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On Saturday June the sixth a coach-load of members, led by Rosa Adams, went to Bletchly Park near Milton Keynes to find out about Britain’s code-breaking efforts in the Second World War. It’s reckoned that code breaking shortened that war by two years, saving uncountable millions of lives. Several professional astronomers, including C.H. O’D Alexander and G.C. McVittie played prominent roles in that work. We weren’t sure whether there would be enough to entertain us for most of a day, but in the event we were very reluctant to leave at 5 having had to make difficult choices as to what to miss. The volunteer guides were superbly informative, an entertainment in themselves. Modern wars are so complex that they necessitate endless communication, much of it by radio, so the opportunities for eavesdropping and code breaking are obvious. The Battle of the Atlantic for instance was largely won and lost in the cipher rooms of Bletchly Park and Berlin. Germany’s B-Dienst broke Admiralty codes allowing Doenitz to home his U-Boat wolf packs on British convoys – with tragic results. Rommel was no ‘Desert Fox’ he was being supplied with day to day information on British dispositions in North Africa via a break in the American diplomatic code in Rome. Again with tragic results. Bit by bit though we fought back and the allies took the upper hand until they could re-route convoys, find U-boat supply vessels, even find out when Germany had broken our codes! At BP, which apparently hasn’t changed much since its heyday, we saw the infamous ‘Enigma’ machines, the famous huts such as ‘Hut 8’ devoted to U-Boat ciphers, the electro-mechanical ‘Bombes’ which vitally sped cipher-breaking up, many anecdotes of coups and failures, and biographies of some of the code-breakers such as Dillie Knox, Alan Turing and Mavis Lever – who were often highly eccentric – the scientific phrase for ‘mad’. Knox for instance, most brilliant of all, always speeded up at road intersections, claiming there would be less chance of a crash (Don’t try it!) But it wasn’t all brilliance; by no means so. Brave men gave their lives rescuing vital cipher material inside sinking U-boats. Indeed it was such a posthumous deed in the hull of U-507, as she was sinking in the Med one night, which allowed ABP into the vital 4-rotor U-boat cipher in late ’42, sealing their fate and the Battle of the Atlantic in April 1943. Enciphered meteorological forecasts too were important because they were easily guessed. How all these breaks were made, exploiting weaknesses in the Enigma machine, are all clearly illustrated at BP. I was particularly fascinated by the working replica of Colossus, with its 2000 blinking valves and whirling paper-tape, arguably the words first electronic computer – built by Tommy Flowers of the GPO. It was fast enough to break even the 12-rotor codes used by Hitler to command his armies everywhere. Breaking this code led to The Battle of Kursk where previously informed Russian armies surrounded and destroyed his irreplaceable Panzer forces. So precious was Colossus to Britain that it was destroyed after the war, and all, or nearly all, its drawing burned, "lest the foreigners found out". Alas, because it might have formed the basis for a British computer industry, years ahead of the Americans’. On the way back we stopped for a real blow-out at the "Sally-Pussy" (I was wondering if that was code) pub in Wiltshire, and congratulated ourselves that we’d been smart enough to go to BP. [If you haven’t been go! After thinking about our outing I’d like to go back. Try Simon Singh’s book "The Codebreakers" to wet your appetite.]. Great day! Both Nino and I, and everybody else, enjoyed it a lot. |
Nick Hart is in charge of ticking names, security and final safety checks. Rosa has managed to sneak away to check on the peregrine falcons that are nesting on the roof of City Hall. The museum has installed telescopes to observe the feathered family which has set up home right under the City Hall clock - possibly the biggest egg-timer ever !
Back on the coach it is good to see that both Norman and Ann are with us. The last of the CAStronauts are on board and, after a count-down of heads and fastening of seat belts we go for launch, bound for the Spaceguard Centre in Knighton. We are on a mission!
By the time we have reached the M4 tunnels at Newport there have only been a few enquiries of “ are we nearly there yet ?” from the less seasoned travellers. Pretty soon we are flying up the A449, past Monmouth and on to Ross. Here the coach takes advantage of the gravitational slingshot effect at the roundabout with the M50 (motorway, not Messier object) to be deflected in the direction of Hereford. The fields flash by, filled with burgeoning crops, fattening lambs and pheasants. Anticipation increases in our intrepid crew as we near the pressing appointment at the cider museum.
Once inside, some repair to the coffee shop to consider the progress of the mission thus far. Others are tempted by the City of Hereford and the remainder undertake to learn more of the longstanding cider-making rituals of the locals. The museum is very impressive, with ample displays of the technology of yesteryear, plenty of hands-on equipment and only one video presentation - so not too overtly educational. The film contrasts the age-old single-horse-power system with modern day production. Much hilarity was caused by the machine specifically designed to shed all the apples from a tree. Having grasped the trunk this machine shakes the whole tree with such vigour, for just a couple of seconds, that every single apple falls to the ground.
Joan and Rosa seem to find this particularly amusing but I was unable to see why. I was left wondering what impact this would have had if an unsuspecting Isaac Newton been taking an afternoon nap under the tree. He would probably have not bothered about gravity at all but have spread widespread alarm and begun conducting investigations concerning NEO’s falling out of the sky.
A quick visit to the shop found Norman in serious contemplation and, indeed, informed tasting, of the apple liqueurs and apple brandy on offer, only to settle for a bottle of Katie apple cider - a very wise choice.
Onward to Knighton; winding roads alongside verdant countryside. Each passing hostelry increases the anticipation of the delights of refueling. But we have to wait until touchdown in Knighton itself before we can disembark.
Inside the imaginatively-named Knighton Hotel, we are amply rewarded for our patience. After lining-up in school-dinner fashion, we settle down to eat a sumptuous carvery in the refined splendour of the hotel dining room. A hush descends as the CAStronauts slowly shape-shift into Gastronauts.
There is time to explore the town and the Offa’s Dyke Tourist Centre - it does not take long! I return to the coach, with seemingly plenty of time to spare. But then fate plays its hand. A big bang ! And a young cyclist lies unconscious at my feet, in the middle of the road, his bike on top of him. He has collided with the side of a stationary car and the deep impact crater in the bodywork indicates the considerable force involved. His friend has a mobile phone on which we call an ambulance and we try to comfort the lad as he begins to come round. Thankfully in only a few minutes the ambulance screams into sight and the paramedics take over. I eventually proceed to the awaiting coach - my turn apologise for being late!
Then out of town we speed, onward and upwards, on a winding road as the fields drop away at the side. Amanda grabs onto the safety handle in front. We have all seen her Klingon impression before. It gets worse - the road becomes a track and eventually we have to abandon our trusty coach and proceed on foot to the Spaceguard Centre, perched on the top of the hill. And what a view ! Naked-eye objects include Cader Idris, the Wrekin, the Malverns, Brecon Beacons, and Black Mountains. Shorter focal lengths reveal sheep - lots of them. Most ewes seem to have twin lambs - often called Rogan and Josh.
