The Somerset Space Walk is a

sculpture trail A sculpture trail - also known as "a culture walk" or "art trail" - is a walkway through open-air galleries of outdoor sculptures along a defined route with sequenced viewings encountered from planned preview and principal sight lines. Setting ...

model of the

Solar System The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...

, located in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

, England. The model uses the

towpath A towpath is a road or trail on the bank of a river, canal, or other inland waterway. The purpose of a towpath is to allow a land vehicle, beasts of burden, or a team of human pullers to tow a boat, often a barge. This mode of transport ...

of the

Bridgwater and Taunton Canal The Bridgwater and Taunton Canal is a canal in the south-west of England between Bridgwater and Taunton, opened in 1827 and linking the River Tone to the River Parrett. There were a number of abortive schemes to link the Bristol Channel ...

to display a model of the

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared rad ...

and its planets in their proportionally correct sizes and distances apart. Unusually for a

Solar System model Solar System models, especially mechanical models, called '' orreries'', that illustrate the relative positions and motions of the planets and moons in the Solar System have been built for centuries. While they often showed relative sizes, these ...

, there are two sets of planets, so that the diameter of the orbits is represented. Aware of the inadequacies of printed pictures of the Solar System, the

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an id ...

Pip Youngman designed the Space Walk as a way of challenging people's perceptions of space and experiencing the vastness of the Solar System. The model is built to a scale of 1:530,000,000,From the inscription on the Pluto model
photo of Pluto sculpture at Taunton end
meaning that one millimetre on the model equates to 530 kilometres. The Sun is sited at Higher Maunsel Lock, and one set of planets is installed in each direction along the canal towards

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by t ...

and

Bridgwater Bridgwater is a large historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. Its population currently stands at around 41,276 as of 2022. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies alon ...

; the distance between the Sun and each model of

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Sun. It is the largest k ...

being . For less hardy walkers, the inner planets are within of the Sun, and near to the Maunsel Canal Centre (and tea shop) at Lower Maunsel Lock, where a more detailed leaflet about the model is available. The Space Walk was opened on 9 August 1997 by British

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either o ...

Heather Couper Heather Anita Couper, (2 June 1949 – 19 February 2020) was a British astronomer, broadcaster and science populariser. After studying astrophysics at the University of Leicester and researching clusters of galaxies at Oxford University, Co ...

. In 2007, a project team from Somerset County Council refurbished some of the models.

Background

The Walk is a joint venture between the Taunton Solar Model Group and

British Waterways British Waterways, often shortened to BW, was a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom. It served as the navigation authority for the majority of canals and a number of rivers and docks in England, Scotla ...

, with support from

Somerset County Council Somerset County Council is the county council of Somerset in the South West of England, an elected local government authority responsible for the most significant local government services in most of the county. On 1 April 2023 the county coun ...

Taunton Deane Taunton Deane was a local government district with borough status in Somerset, England. Its council was based in Taunton. The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by a merger of the Municipal Borough of Tau ...

Borough Council and the

Somerset Waterways Development Trust ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. The Taunton Solar Model Group comprised Pip Youngman, Trevor Hill – a local physics teacher who had been awarded the title of "

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, research and application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide membership of over 20,000. The IOP is the Physica ...

(IOP) Physics Teacher of the Year" – and David Applegate who, during his time as Mayor of Taunton, had expressed a wish to see some kind of science initiative in the area. Youngman came up with the idea for the Space Walk, and Hill assisted by calculating the respective positions and sizes of the planets. Funding for the project came from the

Committee on the Public Understanding of Science The Committee on the Public Understanding of Science or Copus was founded in 1985 by the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BAAS), the Royal Institution The Royal Institution of Great Britain (often the Royal Institution, Ri ...

(COPUS), the initial advertising leaflet was paid for by the

Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council The Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) was one of a number of research councils in the United Kingdom. It directed, coordinated and funded research in particle physics and astronomy for the people of the UK. Its head office wa ...

(PPARC) and there was also a small grant from

Sustrans Sustrans is a United Kingdom-based walking, wheeling and cycling charity, and the custodian of the National Cycle Network. Its flagship project is the National Cycle Network, which has created of signed cycle routes throughout the United Ki ...

, who fund art installations along cyclepaths, to deal with maintenance requirements in the years before Somerset County Council took on that responsibility. In order to apply for the COPUS funding Youngman needed two 'sponsors', so he wrote to

Arthur C. Clarke Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (16 December 191719 March 2008) was an English science-fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host. He co-wrote the screenplay for the 1968 film '' 2001: A Spac ...

(a local boy himself, then living in Sri Lanka) and

Patrick Moore Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore (; 4 March 1923 – 9 December 2012) was an English amateur astronomer who attained prominence in that field as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter. Moore was president of the Br ...

