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The changing daylight hours thread


Boydie

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Posted
  • Location: South Yorkshire
  • Location: South Yorkshire

Don't think I'll ever 'get' the desire for the short days of winter. Briefly its ok especially around xmas itself but for the most part its an absolute pain in the backside. 

Vastly increased safety issues on commutes both to & from work? Not seeing your home in daylight from 4pm Sunday to 9am Saturday? Being indoors the majority of the time without the wellbeing/health inducing rays of the sun? Still being at work when the sun drops and the vast productivity drop that brings? Something outside your house (or your bike) needs fixing and not being able to sort it till the weekend? The mrs having to walk through areas not exactly safe after dark twice daily? Vastly increased electricity bills? Constant need to ensure lighting/hi-vis gear is in service for your bike?

Nope sorry I'm not quite seeing the advantages... scratching head....

 

Ha ha  - you can try to justify liking summer and warmth and light all you want Botts - you'll never,ever convince me that it's anything but torture! It's like someone trying to tell me that football is actually rather good if I tried to understand it, or that if I watch a certain film enough times I'll grow to like it. Winter and dark and cold is King! Aren't we fortunate that our location on the globe caters for all of us in roughly equal measure?

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Posted
  • Location: Whaley Bridge - Peak District
  • Location: Whaley Bridge - Peak District

I was thinking about this early this morning at 3am (long day), and how normally in June/July the first light starts to appear at 3.30am. Now that we're heading into the September Equinox the sun is starting to come up more noticeably later at 5.30am and the 'glow' to the north becomes less evident, I don't know what it is about this time of year but the time suddenly starts to feel like it's moving quicker both in progression and seasonally. As its only 4 months to go before December however there's still the Equinox, Halloween, and Fireworks night to look forward to (not forgetting comet ISON this year).

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Posted
  • Location: N.Bedfordshire, E.Northamptonshire
  • Weather Preferences: Cool not cold, warm not hot. No strong Wind.
  • Location: N.Bedfordshire, E.Northamptonshire

I was thinking about this early this morning at 3am (long day), and how normally in June/July the first light starts to appear at 3.30am. Now that we're heading into the September Equinox the sun is starting to come up more noticeably later at 5.30am and the 'glow' to the north becomes less evident, I don't know what it is about this time of year but the time suddenly starts to feel like it's moving quicker both in progression and seasonally. As its only 4 months to go before December however there's still the Equinox, Halloween, and Fireworks night to look forward to (not forgetting comet ISON this year).

It does speed up this time of year, as we hurtle to the equinox it will just get faster, then as we pass that point to the solstice it will slow down again.

 

All thanks to the way light travels, shape of the planet and position of the sun (combined with the earth tilt).

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Posted
  • Location: Whaley Bridge - Peak District
  • Location: Whaley Bridge - Peak District

I also have to admit being somewhat of a black-metalhead the winters ahve a certain more aesthetic appeal to me than the near-17 hours of daylight in summer. Lets face it, blasting Immortal whilst walking across frozen landscapes as the sun is beginning to set has a certain quality about it.

 

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Posted
  • Location: South Yorkshire
  • Location: South Yorkshire

Lets face it, blasting Immortal whilst walking across frozen landscapes as the sun is beginning to set has a certain quality about it.

 

 

Neat! Would be interesting to know if winter-lovers are pre-disposed to that sorta stuff. Summer types can gather their Isley Brothers and Wham! records and clear off to the other room....

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Posted
  • Location: Purley, Surrey - 246 Ft ASL
  • Weather Preferences: January 1987 / July 2006
  • Location: Purley, Surrey - 246 Ft ASL

Depressing thread on a pretty depressing forum.

 

Nobody is making you read the thread.

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Posted
  • Location: Whaley Bridge - Peak District
  • Location: Whaley Bridge - Peak District

Neat! Would be interesting to know if winter-lovers are pre-disposed to that sorta stuff. Summer types can gather their Isley Brothers and Wham! records and clear off to the other room....

 

Yep, its pretty much thanks to Winter and ancient Heathens that such music exists in the first place, some of the best Guitarists have eminated from Canada, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, thanks in part to the seasonal darkness they encounter up there for 4 months of every year.

 

In winter for us there's about 7 hours of daylight to at least work with, in parts of Norway especially north of Bergen and Oslo you'd be lucky to get 1 hour.

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Posted
  • Location: Berlin, Germany
  • Weather Preferences: Ample sunshine; Hot weather; Mixed winters with cold and mild spells
  • Location: Berlin, Germany

Ha ha  - you can try to justify liking summer and warmth and light all you want Botts - you'll never,ever convince me that it's anything but torture! It's like someone trying to tell me that football is actually rather good if I tried to understand it, or that if I watch a certain film enough times I'll grow to like it. Winter and dark and cold is King! Aren't we fortunate that our location on the globe caters for all of us in roughly equal measure?

