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<\/p>\nAn observatory’s first year of operation has “put it on the map with stargazers”, bosses say.<\/p>\n
Grizedale Observatory, at Ambleside, Cumbria, opened last May with the aim of giving north-west England a facility to match those elsewhere in the UK.<\/p>\n
Along with its every day offering of telescopes and a planetarium, it has staged a dark skies festival and a number of other events.<\/p>\n
Executive director Gary Fildes described its setting within a Lake District forest as providing an ideal spot from which to enjoy “the irresistible sight of the Milky Way and galaxies light years away”.<\/p>\n
Demand has seen opening expanded from four nights each week to six, he says, with a seventh likely to be added shortly.<\/p>\n
‘Black backdrop’<\/p>\n
“The mission was to put Cumbria on the map with stargazers and it has. It’s going in the right direction.<\/p>\n
“People get an opportunity to connect with the universe. It opens their eyes.<\/p>\n
“Being able to come somewhere as beautiful as Grizedale and see stars against the black backdrop is special.<\/p>\n
“Last week we had 54 schoolchildren visiting and it was brilliant to see all those curious little minds running around.”<\/p>\n
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The observatory’s telescopes enable visitors to see across vast distances [Grizedale Observatory]<\/p>\n
Fildes, who helped launch Northumberland’s Kielder Observatory in 2008, says plans for Grizedale include the opening of a space memorabilia museum.<\/p>\n
“It’s about providing an ecosystem of activities around astronomy so things don’t just orbit around night-time observations,” he explains.<\/p>\n
“We’ve our planitarium, a museum and a meteorite laboratory, so we’re providing an all-round experience.<\/p>\n
“But we understand the things people want more than anything else are the dark skies so we will continue to champion their importance.”<\/p>\n
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