Having paid our dues, we stand in the lobby awaiting the dramatic entry of Jay Tate, our guard and guide for the afternoon. Forcefully and directly he unfolds his tale of impending doom - serious stuff but tinged with humour. Plenty of things to take in - the planetarium, computer workstations, samples of meteorites and models. And finally, the very impressive observatory with a large telescope. Everything is motorized and remote control - even the floor ! Neat idea of raising the platform to reach the eyepiece. Just like Galileo, we all felt the Earth move !
All the time Jay is keeping us gripped by his story of the very important work of the Spaceguard Centre. With the ever present threat to the planet and everything on it, there is great irony in the fact that the centre is self-funded and politicians are not interested in supporting this enterprise. That is with the exception of Lembit Opik. His two names even sound as if they could well have been given to a pair of rogue asteroids. But we all know that a lembit is to be found in a gin and tonic and an opik is the small device used for making the holes on polo mints!
A final visit to the gift shop, which sells space DVD’s. posters and Spaceguard caps (but strangely no books about Chicken Licken) before it is time to line up outside for the official CAS ‘wewoz’ere’ photograph. But not before Nick has been evicted from the small observatory dome and Rosa has communed with a stone circle.
Ian prepares his camera. After a quick calculation, he has realized that since neither he nor anything else in the universe can exceed the speed of light, (in Ian’s case a top speed of 6mph is closer) he will have to use the delay feature on his camera if he is to appear in the shot himself. A short sprint to join his comrades has him safely in the frame. But with everyone looking at the camera, who is checking for falling objects from above ? And apparently someone at the back has spotted something!!
Then its thanks and farewell to Jay from all as we speed off down the hill towards Knighton again, and retrace our route to Hereford. There is the cider museum again. “Bye, Katie” murmurs Norman, with a little wave.
Speculation rises. Will the driver be able to effect that slingshot trick at the roundabout again, but this time a full 270 degrees ? No problem, and minutes later we are pulling up at the pub by the river at Ross. This is our picnic spot and, being a warm and summery night, it is popular with very many others also. But we find space to eat our humble fare and sample the local waters. The one-way streets of Ross are so narrow that our coach is blocking the traffic and has to go into orbit around the town before we are all safely on board. The patrons of the next hostelry cheer as we go round and round yet again.
Time to head for home - first to drop off some NEOphobes at the station, then others at the museum. I finally bail out at Ynys Bridge and walk up the hill towards Castell Coch. Looking upward, I ponder the events of the day. What does it all mean ? The falling apples, the falling cyclist, the falling space debris. Perhaps Chicken Licken was right and I will wear my helmet at all times in future. As I cross the road, I instinctively ‘look right, look left, look up !’
Many thanks from all to Rosa for organising such an enjoyable and memorable day.
The big day arrived after 6 long years of planning and preparation. This trip had been arranged when we arrived home from Austria after the 1999 eclipse trip. Very special thanks must go to Bob and Elaine Pulverness for all their years of hard work in the organisation of this holiday even to the extent of spending one whole Saturday writing up over 100 labels for our suitcases. Also Bob was available throughout the holiday to help and advise anyone who needed assistance.
At 5 a.m. on 27th March, our coach left from outside Cardiff Museum bound for London Heathrow. A few hiccups occurred on route picking up people from lay bys. One was on time and there on schedule but one couple were never found and after a few phone calls were eventually traced and joined us further up the road, and we at last arrived at Heathrow to catch our first flight of the day to Istanbul at 12.30. Security at all the airports on route was very strict, and many people found themselves searched and prodded and even had their bags searched.
The flight to Istanbul was very exhilarating for some, others were not so keen, but we had the added addition of your very own movie system facing you on the back of the seat in front so a few of us caught up with films we had missed, and by the time food had been served and endless drinks, we were touching down at 4.45 p.m. which turned out to be 6.45 local time. After endless checks and body searches we were allowed onto our next flight bound for Antalya. We took off at 7.30 and arrived 8.45 p.m.. We then had a very short coach trip to our first hotel the “Sea Life” which proved to be a very posh hotel with sauna, Turkish baths, swimming pools, massage parlour, and shop facilities. We were taken straight to a splendid meal with platters of all sorts of goodies laid out to help yourself from. Eventually we all checked in and found our room and went to bed pretty exhausted. Indeed this had been a long haul but nobody was lost in the end and everybody arrived with their luggage in one piece if a little tired.
After breakfast we met our Guide, Engin and the drivers, Osman and Dennis, also one of our party, Ken
Beecher was acting as a liaison between the guide and drivers, and was able to give us any information we needed
along with Bob of course. They were all very helpful throughout the trip and made it a very pleasant holiday.
We duly set out for a full day’s tour beginning with a visit to Perge where the ruins
include a stadium that once echoed to the roar of 15,000 spectators. When we wanted
to leave the bus was nowhere to be seen as it had been
relocated into a bus park. We were amazed at how it was extracted from all the
other coaches. Then after a three course lunch we set off for another wonderful
site.
The theatre of Aspendos which is one of the best preserved theatres in
the world. The acoustics are so well tuned that a coin dropped on stage can be
heard in the last top row. There was an unfortunate incident when an elderly
gent at the top of the theatre lost his footing and rolled down 3 steps. He
stopped for a second or two and then carried on rolling another 3 steps.
Fortunately a lady bravely grabbed him before he gathered momentum and
hurtled down the rest of the stone steps. We were very lucky on this trip to
have our very own resident Doctor, namely Patrick
Harney or PJ as he is known for short, who very
kindly examined the poor gentleman and found
nothing broken, just minor cuts and bruises. A
broken nose had been suspected at first but
nevertheless it must have been a very frightening
experience, all in all he was very lucky.
We went into the shop at the theatre, partly to see their wares because they had what looked like a lute for sale (it was an Oud) but partly to get out of the blazing sun for a few minutes. In the shop an amazing sight met out eyes. A two bar electric fire on and glowing. The shop assistant was sitting almost on top of it. “You’re cold?” I said “Yes.” she replied shivering. It all goes to show everything is relative This season is their spring in Turkey. To Us its our high summer.
I awoke remembering my nightmare. The sky was cloudy and dark, and it was raining, I had been
watching the rain rolling down the window.. I yanked the curtain back again, and the sky was
beautiful, brilliant blue and not a cloud in sight. There had
been various forecasts of the weather today and one of
course we had all listened to was the good old BBC. As
usual their forecast was totally naff thank goodness, the
weather stations of other countries had got it right , what a
surprise!The majority of our party set out by coach for the hour trip to Manavget as the original plan, and indeed we arrived in plenty of time and the roads were not busy, as they undoubtedly would have been in this country. Cameras and tripods were set up and refreshments were taken from the various waterside cafes. It was a totally delightful sight with river boats going up and down. Several of our party had stayed back by the hotel, and actually saw the eclipse from the beach or from the various balconies on the hotel. One of our party on the river bank, a gentleman from Surrey by the name of Wynne nearly got left behind in case he proved to be an unlucky being to be with for eclipse siting. This was his third attempt, the first one was clouded out in Cornwall; the second took place in Africa where Wynne was bitten by a local spider a day before “E” day and instead of viewing the spectacular sight in the heavens spent the day in hospital with a very swollen leg and a great deal of pain and suffering. So hopefully and indeed as came to pass 3rd Time Lucky!!!
