David Sinden Remembered

[Glasspusher]

Some SGL regulars may recall that I usually do a little annual tribute to mark the passing of David Sinden who died on 29^th August 2005. David was the last chief optician at the world renowned telescope making firm of Sir Howard Grubb Parsons; better know simply as Grubb Parsons. This year is the 10^th anniversary of David’s passing away and in commemoration I would like to make a few posts this month highlighting some of his achievements. After leaving Grubb Parsons David went on to set up the Sinden Optical Company which ceased trading after his death in 2005.

The Anglo Australia Telescope (AAT)  was the largest telescope that David worked on; he was responsible for overseeing the manufacture of the 3.9 m diameter mirror. The telescope was inaugurated in 1974 and began making observations in 1975. The telescope has the distinction of being one of the last 4m class equatorially mounted telescopes ever made. Subsequent large telescopes adopted computer controlled alt-azimuth mounts. The telescope has a superb reputation both for the quality of its optics and its productivity. In 2000 the UK withdrew its involvement in the telescope (surprise), which is now called the Australian Astronomical Telescope (AAT).

More to follow…….

John

[Peter Drew]

A timely post John. David was a great optician and also a great bloke, we were proud to have had him as a member and he regularly visited. I was lucky to be able to visit his works on several occasions and was awed by seeing the central cores from some of his World class mirrors, some were larger than the primaries found in amateur hands. During one visit I shook hands (carefully) with a Scotsman who made the achromatic corrector lens for the 48" Schmidt camera.  Humbling times indeed! 

[barkis]

Good Man, Good friend. and a man with many stories to tell. He could hold your attention for hours

with his tales.

I miss him very much, as do many others. The drive from Carlisle to his Byker Workshop, and later his Ryton one,

always gave me a great thrill of anticipation, wondering what experiences he would recount.

Ron.

[skywatcher58gb]

I also remember him from the Byker Workshop, the first time I visited I got the full tour, what an interesting guy he was and the workshop was fascinating, some of his machines looked Heath Robinson but they worked brilliantly. He is still talked about today.

Dave

[Glasspusher]

Here is a picture of Dave with the original 98 inch mirror made for the Isaac Newton Telescope....

dave 1965.bmp

[Glasspusher]

Same picture in a more accessible format...

[barkis]

A couple of Pics. showing David and Sir Patrick Deep in conversation at the Trinity Observatory in Carlisle.

Home of the Border Astronomical Society.

I took the picture, and the gist of the it was, Patrick was trying to persuade Dave to appear on his Sky at Night programme.

David politely declined though.

The other picture is that of the two of them beside a 14" f6 Octagonal reflector I made many years ago.

Patrick must have felt at home as it is similar, but nowhere near as good as his 15" scope.

Ron.

[Peter Drew]

A couple of their classic poses in the Trinity photo. 

[Glasspusher]

Great images Ron, thanks for posting. Anyone else like to share any?

John

[barkis]

Very happy to add them to the thread John.

The memories flood back just looking at them.

The reason they were both in Carlisle, was the BAA, held their Out of London meeting there,

which before that time wasn't possible, as  Carlisle had no Halls of Residence, but as it is now a University City, we 

Qualify. It was just brilliant having those two Characters come to our Obs. Unfortunately, Sir Patrick 

couldn't climb the narrow stairway leading to the 16" reflector housed in the Dome. 

It stands on a Polar Disc fork mount, perched on a solid concrete block pier, built from way below ground, and up to the dome 

floor level.  Patrick did see the Dome interior via a video link.

Ron

[Glasspusher]

At last autumn’s Kielder star party an excellent talk was given by Professor Andy Newsam highlighting the work of the highly successful Liverpool telescope. The secondary mirror for the telescope was made by the Sinden Optical Company, it is about 60cm in diameter and is convex in shape which makes it very difficult to test as such a mirror does not form a real image. In addition the surface has a shape described as hyperbolic. Such optical components are renowned for being difficult to make. Had David been sitting in the audience that day he would have had good reason to be satisfied with his contribution to the Liverpool Telescope and its part in the advancement of astronomy.

For more information about the Liverpool telescope look here.. http://telescope.livjm.ac.uk/

John

[Dave]

My old 8" Dobbo mirror, which gave me very many great views, was a Sinden mirror.

[barkis]

Here's a picture of a wedge of Cervit that was cut from the plug that was trepanned 

out of the AT  Mirror. David gave that piece many years ago, whilst I was visiting 

his Ryton establishment to have couple of mirrors aluminised.

He made some small research mirrors from the rest of it  he told me.

Ron.    

                         

        

[Glasspusher]

Very nice Ron. I have a small flat made from the same core.

John

[barkis]

Very nice Ron. I have a small flat made from the same core.

John

We are fortunate John, we have very tangible connections  to David via  these bits of 

material that came from the disc of that very famous Telescope, and the part David played in it's creation.

[Glasspusher]

Indeed we are.

[Glasspusher]

Dave and a 36 inch Mirror

[HD-AP]

Hi

a couple of pictures of my 16 inch zerodur mirror blank in david sindens workshop prior to it's finishing to a 1/32nd surface 1/16th wavefront paraboloid .as he said one of his best at this apeture .True gentleman ,greatest optician self depricating ,gave you more than you asked for because he could ,very much appriciated ,all of these years later ,sadly we will never see his like again .

