Editing Reality Checkpoint

{{short description|Lamppost in Cambridge, UK}}
{{Lead too short|date=September 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}
[[File:Reality Checkpoint Cambridge England 2.jpg|thumb|Reality Checkpoint]]
[[File:Reality Checkpoint.jpg|thumb|Detail of its base with graffiti in 2012]]
[[File:cmglee_Cambridge_Reality_Checkpoint_Dinky_Door.jpg|thumb|The inscription after its 2017 restoration and a Dinky Doors sculpture at its base]]

'''Reality Checkpoint''' is a large cast-iron [[lamppost]] in the middle of [[Parker's Piece]], [[Cambridge]], [[England]],<ref>{{cite journal
| last = Baker
| first = Mike
| title = Not in front of the parents: How 'education speak' prevents teachers from being heard
| journal = Critical Quarterly
| volume = 43
| issue = 1
| pages = 19–24
| year = 2001
| doi = 10.1111/1467-8705.00333 }}</ref> at the intersection of the park's diagonal paths.<ref name="cam">{{cite journal
 |last        = Hollis
 |first       = Edward
 |title       = Reality Checkpoint
 |journal     = CAM (Cambridge Alumni Magazine)
 |issue       = 57 (Easter 2009)
 |pages       = 22–27
 |year        = 2009
 |url         = http://www.alumni.cam.ac.uk/uploads/File/CAM57/Cam57.pdf
 |accessdate  = 16 August 2009
 |url-status     = dead
 |archiveurl  = https://web.archive.org/web/20110716063034/http://www.alumni.cam.ac.uk/uploads/File/CAM57/Cam57.pdf
 |archivedate = 16 July 2011
 |df          = dmy-all
}}</ref><ref>[http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/News/Lighting-trialled-on-Parkers-Piece-amid-safety-fears-28012013.htm Cambridge News - Lighting trialled on Parker's Piece amid safety fears] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130130140047/http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/News/Lighting-trialled-on-Parkers-Piece-amid-safety-fears-28012013.htm |date=30 January 2013 }} "...the central column known as Reality Checkpoint..."</ref>

==Origin of the name==
There are three main theories as to the meaning of the name.
* It may mark the boundary between the central [[University of Cambridge|university]] area of [[Cambridge]] (referred to as the "reality bubble") and the "real world" of the townspeople living beyond it. One is warned to check one's notions of reality before passing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/R/Real-World.html |title=Real World |work=The [[Jargon File]] |date=29 October 2003 |publisher=[[Eric S. Raymond]] |accessdate=11 February 2008 }}</ref>
* The name arose because the lamppost forms a useful landmark for people crossing the park at night &ndash; perhaps intoxicated or in the fog &ndash; since it is the only light for more than a hundred metres.<ref name=Webb/>
* When drunk, students and the general public are reminded to check that they are able to walk like a sober person before passing the police station at the edge of Parker's Piece, hence a "reality check".<ref>{{cite web|title=Restoration calls for 'Reality Checkpoint' on Parker's Piece as pictures show its decline|url=http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/heasdline/story-29193285-detail/story.html|accessdate=4 May 2016}}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://plus.google.com/101240388907157744367/about?gl=uk&hl=en |title=Cambridge Parkside Police Station |work=Google place page |publisher=[[Google Maps]] |accessdate=27 April 2014}}</ref><ref name=Webb/>

==History==
A lamp at the centre of Parker's Piece was first proposed in 1890<ref>''Cambridge Independent Press'', 18 January 1890.</ref> and work commenced in January 1894, when a pipe was laid from Parkside, running parallel with the path opposite Melbourne Place. Once the connections were completed, the pillar was erected. This attracted a great deal of interest and was described as a "very handsome ornament to the Piece".<ref>''Cambridge Independent Press'', 2 February 1894.</ref> It was made of [[cast iron]] by the Sun Foundry of George Smith & Company in Glasgow. It stands on a square-section plinth with [[Waterleaf (architecture)|waterleaf]] decoration on the top edges. The base of the shaft of the circular section is encircled with four intertwined [[Dolphin#Heraldry|heraldic dolphins]]. The shaft carries four lampholders by means of scrolled [[wrought-iron|wrought iron]] stays. It is said to be the oldest electrical lamppost in Cambridge.<ref name='cambridgeonline'>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cambridgeonline.co.uk/articles/Parkers_Piece/ |title=Parker's Piece, Cambridge |access-date=26 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170804180653/http://www.cambridgeonline.co.uk/articles/Parkers_Piece/ |archive-date=4 August 2017 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