We attracted quite a number of local people at our site, everyone was friendly, and they were very interested in our equipment and the eclipse glasses and joined us to wait and watch. Gradually the sun’s disc was swallowed up and it got darker and darker and colder and colder. The light was quite eerie and everyone went quiet. Then at approx. 11.39 am the eclipse reached totality and a spectacular sight appeared. The Corona stretched in great white streamers more at the top and bottom than the sides around the disk. There was no evidence of colour as had been seen in Austria, when the corona appeared to be moving and flashing in blues and yellow. Nevertheless it was a very awesome sight. The eclipse started at l0.53 and took approx. 46 mins. to reach totality. At this point fireworks were setoff by the local people and there was much cheering and excitement. The atmosphere was quite electric.
After 3.46 secs. approx. the diamond ring appeared, and this was even more spectacular than I had seen in Austria. The crowds applauded enthusiastically. Rays of sunlight stretched out everywhere and gradually more and more of the Sun.'s disk appeared. They say that every eclipse is different. Well this one was certainly different from the one I had seen before, but nevertheless totally beautiful and well worth all the travelling to witness. Roll on China in 4 years time!!!!
We gradually packed up our equipment and found our way to the restaurant by the waterfront to partake of a very excellent lunch. What a very wonderful way to spend a day.
We eventually set off in the afternoon for the waterfalls a Manavget, where the melted snows rush down from the mountains and meet in a boiling frenzy and join other tributaries in a fierce battle to get going on their journey downhill. A very impressive site but not a spot you would want to fall into. You certainly would take after “Clementine” if you lost your footing here. We passed a very pleasant afternoon here gazing into the waters and seeing the local people cooking their pancakes on their outdoor hot plates and then filling them with various sweet concoctions, they all looked very delicious, but most of us were still too full of lunch to indulge.
We eventually got back on the coach and set
off again. Our guide Engin did actually admit to us that he had mistaken the name of our tour and what
turned out to be an “Astronomical “ trip should have been a “Gastronomical” trip instead. Still with all the
delicacies and 3 meals a day it seems to encompass both words to me.
On the way back to our hotel we stopped to visit a jewellery factory and showrooms, and we had our first serious experience of the Turkish hard sell approach, as all Turkish salespeople we later learnt, adopt. We had been pestered up till now unrelentingly by people selling fancy goods in the name of hand made jewellery, ornaments, scarves, guide books by the ton, endless postcards, book marks, lucky blue eyes, you name it they had made it, everywhere the coach happened to stop on our journey up till now. But nothing had prepared us for the jewellery episode. After showing us around the workrooms and wonderful displays of exquisite and mind blowingly expensive gear they seemed to separate as many couples as they could into separate rooms with one or two sales persons. Del Boy or should I say Sir Del Boy now, had nothing on this mob. They used every trick in the book to convince you that life would not be worth living without a £3,000 necklace strung round you scrawny neck. I looked ridiculous in this beautiful many jewelled appendage. I had already coughed up for some earrings and a watch for Richard so this extra expense would have been bad. So in order for them to remove the necklace and convince them I was not interested I began to bargain. The cost of the said necklace came down remarkably after several ofers to £800. I said no again at which point they said what would be the sum I might consider. I said £100 at which point they lost interest and admitted defeat. Engin came and fished us out at this point and outside Bob and Elaine had just escaped having had a similar experience.
blossom and one tree echoed to the sound of hundreds of
working bees collecting their harvest from the flowers.
Wonderful, everywhere in Turkey smells of this orange
blossom, we have certainly hit the right season, and what is
more pressed orange juice is available everywhere, very
sweet and much less acid that the orange juice out of a carton
from some super market at home. Indeed, I shall have
Vitamin C poisoning by the time I go home. What a way to
go!The rock caves are very interesting and there are also goats everywhere. All the goats seem to have long black silky hair in Turkey, very gentle creatures. The theatre is impressive but the place is crawling with enterprising school children who have bunches of what look like herbs in their hands. They approach and give you a stem or two. Then you realise that they require payment. At this point empty pockets are pulled out and they take back their wares. One youngster did in the end give one lady a sprig for free because he liked her. A goat thought our sprig was delicious!
After our visit to the rock caves we went the Church of St Nicholas at Myra and then had a splendid lunch in a nearby restaurant. They certainly put on a fabulous spread in a short time for so many people, well in our case we were nearly 50.
Now it has become a tradition in the CAS to follow an eclipse with a boat trip. Well this time 24 hours later we made our way by coach to Kekova. Our driver, Osman, had to turn the coach in a very short space and avoided driving an end of the coach over the harbour wharf. The ‘Italian Job’ drivers had better look out!
There we boarded a boat in the harbour to see
the sunken city and the caves. As we sailed along Engin
clued us up with the history. The sea in this part of the
world is a wonderful rich blue and is so clear you can
see everything on the bottom. The scenery was
glorious. We slowly sailed by the coastline picking out
sunken jetties and buildings and the outline of many
houses, even wells could be seen. Apparently an
earthquake caused the upheaval and the sea claimed the
city some 2000 years ago.
The boat trip was very smooth and took approx.
one hour and we eventually landed on the island of
Kekova. On top of the rocky island there was a castle
and some rock tombs. The path up to these was very steep and a few of the more sensible ladies “what tea”
decided that rock climbing on a boiling hot
afternoon was not for them, when in the harbour
there was a perfectly wonderful cafe set out with
umbrellas to frequent. So they immediately made
their way to the waterfront and there partook of
several delicious cups of cappuccino coffee in the
course of the next two hours of so, and watched
the snorkelers in the harbour and the many
sponges wafting backwards and forwards in the
clear blue water. Absolutely delightful. Eventually
the more adventurous came back down the hill and
joined us so the cafe did a roaring trade all
afternoon. There was one tomb actually in the
harbour so we could look at that and not miss too
much.
We then once more returned to the coach by way of the boat and that journey was just as smooth and interesting. Altogether a very pleasant day and well worth making a very early start for. No pain no gain as they say.
The waterfalls at Salalesi were very impressive and apart from a very long drop the water formed a huge curtain which you could go behind for a quick refreshing shower. There were many frogs and fish to see in the surrounding waters. After a very delightful hour or so we returned to Antalya for a free afternoon, that is about 3 hours, after which time the coach arranged to pick us up.
We had lunch in one of the many pavement restaurants with huge umbrella coverings. This proved to
very entertaining watching the world go by. We watched a shoe shine man watching one of his customers
polishing his shoes with his equipment. Afterwards we wandered into the nearby shopping arcade and
upstairs found heaven. There was one floor with
ALL the shops devoted to musical instruments etc.
