An evening under the stars at a gorgeous Elizabethan manor house learning about astronomy, oh go on then…
I’m really enjoying my National Trust membership, on top of getting to visit lots of wonderful historic and nature filled places they also hold lots of incredible events.
The National Trust events are awesome and I’ve done some fantastic things over the past six months everything from foraging to stargazing!
Trerice Manor House
We’d already spent the day at the house so we headed out for some dinner and came back early evening for the start of the event.
The house and grounds looked gorgeous at golden hour and everyone had gathered on the green just behind the house to wait for the sun to set.
And, oh what a sunset it was!
What I liked is that it was a real mix of people from young people to couples, families and it varied from real astronomy buffs to people looking through a telescope for the very first time.
The Manor House was perfect for this kind of event as the barn stayed open for hot drinks, soup and cakes to keep everyone warm as the evening progressed.
Stargazing & Astronomy
The evening was lead by local professional astronomy group Kernow Astronomers who knew so much about our skies and stars.
Set up in the barn were displays and talks from the team. On the green there were about eight different telescopes manned by Kernow Astronomers who guided newcomers and amateurs through the amazing Cornish skies.
The team were very friendly and open to all and many questions that were being thrown at them.
As the event got busier and the skies darker queues soon began to form behind each telescope.
We were treated to spectacular views of the moon which I’ve tried to capture by putting my phone camera right up to the telescope lens.
Unfortunately the skies weren’t good enough to see a lot bit I did get to see some moons of Saturn, I think one was called Titan, and a couple of prominent stars.
I love finding out about the stars and what they mean, we even put that star app on our phones to see the constellations we couldn’t see above us.
It was the kind of event where people just chat to each other whether you know them or not. We chatted to so many lovely groups about what inspired them to come to the event, what they’d see so far and to the astronomers about the equipment and what we were seeing.
We went to this event as part of our holiday in Cornwall and it was a really different thing to do and such a great memory of our trip.
Trerice team up with the Kernow Astronomers fairly regularly to hold these events and the next time we’re in Cornwall I’ll try and head back to this lovely spot for a night of stargazing.
Fingers crossed for clear skies!
