Barometer

No visit to Richard and Jackie, Richard is not well, ‘Man Flu’ I suspect. Instead a leisurely cooked breakfast before taking Paddy for a different walk, we walked through town so I could draw out some cash for the chimney sweep.
Part of our walk took us past the old Customs House, now a restaurant which has a barometer on its outside wall.
It is a copy of a ‘Fitzroy’ Barometer, the original barometer was presented to Falmouth in 1868 by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and installed outside the Custom House, 111 years later the barometer was stolen. The surviving granite housing was moved into the now private portico to allow a new doorway to be formed.

Fitzroy, who was on the committee of management for the RNLI wanted more done to protect the lives of sailors and fishermen. He oversaw the making and distribution of a new type of barometer that could be installed around the fishing harbours of the British Isles to warn mariners of bad weather. Such was his passion for the barometer he used almost all of his own personal wealth to fund the project.

And so we have this beautiful barometer on display on one of Falmouth’s main thoroughfares yet virtually everybody, local and visitor alike, walks past without noticing.