Reality checkpoint
Encyclopedia
Parker's Piece
Parker's Piece is a flat and very roughly square green common located near the centre of Cambridge, England. The two main walking and cycling paths across it run diagonally, and the single lamp-post at the junction is commonly known as Reality Checkpoint...
, Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, located at the intersection of the park's diagonal paths.
The name comes from an unofficial inscription which has been painted on the lamp-post since the early 1970s. The lamp-post is also believed to be the oldest electrical lamp-post in Cambridge.
Interpretation
There are four main theories as to the meaning of the name. It may mark the boundary between the central universityUniversity of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
area of Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
(referred to as the 'reality bubble') and the 'real world' of non-academic locals living beyond. One is warned to check one's notions of reality before passing. For students at Cambridge, who walk out to Mill Road
Mill Road, Cambridge
Mill Road is a street in southeast Cambridge, England. It runs southeast from near to Parker's Piece, at the junction with Gonville Place, East Road, and Parkside. It crosses the main railway line and links to the city's ring road . It passes through the wards of Petersfield and Romsey, which are...
across Parker's piece for an evening in the 'real world', usually including a visit to one of Mill Road's selection of pubs, the lamp-post marks the end of the 'reality holiday' as they walk back to central Cambridge - back into 'the bubble'.
The second suggestion is that the name arose because the lamp-post forms a useful landmark for people crossing the park at night — perhaps inebriated or in the fog — since it is the only light for hundreds of yards. The third suggestion is that, being drunk, students and the general public are reminded to check they are able to walk like a sober person before passing the police station just a few hundred metres away. The fourth suggestion relates it to the post being situated in the middle of two walking paths that intersect; anyone walking whilst not tuned in to "reality" will likely collide with the lamp-post, hence "reality checkpoint".
History
The age of the original lampost is rather sketchy. However the post above the dolphins was torn down by American GI's celebrating VJ, the end of the war with Japan. In 1947 the lampost was repaired by a local metalworks firm, George Lister & Sons, Cambridge. The work was done by foreman Mr Sam Mason, assisted by a young apprentice, Tony Challis, who did the scrollwork at the top of the lampost. Mr Challis still lives in Cambridgeshire, and is also responsible for the ornate railings found at Granchester Meadows.Inscription
One report claims that the name was first painted on the lamp-post by students from CCAT (now Anglia Ruskin UniversityAnglia Ruskin University
Anglia Ruskin University is one of the largest universities in Eastern England, United Kingdom, with a total student population of around 30,000.-History:...
) under the guidance of one of their teachers.
It has been repeatedly repainted since then in response to removal by Cambridge City Council
Cambridge City Council, England
Cambridge City Council is a district council in the county of Cambridgeshire, based in the city of Cambridge.-Activities:The council provides various facilities and services within the city...
or obliteration by graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
. For the first half of 1998 the lamp-post carried an unofficial plaque
Commemorative plaque
A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other vertical surface, and bearing text in memory of an important figure or event...
bearing its name, until removed by the council.
Comedian Ben Miller
Ben Miller
Bennet Evan "Ben" Miller is an English comedian, actor and director. He is perhaps best known as one half of comedy double act Armstrong and Miller, along with Alexander Armstrong. Together the pair wrote and starred in Channel 4 sketch show Armstrong and Miller, and the more recent BBC television...
featured the lamppost in his BBC Two physics documentary 'What Is One Degree?' for the science series Horizon. At that time the lamppost had the words 'Reality Checkpoint' scratched into its paintwork in at least two places.