June 15th - The Herschel Museum in Bath, and Stonehenge Print E-mail

Delphine writes: The bus picked us up at the Orpington War Memorial early [I mean really early] on a beautiful Sunday morning. First we visited the Herschel museum where due to its small size we were split into 2 groups. The museum is unusual in that it is the actual Georgian town-house where William Herschel lived and worked. His workshop is as he left it complete with the cracked and shattered flagstones due to a spillage from a mirror making mould.

ImageWe learned that as well as discovering Uranus, William Herschel was also responsible for discovering the satellites of Saturn and other planets, the rotation of Saturn's rings as well as the motion of binary stars.

In the afternoon we visited Stonehenge where we could amble around or relax on the grass and ponder on how the stones got there. All in all a very pleasant day.

Joe adds: Our scheduled outing to Bath and Stonehenge brought out the Sun when we all assembled in the vicinity of the war memorial at Orpington awaiting our coach which soon arrived and whisked ius on our way. After a pleasant journey during which we were given a very interesting talk by Gilbert on the salient points of the life of the man who was the cause of our outing, William Herschel, we arrived at our destination. Leaving the coach we proceeded on foot to the William Herschel Museum, his home, workshop, and observatory during his time in Bath. An ordinary town house, kept in the same manner as it was when he resided there. A conducted tour would have been appreciated but shortage of staff precluded this. However, we were provided with tape recorders which gave the story of all the rooms in the building where we could wander freely.

Having done so, it was time for lunch and a wander around the town, then meeting up for the return journey and a stop off at that awesome structure of Stonehenge. A truly memorable sight, where again we were provided with audio assistance which gave excellent information. We then boarded the coach for the remainder of our journey having has a thoroughly enjoyable and informative day. A special word of thanks to all involved in the organising of this worthwhile trip. Hurry on with the next one.

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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.