My name is Richard Twort and I’ve been collecting barographs and other weather instruments since 1962. Bizarrely, my interest started as the result of a school punishment, being given the choice of taking the school weather readings or having the cane!
The former seemed an obvious choice until I realised it meant coming to school at weekends and holidays to maintain a continuity of readings.
Doing a little research, I found that most of the elements – pressure, humidity, temperature, wind speed and direction could all be recorded on chart driven instruments such as barographs and thermographs, enabling them to be left unattended for a week. However, my school had no funds for such luxuries and as a 15 year old schoolboy in the early 60’s on a paper round income I could only dream of acquiring instruments for what was fast becoming an absorbing interest. However, being gainfully employed after school with a reasonably healthy income I was able to build up a substantial collection of Barographs and indeed all types of weather recording instruments.
Fast forward over 60 years and I feel I’ve reached the point where I need to slim down my collection of instruments, which in most cases are now held locally in secure storage. Over the last seven decades I have been fortunate to pick up from all over the UK and elsewhere some of the most delightful meteorological recording paraphernalia so I believe it’s time for others to enjoy their allure.
I’m always happy to meet with fellow enthusiasts or those who are simply looking to acquire a beautiful piece of Victorian or Edwardian engineering which would grace any home. Please feel free to give me a call to discuss a particular instrument from the selection here. If you can’t see precisely what you’re looking for, I’ve probably got it tucked away somewhere!
I used a professional for a number of photographs and he used them in a blog that you can read here.
Based in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, I can be contacted on 07711 939 789 or email me at rtwort@hotmail.com
