_the_Baptist_Church,_Newcastle_upon_Tyne
Google search [St John the Baptist, Newcastle upon Tyne built] ==> http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43358
The short answer : Newcastle-upon-Tyne , Saint John The Baptist Church, built circa 1287.
ReplyDeleteThe search : I noticed the bus with number 31 but couldn't read exactly what was on the bid luminous display (Metrocentre only). But at the top left of the back window is written "Go North East". Searching [go north east] gives the bus company simplygo as first result. On their site on the left menu "All services>Vierw all routes" then made a text search on the next page for Metrocentre and quickly found the bus was going to Winlaton via Metrocentre, hence coming from Newcastle.
Then Google maps. On your picture I notice the (small and blurry) railway symbol on the building right to the church. So, looking for a church by a railway station in Newcastle. The second one was the good one. I even could almost match your picture with Street view.
Then Wikipedia et voilà.
The church has a site (http://www.stjohnthebaptistnewcastle.co.uk/) which doesn't say anything about church histiory but shows how they install bees on the roof.
Finding the railway symbol was an excellent find. It took me three times before I saw it. There were so many clues and I wonder how many more will come to the surface.
DeleteThis is exactly the kind of conversation I was hoping would happen! How many *different* paths are there to solving this challenge? What other observation / search skills should we be developing?
DeleteI bounced around a bit using the information on that 31 bus.
ReplyDeleteGoogle search: transit 31 hintston metro centre
I was pretty sure I was in Newcastle upon Tyne right off the bat from the bus info, but bounced around a bit looking for information on other businesses in the photo (Slaters, Thistle).
Using Google Maps I found Thistle in Newcastle, but going down to street view it didn't look right. Zooming back out I browsed churches in the area, and found the right one pretty quickly.
Google Map (search autocompletes): Thistle Hotel Newcastle
The church is St. John the Baptist Church: http://www.stjohnthebaptistnewcastle.co.uk/
Google search: St John the Baptist Church, Newcastle upon Tyne
Wikipedia claims it dates c. 1287. Their source (http://www.northumbria.info/Pages/stjohnncle.html) says the date of consecration approx 1145 - 1245.
Fun challenge. Thansk!
1. The church is St. John the Baptist (or St. John Grainger Street), and it's located in Newcastle Upon Tyne in England.
ReplyDelete2. The first church was built in 1130, with the tower added in 1270.
This actually wasn't so difficult - obviously it's an English-speaking country (based on the taxi top), and one with an older history based on the style of the church - so either Great Britain or Ireland. The path that led me to the best answer was zooming in on the bus in the middle-ground. You can sort of read the first name on the bus, and I typed in [Hinlaton] into google to see what came up. Google responded with "Do you mean 'Winlaton'?", which I opened on a map, and saw that it was a small suburb of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. I figured this was the right path since bus systems like the one this appears to belong to are generally situated in larger cities.
From there I looked at the number on the left side - 31 - and figured this was the route number. I searched for [newcastle upon tyne bus routes], which led me to the page "Nexus | Bus" (http://www.nexus.org.uk/bus). By going to the "Timetables" section of the bus page, I was able to find route 31, and found the directions that it takes on it's way from Newcastle to Winlaton (since the bus is headed to Winlaton via Metrocentre).
I then opened Google maps and followed the directions the route would take with the map set in satellite view. Zoomed in just enough, the map is at a tilt, which gives you a slight 3D effect - making the tower quite visible as you move along Grainger Street. I went into street view to confirm this, and then clicked on the marker on the church's location to bring up their information box. I followed the link to their website (http://www.stjohnthebaptistnewcastle.co.uk/), and in the "Home" tab, there is a section on the history of the church, including all of the dates of its construction.
An interesting fact: the church installed their first colony of bees on the church this past summer (2013) as a way to contribute to urban biodiversity and environmental sustainability. Very cool!
Maggie - reading your solution was like watching it happen on one of those CSI TV shows. I learned something new. Thanks.