About 20 music shops, selling every guitar you
could think of, keyboards, drums, amplifiers, you
name it they had it. This place makes Cardiff look
like a real backwater. Anyway, we eventually tore
ourselves away and wandered down the back
streets, and found the market. What a market,
there was about 5 whole long streets with stalls
spread out with every vegetable and fruit you can
name, and bag upon bag of spices, cheeses, dried
fruit, nuts and more fruit. What a wonderful sight.
We purchased what we could carry home but
wished we had our own jumbo jet.
It all too soon was time to get back on the coach and return to the hotel to pack up our stuff for the move to our new hotel tomorrow.
We carried on along the
mountain road until we came to
Solda lake where we stopped for
a break. The water was crystal
clear and perfectly still as there
was no wind. The mountain
scenery was reflected in the clear
water, and everyone took photos
it was so beautiful. As well as the
mountains the fleecy clouds were
reflected in the water making it
that much more interesting. We
took the opportunity before
leaving to take the group CAS
photo. But where’s Wynne? He
was found paddling in the lake! A
few hundred feet below.
Nearing midday we
arrived at a carpet factory and showrooms. We sat down to a magnificent 3 course meal provided freely by
the carpet manufacturers, all very nice. Then we were shown into the carpet workrooms. It was very
interesting as we were given the complete story of the silk worms that go to make some of the fabulous
carpets we were later to see. We were shown the various processes and preparation in the making of the
wools used in the carpet making, and clutching our silk worm cocoons we made our way into the carpet
weaving area, where perhaps 3 young girls sit for 6 days a week, 8 hours a day weaving by hand these
carpets and rugs. They apparently are allowed to have 10 minutes an hour break to uncross their eyes and
backs I should think. The average carpet takes between one and a half to 2 years to make, so you would
have to like your work mates. Talk about slave labour. By the time these girls are about 20 their eyesight is
ruined so they are no use.
What a life.
Then came the hands on for the salesmen. We were all taken into a massive room lined with beautiful carpets and rugs of all shapes and colours, and seated on the benches edging the room. Next we were give tea and juice to drink. Very pleasant. Then they started on the showing of the carpets, throwing them up and letting them fall, very impressive. In the end there must have been 200 carpets and rugs scattered in front of us. Next we were approached by the salesmen who seemed to swarm through the doors, and gradually they herded us off into separate rooms to show us exactly what we would like. This process went on for so long and the word No does not figure in the average Turkish persons head. On and on they tried until in the end I felt quite giddy and indeed a little desperate. I crashed out of the room and tried to find the entrance, but it was not easy it was like a maze of rooms. After a while I found the stairs and ran down them to the safety of the great outdoors and the warm spring sunshine. What a relief, never mind what had happened to Richard, but I knew he is more logical than me and would just say No in his own way.
With feelings of great relief we set out once more on our journey to the next hotel “Derici” at Kusadasi. We were lucky in that we had a room overlooking the sea and the harbour where the cruise liners come and go. In fact when we awoke the next morning a liner had moored overnight. There was also a castle set on a rocky outcrop overlooking the sea that we could observe through binoculars from the bedroom window. We also had a very nice balcony to rest our weary bones. Also this hotel had a superior facility in the shape of a plug for the bath, at least I could have a proper soak.
There were a couple of drawbacks to this hotel, the water did not appear at first to be too hot and there were several leaks from bathroom taps and the like. Also one very bad drawback occurred in the form of the volume of the suction on the toilet bowl when the plug was pulled. It quite took your breath away and caused more than a little panic among some. Indeed one poor unfortunate to give him a name , Bob Biss, actually leant over the bowl with his glasses poised on his nose and proceeded to pull the flush. At the precise second the suction occurred Bobs glasses fell off his nose and entered the bowl. Unfortunately gravity took over with a rush and all was lost. He had to walk around in a complete fog for the rest of the holiday. I offered him one of my contact lenses but he said he would manage.
Set out for Ephesus the roman ruins that are the
largest ruins in the country. In fact it is so big that the guide
took us on a tour from one end to the next for one and a half
hours. It was very hot but well worth seeing and Engin
explained it very well. Unfortunately, by this time I had seen
so many ruins I felt that I was in ruins as well so I was more
interested in the livestock which became apparent if you
stayed still and in one place long enough. Namely lizards and
tortoises. And believe me this particular tortoise seemed to
have wheels attached to his legs he was moving so fast.Anyway for the more intellectual of our party this was well worth seeing and eventually we set off again and were taken to the House of the Virgin Mary. A beautiful little church where she spent her last days. Very moving and we were able to partake of the holy spring water flowing from a fountain just below the church.
We had lunch in yet another of Engin’s store of wonderful restaurants and were then take to a leather factory and showroom. This time I was ready for them, I was not going to be browbeaten by anyone. No Sir. Anyway some chickened out altogether and stayed outside in the beautiful sunshine, but most gathered around in the seating around a catwalk and were once again served tea and juice.
After a while the lights came on and a model in a beautiful leather jacket stepped into view and walked the catwalk looking the part. Then another and the coats and jackets were just wonderful. A young handsome man also joined them and showed off his goods. Very impressive to the sound of loud and cheery music.
Suddenly one of the girls grabbed the hand of a man from the audience, Michael Dowden, and swept him up on to the cat walk and marched him behind where they were changing, I thought they were going to usher him into a room to sell, but was not to be. They dressed him up in a red coat and a hat that would have done the Mad Hatter proud and paraded him onto the catwalk where he gave a very passable performance of a male model. Suddenly the male model grabbed my hand and swept me along to the changing room behind the scenes. I was dressed in a beautifully soft black leather full length coat and paraded out onto the cat walk. I was so shocked I laughed my head off and set out to enjoy my one and only introduction to modelling and catwalks, thus proving its never too late to walk the boards.
After all the fun and needless to say raucous laughter, we were taken into the showrooms amidst hundreds of beautiful leather coats and jacket of all colours and shapes and sizes for men and woman. Wow, we were told that it would not be a had sell line, and indeed they didn’t overdo it. But I came away with a lovely leather coat I had only ever dreamt of, as Richard kindly offered to buy. I shall wear it and think of Turkey and our very lovely holiday.
Went early by coach to visit the ancient
city of Didyma with its theatre. Engin took his
musical instrument a SAZ and played in the
theatre for us, he is very gifted and played some
very pretty tunes. Unfortunately, before going
into the theatre I had slid off a rock when
negotiating some steps and dug a hole in my leg.
Of course the blood somewhat spurted
everywhere. I was a little shaken and tried to stem
the flow as best I could. Everyone had
disappeared in the directions of the theatre so I
looked around for help. Fortunately Richard
appeared then and helped me back to the coach
where fortunately the driver Osman was still there
and he helped clean up with some of the lemon astringent used for our hands on the coach each day. That
seemed to do the trick and wearing an enormous plaster we sealed off the wound. I then hobbled over to the
rest of the party. I had taken my travel guitar with me on the holiday to keep practising, and indeed I had
managed about half an hour each day, so I was quite pleased. I tried to play a couple of tunes but the actual
guitar is not full size so the sound from it is very subdued, but it was fun.To add to my further troubles that day I managed to attract a large horse fly to eat half my other leg so I looked an absolute mess by the time the bites had swollen up and the bruise had come out on the wounded leg. The joys of the summer time wherever you go.
