Lake District location suggestions please

[YellowHound]

Apologies if this is the wrong forum for my request.

My wife and I are going up to the Lake District at the end of the month, arriving 26th August for about 10 days. We're dog sitting for a friend in Kendal.

Can I ask for location suggestions please? - I am looking to capture some astro landscapes in particular.

Ideally I'm looking for location that I can drive to and set up near to my vehicle - i.e. not hiking up a 'hill' once parked.

Thanks!

[osbourne one-nil]

If you're near Kendal, I'd head up the A6 just north of Shap and then turn left into Swindale. Not a street light for miles and miles. If you want a more traditional view, then how about the southern end of Grasmere just under Loughrigg Terrace  - that should give you decent views towards Andromeda and the Perseus area. If you're feeling really adventurous, forego the Lakes entirely and head up onto Great Asby Scar - no further than Grasmere and totally deserted! The Lakes are rammed!

 

 

Edited August 10, 2021 by osbourne one-nil

[Clarkey]

To be honest true dark skies are getting rare even in the lakes. Swindale / Wet Sleddale is a good shout. Alternately head towards the Howgills - less tourists and dark. If I want really dark skies I head to kielder.

[osbourne one-nil]

Castlerigg Stone Circle would give you a nice foreground with a relatively dark backdrop of Skiddaw but it's a fair way from Kendal. 

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

https://gostargazing.co.uk/regions/north-west-england/

Scroll up to the Lakes on the map and click on the pins. There's several dark car parks listed.

 

[scarp15]

 I would second Wet Sleddale (near Shap). The free reservoir carpark is usually quiet (might only be an overnight camper van stopping off from the M6), may provide a good vista and perhaps reasonable good dark sky. Alternatively North Pennines perhaps.

[Clarkey]

If you make it to Shap I would recommend fish and chips from Shap Chippy.

[osbourne one-nil]

I second the chips suggestion, if only to cheer yourself up from being in Shap. 

[nephilim]

14 minutes ago, osbourne one-nil said:

I second the chips suggestion, if only to cheer yourself up from being in Shap. 

I lived in Shap for 6yrs & fully agree with that 😂 Although Wet Sleddale is a good shout, its called wet for a reason plus theres  LP from the nearby steelworks & Shap also suffers from what locals call the 'Shap Cap' due to its position its regularly cloudy but half a mile in every direction its totally clear.

Edited August 11, 2021 by nephilim

[MKHACHFE]

My wife and I stayed at a small hotel in Grasmere last autumn on the way to Scotland. The skies were clear and crisp and moonless. I'm not the most experienced astrophotographer, but I can attest that it's very very dark there.

Very.

In fact, the view rivalled what I had the following week from Onich, near Glencoe, supposedly B2-3 ish.

It was so dark that when I went back out after dinner to set up, I was disappointed to see Jupiter and Saturn missing (having spotted them when we arrived) and I assumed it was getting cloudy. It wasn't, they had just dipped behind the mountain in front of me that I could not see a hint of.

And as a bonus, what a GORGEOUS place to wake up to the next morning.

[scarp15]

If you are prepared to travel a little further north and east and away from the crowds of the Lakes, there are excellent spots along  / near to Hadrian's Wall, that are popular with astro photographers. 

 

On 11/08/2021 at 09:32, nephilim said:

I lived in Shap for 6yrs & fully agree with that 😂 Although Wet Sleddale is a good shout, its called wet for a reason plus theres  LP from the nearby steelworks & Shap also suffers from what locals call the 'Shap Cap' due to its position its regularly cloudy but half a mile in every direction its totally clear.

Yes that is a good point, the res carpark is quite downwards in the valley but maybe not wet sleddale then, due west should be dark sky (unlesss some light dome from Kendle in S/W.

[nephilim]

9 minutes ago, scarp15 said:

If you are prepared to travel a little further north and east and away from the crowds of the Lakes, there are excellent spots along  / near to Hadrian's Wall, that are popular with astro photographers. 

 

Yes that is a good point, the res carpark is quite downwards in the valley but maybe not wet sleddale then, due west should be dark sky (unlesss some light dome from Kendle in S/W.

As mentioned earlier, Swindale will be a good bet just over from there.