The Border Astronomical Society (BAS) and beyond

An interview with David Ramshaw, the observatory manager of the society
3 October 2023

With the seventh North Pennines Stargazing Festival being launched on 20 October 2023, we spoke with David Ramshaw, from the Border Astronomical Society (BAS) to find out how the society came to be based at Trinity School, Carlisle, in a purpose-built observatory from its humble beginnings at a local community centre.

“I have been a member of the, then newly formed, BAS since 1973 and attended regular meetings at the observatory for nearly 37 years. Whilst also being head of the Physics and Electronics department at Trinity School from 1973 to 1995, I had, prior to that, taught at the local Carlisle Technical College, adjacent to the school. The members of BAS were also part of the Scottish Astronomical Group and occasionally went to their meetings in Glasgow.

“In 1990 the society was offered a 16-inch diameter telescope mirror, made by an amateur astronomer who wanted to upgrade his telescope to a 24-inch mirror. With a grant from the local authority the mirror was purchased and plans were made to build a Newtonian Reflector together with an observatory building in the school grounds. The technical college took on the building of observatory and telescope as practice for their students and the funding came from the school governor foundation grant. Many of the materials did not have to be paid for and the total bill was only £7000 spread over 10 years.

“I oversaw the whole project, and an agreement was made with the school that BAS, whose members designed both observatory and telescope, should be based there. It would be a public observatory and BAS would hold regular meetings at the observatory, open to the public at no charge, for the benefit of all.”

“The society continues to encourage new members to join. We meet on the second Thursday of the month from September to April, with the occasional work meeting for maintaining the inside of the observatory, the dome, and the telescope. The aim of the society is to popularise astronomy for the public and give them the chance to look through a large (if rather ancient) telescope.

“Members do not have to own a telescope or be experts. The society has a core of four or five members who have their own GOTO telescopes and are responsible for much of the photography seen on the Border Astronomical Society website. In the past there have been more presentations swapping speakers with other local societies but now (after Covid) most of our meetings are casual as only four of us do presentations.
Some dedicated long-term members help with occasional outdoor events (up to five or six a year) that they are invited to, such as local schools, North Pennines AONB Partnership events at Talkin Tarn, RSPB Geltsdale, Watchtree Nature Reserve, Cumbria Wildlife Trust to name a few.

“Other members range from absolute beginners to more knowledgeable older people and they are encouraged to take part whenever possible. Beginners can bring in their telescopes and be shown how to use them and get advice from the more knowledgeable. Over the years telescopes have been donated and these can be demonstrated to and used by members without an instrument. Two of the societies past members have their own back-garden observatories.

“Whenever it is clear the large telescope is used to view the moon and planets but, although it is still operational it is not much use for photography. It is a WOW! factor for children and adults who see it for the first time. It gives fabulous images of the moon, Jupiter, Saturn and bright deep sky objects such as M31.

“For anyone who is thinking of joining the society I would suggest coming along to a meeting. There are normally up to 15 members and you will be given good advice on what is best to develop your interest. I personally enjoy talking about astronomy, explaining the universe, and what can be seen up there, particularly to the young. My favourite thing to observe is the moon as it can be viewed in detail even on cloudy evenings. Also, in the autumn M31 – The Andromeda Galaxy – our neighbourhood galaxy, only 2.5 million light years away and visible (to youngsters) as a naked eye object.

“Talkin Tarn is one of my favourite all time places to go stargazing because it is a good dark sky location. The society is looking forward to meeting new stargazers at the Talkin Tarn Skywatch event on Friday 3 November during the Stargazing Festival.”