After lunch we went to look at the shops and bargain for a couple of items. Which was very enjoyable, and at last we found some Turkish delight. It wasn’t on display that many times in the places we had been. But we managed to buy quite a considerable amount for all our friends. By now it was raining and this was the only rain we had actually seen since the first day we got here. We returned to our hotel and packed up all our stuff ready for a very early start the next morning. In the evening we sat around talking to all our friends and the friends we had made on this wonderful holiday, as a said before, roll on the next eclipse!
After obtaining our tickets for entry, which were free of charge, we proceeded into the Observatory courtyard and received a very entertaining presentation and tour. This presentation was given by a multi- personalitied gentleman named Steve, who throughout the entertainment played various characters from history.
Steve explained how the Observatory was founded by King Charles II in 1675 and that John Flamsteed was appointed the first Astronomer Royal. Next, with a change of personality and the use of helpers, Steve explained the longitude problem and the proposed solution, using stellar positions.
The Royal Observatory Greenwich is also the source of the Prime Meridian longitude, as agreed in Washington DC in 1884.
There was also time in the afternoon to visit other local sites The National Maritime Museum and the Cutty Sark.
In conclusion, a great day was had by all.
Sunday
On Sunday 8th August we gathered at Wood Street to wait for the
coach, unfortunately the heavens opened on us and our vast
quantities of luggage, clothes being a secondary item with
regards to priority in most gentleman's cases, shirts crammed
into the spaces between tripods (note 2 were originally packed in
Richard Rudd's suitcase until his wife pointed out that a broken
arm does not need heavy weights to mend), cameras, filters and
every kind of lens you could possibly imagine that might be
needed. Joan was seen to arrive in a very magnificent chariot,
namely her husband's vintage Mercedes, which was the envy of most
wives, only as she delicately extended her leg out she
unfortunately put her foot straight into a massive puddle of
water and spent the next l0 minutes of so drying out. Anyway,
enough of this, our Coach duly arrived and the driver and our
Master of Ceremonies, namely Bob bestowed the huge suitcases and
rubbish into the bowels of the coach. We boarded in very good
spirits in spite of the damp start and were greeted by the
Swansea contingent who had boarded the Coach an hour earlier. We
set off amidst much laughter and fun. (There was a minor upset as
the driver had just started the engine, because one Gentleman had
stuffed his jam butties and drink in with his underwear in the
case which had been placed amongst 47 odd suitcases etc. in the
depth of the undercarriage of the Coach. He asked the driver
could he please get these articles now but the coach was moving
and not being a good time was told politely "no". He
then said that a drink would do so could he please get off the
coach for a wee second or two and visit the kiosk in the station.
A few people nearby witnessing these events sat with their mouths
wide open but all was not lost as Bob came up with a bottle of
pop and solved the gentleman's thirst problems, and so the day
was saved again.
We actually left Cardiff at 11.50 am. and after a stop or two on the way for refreshments and comfort visits, arrived at the Channel Tunnel at 5.25 pm The weather had cleared up by this time so we were able to view with countryside with pleasure. We went onto the Shuttle at 5.50 pm The coach had one compartment to itself so there was space at the front of the coach to get off during the journey. There is not a great sensation of the speed you are travelling only a gentle rocking motion. We arrived at the other end at 6.25 pm approx., and started on our journey through France, Belgium, Germany and into Austria. It was dark for most of the journey so we saw little of the scenery and tried to sleep as best we could. Unfortunately, the driver had a very bad habit. He was very partial to boiled sweets, these being wrapped in galvanised crinkly material which took all of 30 seconds to unwrap and sounded just like crisps packets being undone and the such like years ago when I visited the cinema. The gentleman in question consumed at lease 2000 of these sweetmeats in the space of 5 hours or so. Trying hard to catch a wink of sleep with all this racket going on amidst the soft whispers of 45 or so other souls was not much fun, murder was looming for all concerned, growing ever more probable as the night went on. At 3 am. we stopped for a comfort break at a Service Station and as I was coming out ready to board the coach I espied a handsome young gentleman with his leg raised at an angle of 45 degrees, his foot being pinioned on a wheely bin. Being nosy I asked him was he in pain and was it normal for him to take early morning exercise in such a way. He laughed and said he was a Tight Rope walker and if he didn't get regular exercise he would lose the suppleness of his leg muscles. Anyway his wife shortly joined him and raised her leg in sympathy with his on the wheely bin. I did wonder if anyone could join in but since doing the splits is more in my line, I disregarded the idea and left them to their exercises. The next comfort stop proved equally as exciting in the "what do you do for a living" line as before boarding the coach I came upon a man and his wife studying the side of a building with great fervour. I looked and looked but could not think for the life of me what was so interesting in a concrete wall. However again being nosy I enquired as to the interest factor in such a concrete wall and was told of the presence thereof of a l cm. long moth which was crawling up the wall and just happened to be the same colour as the concrete. I focused my bleary eyes on the said moth but it did nothing to excite any passion in me. However the Gentleman with the camera explained that he is an Entomologist by profession and his hobby is to photograph rare insects and this specimen was indeed a very rare creature. He did tell me the moths biological label but at present this escapes me, perhaps it will come back who knows. Is there no end to the talent of these people crammed into this coach expedition to outer Austria. However all good things come to an end eventually, and to everyone's relief 6 am. arrived and the sound of Norman's razor could be heard in the still morning air. Ann said he had never been up so early before. At least Norman arrived at our destination looking spick and span, the rest of us looked pretty hanging, that is to those who could unglue their eyelids at all to peer into the clear Austrian atmosphere. All except Norman who had out his screwdriver and was adjusting Dave's seat, which kept Dave petrified and worried.
We drove through parts of Germany in the daylight which looked very beautiful. The motorway exits are marked with the word "Ausfahrt". John, the driver, explained that he was a connoisseur of "fahrts". and had us all looking for the beasts throughout the holiday. We found Extra fahrts, Gut fahrts, Schiffarts, and even a Happyfarhrt.
The houses were all decorated with beautiful hanging baskets of every colour you could imagine. The scenery was magnificent with the mountains in the background and when we eventually arrived in Austria the mountains were really spectacular. We arrived at our hotel at about l2.50 and most people grabbed a few hours shut eye.
Monday
The Hotel Baumann at St. Georgen im Attergau proved to be totally
delightful. Very picturesque with beautiful wooden furniture
everywhere, and lots of hanging baskets on the various balconies.
The rooms were all en suite so we didn't have to risk seeing
Norman's legs revealed in his dressing gown prowling the
corridors in the middle of the night on the way to the 'privy'.
