West Cornwall has been awarded Dark Skies Status by the International Dark Skies Association. Over the previous four year I had the pleasure of working with a group of interested individuals whose dedication has brought about this wonderful designation.

Here is the press release:

Dark skies above West Penwith officially recognised with prestigious International Dark Sky Park designation

The skies above West Penwith are now officially recognised with the prestigious International Dark Sky Park Designation, awarded by the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA).

Recognised as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty since 1959, West Penwith is only the seventh area of the UK and the second in Cornwall (after Bodmin Moor) to become an International Dark Sky Park (IDSP). The West Penwith IDSP covers the westerly section of Cornwall’s AONB; it stretches around the coastline from the outskirts of St Ives, through to St Just, Sennen and around Land’s End to Mousehole. Inland it takes in Trethewey, Sancreed and New Mill. The IDA’s IDSP Designation recognises this area as being naturally dark at night, with minimal traces of light pollution, making West Penwith one of the best places in the world to view the beauty of the night sky.

Cornwall Council supported a partnership among residents, businesses and councillors to achieve the accolade. A Steering Group comprised of local Councillors, Cornwall Council Officers, PK Porthcurno, Land’s End Accommodation Providers, The National Trust, Cornwall AONB Unit, Mayes Creative, Penwith Landscape Partnership and other passionate locals led the efforts for this IDSP nomination.

“West Penwith never faltered in its pursuit to celebrate and protect its night skies,” stated Ashley Wilson, IDA’s Director of Conservation. “The Steering Group worked closely with IDA on the necessary components to craft a thorough and complete nomination. Through this experience, Cornwall Council encourages communities both inside and outside of its borders to look to the stars and do their part to protect this natural, cultural, and precious resource. We hope to see the success of these efforts continue to grow over time to protect night skies and the nocturnal environment across the landscape scale.”

A dark night sky has wide-ranging benefits. This designation means that the partnership will continue to work to:

• Preserve and enhance the dark night sky above West Penwith Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) for pleasure, leisure and to support the wellbeing of residents, visitors and wildlife
• Raise awareness of the importance of a dark night sky and encourage a reduction in light pollution
• Engage with individuals and groups, in the wider West Cornwall area, to grow an outreach and education programme for astronomy, nature, historic environment and human well-being
• Guide residents and visitors to the most appropriate locations and opportunities for appreciating the dark night sky
• Promote eco- and astro-tourism
• Inspire other designated landscape areas, within Cornwall and beyond, to appreciate and protect their dark skies, both formally and informally.

Mayor of St Just-in-Penwith, Sue James stated:

“When I was Cornwall’s Cabinet Member for the Environment, I was asked to support two local Parish Councillors to achieve their goal to get the pristine skies above West Penwith recognised. We formed a Steering Group to gather and document the needed evidence, engage with local councils, residents and visitors and work with the IDA in Arizona, whilst also engaging with residents, local councils and visitors. We had to show not only that we had splendid dark skies (and we all knew that) but also that we valued them and could put in place measures to monitor and protect them.” 

Cornwall Council cabinet member for Environment and Climate Change, Martyn Alvey said:

“This is a tremendous community led achievement which officially recognises what we already knew, that West Penwith has a fabulous night sky which its residents are understandably proud of.  It means that more people will get to know about it and come to enjoy and appreciate it.”

Kevin Hughes (former Parish Councillor) explained his reason for wanting this important designation:

“Under a pitch black starry sky in West Penwith, when sitting by some of the ancient monuments, we are looking at the very sky that 2000 years or more ago our ancestors were looking at. We must protect that sky for future generations to also be able to appreciate and wonder at.”

The following excerpt from Dark Sky Island by Enya (2015) first inspired Kevin to support this movement:

“Twilight comes to close the day

And let the night break free,

and from deep blue skies the heavens rise.”

The Steering Group thanks all those within and beyond their community that have supported and encouraged their journey. While some individuals were involved with this process as part of their paid day job, many more have given their time as volunteers.

About the IDA International Dark Sky Places Program
The International Dark Sky Places Program was founded in 2001 as a non-regulatory and voluntary program to encourage communities, parks, and protected areas around the world to preserve and protect dark sites through effective lighting policies, environmentally responsible outdoor lighting, and public education. When used indiscriminately, artificial light can disrupt ecosystems, impact human health, waste money and energy, contribute to climate change, and block our view and connection to the universe. West Penwith now joins more than 185 Places that have demonstrated robust community support for dark sky advocacy and strive to protect the night from light pollution. Learn more by visiting www.darksky.org/conservation/idsp.
 
About the IDA

The mission of IDA is to preserve and protect the night-time environment and our heritage of dark skies through environmentally responsible outdoor lighting. Learn more at darksky.org.

 

 

 

 

Please contact me through this website to save a spot on any of these events.

Part of the Tin Coast Events Programme. Commissioned by the Tin Coast Partnership and Cornwall 365.

Archaeoastronomy Workshop and Field Practice Day

If you have ever wanted to learn some of the techniques used in archaeoastronomy, here is your chance. This workshop day will be in two parts and start with an introductory morning talk, followed by discussion of techniques and software which can be used to look at how the ancient skies around Cornwall would have differed to today. The afternoon will be out in the field and allow people to put into practice some of the techniques that they have learnt in the morning. Carolyn will lead both sessions.

