April 27th - Mystery London Astro Tour Print E-mail

Image On Sunday 27th April the long awaited Magical London Astro Tour got under way. At about 10am, about thirty members of Society gathered at Hayes Station to embark it. First stop was the Library at Hayes. It was once the Rectory, and home to T. J. Hussey who built an observatory and made part of a star map published by the Berlin Academy in 1832.

ImageThe route to our next stop took us through Bromley, and past the site of the Wray Optics factory. Along the way we heard about John Lubbock, William Steavenson and William and Margaret Huggins. We took a short detour past the one time home of William Steavenson. The concrete base (for his fine Wray refractor) is still in the garden there. At Wandsworth Common we visited the place where John Craig's 85 foot long 24 inch refractor once stood. It was for a time after it was erected in 1852 the largest refractor in the world, though it was not as successful as John Craig had hoped it would be.

ImageAs the coach took us north of the Thames we heard about King George's observatory at Kew and Ainslie Common's at Ealing; about the Crystal Palace and the Great Exhibition, James South, and John Russell Hind. We passed the London Planetarium, and stopped next at The Monument, Wren's memorial to the Great Fire, and of astronomical interest because it once housed a zenith telescope. From there we headed south past the South Bank Complex on the site previously occupied by the Festival of Britain towards Blackheath, hearing, on the way, about James Buckingham, George Biddell Airy and John Harrison.

ImageAt Blackheath we passed the homes of Stephen Groombridge and John Wrottesley before visiting Edmund Halley's tomb. Our final stop was to see the meridian mark in the pedestrian tunnel under Hither Green Station. It was a fascinating day's exploring that revealed much about the astronomical observation, discovery and engineering that has taken place over several hundred years in and around London.

Many thanks to Greg, Gilbert, Anton, Lyulph and Paul for all the research that went into finding the locations, preparing the excellent hand-outs, guiding the coach, and telling us all about the various people and events along the way, and to the coach driver for putting up with our strange route.

 
 
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Future Events

Society Dinner - 10th February

A Society Dinner is being arranged for Friday 10th February at the Blacksmith's Arms at Cudham, meeting at 7:30pm for an 8:00pm meal. If you have booked a place, please see the menu below, and then contact Ian to inform him of your choice.

Here's the menu:

 

STARTERS

  • Tian of Avocado & Prawns topped with Smoked Salmon served with Salad Leaves & Marie Rose Sauce
  • Wild Boar Pate en Croute, served with Caramelised Onions & Toasted Granary Bread
  • Baked Goats Cheese with Salad Leaves & Sweet Tomato & Chilli Chutney
  • Mushroom Soup finished with Tarragon & Cream

MAIN

  • Chicken Supreme with Mushroom & White Wine Sauce served with Seasonal Vegetables & New Potatoes
  • Roast of Finest Scottish Beef served with Fresh Vegetables, Roast Potatoes & Yorkshire Pudding, finished with Wild Mushroom, Port & Red Wine Gravy
  • Slow Roast Belly of Pork stuffed with Sage, Onion & Sausagemeat, served with Vegetables & Mashed Potatoes
  • PPan Fried Fillet of Salmon with Dauphinois Potatoes, Leeks, Wilted Spinach & Hollandaise Sauce
  • Linguine with Wild Mushrooms & Roast Vegetables served in a Cream & Cheese Sauce

DESSERT

Wide choice of desserts available from our Blackboard

Address:

The Blacksmith's Arms

Cudham Lane South
Cudham

Kent TN14 7QB (click for a map)
Tel: 01959 572678
 
Special Events
From time to time we arrange outings and other special events like these:

Deep Sky Camps

These are held at various locations. Usually we use commercial camp sites, and each visitor will be expected to pay the camp site operator for their own pitch. We'll usually try to arrange for our pitches to be in a group, so you'll need to mention you're one of the astronomers when you book.

Occasionally the Society books a site for its exclusive use, and on these occasions we'll expect all attendees (anyone visiting the site) to contribute to the cost, even if they're not actually camping on site.

Outings

In recent years we have visited places like the Greenwich Observatory, The radio telescopes and historic instruments at Cambridge, and the Herschel museum in Bath.

Open Days

These have usually co-incided with relatively predictable astronomical phenomena like meteor showers, and have included observing, short lectures and demonstrations. The most recent one was in August 2003 for the National Astronomy Week.

Public Lectures & Exhibitions

A recent one of our our exhibitions was our 21st Anniversary Celebration entitled Universe Day, held at St Olave's School in Orpington in 2001 - more than 300 people turned up to see all the latest in local astronomy.

Every two or three years we hold in memory of one of our founder members and chairmen, the Kenneth Budd Memorial Lecture. So far we have held three well attended meetings. The first Kenneth Budd Memorial Lecture, in November 1998 was given by Prof. Sir Antony Hewish, who was awarded a Nobel Prize for his work on pulsars. His lecture was titled "Thirty Years of Pulsar Astronomy", and the second, in October 2000, when Ewen A. Whitaker FRAS gave a lecture titled "Fifty Years with Lunar Maps".

Please always try check the forum for details of the arrangements before the event.