Dark Skies and Black Clouds

I set off Monday morning, after a hearty ‘full fry up’ –(thanks Dot !), and firstly stopping at a local Sainsbury’s, to stock up…and then traversing Devon and into Somerset and it’s environs, my destination being Exmoor http://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/visiting a large expanse of moorland, and recently being nominated an ‘international Dark Sky Park’

Well, as everyone knows I love the stars, and so thought as it was on my ‘way’ I could look in ,and see if anything was evident.

I firstly called in at a National Park information centre, in Dulverton http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dulverton, where they laughed at me when I said ‘I’d come to look at the stars’ !! It being a rather miserable looking sky, with no real prospects of clearing up !

Undeterred I found myself a reasonable place to camp, up near ‘Brandon Common’, an identified dark sky good location…and settled down for the afternoon and evening hoping the skies would clear – they didn’t ! Although occasionally I got glimpses of the stars, through a ‘light mist’ !

As the night got colder, and windier, I eventually decided it was going to clear, and so to bed…..ffffrrrrreeeezing !-although I did get warmed up with the van heater, and several blankets, on a quiet dark moor…

The next day was not much better, the sky was bright, although still cloudy, and what was supposed to be a ‘sunny day’…was still cold and overcast !

I rang Elijah my Grandson, to wish him ‘Happy Birthday’- I think the first he’s ever celebrated in England !, and then with the sky getting darker, and bleaker.. decided that I might as well travel home, for a warm bed, before the weekend in Wales -

so that’s what I did !