, who both wrote warm letters in support. Arthur C Clarke's brother Fred read out his letter at the opening ceremony. ReadyMix Concrete supplied the concrete for the plinths, and Avimo (now part of

Thales Group Thales Group () is a French multinational company that designs, develops and manufactures electrical systems as well as devices and equipment for the aerospace, defence, transportation and security sectors. The company is headquartered in Paris ...

), a local defence contractor, supplied the steel for the models.

Individual models

The model of the

is a -wide 14-ton concrete sphere, with a vertical segment removed to give two vertical faces upon which explanatory plates are mounted. The solid sphere was cast by Pip Youngman and Trevor Hill in the grounds of what was the

SWEB SWEB Energy, formerly South Western Electricity Board (SWEB) was a British state-owned regional electricity company operating in South West England which was privatised by the Thatcher government. Although sold many times, the 'SWEB' brand n ...

storage yard adjacent to the Obridge Viaduct in

. Originally 'natural' in colour (matching the other models) it was painted yellow as part of the refurbishment, making it much more visible. Each of the smallest planet models is contained within a round-topped concrete plinth about high. The stainless steel model is held inside a circular hole through the side of the plinth; hence the model of the planet may be viewed by looking through the hole. The plinths were created by Youngman using fibreglass moulds which he had also made. The models of the largest

gas giant A gas giant is a giant planet composed mainly of hydrogen and helium. Gas giants are also called failed stars because they contain the same basic elements as a star. Jupiter and Saturn are the gas giants of the Solar System. The term "gas giant" ...

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; ...

and

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandt ...

, are moulded as part of the top face of the concrete pillars. Originally concrete-coloured, they have been painted as part of the refurbishment. Each pillar doubles-up as a

milepost A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to s ...

: the distance to

and

is cast in the concrete at ground level – below a depiction of the

'bridge' logo – although the sculptures are sited according to the spacings needed for the model, and not at kilometre increments for the convenience of boaters. On each pillar is a plaque containing a short inscription describing the planet. The Earth inscription reads:

Nearest star

The installation does not include a model of the nearest star for comparison, as this would be impossible. On the same scale as the other models, the nearest star (

Proxima Centauri Proxima Centauri is a small, low-mass star located away from the Sun in the southern constellation of Centaurus. Its Latin name means the 'nearest tarof Centaurus'. It was discovered in 1915 by Robert Innes and is the nearest- ...

, which is about one-seventh the size of the Sun) would need to be a red ball in diameter sited away (roughly twice the circumference of

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surf ...

Pip Youngman

The Space Walk's designer, Philip Robert Vassar Youngman (born: 26 August 1924, Hunstanton, Norfolk – died: 23 May 2007, Taunton, Somerset), known as 'Pip', was a designer and inventor of mechanical apparatus. Around 1969, Youngman was approached by the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's underg ...

to adapt a mechanical calculator he had designed, originally prototyped in

Lego Lego ( , ; stylized as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously colored interlockin ...

, into a product suitable for school use. The result was the "Ball Operated Binary Calculator And Tutor" (BOBCAT), a mechanical model for teaching binary arithmetic and the inner workings of the computer, using ball bearings for binary data bits and plastic levers for the calculating logic.

Location

The trail can be walked either from Taunton's

Brewhouse Theatre Taunton Brewhouse (previously The Brewhouse) is the largest theatre and arts centre in Taunton, the county town of Somerset, England. The building opened on 28 March 1977, on the banks of the River Tone, and offers a purpose-built 352-seat audit ...

to Maunsel Lock (

to the Sun) or from Bridgwater's Morrison's Supermarket to Maunsel Lock (also Pluto to the Sun) or of course, vice versa. The locations of the end and middle point (with

postcodes A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, included in a postal ...

and coordinates) are: * Pluto in Taunton – TA1 1JL * Maunsel Canal Centre – TA7 0DH * Pluto in Bridgwater – TA6 3RF

Model gallery

The models of the

, in order:

References

External links

* – ''with map of canal showing approximate locations of models''
Maunsel Lock Canal Centre

Somerset Space Walk at HiddenSomerset.com
– ''includes travel directions + pictures of Sun and Earth models''
Photos of first seven models + the Sun
– ''before refurbishing''
Pip Youngman's projects
{{Solar System models Astronomy in the United Kingdom British art Sculpture gardens, trails and parks in the United Kingdom Tourist attractions in Somerset 1997 sculptures Physics education in the United Kingdom Scale modeling Space art Solar System models Science and technology in Somerset Footpaths in Somerset Buildings and structures in Sedgemoor 1997 establishments in England