Today we decided to take a short trip to the Branscombe mill, old bakery and forge where we watched a blacksmith making stuff. I thought that was very interesting.
The most thrilling part was getting there. Yes, you guessed it more narrow roads where the hedge rows on either side of the road brush against Hermans sides but this time we also had the steep gradients. At one point Herman couldn't continue because the wheels just span on the wet road. It was touch and go.
Getting back on proper roads and unclenching teeth and buttocks we headed for Lyme Regis where we found the parking fees very civilized (£1.70 for all day). Being the fossil capital of the UK we had to do some fossil hunting. We found loads but they were all too large to pick up.
When we got back to the campsite the sun had come out. After a fab meal of chorizo and bean stew and locally baked bread I cycled to the Norman Lockyer Observatory which is about a mile away.
The observatory has 5 fixed large telescopes including an 11 inch reflector (opened this year by Queen guitarist and astronomer Brian May) and a 150 year old 6 inch refractor. The observatory also has a planetarium which was amazing to see.
Many people had brought their own kit, most of it very expensive. They'd setup their telescopes with cameras and laptops connected and then sat in the auditorium and controlled the telescopes from there using WiFi and a big screen. I'd like to be able to do that from inside Herman when we're out camping, in the warm with a mug of tea. Having said that sitting inside, in the warm, staring at a large screen with 4 different telescope views didn't beat being outside, in the cold, viewing Saturn, or Hercules Globular Cluster, or the Ring Nebula with your own eye aided by mirrors and lenses. You would see more detail and colour with the cameras and computers but the sense of magic and wonder had gone. For example, the other day when we were in Looe I spent an evening taking photos of Saturn. It was only when I shut the telescope and laptop down that I got the wow factor having looked up at sky and seeing the amazing stars of the summer months with the Milky Way stretching to the horizon.
It was a great place to meet people and talk about astronomy and telescopes.
The most thrilling part was getting there. Yes, you guessed it more narrow roads where the hedge rows on either side of the road brush against Hermans sides but this time we also had the steep gradients. At one point Herman couldn't continue because the wheels just span on the wet road. It was touch and go.
Getting back on proper roads and unclenching teeth and buttocks we headed for Lyme Regis where we found the parking fees very civilized (£1.70 for all day). Being the fossil capital of the UK we had to do some fossil hunting. We found loads but they were all too large to pick up.
When we got back to the campsite the sun had come out. After a fab meal of chorizo and bean stew and locally baked bread I cycled to the Norman Lockyer Observatory which is about a mile away.
The observatory has 5 fixed large telescopes including an 11 inch reflector (opened this year by Queen guitarist and astronomer Brian May) and a 150 year old 6 inch refractor. The observatory also has a planetarium which was amazing to see.
Many people had brought their own kit, most of it very expensive. They'd setup their telescopes with cameras and laptops connected and then sat in the auditorium and controlled the telescopes from there using WiFi and a big screen. I'd like to be able to do that from inside Herman when we're out camping, in the warm with a mug of tea. Having said that sitting inside, in the warm, staring at a large screen with 4 different telescope views didn't beat being outside, in the cold, viewing Saturn, or Hercules Globular Cluster, or the Ring Nebula with your own eye aided by mirrors and lenses. You would see more detail and colour with the cameras and computers but the sense of magic and wonder had gone. For example, the other day when we were in Looe I spent an evening taking photos of Saturn. It was only when I shut the telescope and laptop down that I got the wow factor having looked up at sky and seeing the amazing stars of the summer months with the Milky Way stretching to the horizon.
It was a great place to meet people and talk about astronomy and telescopes.
