Caroline Sinden Fuller

Thank you, I will have a look at that book

Thank you!! Would you be able to send me as a message on here? I can then print it off. Thank you so much

I don’t want to give out the exact address - However the telescope is in south Northumberland. Not far from a village called Heddon on the Wall. About half an hour from Newcastle Upon Tyne.

I don’t know if people would be willing to do this - we have wondered about asking people to write us some general supporting letters? We would need them to be ‘nice’ to avoid upsetting the golf club. Along the lines of ‘how wonderful it would be to have this historic telescope removed from the current location and put somewhere, restored & back in use’ Is that something that people would be willing to do?

Me too! As far as I can see money isn’t something they lack.

Sadly telescope is completely unusable, the dome vandalised and half the stuff gone ( secondary mirror for example). The place is now an exceeding posh golf club and the owners have no interest in the scope or domes. There have been many attempts over the years to try and do something about the situation. However the main problem being the constant refusal of the owner to deal with the issue. I had a conversation with the ( I think manager) last year & he more or less said that the scope was theirs and if they wanted to just basically forget about it, then so be it. So hence my approach of trying to use the strength of public opinion against them. Presumably they won’t want any bad publicity- so with hopefully a big ( hopefully world wide spread petition) will apply enough pressure for them to release the telescope. However- I think at the moment, if we shame them too much - then an easy way out for them is to take an angle grinder to the scope & present it to the local scrap man. So, the petition is the ‘stick’ and I am hoping that we can get some good publicity as the ‘carrot’ So, at the moment what would be an absolute massive help is to get the petition circulated round the world if at all possible. I would be very grateful if people could do that.

This is a recent YouTube video of the telescope. Its condition is horrible, the dome broken into and left open to access.

Link to the updated version Thank you all again C https://www.change.org/p/save-espin-s-telescope-let-it-be-restored

Hi apologies, I don’t usually do social media type stuff so probably going to make 100 mistakes 😄 just realised what you meant - yes you are correct. That is am old version of the petition. We spotted the David Espin Error and it has been rectified on the updated petition. I will get the corrected one posted here. with regards to our general approach is to try and get strength of numbers- no idea if it will work. But I feel I have to try. I have already had a conversation with a member of staff last year. It was bizarre to say the least - I think if nothing else then we will give them a headache. thank you very much everyone for all your support. caroline

David is my dad and he always referred to it as the Calver. It was made by Calver for the Rev Espin of Tow Law Durham. Espin commissioned it and used it many of his discoveries. Rev Espin has a crater on the moon named after him in recognition of his contributions to astronomy.

This telescope was originally made by George Calver for the Rev Espin of Tow Law, Durham. He used it to make many wonderful discoveries. Sadly after the Rev Espins death it fell into disrepair and subsequently found festering by my dad. He bought it and restored it and subsequently gave it to Newcastle University. I think much of the restoration work was probably carried out at the Grubb Parsons works - I have a photo of it there - see below. Sadly it was left when they sold the property where it is housed. It has slowly deteriorated and now in an awful condition and the dome is currently open to access- again. The telescope through my dad (David Sinden) and the Rev Espin has deep connections to the north east of England and if at all possible I would wish for it to remain in the area. However, I absolutely agree about the importance of Grubb Parsons and the Ireland connection. I have in my possession several items of Grubb Parsons historical heritage, rescued by my dad. When Grubb Parsons was closing down they chucked huge amounts into a skip. My dad climbed into the skip and got them out. Over the years I have been slowly finding homes for these items. I am coming to Ireland next year bringing the last and most important of these items. With the intention of presenting them to the Observatories of Ireland. As I believe lreland is the best and right place for them to be. My contact in Cork is helping me arrange this. I am attempting to do the right thing by the objects that my father held dear. Which brings me back to Rev Espins 24” Calver/ Sinden scope - The owners of the place where it is are not wanting to deal with the problem and are taking the head in sand approach. My thought is to try and get as much public support as possible through our petition in order to encourage them to release the telescope. It will also be a nightmare to get out. We could absolutely do with peoples help and support- I am currently trying to spread the petition and gain as many signatures as possible. If people can help, then I would be very grateful. Please can people sign and share the petition. I would like to send it round the world it I can. If people can make a comment on the petition and say whereabouts they are from, that would be great. I want the owners to realise that this is important to people all over. There is no guarantees of course- but I feel that I should at least give it a go at getting it out. I definitely want to do the right thing by my dads things. Any help that people can give would be greatly appreciated. I have added some photos for interest- they are 1) Rev Espin & Kit 2)David Sinden with Horace Dall, the original tube prior to modification behind them, taken at Grubb Parsons.3) My dad and husband at Sinden Optical Co. 4) Lisbon Camera Obscura installation, on top of the roof - my dad and I in the front, my husband Michael working on the CO hood behind. 5) My dad and the telescope in better days 6) The scope now ( this is photo is a few years old - it’s actually In worse condition now. Apologies for the huge post and thank you for reading. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Caroline Sinden Fuller 2

Hello everyone. I am David Sinden’s daughter, Caroline Sinden Fuller. I am working with John Nichol and others to try and rescue the telescope. We would be grateful of any help that people are able to offer. Thank you all for your support and concern for this telescope.