Europe's first "dark sky park"

I know it's not strictly about Irish dark skies but I think it's of interest to the readers of this section, fee free to move it if needs be.

From the car park in the foothills of the Range of the Awful Hand, it is a short walk to what may be the darkest place in the country. Drive up here after sunset and you are unlikely to set eyes on another soul, yet the site is famous among a small group of enthusiasts who come here in the black of night to stand, watch and wonder.

The patch of ground in the imposing row of mountains is surrounded by 300 square miles of moorland, woods and lochs that form the rugged wilderness of Galloway Forest Park in southern Scotland, and in a few weeks, officers at the forest will take steps towards making it Europe's first official dark sky park.

Full story here

Anybody interested in a trip?

I'd be interested, Had been thinking of a trip to Keilder. Galloway may be warmer (relatively ).

Looks like an easy trip across from the north to Stranraer. Should be places to camp easily.

Clear skies
Steve

Excellent!
Thanks for the heads up on this.
The place looks awesome and easy to get to.

I did up a google earth place mark for it.
bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/download.php?Number=1277794

as seen from the view in this picture:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_of_the_Awful_Hand

I suspect if you went off road you may need to bookmark this page:
www.gallowaymrt.org.uk/public/galloway.shtm

Are there any nearby Scottish clubs running anything in the area this year I wonder?
It'd be worth checking out.

When are we going!? :woohoo:

I'd be up for that!

Read the full article and found it quite interesting. In only a short space of time (since the formation of the IDA) awareness has really been keen in the idea of preserving dark skies. To actually have a park dedicated to it for astronomical adventures is cool. It is probably like an untapped resource. After all, European astronomers head to the Mid-west of America and the Australian outback to get dark skies for astrophotography. Now this place is closer to home!

I wonder how Terry Moseley's fixed...

Seanie.

Yip, and they go there coz they are gonna get near 100% clear skies.
You have to have a good guarentee of good weather.
I've seen other clubs organize trips to Mt. Tiede and the like.
heck, some of us here went to Mt. Parnon.
Now THAT was dark!
It's not that hard to do, you just want to really want to go!
If this place is as good as they make out the only thing to
worry about is the weather.
It'd make for an good trip anyway.