Another 'Whatisit' question
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: England
Posts: 451
Another 'Whatisit' question
I'm sure that one of the assembled experts can identify this object.
It's fixed to the downpipe from roof guttering on a large building, about 2.5m above the open end of the pipe. It's fixed to the pipe for support with two metal bands, but as far as I could see it is not otherwise connected with the pipe. There are several other downpipes on the building but this is the only one with such a device.
It's fixed to the downpipe from roof guttering on a large building, about 2.5m above the open end of the pipe. It's fixed to the pipe for support with two metal bands, but as far as I could see it is not otherwise connected with the pipe. There are several other downpipes on the building but this is the only one with such a device.
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: England
Posts: 451
It doesn't look like any camera or PIR that I've seen - and I would expect such to be mounted away from the wall rather than hard up against it.
How would this function as an air monitor - presumably it would need an active air flow?
How would this function as an air monitor - presumably it would need an active air flow?
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: London
Posts: 439
I have no idea, but thinking through the possibilities:
If it does have batteries they'll need a way of replacing; if you can reach it, does the bottom part unscrew (regular screw or push-and-turn bayonet action)?
- It's not connected to anything (power or water) so it must be self-contained
- It's hard to see what a passive device looking like that could usefully do, so I wonder whether it's powered by internal batteries?
- In order to do something useful it must either monitor something or emit something
- If it were intended to emit light, I'd have thought part of it would be obviously translucent, so I'm guessing it either monitors something or emits sound
If it does have batteries they'll need a way of replacing; if you can reach it, does the bottom part unscrew (regular screw or push-and-turn bayonet action)?
Join Date: Apr 1998
Location: Mesopotamos
Posts: 1
An automatic pesticide dispenser perhaps, the darker brickwork behind it could suggest it's expelling something oily.
BTW, I really do like that brick work, particularly the way the mortar has been shaped - there's a term for this which currently escapes me.
BTW, I really do like that brick work, particularly the way the mortar has been shaped - there's a term for this which currently escapes me.
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: London
Posts: 439
Originally Posted by cattletruck
An automatic pesticide dispenser perhaps, the darker brickwork behind it could suggest it's expelling something oily.
BTW, I really do like that brick work, particularly the way the mortar has been shaped - there's a term for this which currently escapes me.
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: No longer in Jurassic Park eating Toblerone....
Posts: 2,677
cattletruck; it's called Tuck Pointing in the UK and
in the USA.
Not a Scooby Doo what the grey thing clamped to the pipe is though!
Not a Scooby Doo what the grey thing clamped to the pipe is though!
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: England
Posts: 451
I could see no connection into the pipe. In fact the mounting bracket looks as if it was designed to fix to a flat surface rather than a pipe.
And why mount it high up, rather than at the bottom of the pipe where it would be less obtrusive?
The device was mounted on one of the pipes in the middle of the photo. It is not there in the stock photo above.
And why mount it high up, rather than at the bottom of the pipe where it would be less obtrusive?
The device was mounted on one of the pipes in the middle of the photo. It is not there in the stock photo above.
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Uka Duka
Posts: 928
It's Buckfast Abbey and I think it might be a beehive.
The brothers at Buckfast are keen to encourage their local population of bees to thrive but at the same time they don't want them burrowing in to that lovely pointing to make the hives within so they provided these at various points around the abbey instead.
This is a guess based on a little research over my evening G an'T so could very well be completely wrong.
The brothers at Buckfast are keen to encourage their local population of bees to thrive but at the same time they don't want them burrowing in to that lovely pointing to make the hives within so they provided these at various points around the abbey instead.
This is a guess based on a little research over my evening G an'T so could very well be completely wrong.
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: England
Posts: 451
Originally Posted by Auxtank
It's Buckfast Abbey and I think it might be a beehive.
The brothers at Buckfast are keen to encourage their local population of bees to thrive but at the same time they don't want them burrowing in to that lovely pointing to make the hives within so they provided these at various points around the abbey instead.
This is a guess based on a little research over my evening G an'T so could very well be completely wrong.
The brothers at Buckfast are keen to encourage their local population of bees to thrive but at the same time they don't want them burrowing in to that lovely pointing to make the hives within so they provided these at various points around the abbey instead.
This is a guess based on a little research over my evening G an'T so could very well be completely wrong.
Psychophysiological entity
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Tweet Rob_Benham Famous author. Well, slightly famous.
Age: 82
Posts: 3,131
I don't like that pointing. What's the point in it sticking out like that. Must be hard to do, and is not good for the rain.
Proper pointing is done at an angle. A tiny bit in at the top. Nothing left on the brickface.
Oh those evenings, timing the plop so that it brushes off perfectly. Just before it goes hard.
Proper pointing is done at an angle. A tiny bit in at the top. Nothing left on the brickface.
Oh those evenings, timing the plop so that it brushes off perfectly. Just before it goes hard.