 

Oh goodness me I never even thought for a moment I'd be convincing you of the merits of light & warm! :lol:

 

For those others who do prefer the dark etc what is it about it you like? As in how is your life easier/better? Just interested.... and I mean about the light not snow/frost etc.

I can think of a few things:

- Easier to play computer games without it being light.

- Easier to hide away from the world with curtains shut (although I'd argue this is a bad thing too!)

- Weekend lie ins are easier.

- If you have kids prob easier to get 'em to bed.

Basically seems to all involve sleep/hibernation/lazing around...

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Posted
  • Location: South Yorkshire
  • Location: South Yorkshire

 

Basically seems to all involve sleep/hibernation/lazing around...

 Believe me - I get out and about a lot more in winter than summer! And your other points are quite true also! I can't explain my aversion to light, medical or psychological I don't know but it just makes me want to hide from it. Patiently awaiting the Dracula/vampire jokes... again.

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Posted
  • Location: Purley, Surrey - 246 Ft ASL
  • Weather Preferences: January 1987 / July 2006
  • Location: Purley, Surrey - 246 Ft ASL

Where did I say they were???????????????????????

 

I just don't think you needed to tell all in here what a depressing thread it was.

 

Some like heat, some like cold.

 

If you find a thread depressing just avoid it.

 

:)

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Posted
  • Location: Purley, Surrey - 246 Ft ASL
  • Weather Preferences: January 1987 / July 2006
  • Location: Purley, Surrey - 246 Ft ASL

Oh goodness me I never even thought for a moment I'd be convincing you of the merits of light & warm! Posted Image

 

For those others who do prefer the dark etc what is it about it you like? As in how is your life easier/better? Just interested.... and I mean about the light not snow/frost etc.

I can think of a few things:

- Easier to play computer games without it being light.

- Easier to hide away from the world with curtains shut (although I'd argue this is a bad thing too!)

- Weekend lie ins are easier.

- If you have kids prob easier to get 'em to bed.

Basically seems to all involve sleep/hibernation/lazing around...

 

Personally I just find it cosy to wrap up and have an evening in with a good glass of wine / beer and be comfortable as opposed to being sat in my underwear sweating.

 

Also..........TV always seems to better in winter! :)

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Posted
  • Location: South Cheshire
  • Weather Preferences: Warm and sunny
  • Location: South Cheshire

I just don't think you needed to tell all in here what a depressing thread it was.

 

Some like heat, some like cold.

 

If you find a thread depressing just avoid it.

 

Posted Image

Just my opinion, that's what this place is supposed to be for.

 

I know but this is about daylight not about heat or cold.

 

I normally would but Laseguy's ultra depressing posts often make me laugh.

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Posted
  • Location: Manchester
  • Location: Manchester

I am yet to meet an uplifting, fun and optimistic person who is a joy to be around who wills dark nights, cold temperatures and rain on everyone. I can understand wanting it cool and not hot for comfort reasons, but darkness is just totally counter-intuitive given that we have a biological need for light (we do need some darkness to be healthy but only around 7 hours of it at night).

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Posted
  • Location: King’s Lynn, Norfolk.
  • Weather Preferences: Hot and Thundery, Cold and Snowy
  • Location: King’s Lynn, Norfolk.

Starting to notice it now. The weather can still be great and highest maximas can still occur right the way towards the end of August.

The shortening days dont phase me at all though as in the med even when its so stifling hot on the longest day, the sun still goes down before 9pm. The advantage also being that night lightning is much more likely due to earlier darkness and getting light later too. End of September is when it starts getting a bit depressing though!!

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Posted
  • Location: South Yorkshire
  • Location: South Yorkshire

 

I normally would but Laseguy's ultra depressing posts often make me laugh.

 

Well I'm glad I cheered someone up! Personally, I find all the gushing on here about all things summer ("oh it's going to be five million degrees next week" an' all that nonsense) very depressing but hey it's summer - can't expect anything else except look for crumbs of comfort via storms and straight northerlies...

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Posted
  • Location: Berlin, Germany
  • Weather Preferences: Ample sunshine; Hot weather; Mixed winters with cold and mild spells
  • Location: Berlin, Germany

Darkness is just so restrictive - there are many things you can do in daylight that can't be done in darkness. There are much fewer things only possible in darkness in comparison.

I do get the 'cosy' wrapping up at home thing but that has a fairly limited lifespan of enjoyment... what it normally means is sitting in a drab looking and not quite warm enough room pouring money via Russian gas billionaires out of the roof into space...