A photograph from around 1903 shows the lamppost with a single lamp.<ref>{{cite web|title=Parker's Piece, Cambridge. c. 1903|url=http://www.history-in-pictures.co.uk/store/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=4662|accessdate=27 April 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Parker's Pieces|url=http://cambridgecurio.wordpress.com/2012/01/28/parkers-pieces/|accessdate=27 April 2014|date=2012-01-28}}</ref>

The post above the dolphins was torn down in 1945 by U.S. soldiers celebrating [[Victory over Japan Day]], the end of the war with Japan. In September 1946 the lamppost was repaired by a local metalworks firm, George Lister & Sons. The work was done by foreman Sam Mason, assisted by a young apprentice, Tony Challis, who did the [[scrollwork]] at the top of the lamppost.<ref name=Webb/><ref>Cambridge Daily News, 5 September 1946</ref> Challis still lives in Cambridgeshire and is also responsible for the ornate railings found at [[Grantchester Meadows]]. The current design with four pendant lamps dates from 1946.

In 1996 the lamppost was designated as a Grade II [[listed building]].<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1268376 | title=Lamp Standard, Cambridge – 1268376 &#124; Historic England}}</ref>

In 2016–17 Cambridge City Council restored the lamppost, reinstating its earlier colours of moss green, red, white and gold, and casting any new parts as required.<ref name=Webb/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/news/2016/07/07/reality-checkpoint-to-be-restored-to-former-glory|title='Reality Checkpoint' to be restored to former glory {{!}} Cambridge City Council|website=www.cambridge.gov.uk|access-date=2016-07-07|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160828223959/https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/news/2016/07/07/reality-checkpoint-to-be-restored-to-former-glory|archivedate=28 August 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Leng|first1=Freya|title=Cambridge's most famous street lamp just weeks away from being restored to former glory|url=http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/cambridge-s-most-famous-street-lamp-just-weeks-away-from-being-restored-to-former-glory/story-29573657-detail/story.html|accessdate=2 August 2016|publisher=[[Cambridge News]]|date=2 August 2016}}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In 2018 anonymous local art installers, Dinky Doors, installed a reality checker "door" on the checkpoint, which was refurbished in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 April 2019 |title=Art Installation …. Dinky Doors … arrives in the city. Can you find them? April 2019 : Cambridge Tourist Information |url=http://www.cambridgetouristinformation.co.uk/art-installation-dinky-doors-arrives-in-the-city-can-you-find-them-april-2019/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190803181210/http://www.cambridgetouristinformation.co.uk:80/art-installation-dinky-doors-arrives-in-the-city-can-you-find-them-april-2019/ |archive-date=3 Aug 2019 |access-date=2019-07-01 |website=www.cambridgetouristinformation.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dinkydoors.co.uk/|title=Dinky Doors|website=Dinky Doors|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-01}}</ref>

==Inscription==
One report claims that the name was first painted on the lamppost in the early 1970s by students from Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology (now [[Anglia Ruskin University]]) under the guidance of one of their teachers.<ref name="cambridgeonline" /> Another claims that it was originated in 1970 by the Emmanuel Liberation Front (ELF), one of whose members first scratched the name onto the lamppost. The ELF was a group of radical students at [[Emmanuel College, Cambridge|Emmanuel College]] between 1969 and 1971 influenced by the [[Situationist International|Situationists]] with their slogan "Do not adjust your mind. There is a fault in reality." Emmanuel adjoins the northwest side of Parker's Piece.{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}

Until the early 1970s the lamppost was painted a dishwater grey or discoloured cream.<ref name=Webb>{{cite web|last1=Webb|first1=Robert|title=Reality Checkpoint|url=https://sites.google.com/view/reality-checkpoint/|accessdate=17 May 2018|date=2018}}{{Self-published source|date=May 2018}}</ref> In 2017 two brothers, David and Sandy Cairncross, revealed that they had been responsible for repainting it in bright colours in October 1973, a task undertaken with the written permission of Geoffrey Cresswell, the Cambridge City Engineer.<ref name=Webb/> At the time David was a student at [[King's College, Cambridge]], and [[Sandy Cairncross|Sandy]] was a postgraduate research student (he is now a distinguished epidemiologist). The repainting did not involve anyone from Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology.

