Sunday, May 22, 2011

The Gnome Office


 
Here are some pictures of my work.  As you can see it all very futuristic and snazzy looking (apart from the Georgian Hall on whose grounds it is built).   We study whole genomes here - famously the human genome - but many others too.  Hence our address is the Genome Campus.( You should probably know that the study of genomes is genomics - when I told Jill this while she was drinking she laughed so much that she choked!)   Anyway a few years ago some local wags  erased the appropriate letters on the road signs leading up to campus so that it read Gnome Camp.  To be honest I expect it was one of the overly educated people I work with but I will never know.  Everyone was amused by this and behold two little gnomes appeared on a  futuristic water feature by one of the buildings trying to fish for something.
I think most people were rather fond of them but when Princess Ann visited campus they mysteriously vanished.  Actually, when she visited many trees in pots suddenly appeared only to disappear after she went.

Years went by and the the road sign was corrected but there were no small plastic creatures to amuse us until last week!
Look who has reappeared!



Along with his little fishing freind who is too shy to transfer his photo from my phone. Hurray!
Let's hope no passing royalty makes him disappear again!

3 comments:

Helen said...

I love the gnome on such a posh arty campus - maybe they came out of the big round ball which looks like it could be a space ship

oreneta said...

I adore the gnomes....the big round ball, is it by Anish Kapoor???

Boo and Trev said...

I don't think so. There is a fair amount of work on campus. The first ball everyone calls the Death Star. However, the children from the nursery come over to look at it occaisionaly and are fascinated by it.