St Andrews in Focus: Day 1

When I first arrived in St Andrews I never left my residence without my camera in hand.  Everything was new and unique and incredibly intriguing.  I would stare in awe at stone walls standing proud and tall for nearly 1000 years, notice every architectural detail in building designs, and snap photo after photo of never before seen scenes.  And now, whether it’s because the initial infatuation with the place has subsided or I’m simply too focused on the work to notice the office, or perhaps I unthinkingly decided at some point along the way last year that carrying my camera on my back along with a heavy laptop, books, and groceries several miles each day wasn’t doing my back any favours, or what, but somehow along the way I stopped carrying my camera and stopped noticing the small things that once made me smitten with awe at this place. 

And now that I can just very, very, very faintly see the light burning at the end of the metaphorical tunnel, I’m again growing more aware of the details that give St Andrews its character.  And, as my friend Jeff in Montana often says, ‘this ain’t my first rodeo’; I’ve anticipated leaving a place before; I’m aware of the passing of time and the fact that one day, sooner than I realize, I’ll be leaving… for good.  Now is the time to start making sure those bucket list items are checked off and that I have photos of everything I love about this place and photos to remember it by in the future. 

So, to that end, I’m challenging myself to take one new photo each day and post it here for you.  You can reap the benefits (if we can call my photography that) of my attempt at seizing the day(s).  They may be scenes I’ve shown photos of before, but for the most part I’ll try to find those hidden (or easily overlooked) details that give St Andrews its charm. 

So, for St Andrews in Focus:  Day 1

‘Crown Glass’ or ‘Bulls Eye Glass’

A common sight in windows along the streets.

“Crown glass was one of the two most common processes for making window glass until the 19th century.” (taken from the description below)

Most photos probably won’t have an accompanying description, as they’ll be fairly self evident.  Nevertheless, some, such as this decorative glass begs for a description.

Wikipedia (highly unreliable source) says:

Crown glass was an early type of window glass. In this process, glass was blown into a "crown" or hollow globe. This was then transferred from the blowpipe to a punty and then flattened by reheating and spinning out the bowl-shaped piece of glass (bullion) into a flat disk by centrifugal force, up to 5 or 6 feet (1.5 to 1.8 metres) in diameter. The glass was then cut to the size required.^[1]

The thinnest glass was in a band at the edge of the disk, with the glass becoming thicker and more opaque toward the center. Known as a bullseye, the thicker center area around the punty mark was used for less expensive windows. In order to fill large window spaces with the best glass, many small diamond shapes would be cut from the edge of the disk and these would be mounted in a lead lattice work and fitted into the window frame.

Crown glass was one of the two most common processes for making window glass until the 19th century. The other was blown plate. The process was first perfected by French glassmakers in the 1320s, notably around Rouen, and was a trade secret. As a result, crown glass was not made in London until 1678.