ANTHONY'S - WOODEN CART BUILD

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Is this the world's largest insect? Anthony the giant 'Bulldog' ant is seen here at the entrance to the Museum, with a young volunteer (Miss Ocean) helper - who actually worked on the cart that Anthony sits on. 'Miss Ocean' is a conservationist, keen on the country and rewilding. She also hates ocean plastic, that hurts humpback whales & dolphins. And is worried about climate change that is warming the planet globally by burning fossil fuels that make greenhouse gases. In Wealden 47% of CO2 comes from transport, with another 35% from housing. Yet, despite declaring a Climate Emergency, sustainable timber flatpacks are non existent in the District, as are charging points for EVs on newbuilds or along the high streets and in car parks. Two obvious ways of lowering carbon footprints. Note, in this picture, the cart is not treated or painted.

'Anthony' is our friendly prehistoric giant insect. He is around 12 feet (3.5 meters) long, including his antennae. One day we decided it would be more fun for visitors to the Innovation Hub, if they could see Anthony close up. Where before he was always on a roof or other less accessible location.

Miss Ocean and Vic the Handyman thought about this for a while, and came up with the idea of mounting the prehistoric Sectasaur on a cart. They scoured the countryside for a suitable vehicle, where carts were commonly drawn by horses. But they were too large or expensive.

There was a lot of wood lying around the Museum, and a couple of old wheelbarrow wheels that had been adapted for a mobile gate and sign. But were now redundant. There were also a few wooden pallets that could contribute to materials.

RAW MATERIALS - Having assembled suitable timbers from all over the site, Miss Ocean set about designing a wooden cart that would be strong enough to take the weight of Anthony and an adult passenger, but light enough that she could wheel the assembly onto the right of way and public footpaths in the adjacent field. Note, this area if rewilding beautifully. Copyright photographs © August 2024, all right reserved, Herstmonceux Museum Limited. You will need permission from the author or Lime Park Heritage Trust in order to copy or reproduce these pictures.

JIMMY WATSON'S MAGIC DINOBOT (FICTION)

Jimmy Watson is just an ordinary boy at an ordinary school. He truly admires his science master, loves physics and maths lessons, and especially metalwork, when he gets to make things in steel and other exotic materials. Jimmy's special talent is programming. He was always in demand in teams for robot competitions; the only time he was popular at school. With his programming, and provided the robot was sturdy enough, his team would nearly always win. Jimmy would read books on robotics from cover to cover. Sometimes, under the covers by torchlight. In the town library, he would always check out any new books on animatronics, and mechatronics. His favorite subjects. Then one day in the covers of a robotics magazine, Jimmy saw a kit for a large hexapod, designed for developers of artificial intelligence.

MASTER & MISS OCEAN - Young conservationists painting the wooden cart green. Copyright photograph © August 2024, all right reserved, Herstmonceux Museum Limited. You will need permission from the author or Lime Park Heritage Trust in order to use this picture.

Miss Ocean helped to build this wooden ladder, seen here treating the timber with Ronseal preservative, making sure to get any of the less visible areas that can be missed when painting. Copyright photograph © August 2024, all right reserved, Herstmonceux Museum Limited. You will need permission from the author or Lime Park Heritage Trust in order to use this picture.

SECTASAUR (CLI-FI FICTION)

This Jameson Hunter story, is a variation on the 1954 classic movie "THEM" with a tinges of Alien, Godzilla, King Kong, and "Jurassic Park" thrown in to the mix. Set in a future where the planet is boiling from fossil fuels, and the Antarctic ice cap is rapidly melting. Though not far from the truth today, this story was conceived over thirty years ago, the rights recently acquired. So far, it has only been developed in outline form. Jameson Hunter Ltd, is a story developer, looking to publish graphic novels, by way of awareness campaigns.

View from the front. Anthony is actually the artwork for a book: Jimmy Watson and the Magic Dinobot, from the Jameson Hunter Ltd. This old wooden pallet would turn out to be quite useful.

Anthony is the first of what could be a series of educational interactive insect (wasp, mosquito, dragofly) and arachnid (black widow spider) models, designed to introduce youngsters and older students of biology and the natural world, to the miniature world around us that we tend to overlook. Development of this theme is to help fund the main objective of the Trust, to restore the unique Generating Station, that has been overlooked for so long.

WOW - Miss Ocean was able to lift and push the cart, with Anthony taking a ride. Copyright photograph © August 2024, all right reserved, Herstmonceux Museum Limited. You will need permission from the author or Lime Park Heritage Trust in order to use this picture.

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