The food was plentiful (you could have seconds thirds and fourths as some who shall go nameless proved) and very tasty, in fact I couldn't fault anything. The owners and staff were very friendly and went out of their way to help. Bob certainly picked a wonderful venue for our stay. There was an outdoor swimming pool which was used by the guests of our hotel and the hotel next door together with sauna and a small indoor swimming pool. Several brave souls donned swimming attire and did a few laps on the first afternoon. Joan has set a competition as to the length and breadth of the pool, but as yet no one has had the energy to measure. Most people just sat on the edge of the pool and dangled their legs in. Richard however decided that after a few hours kip he would create his own swimming pool in the en suite part of his hotel room. To freshen up he decided to have a shower, but there being a shower curtain and not a proper door a certain amount of the downpour hit the bathroom floor instead of him. We soon found out what the bucket and mop were for.
We all duly met in the dining room at 6.30 pm for a lovely meal. Our enjoyment was dampened by a phone call from Rene James' Mum, who rang to say that her Father who was ill in hospital was now critical and she would have to return to Wales the next day. Very sad for her and her friends who had come on the trip.
After the meal most people went outside onto the patio to take advantage of the beautifully warm and calm evening air. We sat there enjoying drinks and coffee. Unfortunately all was not calm for very much longer. At around 9.30 pm lightening lit up the sky and the wind got up. We were treated to a wonderful thunder storm. The thunder shook the heavens and the rain lashed down upon the happy band who ran for their lives inside. The very foundations of the building shook and the shutters banged and once again the promise of a nights viewing the stars without street lights was dashed. The only heavenly bodies to be seen that night were in the bedrooms!!!!! The only person who remained oblivious of these happenings was Richard, who had taken to his bed at 9.l5 pm. to catch up on his beauty sleep and never so much as heard a hint of the storm.
Tuesday
We went on a coach trip to Salzburg and it absolutely bucketed
down the whole day. We were treated to a guided tour of the city
and saw all the wonderful places that were used in the film 'The
sound of Music'. Very beautiful and very interesting. Ornate
cathedral with four organs that can be used in unison. The
convent on the hill, everywhere full of history and colour. This
being the city of Mozart a concert of his music seemed ideal and
a few of us sat for an hour and a half listening spellbound to a
pianist and a violinist, who played absolutely beautifully. Very
moving and indeed it thoroughly lifted our spirits on this very
soggy day. One of the residents appeared in Lederhosen and I just
had to take his picture. I asked permission, explaining that he
was the only traditionally attired person seen. He was surprised
explaining that "there are quite a few of us about." It
made his wife's day who thought the whole affair a great joke.
However on the return journey to the hotel the skies cleared and after supper when it began to get dark we realised that this was an wonderful opportunity to see stars. A few of us tramped over the fields amidst the stubble which unfortunately had just that morning been fertilised with God knows what. This did not become apparent to some until much later on our return. However this was nothing compared to the spectacle overhead. Nick set up his telescopes in a remote position so that the Dumbbell nebula was visible and many other things that a few of us have never seen before. If ever a telescope was left unattended for a moment Nick grabbed it and focused it on the Veil nebula. The Milky way stretched as far as the eye could see. A fantastically clear sky after all the rain and no street lights to spoil the view. We now know what we are missing here with our light polluted skies! Well worth all the discomfort of wet feet and smelly clothes.
E Day
Early on at 6 am. the skies were blue but by 9.30 am. it was
raining. However it stopped raining and by l0.l5 am. Excitement
was beginning to mount. Cracks in the clouds could be seen and
blue sky peeked through. Several members of the Society could be
seen rushing backwards and forwards; even Lynda caught the spirit
of things and joined Dave in the search. Some Members remained in
their rooms and watched fascinated at all the upheaval. The very
earth shook with the trotting backwards and forwards. The Swansea
contingent decided to forsake the Cardiff mob and strove for
better views up yonder hill, which unfortunately proved a
mistake.
Eventually it was decided to set up camp and telescopes and whatever on the balcony of the hotel. By this time it was coming up to the start of the eclipse round about 11.15 am. Great chunks of sky were now blue and the clouds were literally scurrying over the sky. We sat down and donned our glasses and low and behold we spotted the fist chunk bitten out of the Sun. A crescendo of yells lit up the very hills as the ladies in the party became very excited. At last we could see what we had come for. Richard was setting up his equipment on the edge of the veranda. He searched the heavens for sight of the missing bit but all remained out of sight for him looking through his camera lens, duly protected with a home made filter of mylar. The ladies became concerned about him and several times enquired had he got things into focus yet. Absolutely frustrated with no success he screamed "Oh for Gods Sake leave me alone", but then he spotted the Sun and relaxed. The best photos were doubtlessly taken by one poor unfortunate who shall remain nameless, and had set up his two cameras but left out the all important factor, namely the film. Ugh!!!!!!! Gradually the Sun was gobbled up by the Moon's shadow, we had to wait between sightings as the clouds were coming and going. We were all very excited. Would we have a gap in the clouds at the all important moment? The glasses worked well. Lynda and myself decided that because we were on the very end of the balcony and in danger of not seeing the shadow because of all the bushes surrounding us to go to the adjacent field to watch. This proved a wise move, as we could see the darkness approach and every thing was very still, except for the birds who were getting ready to settle down for what they thought to be the night approaching. They flitted in and out of the hedgerows. Gradually it got colder and colder and more and more dark. The Sun was almost covered by now. It seemed to be an eerie light. The cars and lorries on the road at the end of field turned their headlights on to see.
Suddenly totality was reached and it went very dark. And then before our eyes was the sun with its black centre and corona. The corona seemed to be swirling and churning in the most beautiful colours of blue and white and cream I have ever seen. It can honestly be said I have never seen such a spectacular sight in the sky. I cannot put into words how incredibly beautiful it was. We gazed at it for perhaps a minute and a half before a wispy cloud covered it. The next thing we saw was a bubble of light at about 1 o'clock, the Diamond Ring effect, and then about a quarter of the sky burst into a salmon pink and white light as if a lamp had been switched on. The last spectacular siting was a cloud that was lit with all the colours of the rainbow to the right of the Sun, which lasted a good minute. Then it gradually began to get back into full daylight. The Video recording we later saw of the Corona only showed it in white but this was nothing compared to the colours I had seen at totality. It has to been seen with the human eye to get the full effect, and also for the build up to the whole event. I can fully appreciate how people would become hooked on the vision and go all over the world Eclipse chasing.
After all the excitement we had a drink to celebrate the event. Unfortunately the people who had walked up the hill to get a better view had in fact missed totality as a cloud had passed in front of the Sun for them at the vital moments.
In the afternoon we boarded the coach for a trip to Attersee. We boarded a boat that took us all around the lake. Very picturesque, with beautiful houses of the rich all around the edge of the lake. The water was a clear aquamarine colour and people said they had seen many fish. A mermaid or two were also seen. We spent a very pleasant hour and a half on the boat before once again boarding the coach for a further trip around the rest of the lake before returning to the hotel. This was one of the most exciting days in our lives and will always be remembered. We were very lucky indeed not to have been totally clouded out.
