A cold sun sliding behind saffron clouds with streaks of steel blue was the theatrical setting for an early Winter Solstice celebration on the toposcope hill above Bathurst on Saturday 18 June, *organised by
Just below the summit, a log brazier and Old Brown sherry on the house were the warm welcome that Pig & Whistle Inn owner Gavin Came offered pagan picnickers. And dozens gathered in coats and blankets to speed the turning of the season.
They cheered and clapped, or just listened, as Chris Terry piped a stirring medley that ended with Scotland the Brave.
Terry is an award-winning piper, who has played to acclaim on national and international stages throughout his career. He has won the prestigious 100 Guineas Solo Contest no fewer than 16 times – most recently in 2017, at the age of 70. He is a specialist in piobaireachd – the musically and technically complicated classical apex of Scottish bagpipe music. He’s also a skilled maker of pipe sets that are in demand across South Africa and beyond. Terry is a member of the prestigious 1 Medical Battallion pipe band and has taught scores of pipers at St Andrew’s College in Makhanda during close to five decades.
The icy wind proved persistent, even behind the partial shelter of the toposcope’s monolith and Terry was forced by the cold to still the pipes a little shy of sunset.
“I’m not sure – I’ll have to see what my fingers can manage in this cold,” he’d said earlier as he was warming up the pipes and his fingers.
Many of the revellers stayed on into the dusk, fuelled by Obies or coffee, and warmed by the festive Village Green mood.
The 2022 Winter Solstice is on Tuesday June 21 2022 at 11h13am. In Port Alfred, sunrise will be at 7.16am and sunset at 5.11pm, giving you just nine hours, 55 minutes and 11 seconds of daylight. The day will be four hours and 28 minutes shorter than the Summer Solstice, 21 December, according to the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO).
You probably already know that although it’s the shortest day, it’s neither the latest sunrise nor the earliest sunset. The earliest sunsets in 2022 are in fact from 8-15 June and the latest sunrise is on 30 June.
The difference is because of the discrepancy between time measured using the sun, and the global 24-hour time standard: coordinated universal time (UTC). Read more about this here:
There is some rain predicted for Friday 24 June, but if the skies clear, you may be able to see the five planets visible to the naked eye, lined up near the crescent Moon. The five brightest planets are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. For monthly updates on what to look out for in our night skies, visit https://www.saao.ac.za/explore/stargazers/ and click on this month’s ‘What’s Up’ newsletter. The SAAO’s Stargazers page offers amateur astronomers information on celestial objects and events, as well as free tools, apps and resources for astronomy.
(*Note: changed to reflect the fact that the event was organised by Historic Bathurst).
