Dark sky site around Reading...

[Bukko]

Hi all,

My son livesin central Reading and has decided to start imaging again after a few years away.

Now, I think I am probably asking if anyone has seen a Unicorn near Reading, but would be interested if anyone knows of a safe, dark site within a reasonable drive, where he can get back into the hobby.

Many thanks.

Gordon.

[Laurin Dave]

Hi Gordon

I live in Swallowfield (7 miles south of Reading) and image from my back garden observatory, unfortunately I am not familiar with any sites..  its pretty dark (by local standards) around here and in the strip between Basingstoke and Reading … even darker the further west you go.  Is your son a member of Reading Astro group (I'm in the Basingstoke group most of whom image from their homes) maybe they know of some sites, I was a member many years ago and we sometimes went up onto the Ridgeway to observe.

Dave

[Bukko]

1 hour ago, Laurin Dave said:

Hi Gordon

I live in Swallowfield (7 miles south of Reading) and image from my back garden observatory, unfortunately I am not familiar with any sites..  its pretty dark (by local standards) around here and in the strip between Basingstoke and Reading … even darker the further west you go.  Is your son a member of Reading Astro group (I'm in the Basingstoke group most of whom image from their homes) maybe they know of some sites, I was a member many years ago and we sometimes went up onto the Ridgeway to observe.

Dave

Hello Dave,

many thanks for the reply.

No, he is not a member of any of the local astro clubs, I did take a look at their respective websites before posting here and they do not seem to have a regular dark site mentioned. I did suggest he should give them a try and for the cost of membership, might save himself a lot of travel. He is thinking about a site half way to Newbury. It looks like a small car park off the beaten track and personally not my first choice to take a load of imaging stuff on his own.

I know from experience, he will stay working through to the early hours so would probably quickly use up any goodwill from any members' garden he managed to secure...

The Ridgeway sounds like somewhere he mentioned to me also.

Ideally, we would have liked to have remote access to my stuff here, but the networking requirement is not playing nice; so, for now, he needs to find an alternative.

Thanks again,

Gordon.

[Laurin Dave]

Hi  Gordon

He might also try the Newbury society, "George 47" on here is their chair..   the next Basingstoke Astro meeting is November 14th 7:00pm at Cliddesden, its a practical meeting so it'll be cloudy!  Your son would be more than welcome to come along and meet us.  Not sure I'd be too keen on being alone in some remote car park in the wee hours..  

Dave

[Bukko]

49 minutes ago, Laurin Dave said:

Hi  Gordon

He might also try the Newbury society, "George 47" on here is their chair..   the next Basingstoke Astro meeting is November 14th 7:00pm at Cliddesden, its a practical meeting so it'll be cloudy!  Your son would be more than welcome to come along and meet us.  Not sure I'd be too keen on being alone in some remote car park in the wee hours..  

Dave

Thanks Dave,

Hopefully I will get to chat to my son later and see what he plans to do.

I would personally give the societies a chance and see what's going on. I know he likes to just quietly get on with it but I and uneasy about the lone working bit.

Once I talk to him, I will contact George and make the link, if he wants me to.

Gordon.

[skybadger]

Reading astro go (or used to go) to the cricket field at Farley Hill which is moderately dark as their dark site. 

Dinton pastures might now be that place though. 

 

[Bukko]

32 minutes ago, skybadger said:

Reading astro go (or used to go) to the cricket field at Farley Hill which is moderately dark as their dark site. 

Dinton pastures might now be that place though. 

 

Many thanks - I will pass the leads on when I finally catch up with my son...

Gordon.

[JG777]

The cricket field is ok if Reading still use it and you want  to join, but access to the field is a bit tricky from the road especially with a lot of gear. When I used it a few years ago, you need to contact someone who then contacts the owner and then they have to text you back, and then Reading would advertise that on the FB page, so anyone whom you don't know might turn up. They seemed to want to turn any visit into a group visit. I did manage to secure independent permission for use but never bothered in the end.

As mentioned Swallowfield and the area between Reading and Basingstoke might turn something up, skies are a bit darker there although at the Reading end of things the LEDs on the M4 have made things worse. One of our dark sites are there, permission from an angling club I use with a gated car park, but I am only visual so the occasional angler turning up with lights on is not really an issue, think it might be for imaging.

I recommend looking at the OS Explorer maps for the areas and going out in the daytime to identify safe places, see them at night as well then draft a letter up asking for permission for anything that is suitable. Car parks, farms, small holdings, allotments, church car parks, etc. Its worth the effort to find somewhere. 

[Bukko]

23 hours ago, JG777 said:

The cricket field is ok if Reading still use it and you want  to join, but access to the field is a bit tricky from the road especially with a lot of gear. When I used it a few years ago, you need to contact someone who then contacts the owner and then they have to text you back, and then Reading would advertise that on the FB page, so anyone whom you don't know might turn up. They seemed to want to turn any visit into a group visit. I did manage to secure independent permission for use but never bothered in the end.

As mentioned Swallowfield and the area between Reading and Basingstoke might turn something up, skies are a bit darker there although at the Reading end of things the LEDs on the M4 have made things worse. One of our dark sites are there, permission from an angling club I use with a gated car park, but I am only visual so the occasional angler turning up with lights on is not really an issue, think it might be for imaging.

I recommend looking at the OS Explorer maps for the areas and going out in the daytime to identify safe places, see them at night as well then draft a letter up asking for permission for anything that is suitable. Car parks, farms, small holdings, allotments, church car parks, etc. Its worth the effort to find somewhere. 

Many thanks for the extra info - I am STILL trying to get some telephone time with my son, hopefully later.

I will pass this on also and hopefully it will help. He does not have too much gear, an 80mm frac on an iOptron CEM25p when it arrives. Easily transportable.

Gordon.