Thursday
We set off by coach again for a 3 hour journey to Vienna. We met
our Guide called Ingrid who was very knowledgeable about the
history of Vienna. We started our tour at Schonbrunn Palace which
was the Palace of the Kings and Queens of Austria before they
were exiled after the first World War. The Hapsburg family still
exist but do not live in Austria anymore. This particular Palace
was built in the reign of Marie Antoinette whose favourite colour
was a ochre type yellow. Many buildings in Vienna are of this
colour. It is quite a large and quite spectacular building
surrounded by beautifully laid gardens. Behind the Palace is a
monument called the Gloriet which was built in honour of
Austria's success in winning a battle. And in front of this there
is a statue of Neptune, quite impressive. We looked briefly over
the grounds and then boarded the coach for the City Centre.
Vienna is full of magnificent buildings ranging from the Spanish
Riding School and the Parliament Buildings which are huge. Really
the tour was too much for the older generation who sadly lagged
behind and only just caught up with the tour when it was time to
move forward, thereby missing all the information. It would need
a full week to explore the City and see half of everything. By
the end of the tour we came upon a Church of some beauty but
unfortunately I had totally had it by now and must have looked
thoroughly fed up. A voice by my side said "Hello, how are
you" and I looked up to see a handsome young man in costume
standing there. He was a student in the Music and Opera
University and was trying to sell tickets to people interested in
Opera. Richard came up then, and we soon became immersed in
conversation with him. He told us about the Opera and had his
picture taken with Richard. He took the time to talk to us
instead of clearing off once we said we were only here in Vienna
for the day. We then had a brief snack and a hour around the
shops, which looked very expensive. Full of beautiful jewellery
and leather goods but way out of our reach.
Friday
The last day of our stay we stayed behind while some of the party
went by coach to a Glacier. The thought of getting on the coach
before the 24 hour journey the next day proved too much.
Several of us went by the little train down to the town of St. Georgen which was quite charming. Several bargains were had since the whole town seemed to be having a sale. The local church proved to be very ornate in gilt statues inside. The graveyard was wonderfully kept and every grave was covered in a multitude of coloured flowers, and also each had one or two glass lanterns adorning them. These lanterns had candles in them and several were lit. It was well worth a visit. The shops all shut promptly at l2.00 and opened again at 2.30, so we spent a very pleasant lunch time sampling the delights of one of the local cafes which seem to be very plentiful. Everything I have had to eat in Austria is delicious, I can thoroughly recommend the Austrian food. And the cakes... (Exit diet stage left). Our last night we had a barbecue on the patio and an Austrian musician of somewhat lengthy age entertained us on an accordion with background keyboard recorded music. He appeared to have ancient music at first but gradually warmed to our kind of music in the name of Elvis Presley songs once his microphone had been grabbed and used by Barbara, who turned out to be the life and soul of the party and turned the whole affair into a Karioke evening. After a while the musician could bear it no longer and grabbed his microphone back and joined in with the relatively modern stuff. He did very well considering that we were told "He only German songs can play". Lynda, myself and Barbara who had started the whole affair threw ourselves into the spirit of things and grabbed any available dance partner who appeared within arms length. A good time was had by all until the musician stopped playing. Most of the male population of the party left the hotel at the first whiff of dancing to climb up the hill to see the meteor shower. They didn't know what they were missing in the shape of a good twist or rock and roll. Chickens!!!!!!!
Saturday
Sadly the end of holiday arrived and we again stuffed all our
clobber into the coach, much more of course because of all the
souvenirs we had acquired. Some of us had found some magnificent
fir cones lying about under the trees. Wonderful.
The journey home included a delightful coach ride along the Rhine Valley and river. The Rhine carries barges filled with goods including coal. There were dozens of barges following one after the other. Pleasure boats have trips along the Rhine and not just for the day. Some of these boats are like floating hotels, very impressive. Along the course of the Rhine valley are vineyards by the dozen and castles around every bend on the hillsides. Very magnificent. A very nice area for a holiday. Bob had many anecdotes to tell about the people who built and lived in these castles.
A little should be said at this point about the various comforts that people on the coach took. One Member found fantastic pleasure in sucking lollies similar to those used by Kojak, whilst another member munched on giant spring onions. The air was pungent with the scents and odours of such delicacies. Another Member right at the start of the holiday namely Sunday brought some chicken pieces aboard only to be seen carrying them off the coach uneaten on Sunday and muttering something like "Must get them out of the Sunshine". Monday at breakfast time the same chicken pieces were mentioned in conversation, as to whether they would be alright to be eaten. It was the overwhelming opinion of everyone there present that they should be ditched forthwith and thereby avoiding the outbreak of a food poisoning epidemic. The Member agreed that he should "get rid of them before they died!"
Sunday
The end of a marvellous holiday that everyone enjoyed , some more
than others of course, but we have resolved to do it all again,
maybe just a holiday somewhere, or maybe an eclipse in Africa or
Australia in the future.
Thanks
Thanks must of course go to our excellent Coach drivers John and
David (who is a wonderful dancer). And special thanks to our
Master of Ceremonies and organiser of the whole trip, Bob
Pulverness. May we be lucky enough to have his organising skills
and happy smiling face and jokes for many many years to come.
Cardiff Astronomical
Society Annual Outing 1999 - HMS Victory.
by Jackie Rudd
The day of C.A.S. annual outing dawned bright and clear. This year only twelve Members decided to venture into the unknown as this trip was not of an Astronomical nature rather of a trip into the mysteries of the Navy during Lord Horatio Nelson's day.
We had been told that our transport was a small coach but to our joy a luxury coach pulled up with of course all the luxury facilities for our journey,much to the relief of a few individuals who shall in this instance be nameless. Our excellent Guide and famous raconteer, Mr. Bob Pulverness, knew the driver well and it was a very happy party that set off along the motorway. Because you are sitting high up in a coach you are able to see a lot of the beautiful countryside which is not seen from a car.
We stopped half way to Portsmouth for refreshments which were very welcome seeing as most of us had got up at 6 a.m. to be in time for the coach.
We duly arrived at out destination and made our way to the Naval Museum and beautiful sailing ships. Our tour over the 'Victory' was not until an hour's time so we had plenty of time to look over the Museum. A mask of Nelson has recently been discovered and they have made busts of how he really looked, in fact a lot more handsome than most portraits of him .
Nelson's Flag ship, Victory, looked totally magnificent with the rigging of her three masts, looking up at them you could imagine the days when they were at sea and men were perched along the spars pulling up the sails.
We were taken on a guided tour over the ship by an Petty Officer of fearsome bearing and the voice to go with it. You could imagine him administering the cat and nine tails with relish. Everything was beautiful kept and indeed some of the original beams still exist from Nelson's day. The sheer size of the ship inside and the guns which ran along the whole length each side of the ship, impressed upon you what a fearsome sight one of these ships in full fighting stations must of been. Even Nelson's quarters which were quite impressive with a long dining table, were stripped completely even down to the wooden panels decorating the walls ready for battle. The windows of the cabin which were just as you see in films with the rounded lead lighted portholes at the stern of the ship, were used as gun positions during battlaes,and you were shown everything even down to the size of the varous shots used in battles.