/ 

The world has changed ,but his wonderfully crafted optics allow us fortunate to posess a telescope with his optics within to probe and observe the depths of the  optical universe using his fantastic glass crafted to a prescision and accuracy matched by few ,but bettered by none. 

He loved quotes by greek philoshophers ..........

Astronomy compels the soul to look upwards and leads us from this world to Another...

R.I.P. David sinden

[Glasspusher]

More reminiscences of David Sinden who passed away 10 years ago this August...

The Espin Telescope

Thomas Henry Espinall Compton Espin was vicar of Tow Law, Co. Durham, from 1888 until his death in 1934, aged 76. He was a keen astronomer with an interest in double stars; he went on to personally discover and map an amazing 2,575 of these and was helped in his work by William Milburn, his assistant observer. Espin’s main telescope was a 24 inch reflector by the famous maker George Calver. After Espin’s death the telescope fell into disuse, it is said that chickens took up residence in the tube! The telescope was eventually rescued and fully restored by David who then presented it to the Newcastle University observatory at Close House. In August 2004, one year before David’s untimely death, Newcastle University sold Close House mansion and golf course which were redeveloped as a hotel. As a result of this the observatory fell into disuse and the 24 inch telescope suffered once again from neglect. The latest news I have is that the telescope has been removed from the leaking dome and is now in storage. Perhaps a fitting tribute to this historical telescope would be relocation to Beamish museum where it could be enjoyed by the many visitors.

John

[barkis]

More reminiscences of David Sinden who passed away 10 years ago this August...

The Espin Telescope

Thomas Henry Espinall Compton Espin was vicar of Tow Law, Co. Durham, from 1888 until his death in 1934, aged 76. He was a keen astronomer with an interest in double stars; he went on to personally discover and map an amazing 2,575 of these and was helped in his work by William Milburn, his assistant observer. Espin’s main telescope was a 24 inch reflector by the famous maker George Calver. After Espin’s death the telescope fell into disuse, it is said that chickens took up residence in the tube! The telescope was eventually rescued and fully restored by David who then presented it to the Newcastle University observatory at Close House. In August 2004, one year before David’s untimely death, Newcastle University sold Close House mansion and golf course which were redeveloped as a hotel. As a result of this the observatory fell into disuse and the 24 inch telescope suffered once again from neglect. The latest news I have is that the telescope has been removed from the leaking dome and is now in storage. Perhaps a fitting tribute to this historical telescope would be relocation to Beamish museum where it could be enjoyed by the many visitors.

John

Has anything been put in motion to that end John?

It does seem a very good Idea, Beamish is a very popular place, and the telescope would be an  Ideal addition

to the North East's  Historical past,   if it is possible to accomplish.

[CoolHand142]

Great in memorium thanks guys! I'm new in telescope world and these heros and leave great milestones. One easily forgets the giants whose shoulders we so easily stand to admire the new horizons that never saw. Mr Sinden certainly sounded like a giant in our time and a real gentleman too.

Sent from my SM-A500F using Tapatalk

[Glasspusher]

CoolHand, thanks for the input. Where we are today is a result of the work of those that went before.

Ron, I have made suggestions to people who are able to make things happen. They have different priorities, but I will continue to cajole.

John

[Glasspusher]

Sorry about the typo, we used to call them spelling mistakes. I meant priorities of course. Apologies to the monks.

John

[mapstar]

Great post's John.

I'm sure some of David's wisdom lives on and his contributions to astronomy and science touched many.

I could say sadly not me but that would be untrue knowing yourself living proof that his teachings live on.

Many thanks

Damian

[Glasspusher]

Daminan, thanks for that!

More reminiscences of David Sinden who passed away 10 years ago this August..

The Sinden Optical Company (SOC) had considerable success in the production of camera obscuras. The following is taken from the original SOC website and was almost certainly written by Dave…

The instrument produces an image on a curved horizontal screen placed in the centre of a darkened room.  Observers stand around the screen, looking down at a convenient angle.  The viewing screen is curved for the same reason that the retina of the human eye is curved.  The image is luminous and in full colour, with movements the outside screen reproduced exactly as nature. In good light conditions the image is filled with luminous delicate colour.  Subtle, seductive and very beautiful in its nature.  This is “real” light and living colour painted directly onto the screen by nature itself.  Sunsets with the Camera Obscura can be quite breathtaking beyond words!

SOC went on to produce a number of camera obscuras including:

The national Garden festival in Gateshead.

The Tavira Tower, Cadiz.

The Castelo de S. Jorge, Lisbon, Portugal

Jerez Spain

Habana, Cuba

Foredown Tower, Hove, E Sussex

The SOC website goes on to say..

Our large Camera Obscura is designed and engineered to last for a very many years with the minimum possible maintenance.  The main lens of our instrument is an astronomical aplanatic which is normally made about 12” in diameter and with a focal ratio designed to suit the proposed building.  The instrument can be rotated in Azimuth and Altitude so as to cover the whole horizon.  The concave screen is usually about 2 metres diameter and can be raised or lowered to control the focus over a large range. We supply and install the complete instrument including the viewing screen.  We can advise you on building modifications and arrangements necessary to accommodate the Camera Obscura.

John