grumpyf1

Big, isn't it..? A long, long, time ago, I was on holiday on a Greek island, whose name eludes me – it probably had a “thos” at the end.  Out for an al fresco meal one night, the power went off, plunging all of the local area into darkness. As we were close to the sea, there was an total absence of man-made light. It was like someone had flicked the switch on a celestial light show. In an instant I saw more stars in the sky than I ever had before, eyeballed the Milky Way in all it’s glory for the very first time and experienced a quite stunning, humbling, moment - utterly beautiful. True, several large glasses of cheap local retsina may have helped enhance it, but it’s stayed long in my memory... a bit like the aftertaste of the bargain booze. Friends Of The Lake District want a piece of that sweet action (darkness, not budget plonk) and are hoping to achieve ‘Dark Sky Reserve’ status in three years. The plan is to limit artificial light pollution, which will make the a...