Кембриджтің «Шындық Тексеру» шам бағанасы

Lamppost in Cambridge, UK

Reality Checkpoint is a large cast iron lamppost in the middle of Parker's Piece, Cambridge, England, at the intersection of the park's diagonal paths.

There are three main theories as to the meaning of the name. It may mark the boundary between the central university area of Cambridge (referred to as the "reality bubble") and the "real world" of townspeople living beyond. One is warned to check one's notions of reality before passing. The name arose because the lamppost forms a useful landmark for people crossing the park at night – perhaps intoxicated or in the fog – since it is the only light for over a hundred metres. 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". It is made of cast iron by the Sun Foundry of George Smith and Company in Glasgow. It stands on a square section plinth with waterleaf decoration on the top edges. The base of the shaft of circular section is encircled with four intertwined heraldic dolphins. The shaft carries four lamp holders by means of scrolled wrought iron stays. It is said to be the oldest electrical lamppost in Cambridge. A photograph from around 1903 shows the lamppost with a single lamp. The post above the dolphins was torn down by American 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, Cambridge. 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. 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 the 1946 repair. In 1996 the lamppost was designated as a Grade II listed building. 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. In 2018, anonymous local art installers, Dinky Doors, installed a reality checker "door" on the checkpoint, which was refurbished in 2019.

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. 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. "Reality Checkpoint" was scratched on one side of the plinth, while on the opposite side was scrawled "The Comfortably Numb" a reference to a song on the album The Wall by the Cambridge band Pink Floyd. For the first half of 1998 the lamppost carried an unofficial plaque bearing its name, until removed by the council. 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 crime drama Professor T., in which Miller plays the eponymous role. The inscription was restored in June 2017 by artist Emma Smith, with the approval of the Cambridge City Council, as part of the art project 'Hunch' commissioned by the University Arms Hotel.