The Cairncrosses confirmed that the name "Reality Checkpoint" had previously been inscribed in marker pen on the pillar "a year or two earlier" and that their painting of the name was initially a placeholder for more sophisticated lettering.<ref name=Webb/> On how the lamppost got its name, David acknowledged the influence of [[Checkpoint Charlie]] during the [[Cold War]] and the popularity of [[Carlos Castaneda]]’s memoir ''[[A Separate Reality]]'' (1971).<ref name=Webb/>

The Cairncross brothers' repainting remained throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s. By 1980, however, the lamppost was looking shabby, as is clear in a photograph of the poet [[Tom Raworth]] taken next to it in 1980.<ref name=Webb/> Eventually [[Cambridge City Council, England|Cambridge City Council]] painted over the decoration with a dull faux [[verdigris]].

Since then the name has been informally inscribed or scratched into the paintwork many times, despite its repeated removal by Cambridge City Council or obliteration by [[graffiti]]. At one point in the mid-1990s, according to Graham Chainey writing in ''[[The London Magazine]]'',<ref>"The Other Cambridge", 1995</ref> "Reality Checkpoint" was scratched on one side of the plinth, while on the opposite side was scrawled "The Comfortably Numb", a reference to a [[Comfortably Numb|song]] on the album ''[[The Wall]]'' by the Cambridge band [[Pink Floyd]].

For the first half of 1998 the lamppost carried an unofficial [[Commemorative plaque|plaque]] bearing its name, until it was removed by the council.<ref name="cam"/>

The comedian [[Ben Miller]] featured the lamppost in his [[BBC Two]] physics documentary "What Is One Degree?" for the science series ''[[Horizon (BBC TV series)|Horizon]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00xhz90#synopsis|title=What Is One Degree? |work=[[Horizon (BBC TV series)|Horizon]] |date=10 January 2010|accessdate=10 January 2010}}</ref> At that time the lamppost had the words "Reality Checkpoint" scratched into its paintwork in at least two places. The lamppost also features briefly in an episode of the crime drama [[Professor T. (British TV series)|''Professor T.'']], in which Miller plays the eponymous role.

The inscription was restored in June 2017 by the artist Emma Smith, with the approval of the Cambridge City Council, as part of the art project "Hunch" commissioned by the University Arms Hotel.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Elliott |first=Chris |date=2017-06-03 |title=Getting to the bottom of the legend of Reality Checkpoint in Cambridge |work=cambridgenews |url=https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/getting-bottom-legend-reality-checkpoint-13131097 |access-date=2018-06-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Cox |first=Tara |date=2017-06-07 |title=Reality Checkpoint given a makeover as name officially painted on listed monument |work=cambridgenews |url=https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/reality-checkpoint-parkers-piece-cambridge--13153282 |access-date=2018-06-03}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{cite web|last1=Webb|first1=Robert|title=Reality Checkpoint|url=https://sites.google.com/view/reality-checkpoint/|date=2018}}
* [http://cam.misc.org.uk/reality_checkpoint "What is Reality Checkpoint?" on cam.wiki]
* [http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/getting-bottom-legend-reality-checkpoint-13131097 "Getting to the bottom of the legend of Reality Checkpoint" on cambridge-news.co.uk]

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[[Category:1894 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1894]]
[[Category:Culture in Cambridge]]
[[Category:Grade II listed buildings in Cambridge]]
[[Category:Graffiti in England]]
[[Category:Terminology of the University of Cambridge]]
[[Category:Street lighting]]
[[Category:Individual lamps]]