DeleteTried to zoom into the photo to see the route on the back of the bus. Something like Winston to Metrocenter?? Zoomed back out and saw the taxi. Searched [ abc taxi 2323636 ]
ReplyDeleteTaxi company is in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. Clicked on the map in the knowledge panel. Clicked on Earth view in the lower left corner.
Searched [ churches near ABC Taxis ] The shot appeared to be city central with a gate in background. Zoomed a little bit toward what I thought would be the central part. Clicked on Cathedral Church St. Nicholas. 13 photos were available and the spires looked correct. Clock was wrong.
Back to the map and click on St John The Baptist Church with 2 photos. Spires look correct as well as the clock. Go to street view and move around and find that the church is St John The Baptist Church. Took this picture.
1. Where is this church, and what's the name of the church?
St John The Baptist Church
Grainger St
Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear NE1 5JG
United Kingdom
Link to the church homepage was in the Google Maps panel and under the
Home link at the top was History.
2. If you figure that part out, when was it built?
Part was built in 1130, more in 1270, more in 1350 and even more in 1450 "Thus by the second half of the fifteenth century, the church was substantially as it is today."
Driving on the left, Central-North European architecture, yellow license plates, foggy: definitely Great Britain.
ReplyDelete[ abc taxis 2323636 ] gives me Newcastle upon Tyne, undoubtedly.
[ newcastle upon tyne bus 31 ] The 5th result looks promising: 31 bus in Newcastle upon Tyne - FixMyTransport. It is indeed the route and bus stops on the bus 31 line.
From what I think is on the sign of a building behind the church: [ staters newcastle upon tyne ] Google corrects it to Slaters. Click on the map thumbnail on the Knowledge Box (name?) to open Slaters on Google Maps.
Comparing Slaters position on the map with the 31 bus line path, the church must be, without much doubt, St John the Baptist Church. Switching to Street View, there's the confirmation. The photo is indeed the that church as viewed from Grainger St.
The second question proved to be less trivial than I thought to begin with.
[ St John the Baptist Newcastle ] yields:
1. The official website. No historical information.
2. The English Wikipedia article. Contradictory information. Starts by claiming it's a 12th-century church, then it proceeds to state it is "believed to date from c.1287".
Following a link on the Wikipedia article, I get an article on Northumbria.info where this can be read: "date of consecration approx 1145 - 1245".
Back to the search results, the last link on the SERP is from an apparently credible source: St John's church | Historical Account of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (pp ... From that webpage:
It is neither known at what time nor by whom this church was founded. Bourne saw a charter, dated 1287, in which were these words:—" Venellum quo iter ad ecclesiam Sancti Johannis," which shews that it was then erected. It probably had been finished just about this time, as the architecture displays those distinctive lineaments of the English style which began to prevail at the commencement of the reign of the first Edward.
The English Wikipedia article on Edward I of Englandinforms that he reigned from 16 November 1272.
So the most likely answer to "when was it built?" is between 1272 and 1287.
Time spent: 1 hour, among loads of other work.
Too easy.
ReplyDeleteVehicles all on 'wrong side' of the road so probably England
SEARCH [ABC 2323636] Its http://www.abctaxisnewcastle.co.uk/ in Newcastle upon Tyne
Bus has 'Go North East' on it also in Newcastle upon Tyne
SEARCH [Bus 31 Newcastle upon Tyne] and we find it goes to Winlaton and on the back of the bus and hard to read is a placename that looks like Win?aton
Final check SEARCH [churches Newcastle upon Tyne] shows this church to be St John the Baptist in the same place
http://www.northumbria.info/Pages/stjohnncle.html says this St. John the Baptist's Church, Grainger Street, Newcastle, date of consecration approx 1145 - 1245.
http://familysearch.org/ says The church, founded prior to 1286
Time 2 or 3 minutes
jon
I used exactly the same method as Maggie, but just wanted to add that on the Churches Website (http://www.stjohnthebaptistnewcastle.co.uk) and click on home at the top a drop down menu appears with a helpful history page which confirms the dates listed above but also adds that it wasn't until after 1450 that the church looked as it does today. Robert Rhodes, a wealthy merchant paid for a number of changes and additions at this time
ReplyDelete1. Where is this church, and what’s the name of the church?