First workshop (20th April 2021) – SORRY NOW FULL

20^th April, Online 10-1pm (morning session)

Introductory talk and workshop – techniques which can be used in the field

20^th April, Tregeseal. 2-3.30pm – putting ideas into practice. An outdoor workshop (afternoon session)

Putting ideas and skills to use In the field landscape around Tregeseal

THIS IS NOW FULL

Second workshop (18th May 2021) SORRY NOW FULL

18th May, The Knut St Just. 10-1pm (morning session)

Introductory talk and workshop – techniques which can be used in the field

18th May, Tregeseal. 2-3.30pm – putting ideas into practice. An outdoor workshop (afternoon session)

Putting ideas and skills to use In the field landscape around Tregeseal

Walking Tours

The Ritual Landscape around Tregeseal and its Connections to the Sky (21st May) – SORRY NOW FULL

This walking tour will take people on a 2.5 mile tour of the ritual landscape around Tregeseal. It will visit a stone circle, barrows, and a stone row. Carolyn will lead the walking tour and talk about each of the sites visited and if they relate to the night sky, how they do this.

There will be lots of opportunity to ask questions and learn more about the ancient landscape within the Tin Coast area.

The walk itself is easy-moderate, the ground is uneven in places and can be muddy at times.

Friday 21st May 2021 10am – Guided walk through the landscape around Tregeseal

Booking essential as number limited

The Ritual Landscape around Boskednan and its connections to the Sky. (23rd April) – SORRY NOW FULL

This walking tour will take people on a 3 mile tour of the ritual landscape around Boskednan. It will visit a stone circle, barrows, menhir, and a holed stone. Carolyn will lead the walking tour and talk about each of the sites visited and if they relate to the night sky, how they do this.

There will be lots of opportunity to ask questions and learn more about the ancient landscape within the Tin Coast area.

The walk itself is easy-moderate, the ground is uneven in places and can be muddy at times.

Friday 23rd April 10am – Guided walk through the landscape around Tregeseal

Booking essential as number limited

Please contact me through this website to save a spot on any of these events

Sperris Quoit is located in West Cornwall and is an example of one of the earliest stone monuments found here in the UK dating from the Neolithic. A type of megalithic burial chamber, this Quoit is not as impressive as its neighbour Zennor, with only one upright it is completely missing its capstone. Although excavations found a cremation pit which gives evidence for its purpose.

Just above the quoit are a number of interesting moor stones, some of these are capstone shaped and you can see where the inspiration for the design of some of the West Cornwall quoits came from. One collection of rocks on slightly higher ground to the quoit has a square gap through which you can look.

In one direction the quoit is framed and in the other direction a local headland.

If you clamber on top you will see one of the stone has some deep etchings into the surface, whether these are natural or manmade is hard to tell, but the position of the stone and orientation of the etchings are of interest. Forming a T shape, the top of the T runs from 230 degrees in the direction of the headland to 50 degrees in the direction of the quoit.

Underneath the frame seems to follow the same orientation. This would mean that the winter solstice sunset would fall over the headland and shine through the framed gap onto the quoit. Giving an illumination of the stone at this most ceremonial time of the calendar.
This has not been tested and would need to be tried out observationally before confirmation of this alignment could be verified.

The framed headland itself as a position for winter solstice is a great choice as it is a liminal location. The level of the sea horizon changes with the Moon phase, meaning that you may get the sunset onto a high sea horizon above the headland, or just onto the headland itself. If it set into the sea, you would have the added opportunity of seeing a green flash while looking through the framing stone.

Watching the Sun much in the way that many people have in the past…..

At equinox the daily displacement of the Sun is at its greatest. moving past this towards the solstice sees a slow decrease in its rising and setting positions along the horizon. One question is how noticeable a change does this make from day to day, particularly with a long and distant sightline?

The following images have been taken from the summit of the Iron Age hill fort Castle Pencaire looking towards west Cornwall and Penwith.

There will be an image for many of the sunsets during isolation, I will try and update regularly,  with the intention of demonstrating how visible the daily displacement is to someone making observations and watching the Sun. This is inspired by mayescreative.com  #seventeensuns #watchingthesun HLF project which is revisiting the seventeen years that Schwebe made solar observations, which lead to his discovery of the solar cycle.

I first encountered Little Galver’s viewing station during an exceptional Pathways to the Past (CASPN) walk led by David Giddings. Nestled within the West Penwith moors, this hidden gem captivated me with its triangular arrangement of stones that perfectly frames the imposing Carn Galver.

During that initial visit, I took a compass reading of approximately 270 degrees. This sparked my curiosity about how the framed Carn Galver would align with the setting sun during the equinox. On the evening of the equinox, I finally had the opportunity to witness this phenomenon. As the sun descended, it didn’t merely set; it gracefully rolled down the spine of the hillside. This mesmerising display unfolded over nearly fourteen minutes, with the sun dipping in and out of the terrain’s natural undulations.

It was a breathtaking solar spectacle, evoking a sense of wonder and connection to the ancient past. One can’t help but ponder: who last observed this alignment? Perhaps it hasn’t been seen since prehistoric times.

A lovely writeup from Sophie Lam in the Inews about finding dark sky spaces. Obviously, I’m biased but Cornwall has some wonderful stargazing spaces. Including Bodmin Moor which is a IDA Dark Sky Park and West Cornwall which is currently applying to be a Dark Sky Reserve.

Here is a link to the article which includes a quote from me about the wonders of the Cornish night sky.

How to book a stargazing trip in the UK and further afield _ inews