Northumberland Park and Kielder Water get Dark Sky Status.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-25260186

That’s great news. I saw the milkyway for the first time near Hepple. Around 4.30 in he morning and bitterly cold and as drove down into a dip, the view was simply amazing. I pulled over for ten mins to take it all in. Makes you feel small, but, wondrous at the same time.

It’s one of the things I don’t like about living in the city. I haven’t seen a really good night sky for ages. Everyone we visit these days seems to be in a town too. I remember being in a friend’s back garden in Lavenham in Suffolk with just flat land stretching out for miles and no light from anywhere. It’s still one of the finest night skies I’ve ever seen.

Often enjoyed the view whilst driving to parents home through Dumfries and Galloway Forest park (*also a Dark Skies area), really is such a shame that we have so much backlight and city living, when you see just how much other stuff there is up there I find it awe inspriring.

Also, thanks to a detour one very still evening, had possibly the best sunset ever (vivid reds and purples, with fabulous dreamy clouds) perfectly mirrored on 3 small mirror smooth lochs – we sat there for quite a while that time.

I used to see it often in Herefordshire. It’s dependent on the atmospheric conditions too though.

Best sky I ever saw was at 3000m in the Alps.

i went to the observatory at kielder, for my birthday*.

it was a bit cloudy that night, so we had a geek-out over their telescopes, awesome!

(*thanks wife!)

Still not been to the observatory I really must go.

great news. they were building the observatory at round the same time i was helping build trails up there. It’s a wonderful place, Kielder.

Good stuff. Galloway Forest Park has had gold status since 2009 I think. Seemed to boost tourism and probably one of the reasons the new visitor centre at Kirroughtree has been built. I grew up just down the road from the Galloway Forest Park and you really do get an incredibly clear view of the sky if it’s a clear night.