ReplyDeleteSearched “European License Plates” took me to a Wikipedia page describing European registration plates, from there I clicked through to registration plates of the UK and found that the sequence observed on the bus meant that the license was issued in Newcastle on Tyne. Then searched “Newcastle Bus 31” and the second option was the Toon Link page, which I chose because the word Toon is easily observable on bus side. I downloaded the maps for the service routes for the 11 and 31 and determined that they both originate near Eldon Square. I searched “Eldon Square Newcastle” in Google Maps, then searched for churches nearby. Around 8 churches came up and I clicked on the results to look for the building characteristics. The second result was St. John the Baptist Church, which had a similar tower to the church in the photo. I used streetview to confirm that it was indeed the church and the streetview matched with the picture exactly. Answer: The name of the church is St. John the Baptist Church and it’s located on Grainger St, Newcastle upon Tyne, in the UK.
2. When was it built?
I clicked through to the church’s website and found a history link under the home option on the top banner. The history page notes that the first church to be built on the site was built in 1130 AD, however the only distinctive feature remaining from the original church is a rounded window arch. The tower was added in 1270 and expansions, additions and remodels occurred in 1350, 1450, 1909 and 1970. But, visiting other sources for confirmation, the Wikipedia page for the church indicates that it was built in 1287. Following the Wikipedia page references, A North Umbria info site puts the date of consecration of the church between 1145 and 1245, which would corroborate a construction date of 1130 rather than 1287. Answer: so far it seems that a parish church was constructed at the site in 1130, consecrated between 1145 and 1245, and the church was expanded and the Chantry of St. John was constructed, along with the tower, in the late 1200s. Still searching….
Links for pages mentioned above upon request.
already well sleuthed, all that's left is speculative… congrats to such clever virtual gumshoes.
ReplyDeleteperhaps Uncle Robbie really worked at the train station?? Auntie Margaret was a frightful photog - known to crop people's heads
and never really frame the intended subject… and given Rob's reputation as a rounder, he might have gotten on with the steam
crowd more than the clergy — not to cast aspersions. Plus Rob's Granddad, Patty, had worked as a rail - have these postcards from
when we cleared out their flat… ;)
Great Aunt Hyacinth in hat
Central Station, entry
Old Billy, NoT history
(or as Ramón mentioned, maybe Unc was a minicab hack - ABC 232 36 36… as noted, Mags framed things poorly when she used the image box recorder…)
- used a couple approaches that others did - the bus and the British Rail logo on the Newcastle Central Station…
also tried using Thistle and Slaters… which had me looking around Scotland.
who knew busspotting was a thing like train/planespotting?
4981
Answer St. John The Baptist Grainger St Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear
ReplyDelete(St. John, believed to date from c.1287 according to Wikipedia) and knowing confirmation is required
we have a date range of 1145-1245
The image provided gave us several clues -
Vehicles on left side of road - UK likely - plus double decker in background and architecture.
The Bus #31 Wintlaton via Metrocentre. (first thought it said Wimbledon- hard to read )
Signage -Slater’s Clothing Store (website - store finder)
Second Sign -Thistle Hotel (website - locate hotel)
Checked sites all three websites. It was bus route # 31 that confirmed it was Winlaton area which is in Newcastle.
file:///home/chronos/user/Downloads/31_-_32_map_Publication.pdf
Used maps> Thistle Hotel> Streetview = St.John the Baptist on Grainger.
When you can triangulate with three clues it makes it easy to find.
