Poet Laureate wanders lonely as a cloud to Reading

The Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage, achieved a longstanding ambition this week as he became the latest University of Reading daily weather observer.

His visit to Reading, on Tuesday 3 March, came after he revealed on BBC Radio 4’s PM programme that he had applied to study a meteorology degree at Reading as a student, but was not offered a place.

More than 40 years on, his dream to be a Reading meteorologist was finally realised, as he joined weather observer Dr Stephen Burt to do the daily morning rounds of measurements of temperature, air pressure, rainfall, sunshine and cloud cover. He then signed the weather log book, adding his name to the hundreds of volunteer observers who have recorded the weather at Reading every morning since 1908.

Professor Armitage then spent some time speaking with students from among the University’s first cohort of Global Sustainability Leaders Scholars, talking about the importance of poetry as a means to reflect on human experiences of nature and the environment.

Professor Andrew Charlton‑Perez, Head of the School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences, said: “It was a wonderful experience to have Simon visit and to be able to have him take our daily observations.

“While you might think that poetry and meteorology are a long way apart, they both start from the desire to carefully observe and capture the world around us.

“Our new scholarship scheme reflects how we hope to nurture the leaders of the future here in Reading, who can help us all have a sense of wonder and curiosity that drives meaningful environmental action, be they poets, psychologists or mathematicians.”

The visit continued with a discussion on environmental humanities at the University’s School of Humanities in the Edith Morley building, followed by lunch with the Vice‑Chancellor and colleagues working on environmental research and creative scholarship.