Regular observations of the sun were begun at Greenwich because of the association of the fluctuation of the Earth's magnetic field with sunspots and other activity on the sun. There was a greatly enhanced interest given to the observations when it was found that the intensity and frequency of magnetic disturbance was due to changes taking place many millions of miles away. Two observers, one working on spots on the sun and the other studying the movement of the magnetic needle, independently found that the phenomena they were studying had a regular cycle and that when the cycles were compared they proved to be the same. It was shown that as the spots on the sun became more numerous the daily swing of the magnetic needle becomes stronger and as they diminish the needle moves more feebly. It was therefore felt necessary to supplement the Magnetic Observatory by one devoted to the direct study of the solar surface by photography. Observations of the sun had been made during the 1860s on a photoheliograph designed by Warren De La Rue operated from the Kew Observatory. Early in the 1870s the Royal Society took over control of the Kew Observatory from the British Association and in 1873 the 'Kew' photoheliograph was moved to Greenwich. At about the same time five photoheliographs were ordered from Dallmeyer for use on the transit of Venus expedition organised by Greenwich. In order to photograph the sun it is not necessary to have a very large telescope and the one in use at Greenwich from 1875-97 was only four inches in aperture and its focal length was five feet. In 1873 G.B. Airy appointed E.W. Maunder as Assistant for Photographic and Spectroscopic Observations. From that time until 1977 these instruments were used to make one or two direct photographs of the sun's surface on every day when it was visible, gaps in the record being remedied as necessary by observatories overseas. This has produced a record of the size, position and movement of every sunspot that has appeared on the visible disc of the sun during more than a century. In 1904 E.W. Maunder published his famous 'butterfly' diagram as a representation of sunspot activity that vividly displays its cycle of eleven years. Besides direct photography, initially by wet-plate process, Maunder carried out spectroscopic sweeps round the sun's limb to detect prominences. Major changes were made by W.H.M. Christie; a conversion was made to dry plates and, in order to keep as full a record as possible, arrangements were made with the Solar Physics Observatory at South Kensington to supplement the Greenwich photographs with those taken in India and Mauritius. An increased amount of time was also spent on the reduction of photographic material. A number of special investigations based on the accumulated material have been made. Maunder examined the sunspot cycle and solar rotation. He is best remembered for introducing the 'butterfly' diagram as a means of demonstrating the change in the latitudinal distribution of spots within the solar cycle. He also demonstrated that the magnetic storms on Earth tended to recur at twenty-seven day periods corresponding to the rotation of the sun as seen from Earth. Maunder also indicated that there were specific regions of the solar surface, not necessarily sunspots, the affected the Earth's magnetic field. In 1910 the Cape Observatory began to take regular photographs of the sun and the Royal Observatory received copies; even wartime photographs eventually arriving. Solar observations were the only series carried on at Greenwich during the Second World War and continuity was even maintained on the move to Herstmonceux. The photographs were taken every day until 1977 when it became a weekly exercise, unless there was particularly active sunspot, until finally the last plate was taken on 8 May 1979. It will now be useful to look at the actual process of taking the plates and their use afterwards. A magnifying lens is used so that the photograph is about eight inches in diameter. The exposure is for a fraction of a second and this is achieved by arranging a very narrow slit in a strip of brass which is made to move in a groove across the principal focus. Before the exposure this is fastened up to prevent all light from entering the camera part of the telescope. When all is ready the strip is released and drawn down very rapidly by a powerful spring; the slit flying across the image of the sun gives exposure to the plate for a fraction of a second. Two of these photographs were taken every fine day at Greenwich but in winter weeks could pass with no opportunity. It was arranged therefore that photographs taken with precisely similar equipment should be taken in India and Mauritius and sent over to fill the gaps. Towards the end of the nineteenth century the 'Dallmeyer' photoheliograph was superseded by the 'Thompson', a photographic refractor of nine inch aperture and nearly nine foot focal length; the image of the sun obtained after enlargement is seven and a half inches diameter. The photograph had then to be measured; the four following measurements particularly being determined for each spot. These are: its distance from the centre of the image of the sun; the angle between it and the north point; the size of the spot; and the size of its dark central position or umbra. The size was measured by placing a thin piece of glass on which a number of cross lines had been ruled one-hundredth of an inch apart in contact with the photograph, the lines over counted and the measurements made. Dark spots are not the only ones of interest there being also bright marks usually near the edge of the sun. These are called 'foculae' and, like the spots, have times of abundance and scarcity changing, on the whole, at the same time as the spots. After the photographs had been measured these results had to be reduced and the position of the spots, as expressed in latitude and longitude on the sun, computed. The study of individual spots is interesting but of more interest is that they increase and diminish in a regular cycle and affect different regions of the sun at different points of the cycle. Spectacular demonstrations of the connections between sunspots and magnetic activity happen occasionally. In November 1882 a great spot was seen on the sun covering an area of more than three thousand million square miles and was visible to the naked eye. This great disturbance, in the nature of a storm in the solar atmosphere, stretched over one hundred thousand miles on the surface of the sun. Simultaneously with the spot's appearance the magnetic needles at Greenwich began to react excitedly and over the British Isles telegraphic communication was greatly interfered with. Such events are rare but are a dramatic demonstration of this link and provide even greater incentive for this phenomenon to be studied.