Link (just in case) http://www.northumbria.info/Pages/stjohnncle.html
I suspected it was London because of double decker buses and metrocentre. Tried searching various pieces of the image, which I was able to lighten and enhance using iPhoto. However, the thought it could also be Australia. I tried looking for the unique type of weathervane but found nothing.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that intrigued me was the part of the sign that I could read . . . AND HOMEMADE CAKES SERVED EVERY SATURDAY
Then I looked at the bus and searched the part of the destination that I could read - 31 VIA METROCENTRE. Up came Westgate Newcastle.
Knowing that Newcastle is a smaller city than London I did an Image search Newcastle Churches. St. John the Baptist Church was visually similar.
I checked streetview in Maps and found that it matched visually, but the clincher for me was the little sign that said, “ COFFEE AND HOME MADE CAKES SERVED EVERY SATURDAY” 9 am – 12 noon. (Relaxed atmosphere – very low prices) All welcome – “why not give it a try”
Church website: http://www.stjohnthebaptistnewcastle.co.uk/ indicates this history:
The first church was built on this site in about 1130. It was Norman in style, the same length as the present building, but only the width of the chancel. The only distinctive feature of this original Norman church remaining today is one rounded window arch, which can be seen in the chancel. The tower was added in c.1270. The growth in the population of the town created a need for a larger church, and gradually the nave was remodelled to its present size. William Hutton, a coal merchant, paid for the north aisle in c.1350. When this was complete, the south aisle was built, the north transept was added, and the north aisle widened and extended to enclose the tower.
In about 1450 a wealthy merchant, Robert Rhodes, paid for the raising of the nave walls with clerestory windows, and a higher roof. The south aisle was rebuilt, the south transept was built, and the tower was vaulted. Thus by the second half of the fifteenth century, the church was substantially as it is today.
I spent about an hour on this, but it was fun. Coincidentally, I have an English penpal with whom I have corresponded for 50 years, so I am going to share this little search with her.
well solved — like the use of iPhoto to clarify the image… hadn't thought of that route.
DeleteI'm intrigued - a fifty year correspondence arc - no small feat to keep that going over time & distance
Am curious how (or if) this type of communication has changed things for you - do you still hand post each other and if so, do you find it different? Has the availability of things like skype or facetime interfered, enhanced, intruded on the dialogue? Is there comfort - if that's the right term - in the habit and restrictions of hand written missives or have the options brought by the internet expanded the way you interact with your English friend? Finally, if you started the correspondence with your penpal now, using the means available, do you think link would last over the decades or would the technology itself be too corrosive? Since your message exchange predates the first email by ~ a decade and wide spread usage by more like three decades, you are in a unique position to comment on the effect (or infect) of the internet on a long term relationship based on intercommunication - fewer and fewer people have that perspective. Another way to frame 50 years: JFK was taken out in Dallas after having survived almost being killed by the Japanese in the war, now his daughter is the Ambassador to Japan… the wheel turns - oh, and there were a 100% more Beatles (fuzzy/subjective math check please, Fred ;-0)
St John the Baptist Church in Newcastle, UK.
ReplyDeleteThe original church was built in 1130 with the tower added in 1270.
I downloaded the image and zoomed in to look for details. Searching for "license plate "NK54 NUO"" actually came up with the Go North East bus company and the town name Winlaton which I couldn't read fully on the bus. The bus line 31 runs from Newcastle to Winlaton, so I started in Newcastle also using "slaters" which I saw in the photo and bingo!
Winlaton, Durham County, England - St.Paul's Parish Church Built 1828 - Name and Number on the Bus - Bus Schedule - Winlaton, Churches, St.Paul's, History
ReplyDeleteI looked at the busses. Lines 31 and 11. I could tell that this was an English-speaking country, where the traffic drives on the left, and has double-decker busses. I strongly guessed London. So I checked on the web site http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaround/maps/buses/, and examined where lines 31 and 11 aligned. They don't. So I determined it wasn't London.