Life was obviously very hard for sailors in those days as there was no heating on the ship and after the first few weeks the food and water became riddled with maggots and worms. The punishment was very severe, the cat and nine tails for those caught spitting, swearing, asleep on duty etc. Up to 30 lashes which would take most of the skin off your back, and then down to the surgeon who would administer brown paper soaked in vinegar to the your back.
Meals were three a day, consisting of porridge for breakfast, meat stew for lunch, which was the only hot food you got, and then supper of dried ships biscuits which got more and more hard and mealy as the days went on.
Sleeping arrangements were a hammock slung from the beams, and if you died your body was sewn up in this and you were committed to the deep. Officers had wooden cots to sleep in which were made by the ship's carpenter when you joined the ship, and Nelson's cot was measured at 5ft 7" long. There is a place on the lower deck were Nelson died and he asked to be taken back to shore to be buried, so the only way they could keep his body on the ship until they returned to the shore in some 5 week's time was to put him in a large barrel and cover him with brandy, The tour was very interesting and informative giving you some insight into conditions during battle and life generally at sea.
Our second port of call was a to Wickham Vineyard in Hampshire, which proved to be very pleasant if a little expensive for some. We had an ear phone,tape recorded,do it yourself guided tour of the vines which were just beginning to shoot. It was a calm mostly sunny day,so itwas very pleasant meandering along the vines. Then we saw the grape presses and stainless steel cylinders which house the fermenting wine, all very impressive. Then back to the wine tasting room, which was very interesting. Some people liked the dry, and some they medium and so on, but all enjoyed the intoxicating liquour. At the very end of the tasting we were given some apply juice which was delicous and very reasonably priced, so several bottles were purchased along with the wine.
The return journey was very pleasant with a stop halfway for yet more refeshents and then we were treated to a Video of the 'Independence Day' which some Members enjoyed thoroughly and some were not so keen, depending on how seriously you took things, but still very watchable.
Altogether a very enjoyable day out at a very low price. And many thanks to Bob Pulverness who organised the trip, it is not easy to organise such events, but as usual he made sure everything went well and that everyone was comfortable and had a good time. May we have many more trips in the years to come.
On Saturday 23rd. May 1998 we visited the Norman Lockyer Observatory at Sidmouth in Devon.
We left from the National Museum of Wales on a sunny Saturday
morning. After stopping for coffee at the Exeter services, we
arrived in Sidmouth at about 11:30.
We were told to be back at the pickup point at 13:30 to continue to the Norman Lockyer Observatory, in the mean time we were free to explore the town. After a pleasant walk on the sea front, and some liquid refreshment (for some of us) we meet the coach and proceeded to the Observatory. Where we arrived early, so we had a walk along the cliff path and saw a fantastic view of Sidmouth bay.
Our tour of the Observatory started with an introductory talk given in the planetarium, then we were allowed to wander around the observatory at our leisure. All the telescopes were manned so we could ask questions etc. after this we had coffee and the opportunity to have informal talks with the member of the Norman Lockyer Observatory Society. the last part of the formal tour was a talk in the planetarium.
Finally the group photograph (above) was taken at the front of the observatory. We returned to Cardiff just after 21:00. An excellent trip was had by all!
Jodrell Bank has much to offer the visitor, for both children and adults alike. I started with a look around the visitor and science centre, which had many exhibits about all aspects of astronomy. There were also a number of hands on experiments and gadgets which helped to make the visitor centre an interesting and informative centre-piece.
Without realising I found myself near the Planetarium and so decided to catch the next show. Although this was a pleasant spectacle I found it perhaps a little basic. however, the host was a very colourful fellow who perhaps unwittingly put on quite a show and entertained us all.
Time was by now getting on and so we duly assembled for the behind the scenes tour, which I thought was the highlight of the day. Although there was a limit to the number of people who could go on the tour our thanks to Dr. David Stanard who exceeded this limit and accommodated us all. He then went on to conduct an extensive and very informative tour. We learned about the history of radio astronomy and also about the exciting era in which we live today.
The history of the Lovell telescope goes back to the late 1940s when Dr. A. C. B. Lovell was involved in RADAR. Using RADAR equipment, he was investigating signals that were originating from the tracks of meteors burning up in the earth's atmosphere. Dr. Lovell was conducting his work in Manchester at the University's Physics department but he soon found that the electric interference from the city was hampering his work. To continue his work he needed an electronically quiet site. Manchester University at this time owned some land in Cheshire which was used by the Botany Department. It was here that Bernard Lovell and his team built an instrument that became known as the Transit Telescope. In 1950 this instrument yielded the first evidence that radio waves were being received from the Andromeda galaxy. Despite it's success, the static nature of the transit telescope meant that it could only observe the narrow part of the sky that was directly overhead. The decision was therefor taken to build a fully steerable instrument.
The mark 1 telescope was completed in 1957. It has a bowl diameter of 76.2m, a mass of 1500t and stands 89m high. An unexpected benefit of the telescope soon became apparent when, in October 1957 the Russians launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite. The telescope was able to track sputnik, which captured the attention of the media with the result that Lord Nuffield donated £50,000.00 to cover the outstanding construction costs of the telescope. In 1987, on the telescopes 30th birthday, it was renamed the Lovell telescope in honour of it's creator.
More recently in the search for ever increasing resolution, astronomers have developed a technique of radio interferometry. This is where two or more telescopes are connected together to work as a single, much larger telescope. The resolution depends on the distance between them, so it can be greatly increased by placing the telescopes further apart. This technique gives radio astronomers the means to achieve high resolution without building impossibly large telescopes. About half the observing time of the Lovell telescope is spent in this way.
MERLIN, which stands for multi-element radio-linked interferometer network, began work in 1980 and has an array of seven observing stations that together gives an effective aperture of 230 kilometres. At a wavelength of six centimetres it has a resolution of 0.05 seconds of arc, comparable to the Hubble Space Telescope. This however, is not the ultimate in resolving power. A technique called VLBI- very long baseline interferometry, has now been developed. Signals are recorded on magnetic tapes from all over the world, together with precise timing information from an atomic clock. The tapes are then sent to a correlating centre, where they are played together and combined just as if the signals where coming live from the telescopes. VLBI has produced resolutions of 0.001 arcsec, far better than in any other branch of astronomy.
Following the tour and with just enough time left to catch the last planetarium show or browse through the gift shop, it was then time to depart, but not before the apparently customary group mug shot.
The journey home with much chat and humour, even with a refreshment stop, seemed a short one.
From a personal point of view as a relatively new member of this society this trip was not only a chance to see at first hand a major international observatory at work, but ideal for me to meet many other members of the society. My thanks to Bob Pulverness who arranged this excellent day out, and I look forward, I'm sure with many others to next years trip. I hope to see you there.