Thornes Park DCNN 4044 – Dereliction on Duty

53.67238 -1.51613 Met Office CIMO assessed Class 4 Archived temperature readings from 12/3/2015

Thornes Park weather station is located in what was the horticultural centre of Wakefield College, Thornes Park Campus. This college site closed down in 2018/9 when it appears to have been purchased by an organisation describing itself as a Muslim Islamic Charity known as “Penny Appeal” to operate as a “community hub”. https://pennyappeal.org/

Although the Met Office claims the weather station was installed as far back as 1978, there are only archived temperature records from 2013 for probably a very good reason as this poor site was even worse back then.

Firstly to clarify the Class 4 CIMO rating, yet again this comes down to sensible interpretation. The site was a horticultural college with extensive greenhouses, walled gardens, both wind and soil modification, and of course the considerable urban heat island of Wakefield. The tape measure shows nothing other than unnatural ground cover within a 10 metre radius of the screen. But is that the whole picture?

The current Streetview image does not pinpoint the existing screen location but gives a good insight to the modifications creating an artificial micro-climate. This weather station sits in a walled garden and represents nowhere other than its own immediate surroundings.

The original installation date of 1978 actually relates to the site before a small relocation. The old site being as below and ranking as on of the more inappropriate site possible sitting between two sets of poly tunnels and by hard standing. Small wonder its temperature readings were not archived.

This original site was visible in street view image from 2012 which shows the college in its better maintained days.

Quite what is due to happen with the overall site I have not been able to ascertain but with regard to the weather station it is a poor, unrepresentative site for adding to the national historic temperature record simply because it was never intended to. Clearly an element of dereliction has occurred since ownership change which has probably further degraded the quality of readings. If this site is closed down it would likely be no great loss – any choice of replacement location would be more interesting.