ReplyDeleteStill on the busses: Google search for bus line 31 Winlaton via metrocentre, led me to the Toon Link web site, https://www.simplygo.com/all-services/toon-link/. The maps there were not helpful, but I could see where lines 11 and 31 align: in Newcastle.
Back to the photo. I found the word Thistle on a building. A google Maps search led me to the Thistle Hotel in Newcastle. From there, I used satellite view, and found a church. I used Google Street view to confirm the image was the one in the photo. Zooming in on the sign, "Saint John the Baptist", and it's on Grainger Street.
Google search for st john the baptist newcastle upon tyme grainger street
led me directly to
http://www.stjohnthebaptistnewcastle.co.uk/, which confirmed the first answer:
1. St John the Baptist Church, Grainger Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 5JG, UK
A little more google searching found http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_John_the_Baptist_Church,_Newcastle_upon_Tyne, which gives 1287 as the original build date for the church. This was confirmed by another google search, adding the term "history", and finding this link: https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/St_John,Newcastle_upon_Tyne,_Northumberland
2. Built c. 1287
Fun stuff. :)
1) St John Baptist Church, Newcastle upon Tyne
ReplyDelete2) Somehow around 1287
I checked the bus license plate in an smartphone app and found the city. The next one was a picture search, [church Newcastle] and the wikipedia article.
At coffee my friend mentioned "What if it's Newcastle New South Wales Australia" but I quickly dismissed that idea because of the time on the church clock it was already getting dark (over & above the cloudy skies) 4:10 pm which tells me it had to be in the Northern Hemisphere. Australia is going into summer now so later sunsets. I could have checked sunsets but as well the architecture was much older than would be in Australia. What else did others consider?
ReplyDeleteThe old buildings and the gloom are more British than Australian :-)
DeletePam from NZ
I started searching ["232 36 36"] and I had hoped to use the search nearby option and set my region to UK. but I couldn't figure out how to change my location for just one search, instead of having to change my entire profile. Is there still an easy way to do that?
ReplyDeleteMy next search was ["232 36 36" UK] - and unfortunately I saw a link to this page with the answer right in the snippet. :(
I unfortunately saw a link to this page with the answer in the snippet
1.) St John The Baptist Church
ReplyDeleteGrainger Street
Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear NE1 5JG, United Kingdom
2.) The first church was built on this site in about 1130. The tower was added in c.1270.
First noticed that the license plates were European. Then noticed that I could read the name of the Taxi company. So I assumed England. I tried searching for the taxi company but didn't have the same success as others.
I zoomed on the bus, saw the writing for Go North East, it was bus 31 and it was "something" Via Metrocentre. Plus noticed that the time was 4:11 on the church clock and the building down the street clock. Searched for Go North East which brought me to their site. Searched their site for bus 31, which listed Winlaton as a stop, which matched the "something" on the bus. I brought up the bus schedule and tried looking for 4:11pm which would be 16:11. That didn't get very far either, I'm not sure how accurate the buses run in England:)
I knew it was either in Winlaton or Newcastle, so I searched for churches in both towns in Maps. Winlaton first, not many there. Then in Newcastle until I found it and confirmed with a street view.
The church info came from the churches web site as listed in Maps.
The 2 buses are #31 and #11 and the 31 says Go North, so a search of Go North Bus Route 31 takes me to the Simply Go website - http://www.simplygo.com/view-all-routes/ and the only place those 2 routes overlap is in Newcastle. An image search for Newcastle church clock tower finds St. John the Baptist Church. When it was built is a bit trickier - that apparently depends on which part of the church you're talking about, but it seems that the original part was finished about 1287 - http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43358
ReplyDeleteLike others finding the answer to this was much quicker than I thought it would be. I immediately realized this was going to be a UK town/city. I then cut and pasted the photo to my desktop so I could zoom in etc. which gave me the bus number and the go north east info. And while zooming in I noticed 2 other things.
ReplyDelete1) the bus had “toon” written on the side which with the north east info. made me believe this was most likely Newcastle as toon is a word in Geordie.
