I just recently submitted my PhD thesis
on the production of British school atlases in the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries. I thought I would mark this occasion with a story I
uncovered when I was sifting through bundles of old letters exchanged between
mapmakers and publishers. It’s also seasonally pertinent.
In the winter of 1892 two cousins, one
of them the educational publisher Edward Augustus Arnold and the other the
geographer and school teacher Hugh Oak Arnold-Foster, both men of thirty years,
went ice skating on a lake near their home.
The first surprising thing to note is
the fact that the lake was Virginia Water Lake and its destination was, and is,
Surrey, England. It has not been cold enough for long enough to warrant ice
skating on this lake for many years and we all know (from the media hype) that the
global and national temperature graphs for the past few hundred years tell us
that our climate has gotten , generally, warmer. For me, this story is significant not only
because it draws attention to the claims of scientists over climate change but
it also suggests that climate naturally alters over time.
 |
| Virginia Water Lake, Surrey |
The second important thing about this
occurrence on Virginia Water Lake in Surrey was that whilst enthusiastically
skating on the frozen Lake, Edward Arnold came across thinner ice and descended
to what seemed like his death. Perhaps the lake wasn’t as frozen as we imagine.
Maybe people’s perceptions of safety have also changed.
But my favourite part of this short
story is to come. Struggling to keep his head above water, Edward’s cousin Hugh
scrambled to save him from drowning between the sheets of ice but at first to
no avail. Noticing a group of children playing at the side of the lake, Hugh called
for their assistance, promising them a healthy reward. To his relief, Hugh was
able to save Edward with the help of an anonymous boy. Both Hugh and the boy later
receiving Royal Humane Society medals for their bravery in saving
another’s life.
For me, this story is the equivalent of a hot and
rich glass of mulled wine beside a roaring fire—a winter warmer a few days
before Christmas.
