South downs spots

[sorrimen]

Hi all

Having no car, I’ve been reliant on a friend of mine to drive a couple of us with the scope to somewhere dark. The stars have finally aligned, and the skies tomorrow night in the south downs look clear. Currently I’ve planned Bignor car park, but are there any other good spots you guys know of? Ones closer to London would be ideal as there’s a chance he won’t want to go all the way down to Bignor. TIA

[Stu]

13 minutes ago, sorrimen said:

Hi all

Having no car, I’ve been reliant on a friend of mine to drive a couple of us with the scope to somewhere dark. The stars have finally aligned, and the skies tomorrow night in the south downs look clear. Currently I’ve planned Bignor car park, but are there any other good spots you guys know of? Ones closer to London would be ideal as there’s a chance he won’t want to go all the way down to Bignor. TIA

Ranmore common is closer and has pretty good skies. The National Trust Denbies car park is a good place, an easy walk through a gate to a field where you can observe.

[sorrimen]

2 hours ago, Stu said:

Ranmore common is closer and has pretty good skies. The National Trust Denbies car park is a good place, an easy walk through a gate to a field where you can observe.

Oh that’s very close. Would you happen to know any spots in the downs themselves between Bignor and ranmore? It’s only another 10 minutes or so to Haslemere so somewhere in the north of the downs may be ideal (if you think the extra drive from bortle 5 to 4 is worth it). Cheers Stu!

[Stu]

32 minutes ago, sorrimen said:

Oh that’s very close. Would you happen to know any spots in the downs themselves between Bignor and ranmore? It’s only another 10 minutes or so to Haslemere so somewhere in the north of the downs may be ideal (if you think the extra drive from bortle 5 to 4 is worth it). Cheers Stu!

I’m afraid not! I’m sure there are other places, and it has been a quest for my previous club (Walton Astro Group) to find somewhere which is accessible ie closer than Bignor (which is quite a trek back in the early hours), but still with decent skies.

You may want to catch up with them at some point, @PeterW is involved and a member here.

[sorrimen]

2 hours ago, Stu said:

I’m afraid not! I’m sure there are other places, and it has been a quest for my previous club (Walton Astro Group) to find somewhere which is accessible ie closer than Bignor (which is quite a trek back in the early hours), but still with decent skies.

You may want to catch up with them at some point, @PeterW is involved and a member here.

Sadly that answer was what I expected! Thanks for the heads up, I’ll send Peter a message. In the meantime, going to try and convince my friend that an extra spiral arm is worth doubling our journey for.😁