2) saw the rail symbol which I know as I was born and raised in Scotland.
I quickly did a Google map search for Newcastle train station and used the satellite view to see what churches there was and then the street view to confirm it - St John the Baptist Church. Finding the date from there was simply a matter of looking at their website and Wikipedia etc.
As I had found this so quickly (less than 10 minutes) and I still had a little time left on my break I decided to play around with it more and see if I could figure out “when” the photo was taken. Given that both the church and the rail building have clocks getting the time was easy – 4:20pm. Looking further we can see the lights etc. are on and its looks around dusk. Googling dusk, Newcastle and 4:20 pm leads me to figure out that this photo was most likely taken in November as there’s still some leaves on the trees and others on the ground.
I started to then look at the bus itself as you can clearly see the bus design and also the license plate in the photo. Taking that I goggled bus and “NK54 NUO” which led me to several pages on Flickr and also the fleet list for go North east –
http://northeastbuses.co.uk/gnefleetsearch.php?fleetno=®=nk54+nuo&chassis=&bodywork=&depot=&livery=&year=
From that info we know the bus was put into service from 2004 and then looking at Flickr and other sites I figured out this photo was taken more recently due to the color/design of the bus itself –
http://www.ukbuspix.com/picture.php?/3295 - 2009 photo
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sjdavison28/7001188063/ - 2012 photo
I then tried to see if I could find anything on the new design/colors off the bus with no luck at all. But after changing my search slightly and searching in blogs I found this article which say the service started in November 2010 –
http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/local-news/new-bus-service-prudhoe-newcastle-4448742
It was then I realized that the photo had to have been taken by someone and was in fact most likely taken by Dan himself. And after a quick search for Dan Russell Newcastle and November I got a link to his lecture in Edinburgh which is just up the road-
http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/informatics/news-events/lectures/danrussell
Which leads me to believe that you were in Newcastle in the last week Mr. Russell…
Way to much information I know but I found it interesting. BTW this reminds me of the game that uses Google maps that I find to be highly addictive. It’s amazing how close you can get to locations but in others be in the entirely wrong continent…
http://geoguessr.com/
thanks for the heads up on "Geordie"… had no idea about that. Also clever to search DrDR & Newcastle - good find on Edinburgh.
DeleteInteresting that there is A Dan Russell in Nottingham… that is headed to Rome — go figure — döppelganger?. Makes me wonder about THE Dan Russell's thoughts on the use of twitter (and why he doesn't appear to tweeth… I'm sure the victorians would have been all over the blue bird.)
urban
NU
Steven - Great search results. I had checked Dr. Russell's website and saw he we did a talk in Rome but I didn't see any mention of Edinburgh (perhaps left off for the purpose of this search). I will have a look at the Google Maps challenge. Well done.
DeleteAlso the people who actually checked the bus route times, directions and routes. What a great bunch of searchers!
a small additional sidenote - had heard of mystery shoppers, wasn't aware of mystery worshippers -
Deleteship of fools
Mrs Alighieri is a bit off on her build dates, but does mention the coffee - or lack of it.
Hadrian's Wall goes interactive in Newcastle…
Great North Museum
hope your schedule allowed a visit -
Pons Aelius
HW
I noticed the cars driving on the left = probably UK. Couldn't read the bus destination signs but saw the logo Go Northeast and from their website the ToonLInk sign on the side of the bus. I looked at the 31 route map which didn't help but told me it was Newcastle, so I just googled images of Newcastle churches. This was fun.
ReplyDeleteWasn't able to post anything because I was in a workshop led by Dan's former colleague Tasha Bergson-Michelson at the American Assoc. of School Librarians conference.. But my first inkling was this had to be one of the countries in the UK because of the lefhand driving. Then was going to check the phone # of the taxi. Glad to know that would have led us on the right path at least. Hoping we can particpate next week. We've really been busy and had a hard time posting.
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