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Kelling Heath Winter Fest


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1 hour ago, Rapallokid said:

Hi to all,

 

I have decided to abandon  my plans to attend the event this week. 

I was coming with a friend who does astrophotography.  Saturday was looking like the only possible night with clear skies, but even now the wind is not favourable.

Dont mind the cold, but sitting around in a tent for 4 days  with poor forecast for me is too much.

Given the current situation re covid, I would also be more apprehensive about social contact, which I also not really me!

 

I hope you all have good time, hope the forecast changes and you get some clear skies.

 

Hope to see you next time.

 

Rapallokid. 

To be honest I'm a little apprehensive about covid so probably won't be interacting with anyone. The whole reason for going was to meet people from SGL. I'm booked and paid for so can't get the money back but in two minds to actually go to the honest.

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It's all outdoors Nigella, it is really easy to social distance as well.  You don't need to go to the Shop or cafes/pub if you take all your food with you.  The toilet and washrooms are pretty hygienic, they expect you to wear masks and sanitize when you go in and out.  If you have a campervan you won't even need to do that.  

 The first time I went before vaccinations had started I was worried about having to do toilet stops on the journey, but I managed to find some nice wooded areas to stop in (if you don't mind doing that al fresco), I thought it was a better option that stopping at Services.

Otherwise wear a mask if you're wanting to chat with anyone and keep 3 feet away outdoors you'll be fine.

Carole 

 

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@Nigella Bryant

Ah just noticed you're in one of the Herons.  Did you also book a pitch on the Red field as the Chalets are among the trees?  Otherwise you will need to find a "best friend" who will let you use a bit of their pitch on the field.  There are a couple of "corners" at the end of the lanes if not. 

I normally go to the Autumn Star party, I didn't book for this because the one and only time I have been to Winterfest was the very first time when we caught the tail end of Hurricane Abigail and it was pretty awful with at least 3 people's astro kit being blown over.  So has put me off going in the winter again.

Hope you all have a good time.

Carole 

Edited by carastro
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1 hour ago, carastro said:

@Nigella Bryant

Ah just noticed you're in one of the Herons.  Did you also book a pitch on the Red field as the Chalets are among the trees?  Otherwise you will need to find a "best friend" who will let you use a bit of their pitch on the field.  There are a couple of "corners" at the end of the lanes if not. 

I normally go to the Autumn Star party, I didn't book for this because the one and only time I have been to Winterfest was the very first time when we caught the tail end of Hurricane Abigail and it was pretty awful with at least 3 people's astro kit being blown over.  So has put me off going in the winter again.

Hope you all have a good time.

Carole 

Thanks Carole, we've decided not to go after talking about it this morning. 

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22 hours ago, Nigella Bryant said:

Thanks Carole, we've decided not to go after talking about it this morning. 

Ah that's a shame Nigella, I was planning to pop along to say hi. My wife and I will be staying in our holiday home for a few nights, but I have to agree with you and others that the weather really isn't favourable for astro, so I won't be taking any astro gear other than hand held binos and a standard camera + tripod. Maybe we can meet another time... 🤞

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30 minutes ago, geoflewis said:

Ah that's a shame Nigella, I was planning to pop along to say hi. My wife and I will be staying in our holiday home for a few nights, but I have to agree with you and others that the weather really isn't favourable for astro, so I won't be taking any astro gear other than hand held binos and a standard camera + tripod. Maybe we can meet another time... 🤞

Awwww, that would have been nice to meet up, yeah, perhaps another time, hopefully.

All the best.

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We’ve just arrived and opened up our static holiday home - just 6.9C inside brrrr, so cranked the CH up, turned the water supply back on and headed over to the village for a hot coffee whilst the caravan warms up. Could see some stars as we walked through the woods, but it looks pretty murky. I’ll pop over to the red field later, or more likely tomorrow sometime, to see who is about.

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We arrived on Monday, cold and windy. My astro tent broke several poles Tuesday night so was taken down. Luckily I've got some spares. We're now back home as there wasn't any chance of any astronomy and there's a chance it's more likely to be clear at home! We didn't even take the telescopes out of the motorhome garage.

Tuesday night was really windy and not a weather warning in sight! Kelling Heath up to its old tricks!

Let's hope the spring one goes ahead next year.

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Finally - when most had left we got some decent clear spells on Sunday night.

Two of us even managed to see comet Leonard A1 with naked eye, and a 2-3 degrees tail in binoculars. Just about made the trip worthwhile from an astro point of view. Good to meet up with a few friends and the food and drink in the Forge & Terrace was excellent.

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27 minutes ago, AstroKeith said:

Finally - when most had left we got some decent clear spells on Sunday night.

Two of us even managed to see comet Leonard A1 with naked eye, and a 2-3 degrees tail in binoculars. Just about made the trip worthwhile from an astro point of view. Good to meet up with a few friends and the food and drink in the Forge & Terrace was excellent.

Well done for sticking with it Keith. I looked out of the bedroom window at my holiday home, just as I was climbing into bed around 1am Monday morning and saw that there were brilliant stars, but being deep in the woods, I couldn't tell if was a genuinly clear sky, or just a small patch. Sadly I couldn't be bothered to get dressed again and take the 10 min hike over to the observing fields to find out. Based on your home location I think you must be the Keith that I met briefly on my bike on Friday morning (I used to live in Frimley, so not far from you); it was good to meet you 👌.

Edited by geoflewis
Monday morning, not Sunday
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43 minutes ago, geoflewis said:

Well done for sticking with it Keith. I looked out of the bedroom window at my holiday home, just as I was climbing into bed around 1am Monday morning and saw that there were brilliant stars, but being deep in the woods, I couldn't tell if was a genuinly clear sky, or just a small patch. Sadly I couldn't be bothered to get dressed again and take the 10 min hike over to the observing fields to find out. Based on your home location I think you must be the Keith that I met briefly on my bike on Friday morning (I used to live in Frimley, so not far from you); it was good to meet you 👌.

Yes that was me!

There were at least three of us making the most of the sky then.

I've found having my All Sky Camera on the caravan roof very useful. Not so much for catching meteors during star parties but to show me the cloud situation. Gives me more confidence to stay up, get layers of clothes on and get out there!

Whilst on meteors, I must have seen 10 in an hour whilst scanning the bins over Andromeda, Perseus & Cassiopeia. 

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On 07/12/2021 at 10:48, AstroKeith said:

 Good to meet up with a few friends and the food and drink in the Forge & Terrace was excellent.

I think Keith has it about right.

Since I've been attending star parties, and it's only since 2003, I've heard the older and wiser than me saying that you should never rely on a star party to provide you with your annual astronomy kicks. I really enjoyed Winterfest as it meant I got to meet up with friends I wouldn't see any other way. Friday and Saturday were quite sunny and I had loads of walks and on Sunday went to the coast and a few other historic landmarks that abound in North Norfolk with a friend I only get to see for a few days a year. Three days is not long enough to do everything and there's no time available to get bored !

At night the cloud was trying its hardest to block the sky but it didn't manage it all the time. 

A gang of us went walking down to the railway on two nights to see and photograph the North Norfolk train light show and had a great time together.

1741133302_Norfolklightsexpress.thumb.jpg.75bb5e1b4e6767015d5c6ba91f943e4b.jpg

Choo choo !

Hopefully I'll be back next year. Stars or not :)

Dave.

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