Oxford and Greenland are Closer than they Appear

The Literary and Philosophical Society in Newcastle upon Tyne is always full of good things. On a recent visit I was glad to discover the World Prefix Map (hanging on the wall behind the scenes in the Bindery, where I was being supplied with tea and biscuits). The map - which at a guess comes from the 1970s - shows that Greenland, in 'the new Worldwide Amateur Location System', has the Prefix OX, my current UK postcode. And Oxford, confusingly, is given the prefix G.

Doverodde Diary: Day 16 - Blue China

The breakfast china is decorated with English ruins. The blue pattern on the cups and saucers matches, but the shallows of the saucers do not fit the base of every cup. Two sets have been mixed up.

I drink my tea, thinking of the chart that shows the depth of the fjord: deep blue by the shore, then rings of lighter blue, then white. There’s a tideline in the cup: a film of tannin clings to the glaze. Why are the depth contours on the chart so definite when water levels rise and fall every day? Why do we decorate the insides of cups? There is not enough time over breakfast to answer these questions.