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the change is still most marked for dawn but it is starting to be noticeable

dawn change from 0435 to 0527 this morning

evening from 2137 to 2053

last Thursday I was still walking in the last of the sunshine to the pub, this week it may have gone below the horizon just before I reach it!

 

You're clearly getting to the pub too late!

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Posted
  • Location: Manchester
  • Location: Manchester

 

I do get the 'cosy' wrapping up at home thing but that has a fairly limited lifespan of enjoyment... what it normally means is sitting in a drab looking and not quite warm enough room pouring money via Russian gas billionaires out of the roof into space...

 

Very limited lifespan of enjoyment in my opinion lol. I just think about how I feel on Christmas Day- it's not a day I look forward to at all! Sitting there eating heavy food in an overheated house with people you only see a couple of times a year while the same old rubbish is on TV that was on the previous year. I feel more lethargic at Christmas than at any other time of the year. For me winter is just a time of restriction and lethargy- feeling like I'm going to lose my extremities while outside gets old incredibly quickly!

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Posted
  • Location: Berlin, Germany
  • Weather Preferences: Ample sunshine; Hot weather; Mixed winters with cold and mild spells
  • Location: Berlin, Germany

Oh yes Christmas is definitely a lethargic bubble of over eating/drinking that's for sure! I enjoy the extended break although hard to do much as lots of places are closed. I actually now keep fairly active over the break by cycling lots to see people - feel miles better for it. But that can be halted if the weather is too bad - partly why the recent milder christmas periods have been much easier. Dec 2010 it just was unsafe cycling about late at night with black ice around (fell of couple of times and it really hurt!).

At the end of the day winter is a less healthy time of year - no vit D from the sun, limited activity, heavy stodge food...

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Posted
  • Location: Stockport
  • Location: Stockport

Nights drawing in doesn't bother me in the slightest. To me each season doesn't last long enough for their respective conditions to get depressing/tedious. You start December and before you know it it's March, then June, September.

I actually quite enjoy the unique little perks of each season, I like the variety. Each season is to be embraced and not wished away.

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Posted
  • Location: Truro, Cornwall
  • Weather Preferences: Winter - Heavy Snow Summer - Hot with Night time Thunderstorms
  • Location: Truro, Cornwall

Don't think I'll ever 'get' the desire for the short days of winter. Briefly its ok especially around xmas itself but for the most part its an absolute pain in the backside. 

Vastly increased safety issues on commutes both to & from work? Not seeing your home in daylight from 4pm Sunday to 9am Saturday? Being indoors the majority of the time without the wellbeing/health inducing rays of the sun? Still being at work when the sun drops and the vast productivity drop that brings? Something outside your house (or your bike) needs fixing and not being able to sort it till the weekend? The mrs having to walk through areas not exactly safe after dark twice daily? Vastly increased electricity bills? Constant need to ensure lighting/hi-vis gear is in service for your bike?

Nope sorry I'm not quite seeing the advantages... scratching head....

As ive said many times before, I completely agree with you. I find it totally bizarre how a few people dont want to the light which enables more social and productive activity. I find it sad how people wish the days away. There are better things to do with your lives than worry what position the sun is at. The light and sun is the giver of live, it enables the lush green and scenery that grace our Spring and Summer. What does winter bring? More deths, more accidents, more people with depression... apart from the minority here who jump up and down with joy. Totally odd. But each to their own I suppose. I will respect each others opinions but to me, wanting darkness is a totally backwards thing to me and counter intuitive.

 

I do not mean this any disrespect at all but I wonder if there is a link with who prefers the dark/hiding away from the sun and their social life. I reckon its lower/off less quality on the whole!

Edited by Blizzards
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Posted
  • Location: Derbyshire Peak District South Pennines Middleton & Smerrill Tops 305m (1001ft) asl.
  • Location: Derbyshire Peak District South Pennines Middleton & Smerrill Tops 305m (1001ft) asl.

Im more active during Winter months, Mountaineering/Ice Climbing and Walking with some of the best Sunrise and Sunset's of the year, When the low sun put's a lovely sparkly Orange tinge over the snow covered silent landscape, I could not wish for anything more..

Edited by Polar Maritime
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Posted
  • Location: Purley, Surrey - 246 Ft ASL
  • Weather Preferences: January 1987 / July 2006
  • Location: Purley, Surrey - 246 Ft ASL

Im more active during Winter months, Mountaineering/Ice Climbing and Walking with some of the best Sunrise and Sunset's of the year, When the low sun put's a lovely sparkly Orange tinge over the snow covered silent landscape, I could not wish for anything more..

 

Yep.

 

For me there is something more atmospheric about Autumn and Winter.

 

A golden shimmer on a frosty field.

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